Single-Chip 19 and 24-GHz VCO and Frequency Divider Fabricated in a Commercial SiGe Bipolar Technology

This paper presents the design, implementation and testing of fully integrated 19 and 24 GHz voltage controlled oscillators integrated on one chip with a frequency divider with a divide ratio of 16, as well as an output driver. The chips are fabricated in a production SiGe bipolar technology and take up an area of 960 x 960 ?m2 each. Both VCOs are varactor-tuned LC-type oscillators with a tuning range of about 1 GHz with different inductors and transistors. Both chips work with a single 3.6 V supply, the 24 GHz VCO draws 6 mA and the 19 GHz VCO draws 9 mA of supply current, respectively. Divider and output driver consume 17 mA and 51 mA, respectively. The measured phase-noise of the 19 GHz VCO is about -100 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency, whereas the 24 GHz VCO features a phase-noise of about -89 dBc/Hz.