Ultra-Wideband Voltage Controlled Oscillator with Multi-Mode Operations

The U.S. Dept of Defense is seeking a low power (< 30mA @ 3V), US-sourced, ultra-wideband voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). Fuzing applications that employ Height of Burst (HOB) sensors utilize specialized chipsets that set the operating range and output power for these systems, and different applications require specific parameters given operational environments, input power, form factor, etc. Therefore, to ensure maximum adjustability and design reuse for different applications, Alphacore will conduct a feasibility study of the design tradeoffs of an ultra-wideband VCO with a tunable frequency range of 4-12 GHz. The DoD requires a VCO that “targets a tuning sensitivity of 50MHz/V per step across 0-3.3V, power dissipation to be less than 315mW at 85C and single side band (SSB) phase noise @ 100 kHz offset to be less than -93 dBc/Hz at each center frequency.” This program is a strong match to Alphacore’s existing mixed-signal IP product line including high performance PLL and SerDes IP, as well as our low-power, high-speed data converter IP. We have a commercially available wide tuning range, low jitter PLL IP – named PLL13G on our website (https://www.alphacoreinc.com/en/analog-mixed-signal-and-rf-solutions/products) – with a tuning range of 5.5 GHz to 13.5 GHz, jitter of 0.35ps, and power consumption of under 60 mW. This is an excellent starting point for us to pursue the feasibility study for this program and achieve reduced risks. In Phase II, we will build, test and deliver a fully functional ultra-wideband VCO prototype based on the design developed in Phase I.