Timing jitter and phase noise in electronic oscillators

In the first part of this dissertation, low frequency l/f or flicker noise in the frequency range of Hz to kHz has been identified and demonstrated to be described by temperature fluctuations in heat conduction in bipolar transistors operated at higher power densities. This noise phenomenon is not described by current SPICE programs used in circuit simulations. This noise in the kHz range can modulate LC oscillators and can be the determining factor in causing phase noise in modern wireless communication systems. At lower frequencies or lower power densities flicker noise may still result from number fluctuations or mobility fluctuations but this is not as important in determining the phase noise at kHz offsets from the carrier frequencies.; In the second part of this dissertation work, we have developed a large signal nonlinear transient simulation technique to simulate phase noise due to device noise in electronic oscillators. Simulation results are consistent with Leeson's theory and the magnitude of the sidebands directly scales with the magnitude of injected noise. Simulation also shows phase noise at 4.7 MHz frequency offset is white noise dominated and in good agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature.; In the third part of this dissertation work, we have developed a large signal nonlinear transient simulation technique to simulate timing jitter in electronic oscillators. Simulation results are consistent with the accepted theory, analytical formula and A. Hajimiri's analytical model for white noise. Two important parameters cycle jitter, and cycle to cycle jitter used to describe jitter performance can be obtained from simulation. Simulation results are also compared with measurement and close agreement was observed between them.; We have employed this methodology and investigated the timing jitter in silicon BJT/or SiGe HBT ECL ring oscillators, and we have shown silicon BJT/or SiGe HBT ring oscillators have lower jitter compared to their CMOS counterparts. As such silicon BJT and/or SiGe HBT ring oscillators are a potential choice for low jitter applications.