A V-band injection-locked frequency tripler module with adaptive free-running frequency tuning

A V-band injection-locked frequency tripler (ILFT) module features adaptive free-running frequency tuning for locking range enhancement. The tripler free-running frequency is adaptively tuned to the third-order harmonic frequency of the input automatically. The input signal passes through the major path to lock a V-band ILFT output, and the auxiliary path to generate an adaptive control voltage for the tripler. The control voltage is obtained by frequency detection of the input signal with at least −2 dBm. The realized system is a hybrid of customized integrated circuits and off-the-shelf commercial components. The measured results show that the tripler is applicable to V-band operation of 2.7 GHz.