
6
use a 1MHz reference frequency that is derived from a
second 22MHz Fox F4106 crystal oscillator. Two separate
crystal oscillators were used for the HFA3824A and
HFA3524A to maintain a high quality, low spurious reference
for the synthesizer. Sharing a common 22MHz oscillator is
possible if care is taken to isolate the HFA3824A from the
HFA3524A. Both feedback loops are third order and were
designed to have loop bandwidths of 10kHz, and phase
margins of 50 degrees. The feedback loop analysis is
included for both loops in Appendix D. Measured phase
noise performance and calculated RMS phase jitter is
included in Appendix E. All components in the synthesizer
section operate from a regulated 3.5V supply.
The tunable 2132MHz to 2204MHz first LO oscillator is a
Motorola KXN1332A VCO. To ensure operation at low
tuning voltages, a start-up circuit was added to force the
tuning voltage from the HFA3524A Synthesizer RF charge
pump to a high state for a short period (~1ms) following
HFA3524A programming. A 2N2907 PNP transistor was
used to implement this function, and the AM79C930 MAC
device provides the control signal. The output level of the
first LO to the HFA3624 RF/IF Converter is attenuated to
approximately -3dBm. An active buffer using an additional
HFA3424 is used to provide additional isolation between the
VCO and the HFA3624 LO input.
The fixed 560MHz second LO oscillator is a discrete design,
using a Phillips BFR505 transistor and a Siemens BBY51
varactor, as described in the HFA3524A Synthesizer
evaluation board documentation. The output level of the
second LO to the HFA3724 Quadrature IF
Modulator/Demodulator is attenuated to approximately -6dBm
and a three pole low pass filter is included to preserve the
duty cycle of the output. High even order components in the
second LO can result in offsets from a 50% duty cycle, and
will degrade the quadrature phase accuracy of the HFA3724.
A transconductance network is used at the HFA3724 LO input
to convert the second LO voltage into a current, as
recommended in the HFA3724 data sheet. As the HFA3524A
Synthesizer auxiliary IF input covers the 560MHz range, the
internal divide-by-two LO buffer output of the HFA3724 is
disabled, as recommended in the HFA3724 data sheet.
Regulator Section
Linear voltage regulators are used to provide filtering and
isolation from the 5V PC Card input supply. An additional
advantage of using voltage regulators is a savings in
overall supply current, as all of the components that are
regulated consume less current at a 3.5V operating point,
as opposed to a 5V operating point. The 3.5V operating
point was chosen specifically to support the AM79C930
MAC controller. At the time of publication 3.5V was the
lowest nominal operating voltage approved by AMD for
40MHz AM79C930 operation.
The only components operating directly from the 5V supply
are the HFA3925 RFPA, in order to maximize RF output
power, and the PC Card interface sections of the AM79C930
MAC controller.
A total of three regulators, 3.5V Toko TK11235MTL, are
used in the PC Card wireless LAN. One regulator supplies
voltage to the HFA3824A Baseband Processor and portions
of the AM79C930, as well as the HFA3424 LNA and
HFA3624 RF/IF Converter. A second regulator supplies
voltage to the synthesizer. The third regulator supplies
voltage to the HFA3724 Quadrature IF
Modulator/Demodulator.
PCB Layout Guidelines
Although the actual PCB layout is proprietary, some of the
techniques utilized are worthy of discussion [11]. As there
are many RF, IF, analog, and digital circuits in close
proximity, isolation is of prime concern. All RF and IF circuits
utilize coplanar waveguide with ground transmission line
techniques to allow for easy integration of varied line widths
and component pin widths, and to provide a low dispersion,
high isolation environment. A Radio Schematic is available
on the internet at
http://www.intersil.com/prism/lanref.htm.
The outside two planes of each side of the PCB are
dedicated to RF and IF signal processing, and form two pairs
of coplanar waveguide with ground circuits. As the two sides
of the PCB contain circuitry that must be isolated from each
other, blind via techniques are used, and the only places that
the two sides share common ground or signal connections
are when signals are passed between them - mainly when
LO1 and LO2 need to pass from the synthesizer side to the
RF/IF transceiver side.
In general, the RF and IF circuit layouts need to be as short
and direct as possible to avoid costly shielding. This is
especially critical in the receive IF stages where spurious
signal coupling can easily occur, resulting in poor sensitivity
or high packet error rates.
Application Note 9624
Motorola is a trademark of Motorola, Inc.