A self-calibration technique for wide tuning range PLLs

This paper presents a new calibration technique applicable for wide tuning range phase locked loops (PLLs) using very low gain voltage controlled oscillators (VCO). This technique uses the PLL main loop for the coarse and fine tuning of the VCO. Instead of using two loops which has been reported in previous works, in this work the VCO tuning voltage is used to calibrate the VCO switch capacitor array. Since the proposed calibration circuit operates in a closed loop form, it can be used for channel selection as well as adjusting for process, voltage and temperature variations. In addition, the calibration circuit has been used to set the VCO tail current in order to optimize VCO phase noise. A prototype frequency synthesizer has been designed in 0.18-μm CMOS process to work for a frequency range from 2.4 to 2.72 GHz. Simulation results show that using the proposed technique, a spur level of −60 dB at 5 MHz offset from carrier was achieved while having negligible power overhead.