Physics-based analysis and simulation of phase noise in oscillators

A comprehensive technology computer-aided design (TCAS) framework is developed that can predict the phase noise spectrum of an oscillator using nonlinear perturbation analysis based on the device-circuit mixed-mode simulation technique. The framework is used to show that simulations of the period jitter and the phase noise spectrum of a CMOS LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) can be done through a physics-based approach, making it very useful for the design of low-noise communication systems.