Deploying M/A-COM VCOs:
Buffering, Mounting and Power Supplies
AN3011
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information.
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1
At low frequencies (<2GHz) an attenuator may be made
up from chip resistors. At higher frequencies better per-
formance may be obtained using a dedicated attenuator
‘pad’ chip component.
Figure 1 Recommended matching for Unbuffered VCOs
3 Mounting
3.1 T08 layout
M/A-COM VCOs are available in industry standard outline
T08 packages. A M/A-COM TO8 VCO outline drawing is
shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 T08 Outline Drawing
1 Introduction
Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) are essential
building blocks for signal generation where fast tuning is
required. M/A-COM’s line of Aerospace and Defence
VCOs deliver excellent tuning linearity and low phase
noise: critical parameters when designing Phase Locked
Loops (PLL.)
To obtain the best performance from M/A-COM VCOs, it
is important to use best practice Radio Frequency (RF)
design techniques.
This application note discusses three important aspects of
designing with M/A-COM VCOs:
Output loading: Proper termination of VCO RF
outputs to maximise performance.
Mounting: Outline drawings for M/A-COM T08
and SMT-T08 VCOs. Recommended pad layout
for SMT-T08 devices.
Power supplies: Minimising power supply noise.
2 Output Loading
2.1 RF layout
To achieve the best performance from M/A-COM VCOs, it
is critical that good design practices are used in the layout
of the RF circuit.
The VCO RF output track, on the circuit, should be
designed as a 50 ohm impedance. Line width should be
calculated in accordance with the circuit medium dielectric
constant and thickness.
2.2 Output match
Typical components in a system, such as mixers and
prescalers, usually offer a poor match to a connecting
component, such as a VCO. Adverse effects such as
output power variation, degraded phase noise and
frequency pulling may be caused by a poor match on the
VCO output.
Many M/A-COM VCOs feature a built-in output buffer.
This provides additional isolation to mitigate against the
effects of connecting components with a poor match.
For VCOs that do not feature built-in buffering, it is good
practice to ensure that the match presented to the VCO
output is <=1.5:1 VSWR (
14dB Return Loss.) This
match should be at a minimum distance from the VCO RF
output. A typical way to achieve this is to have a 10dB
attenuator and buffer amplifier between the VCO and the
next system component.
10dB
M/A-COM VCO
Attenuator / Amplifier
Providing isolation
?
Component with
Poor Match