DESIGN OF RING OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT USING

CONTROLLED LOW VOLTAGE SWING

INVERTER
in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree

of

Master of Technology
In
VLSI DESIGN

Khushboo kumari(17PEC017)

Under the guidance of

Prof. Bidyut Kumar Bhattacharyya

Department of Electronics and Communication

National Institute of Technology, Agartala

 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude towards my guide Asst. Prof. Bidyut Kumar Bhattacharyya

for his constant help, encouragement and inspiration throughout the project work. Without his
invaluable guidance, this work would never have been a successful one. I would also like to
thank all the faculty members of ECE department for their valuable suggestions and helpful
discussions. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends who offered me their constant support and
help throughout this work.

Khushboo Kumari

Roll no.: 17PEC012

 3

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………2
Contents ……………………………………………………………………………3
Chapter 1 Introduction ……………………………………………………..[4-7]

1.1 Balun………………………………………………………… 4

1.2 Common terms in a Balun …………………………………… 4-5

1.3 Types of Balun……………………………………………….. 5-6

1.4 Rat Race Coupler……………………………………………... 6

1.5 Substrate specification ………………………………………. 6-7

1.6 Software Used ……………………………………………… 7

1.7 Objective and Scope ………………………………………… 7

Chapter 2 Literature Survey ……………………………………………………….[8]

2.1 Literature survey on research paper………………………….. 8

Chapter 3 Design of Balun……………………………………………………….[9-14]

3.1 Single transmission line …………………………………..9-10

3.2 Design and discussion of Rat Race Coupler………………10-12

3.3 Design and discussion oF Balun…………………………...12-14

Chapter 4 Conclusion and Future Scope ……………………………………………..[15]

References
 4

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Differential circuits are becoming more widely used in RF circuits for the same reason that they
have been used for years in lower frequency circuits. The benefits of using differential circuits
include immunity to electromagnetic interference, power supply noise and ground noise, even-
order harmonic suppression, and tolerance to less than perfect RF grounds. Thus, baluns are
employed in many modern circuit designs.

1.1 Balun
The balun (a contraction of balanced-unbalanced) is a two-port component placed between a
source and load when a differential, balanced RF functional block must connect to a single-
ended, ground-referenced one. Although it is often “glossed over” in RF discussions because it
does not add obvious value to the RF signal chain, this passive component is essential in
common situations.

1.2 Common term in Balun

Frequency coverage: As with all RF/microwave circuits, each performance metric is only valid
across some specified bandwidth. Increasing the bandwidth from octave, to decade, to multi-
decade without sacrificing performance is a major challenge. In general Marki baluns can be
divided into two types. Those with magnetic coupling perform below 10 MHz, while those with
only capacitive coupling have low end performance limited to about 1 GHz, but can operate up
to millimeter wave frequencies.

Phase Balance: The most important performance criterion is how close the balanced outputs are
to having equal power and 180° phase, called phase balance. Phase balance is the measure of
how closely the inverted output is to 180° out of phase with the non-inverted output, usually
given in degrees. It is the most critical parameter for many balun applications. In addition to the
quality of the balun structure, how closely matched the lengths of the output lines are determines
the balance. Typical phase balance for standard microwave baluns is ±15° max and ±10°.

Amplitude Balance: Related to phase balance, amplitude balance is also determined by

construction and line matching. Although it is called amplitude balance, it is usually specified in
 5

dB and actually gives the match between output power magnitudes. Low performance baluns
have amplitude balance of ±1.5 dB max and ±1 dB typical.

Common Mode Rejection Ratio: If two identical signals with identical phase are injected into
the balanced ports of the balun (called ‘common mode’ or ‘even mode’ signals), they will be
either reflected or absorbed. The amount of attenuation this signal will experience from the
balanced to unbalanced port is called common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) and is expressed in
dB. It is determined by the vectorial addition of the two signals, and therefore is dependent on
the amplitude and phase balance of the balun.As a rule of thumb, a 0.1dB improvement in
amplitude balance will improve the CMRR by the same amount as a 1° improvement in phase
balance.

