A miniature integrated monolithic VCO module

A miniature voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) module implementing an oscillator/attenuator two-stage buffer amplifier MMIC has been developed for use at 7 GHz. The module provides regulated bias supply for the chip and was designed for low-cost high-volume automated assembly. Design goals included a tuning bandwidth greater than 1 GHz for an input tuning voltage of 3-7 V, tuning slope between 150 and 300 MHz/V, power output greater than 13 dBm, and phase noise less than -70 dbc/Hz at 100-kHz offset. Measured performance exceeds goals set forth and matches modeled predictions well. A description of the circuit design, chip fabrication, and module performance is given.<>