Thermally Actuated Multiband Voltage Controlled Oscillator Design with MEMS Switch

Wireless communication systems often require multiband receivers. The multiband operation is controlled by the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). MOSFET switches are commonly used in the switched capacitor array in multiband VCOs, but the noisy MOSFET switches have a great impact on the phase noise performance of the system. This paper presents a thermally actuated MEMS switch used in a differential Colpitts VCO. The phase noise performance is 21 dB better than MOSFET switched VCO circuit.

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