Insertion and Return Loss: A lower insertion loss and higher return loss will mean more power
available for downstream functions, an improved dynamic range, and less distortion of signals in
previous stages of the system. In a balun without isolation, as in a reactive splitter, the return loss
of balanced ports will be different for common mode and differential mode signals.
Return loss= dB (S11)
Insertion loss= dB (S12)

1.3 Types of Balun

Flux couples balun transformer: The most common type of balun by volume is the flux
coupled balun transformer. This is a balun created by winding two separate wires around a
magnetic core (the same as any transformer), and grounding one side of the primary winding.
This creates an unbalanced condition on the primary side, and a balanced condition on the
secondary side. In addition, the secondary side can have an arbitrary ratio of turns to the primary
side, creating an arbitrary impedance ratio.

Capacitive coupled transmission line balun: Because of difficulties in flux coupled balun, the
capacitively coupled transmission line balun was developed. This is a set of coupled lines with
one end grounded, such that the coupling will induce equal and opposite signals in both lines.
Converting the ground to a transmission line allows the signal to be used differentially. This can
be done in many ways, most often with a bifilar transmission line wrapped around a magnetic
core to take advantage of the low frequency magnetic coupling as well as the high frequency
capacitive coupling.

Power divider-inverter balun: All the previously mentioned baluns are of one type, where
coupling of some sort is used to float the ground of an unbalanced transmission line, creating a
balanced transmission line. Another type of balun is one where an in phase power division is
 6

performed first, and then a 180° phase shift is applied to one of the outputs, creating a balanced
output. This structure is not to be confused with the 180° power divider, which is discussed
below. This phase shift can be narrow band, such as a half wave transmission line, or a
broadband phase shift such as an inverter.

Rat Race coupler balun: The final type of balun is the 180° power divider, which is a balun
with isolation between the outputs. These are implemented using 180° hybrid junctions (Fig. 9).
These are similar in function to 90° hybrid couplers, but they have a phase shift of 180° between
the non-isolated ports. They have the property that from two inputs, the common or even mode
will output from one port (the Σ or sum port), while the differential or odd mode will appear at a
different port (the Σ or difference port). A 180° hybrid coupler can be made into a 180° power
divider by terminating the sum port with a 50 Ω load.

1.4 Rat Race Coupler (RRC)

A rat-race coupler (also known as a hybrid ring coupler) is a type of coupler used in RF and
microwave systems. In its simplest form it is a 3dB coupler, it has the advantage of being easy to
realize in planar technologies such as microstrip and stripline. The rat-race coupler has four
ports, each placed one quarter wavelength away from each other around the top half of the ring.
The bottom half of the ring is three quarter wavelengths in length. The ring has a characteristic
impedance of factor √√2 compared to port impedance.

Fig 1.1. Conventional Rat Race Coupler

1.5 Substrate specification

Substrate is the material over which the patch is laid down. The patch is basically a
microstrip line which is separated from the ground plane by a dielectric in between know as the
substrate. The dielectric constant determines the wave velocity, which is used to determine the
 7

wavelength. Hence for a high dielectric the length of the microstrip line increases and the size of
the circuit increase. And the height of the substrate determines the impedance, as there is a
capacitive effect between the ground plane and microstrip line. Substrate used in this material is
FR4.

The characteristic of FR4 substrate is:

a. Dielectric constant 4.4

b. Substrate height 1.59 and 1.6 mm
c. Loss tangent of 0.002
d. Cheap and readily available
e. Low loss.
f. Dielectric breakdown 50 kV.

1.6 Software Used

Zeland IE3D is a full-wave electromagnetic simulator based on the method of moments
(Mom). It can simulate single layer and multilayer structures of general shapes. It is widely used
in the design of microwave circuits, RF circuits, antennas, etc. It is used to measure the S
parameters, VSWR, current distributions, radiation patterns as well as characteristic impedance
of a transmission line. In IE3D non-uniform mesh with rectangular and triangular cells are
automatically generated and can model structure with finite ground plane.3D and 2D display of
current distribution, radiation patterns and near field can be observed.
It is easier to perform iterative process as precision is an important factor in designing
microwave circuits. Analysis, comparison and modification are performed iteratively until the
specification is met or optimum performance is achieved.

1.7 Objective and Scope

This work aims a compact Balun with enhanced bandwidth,which has been achieved from an
RRC. The proposed λ/4 TL section of impedance 70.7 Ohm is achieved using interdigital
capacitor and high impedance TL in parallel configuration. The ABCD parameter of proposed
TL is equalised to the conventional ABCD parameter to achieve the design equations. Based on
the equations a RRC operating at 2.4 GHz has been designed and simulated. On removal of the
isolation port a compact size Balun is designed. The FBW of the balun is 33% and occupies 0.51
λg ×0.22 λg size.

