Wideband Fractional-N PLL with Integrated VCO

Hittite Microwave has launched the HMC835LP6GE, a Wideband Fractional-N PLL with Integrated VCO that generates continuous fractional frequencies between 33 MHz and 4100 MHz. Targeted at cellular infrastructure market, HMC835LP6GE features industry leading PLL & VCO phase noise performance with a PLL Figure of Merit of -230 dBc/Hz in integer mode, and -227 dBc/Hz in fractional mode, and typical VCO phase noise of -134 dBc/Hz at 4 GHz output frequency and 1 MHz offset. HMC835LP6GE with differential or 4 single-ended outputs is designed for modern LTE MIMO radio architectures so that single HMC835LP6GE can drive multiple MIMO channels. HMC835LP6GE has external VCO input for HMC835LP6GE to lock both integrated and external VCOs, and enables cascaded LO architectures for MIMO radio applications. Two separate Charge Pump (CP) outputs enable optimized loop filters, and seamless switching between integrated or external VCOs during operation. Programmable RF output phase enables the use of multiple phase coherent LOs in scalable MIMO & beam-forming architectures. Separate, phase coherent LOs increase system phase noise performance (2 LOs by 3 dB, 4 LOs by 6 dB), and minimize crosstalk between MIMO channels. Reducing crosstalk increases the accuracy of MIMO channel estimation and thereby increases overall system throughput. Integrated phase coherent frequency changes improve sys...