Phase Locked Loop Sub-Circuits for 24 GHz Signal Generation in 0.5μm SiGe HBT technology

In this paper, sub-circuits for 24 GHz phase locked 100ps(PLLs) using $0.5{\mu}m$ SiGe HBT are presented. They are 24 Ghz voltage controlled oscillator(VCO), 24 GHz to 12 GHz regenerative frequency divider(RFD) and 12 GHz to 1.5 GHz static frequency divider. $0.5{\mu}m$ SiGe HBT technology, which offers transistors with 90 GHz fMAX and 3 aluminum metal layers, is employed. The 24 GHz VCO employed series feedback topology for high frequency operation and showed -1.8 to -3.8 dBm output power within tuning range from 23.2 GHz to 26 GHz. The 24 GHz to 12 GHz RFD, based on Gilbert cell mixer, showed 1.2 GHz bandwidth around 24 GHz under 2 dBm input and consumes 44 mA from 3 V power supply including I/O buffers for measurement. ECL based static divider operated up to 12.5 GHz while generating divide by 8 output frequency. The static divider drains 22 mA from 3 V power supply.