oscillators in systems. By Ramon M. Cerda Tio estes in a eal word ere would be no noise, But what is noise? What is electrical noise? Or more to the point ofthis article: Wha is phase noise? As engineers, We {know intuitively that low noise in system is beter than high nose. However, we must quantify this noise in commonly abvepted units We will also examine the difference in phase voise performance of commodity vs. low-cost, high-performance crystal oscillators. Understanding the cost and performance trado-ofls botvoon oscil lator is important to «system design. Many times we see two com- petitive systems separated widely in performance, but notin price. ‘The excilltor phase noise characteristics will dominate the entre system performance and spending afew more dllarson the oseillator «ean boost a system's performance. However, an engincer can easily over-specfy the osillator, and Ihenve the key isto understand exacily how the oscillator phase noise (or jitter) limits the system performance. To help with this under stading, a tuoriel on phase nose end jter isin oder Oscillator phase noise and jitter Tan osillato, phase noise isthe rapid random fluctuations inthe ‘phase component ofthe output signal. The eqution of this signal is: V)=Asin(2n f+) © Fo = a one SER Sea Spreading of Signal ue to Ao(t) (phase noise) Signal Nose ratio; ‘function of Ae Noise Time and Frequen Cy 5 Impact of ultralow phase noise oscillators on system performance While helping to understand phase noise and jitter of high-performance oscillators, this article also examines the impact of oscillator phase noise on system performance, underscoring the importance of using ultralow phase noise ‘Where: A, ~nominal peak voltage = aominal fundamental frequency thtime AQ(2)= random deviation of phase from nominal— Mover p(s the pine wie, hat A, wl esblih the signal-to-noise rai. Figure 1 illustrates ths tT \oise floor ‘ole sgl ate stochastic and, ina broad sess, oie can be characterized a ay sdesed signal at trees witht mala signal to be processod or gonerated. It can disturb any physical: parameter such as voltage, current, phase, frequency (or tine), et. Therefore, he den ito mavinize thesia and tininis lhe nse fora high sgnaleonose ratio (SNR). ‘Nise power is quanied as P =KTAPETB (W) Where K is the Boltzmann's coutant=1.38x10 (VK) Tis the absolute temperate in ‘And Af aad B both represent the bandwidth in which the snoasrment s made in Hera Tn the absence of any signal, there is thermal noise floor, This floor level can be specified in a variety of units: Watts, V*/Hz, ‘Vili, dia to name a few. For oslo, is conveien ‘Suse dima datine noise density. ‘efor dening dei we need oa dine dBm, which fers todoibels above iW in $0 sytem adi ive by Power, VIR, Tm ay? ®) 2 dBm = 1010 Thus, stom the above equation, 1 mW is equal to 0 dB, Bquation 2 givesus the magnitude of thermal noise and substituting for K and T we get: P= (138x10)(300)8 = 4x10" watts ® ‘Whore B isthe bandwidth of interest, for whic we will use 1 He to normalize the result, Using the equation of dBm (Equation 3), and using the result fom sbove we have: 2 og IE a tong -17) nt) = 14) am $3 Frequency eee Figure 1, Frequency of domain signal (spectrum) of V(t) = A,sin(2nfe+4(t)- o 2 vee uy 2008Deterministic ‘Signal Deterministic ‘Signal Toth, Froquerey re 2 Feeney oO) =A Sims ao Fr ne 00 «A sian aan Sting the andi B to 1 Hz wil give ws the Sl res ia Bins ond snc log) i zero, weave P.=-174 aBmvtiz © “The quantity of-74 dBi isthe them noise power density of fi reitr at 290 K measured ins 1 Hy bani ‘fan esllator bs at cual power of I mW orO dB, then =174 dBm! He 174 dBe/ Hz a Where dBe is decibels reletive to the carrier level. This result tells us that the bes obtainable noise floor for 0 dBm oscillator ig-174 dBoe at 290 X. In general, one can convert dBm to dBm/Hz with: dBm/ He = (value in dBm) -l0log(B) 8) and dBm to dB with: dBm = (value in dBm/Fz) +og(B) 7 For example: What is-S0 dBm in dBavTzina I kHz bandwidth? Solution: ‘Power in dBm/He = -$0-10log( 1000) = -S0-10(3) = -80 dBovtz Noise characteristics "Noise on a carrier can be separated into two categories: random and deterministic. Random noise spreads the carrer while determin- isticnoise generates sidebands on the carrier asusrated in Figure 2 Audding te deterministic component to Equation 1, it now becomes, V(=Asin[2n ft +AO@) +m, sin2t f,)] 0) ‘Where m, is the amplitude of the deterministic signal, which Js phase modulating the cartier, and f is the frequency of the deterministic signal "Noise bs itinite bandwidth, and hence the preater the bandwidth of the insrument being used fo measure a cartier frequency with noise, the higher the noise it measures. For example, as you change the resolution bandwidth (equivalent to the physical bandwidth of the IF channel) on a spectrum analyzer, the noise magnitude changes. Hence, there should be one standard measurement bandwidth to use when specifying spectral purity of an oscillator or signal source. ‘The industry bas