Microwave Integrated Oscillators for Broad-Band High-Performance Receivers

The design and development of a variety of microwave integrated circuit oscillators for use in integrated broad-band high-performance receiving systems is described. Examples of various thin-film microstrip oscillators directed to this application are provided including: 1) fixed-frequency Gunn-effect oscillators covering C to Ku band; 2) X-band varactor-tuned Gunn-effect oscillators providing up to 15 percent tuning bandwidth; 3) S-band step-tuned transistor oscillator assembly with better than half-octave digital tuning range; 4) L-band varactor-tuned transistor oscillator with almost an octave tuning range.