A triple-tuned ultra-wideband VCO

We have already proposed a triple-tuned voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) for achieving an ultra-wideband characteristic. The triple-tuned VCO consists of an active device and three tuned circuits. The fabricated VCO has achieved the oscillation bandwidth of 5.6 - 16.8 GHz and the phase noise of - 114.9 dBc/Hz +/- 2.9 dB at 1-MHz offset from the carrier. In this paper, for the first time, the conditions that the VCO achieves the ultra-wideband characteristic are clarified by formulation and simulation. It is also clarified that a transistor of the larger emitter size is suitable for the wideband VCO. In addition, the performances of the proposed VCO are compared with other reported wideband VCOs. As a result, it is shown that the proposed VCO has achieved the lowest figure of merit in the C-K u-band.