A DLL-based injection-locked frequency synthesizer for WiMedia UWB

A WiMedia ultrawideband (UWB) frequency synthesizer is designed for band group #1. A very fast hopping is achieved by using a delay-locked loop (DLL) architecture which utilizes a novel variable gain voltage-controlled delay line (VCDL) scheme to compensate the phase error generated at the hopping instant. Fast-settling DLL allows an injection-locked oscillator (ILO) to be employed to reduce the current consumption in the edge combiner (EC). Simulated in STM 65-nm CMOS technology, synthesizer hopping time is less than two reference cycles. Phase noise at 3432 MHz is -124 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The adjacent spur level from the Monte Carlo simulation is -34 dBc. Excluding CML divider, the synthesizer draws 6.7 mW from a 1.2 V supply.