This work shows the balun in single band, in future I would like to work in compact size dual
band balun.
 8

CHAPTER 2

LITRETURE SURVEY

This chapter describes basic knowledge required to start the thesis. At first theoretical
concept has been taken from the book on “ Foundation of Microwave Circuit Design” by Terry
C. Edwards, Michael B. Steer and “RF and Microwave Coupled-Line Circuits” R.K. Mongia, I.
J. Bahl, P. Bhartia, J. Hong.

2.1 Literature survey on research paper

Before starting with the thesis, previous works done on performance enhancement of branch
line coupler by other researcher has been read. Some of the previous works are chronologically
mentioned below.

A novel compact wideband planer balun (fig2.1) with high isolation is proposed [1] which is
composed of a broadband coupled line power divider and a 180º phase shifter using coupled line
and composite LH TL. It provides wide bandwidth but occupies large area. A branch line
Balun[12] with a quarter wavelength stub (fig 2.2)and meandering a branch designed on Duroid
6006 which is costly and it provides 40% FBW but extensive size.

Fig 2.1 wideband planer balun Fig 2.2 Branch line balun
1. Wu, Y., Zhuang, Z., Jiao, L. and Liu, Y: A compact planar wide-band balun with high isolation based on
coupled-line and composite right–left-handed transmission line, vol. 58, pp. 372–376(2016).
2. J. L. Li, S. W. Qu and Q. Xue: Miniaturised branch-line balun with bandwidth enhancement, vol. 43, no. 17,
pp. 931-932(2007)
 9

CHAPTER 3

DESIGN OF BALUN

A balun is a transformer used to connect balanced transmission line circuits to unbalanced

transmission line circuits. Fig. 3.1 shows examples unbalanced transmission lines. Two
conductors having equal potential with 180-degree phase difference constitute a balanced line. In
this case, no current flows through a grounded shield (i.e., I1 = I2 and Is = Ig = 0). When this
condition is not satisfied, as shown Figure 1.1, where Is is finite, the transmission line is termed
as unbalanced. In addition to providing a matched transition between a balanced and an
unbalanced line, baluns also function as center-tap transformers for push-pull applications used
in radio frequency applications.

Fig 3.1 Unbalanced Microstrip Transmission line

3.1. Proposed Transmission Line Section

In this section, the design procedure of proposed quarter wavelength TL has been described.
Considering a single TL (Fig 3.1), this holds some capacitive and inductive effect.
A Interdigital capacitor (2 fingers of length l =4mm, width w =0.8mm, and gap 1 mm between
fingers) is connected in parallel with a high impedance TL. A equivalent circuit of proposed
quarter wavelength TL is shown in Fig.2.The structure consist one series inductance Lc with the
Interdigital capacitance Cc and both are connected in parallel with a inductance L.
 10

Fig.3.1. Layout of Single transmission line

Fig.3.2. Equivalent circuit of transmission line

The characteristic impedance of the equivalent π-circuit can be given as;

1
𝐿(𝑗𝜔𝐿𝑐 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶 )
𝑐
𝑍𝑐 = √
1
𝐶𝑝 (𝑗𝜔𝐿 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿𝑐 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶 )
𝑐

As from above equation, one can easily figure it out that Zc∝ √L and Zc∝ 1/√Cc .ABCD
parameter of the half wavelength conventional TL is:
[𝐴 𝐵 𝐶 𝐷 ]=[0 𝑗𝑍𝑐 𝑗/𝑍𝑐 0 ]

Considering the π-equivalent lumped circuit of proposed TL for calculation, the ABCD
parameters are:

1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐶𝑝 𝐿 + 𝜔4 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 𝐶𝑝 𝐿
𝐴=
1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐
 11

𝑗𝜔𝐿(1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 )
𝐵=
1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐

𝑗𝜔(2𝐶𝑝 − 2𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 𝐶𝑝 − 2𝜔2 𝐶𝑝 𝐿𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐶𝑝 2 𝐿 + 𝜔4 𝐶𝑝 2 𝐿𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 )

𝐶=
1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐

1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐶𝑝 𝐿 + 𝜔4 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 𝐶𝑝 𝐿
𝐷=
1 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝑐 𝐶𝑐 − 𝜔2 𝐿𝐶𝑐

After equating theses equations to the ideal value of ABCD parameter we can get the value of Lc,
Cc, L, and Cp are respectively.
Other physical measurements for proposed TL (Fig 2) are W1 = 6.8mm, W2 =2mm, W3 =
3.1mm, W4 = 2.9mm, g =0.8mm.

