Mode-coupled VCO replaces expensive DRO

A novel mode-coupled self-injection locked VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) is developed in response to replacing expensive DRO (dielectric resonator oscillator) for reference signal sources for modern communication systems. One of the problems related to the Dielectric Resonator (DR) is fabrication in integrated circuit (IC) form due to 3-D structure. The mode-coupled approach described in this paper offers cost-effective, and integrable alternative for DRO circuits. For example, the typical measured phase noise for 12 GHz carrier frequency at 10 kHz offset is -112 dBc/Hz, and to our knowledge, this is the best phase noise performance using printed resonator in 0.5times0.5times0.16 inch circuit board size so far reported. The reported topology is not limited to this frequency, can be extended for other frequency band (2 GHz to 14 GHz with 500 MHz or more tuning range) by dynamically controlling mode-coupling mechanism.