A 30 GHz regenerative divide-by-2 frequency divider

摘要

There is presently a drive towards the consumer use of Ka-band satellite systems to extend the information highway to areas unserviced by the terrestrial infrastructure. In order for these systems to be commercially successful, there is a need for low cost user terminals. Microwave frequency digital prescalers/dividers are commercially available to about 15 GHz. To perform frequency division above 15 GHz, analog techniques must be used. This paper describes the design and development of a 30 GHz divide-by-2 regenerative type divider, also known as a Miller divider [1], for use in a Ka-band synthesizer. It will form part of the PLL chain of the synthesizer. The divider follows the output of a Ka-band VCO, so that once the signal is divided in half, commercially available chip type dividers/prescalers and components can be used for the rest of the PLL chain. The design approach, component selection, fabrication and experimental results are presented.