3.2 Design and Discussion of RRC

The 3 dB RRC has been designed on FR4 substrate, with dielectric constant 4.4, substrate height
1.6mm, and loss tangent 0.02. To get a compact RRC conventional TL is replaced by proposed
TL. Fig 3.3 shows a layout of the proposed RRC. It is simulated using Zeland IE3D-14 based on
MoM’s method.

Fig.3.3 Layout of RRC

Figure 3.4 shows the simulated S-parameter response of proposed RRC. The input signal splits
equally between port 2 and port 4 at centre frequency 2.4 GHz. The isolation at port 3 and
reflection from port 1 is -28 dB. The phase difference between port 2 and port 4 is 0º as shown in
Fig 3.5. The ±1 dB amplitude imbalance and ± 8º phase tolerance ranges from 2 GHz to 2.9
GHz.
 12

Fig.3.4 simulated S-parameter through port, coupling and isolation of RRC

Fig.3.5. phase difference between S21and S41

3.3 Design and Discussion of Balun

A Balun has been designed by removal of isolation port of RRC, hence two port are there to give
the splitted input signal with a phase difference of 180º. Fig 3.6 shows the proposed Balun
structure. It has been simulated in Zeland IE3D-14.
 13

Fig.3.6. Layout of proposed Balun

Figure 3.7 shows the simulated S-parameter response of Balun. Figure 8 shows the phase
difference of output at port 2 and port 3.The phase difference 180º and 3 dB bandwidth lies from
2 GHz to 2.8 GHz with phase tolerance ±8º and amplitude imbalance of ±1 dB. The size of
proposed Balun and RRC is 0.51λg×0.22λg.

Fig.3.7. Simulated S-parameter of output port and reflection through input port
 14

Fig.3.8. Simulated phase difference of output at port 2 and port 3

 15

CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION
A compact size balun is proposed using Interdigital capacitor atcentre frequency 2.4 GHz. The
balun has been designed by removing the isolation port of RRC. The structure is compact, cheap,
and simple with better performance and can be used for practical microwave communication
circuit.As this balun has been designed for single band so in future I would like to work in dual
band balun.

References
[1] H. x. Xu, G. m. Wang and K. Lu: Microstrip Rat-Race Couplers, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 117-129 (2011).
[2] C. Y. Pon: Hybrid-ring directional coupler for arbitrary power divisions, vol. 9. MTT-9, no. 6, pp.529–535
(1961).
[3] H. R. Ahn and S. Nam: Wideband Microstrip Coupled-Line Ring Hybrids for High Power-Division Ratios,
vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 1768-1780 (2013)
[4] H. R. Ahn and M. M. Tentzeris: A Novel Wideband Compact Microstrip Coupled-Line Ring Hybrid for
Arbitrarily High Power-Division Ratios, vol. 64, no. 6, pp. 630-634 (2017).
[5] Bekasiewicz, A & Kurgan, Piotr: A compact microstrip rat‐race coupler constituted by non-uniform
transmission lines, 56, pp.970-974(2014)
[6] H. Okabe, C. Caloz and T. Itoh: A compact enhanced-bandwidth hybrid ring using an artificial lumped-
element left-handed transmission-line section, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 798-804 (2004).
[7] T. G. Kim and B. Lee: Metamaterial-based wideband rat-race hybrid coupler using slow wave lines,vol. 4,
no. 6, pp. 717-721 (2010).
[8] S.Jakub, P. Ilona, Wincza K. and S.Gruszczynski: Bandwidth Improvement of Rat- Race Couplers Having
Left- Handed Transmission- Line Sections vol. 24,341-347(2014).
[9] G.-Q. Liu, L.-S. Wu, and W.-Y. Yin: A compact microstrip rat-race coupler with modified lange and t-
shaped arms,vol. 115, 509-523( 2011).
[10]S. Gruszczynski and K. Wincza: Broadband Rat-Race Couplers With Coupled-Line Section and Impedance
Transformers,vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 22-24(2012).
[11] Wu, Y., Zhuang, Z., Jiao, L. and Liu, Y: A compact planar wide-band balun with high isolation based on
coupled-line and composite right–left-handed transmission line, vol. 58, pp. 372–376(2016).
[12] J. L. Li, S. W. Qu and Q. Xue: Miniaturised branch-line balun with bandwidth enhancement, vol. 43, no.
17, pp. 931-932(2007
16