Coupled-inductor multi-band VCO
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a resonator having a plurality of ports, each port comprising an inductor and at least one capacitor, wherein a plurality of inductors for the plurality of ports are magnetically coupled, wherein the resonator comprises at least three ports; and
an amplifier coupled to the resonator and operable to generate an output signal having a frequency determined by the resonator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-band VCO employs a coupled-inductor based resonator having N≧2 ports. Each port has an inductor and at least one capacitor. The N inductors for the N ports are magnetically coupled. The inductors/ports may be selectively enabled and disabled to allow the VCO to operate at different frequency bands. The capacitor(s) for each port may include one or more fixed capacitors, one or more variable capacitors (varactors), one or more switchable capacitors, or any combination of fixed, variable, and switchable capacitors. The switchable capacitors (if any) in the enabled ports may be selectively enabled and disabled to vary the VCO oscillation frequency. The varactors (if any) in the enabled ports can vary the oscillation frequency to lock the VCO to a desired frequency. The multi-band VCO may be implemented with various oscillator topologies and can replace multiple single-band VCOs.
76 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a resonator having a plurality of ports, each port comprising an inductor and at least one capacitor, wherein a plurality of inductors for the plurality of ports are magnetically coupled, wherein the resonator comprises at least three ports; and an amplifier coupled to the resonator and operable to generate an output signal having a frequency determined by the resonator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising:
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a resonator having a plurality of ports, each port comprising an inductor and at least one switchable capacitor, the switchable capacitors allowing the resonator to achieve a continuous and wide range of resonant frequencies, wherein a plurality of inductors for the plurality of ports are magnetically coupled; and an amplifier coupled to the resonator and operable to generate an output signal having a frequency determined by the resonator. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising:
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means for forming a plurality of resonator tanks that are magnetically coupled; means for selectively enabling and disabling switchable capacitors in the plurality of resonator tanks to achieve a continuous and wide range of resonant frequencies; and means for amplifying a signal from at least one enabled resonator tank to generate an output signal having a frequency determined by the at least one enabled resonator tank. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A wireless device in a wireless communication system, comprising:
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a resonator having a plurality of ports, each port comprising an inductor and at least one capacitor, wherein a plurality of inductors for the plurality of ports are magnetically coupled, wherein the resonator comprises at least three ports; and an amplifier coupled to the resonator and operable to generate an output signal having a frequency determined by the resonator. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of generating an oscillator signal, comprising:
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identifying a selected frequency band from among a continuous and wide range of resonant frequencies; selectively enabling and disabling switchable capacitors in a plurality of ports of a resonator based on the selected frequency band; and generating the oscillator signal for the selected frequency band with the resonator. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification