A Phase-Locked Loop With Injection-Locked Frequency Multiplier in 0.18-m CMOS for -Band Applications

Abstract—In this paper, a novel CMOS phase-locked loop (PLL) integrated with an injection-locked frequency multiplier (ILFM) that generates the-band output signal is proposed. Since the proposed ILFM can generate the fifth-order harmonic frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) output, the operational frequency of the VCO can be reduced to only one-fifth of the desired frequency. With the loop gain smaller than unity in the ILFM, the output frequency range of the proposed PLL is from 53.04 to 58.0 GHz. The PLL is designed and fabricated in 0.18- m CMOS technology. The measured phase noises at 1- and 10-MHz offset from the carrier are 85.2 and 90.9 dBc Hz, respectively. The reference spur level of 40.16 dBc is measured. The dc power dissi-pation of the fabricated PLL is 35.7 mW under a 1.8-V supply. It can be seen that the advantages of lower power dissipation and similar phase noise can be achieved in the proposed PLL structure. It is suit-able for low-power and high-performance-band applications. Index Terms—Injection-locked frequency multiplier (ILFM), millimeter-wave circuits, phase-locked loop (PLL), RF CMOS. I