OVERLAPPING UNCOUPLED INDUCTORS FOR LOW-COST MULTI-FREQUENCY VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS

• Main Authors: KHALILI Alireza, KAVOUSIAN Amirpouya, FARAZIAN Mohammad
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.01.2017
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY; ELECTRICITY; GENERATION OF NOISE BY SUCH CIRCUITS; GENERATION OF OSCILLATIONS, DIRECTLY OR BY FREQUENCY-CHANGING,BY CIRCUITS EMPLOYING ACTIVE ELEMENTS WHICH OPERATE IN ANON-SWITCHING MANNER

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for generating multiple oscillating signals. One example circuit generally includes a first voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) having a first inductor and a second VCO having a second inductor in parallel with a third inductor, wherein the second and third inductors are disposed inside a loop of the first inductor and may behave as a magnetic dipole. The loop of the first inductor may be symmetrical, and a combined geometry of loops of the second and third inductors may be symmetrical. The coupling coefficient (k) between the first inductor and a combination of the second and third inductors may be small (e.g., k<0.01), due to the symmetrical geometry of the circuit layout. With a smaller k, the first and second VCOs' inductors may be placed closer to one another, thereby reducing an area consumed by the two VCOs.