EXTENDING BEAMFORMING CAPABILITY OF A COUPLED VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR (VCO) ARRAY DURING LOCAL OSCILLATOR (LO) SIGNAL GENERATION THROUGH FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION

摘要

A method includes separating phase of Local Oscillator (LO) signals generated by individual Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) of a coupled VCO array through varying voltage levels of voltage control inputs thereto. The method also includes frequency multiplying an output of each individual VCO of the coupled VCO array to increase a range of phase differences between the phase separated LO signals generated by the individual VCOs. Further, the method includes mixing the frequency multiplied outputs of the individual VCOs with signals from antenna elements of an antenna array to introduce differential phase shifts in signal paths coupled to the antenna elements during performing beamforming with the antenna array.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
separating phase of Local Oscillator (LO) signals generated by individual Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) of a coupled VCO array through varying voltage levels of voltage control inputs thereto; frequency multiplying an output of each individual VCO of the coupled VCO array to increase a range of phase differences between the phase separated LO signals generated by the individual VCOs; and mixing the frequency multiplied outputs of the individual VCOs with signals from antenna elements of an antenna array to introduce differential phase shifts in signal paths coupled to the antenna elements during performing beamforming with the antenna array.