settled on 2 conclation bandwidth Sor phase noise mensurements of 1 Hz, known as the nomaalized frequency. ‘There are few spectrum analyzers that have a 1 Hz. resolution bandwidth, Such'a spectrum snalyzer is very expensive. In thet, the closer to the carrier you want to measure, the higher the it eqerey Room hooey 9eaecnse oearsease fs) \ ‘Approcmate BW of esonalor jy siete Vetus Semone aso ‘igure 3."ypicl $88 phase nlee pot of ecilatr vs feat instrument cost will be. A spectrum analyzer will specify how close {othe carrer itcan mensure known asthe lowest resolution bandwidih possible); above this maximam frequency, one can normalize the reading to | Hz with the following: Bale H) = (value in dBc) ~1Olog(res. BW of spectrum analyzer) ay For example, say a noise point is given as -40 dBe at an ‘offset frequency of 10 KHz ftom the cartier And the resolution Dandwidth of the instrument is set to 1 kHz, What is the phase noise at tis point in dBe/H2? ‘Answer B(dBe! Hz) = (~40)—1010g(1000) Since the log(1000) =3 we have: P,(dBe! Hz) =(-40) -103) “Therefore, the phase noise at this point is ~70 dBelHz at 10 KHz offset, oF: 110 ktlz} = ~70 dBe/Hz a The noise spectrum of a signal is symmetrical around the carrer frequency and, therefore iis necessary to specify only one side. This one-sided spectrum is called « single sideband (SSB) spectrum, Hence, the spectral purty of a signal can be completely ‘quantified by its single sideband (SSB) phase noise plot as shown in Figure 3, ‘This SSB plot hes been assigned the script {7} and is defined as one half the sum of both sidebands. L(f} has units of decibels below the carrier per Hertz (dBe/Hz) and is defined as Pats] gy where Paanlfe+Afste) represents the signal power ata frequency offxt of AY away from the carrier with a measurement bandwidth of 1 Hz. 0 ‘wnefdesign.com iy 2008Bolow are throe of the most popular ways in which phase noise is defined. 1, The term most widely used (0 describe the characteristic randomness of frequency stability 2, Tho short-om froquency instability of an oscillator in the fiequency domain. 3, The peak carrier signal to the noise at a specific offset off the carrier expressed in dB below the eacier in # 1 Hy bandsidth {aBeltia), Jitter and random jitter So fa, all ofthe discussion regarding acse has been presented in the frequency domein, An oseilator noise porformance characterized in the time domain is known as jiter. Note that phase noise and fitter are two linked quantities associated with @ noisy oscillator, ‘and, in general, asthe phase noise inereases in the oscillator, s0 does the jitter “tor is a variation in the zero-crossing times of a signal, ot a variation inthe period ofthe signal. iter is composed of two misjor components, one that is predictable and one that is random. The predictable component of jitter 18 called deterministic iter. The andoracomponentaf teri called random jer. Random iter comes from the random phase noise, while deterministic jer comes from Figure 4 Gaussian or normal ditributlon curve, ‘the dotorministc anise. Random jitter (RJ) is characterized by a Gaussian (normal probability) distribution and assumed to be unbounded, As a result it generlly affects long-term device stability. Because peak-to-peak measurements take a long time to achieve statistical significance, random jitter is usually measured asa root mean square (rm) value ‘Why’ does jitter take on the characteristic of a Gaussian Aistribution furcton? The answer is the following: Random jitter is the result ofthe accurmulation of random processes including thermal noise, flicker noise, shot noise, etc. All of these noise sources contribute tothe total jiter observed atthe output of an oscillator. ‘The central limit theorem statos thatthe sum of many independent random events (functions) converges to a Gaussian distibution, as epicted in Figure 5 Deterministic jitter (Du) Deterministic jitter (DJ) has @ non-Gaussian probability den- sity fimetion (PDF) and is characterized by its. bounded. peak- to-peak (plepk) amplitude, Deterministic jter is expressed in units of time, pk-pk. The following are examples of deterministic jitler 1 periodic jitter (PJ) or sinusoidal—o., caused by power supply feedthrough; 1 intersymbol iterfeence (IS1)—e.g, ftom channel dispersion of filtering: duty cycle distortion (DCD)—eg, from asymmetric rise/fall simes; Subharmoni(s) of the oscillator—e g, fom straight-multiplica- sion axillator designs; uncorrelated periodic jitter e.g, from crosstalk by other signals; and 1 comelated periodic iter Total jitter (TJ) Total itr (1) isthe surmation (convotution) ofall independent Jiver components ‘otal iter (T!) ~random jitter (RI) + detent jitter (D1) Impact of phase noise/jtter on system Phase noise of jer of aa oscflator has a dicect impact on system's perfomance. Than RF communication system, high phase Gaussian Distribution (Normal) Figure 5. Corral mit theorem-—the eum o independent random functions converges 1 a Gaussian distribution, 2 swonrtdesign com, sly 2008