An Overview on the Low-Jitter Millimeter-Wave Frequency Synthesizer

This paper presents a comprehensive overview on the low-jitter millimeter-wave (mmW) frequency synthesizer. Three different types of phase-locked loops (PLL) are discussed including PD-based PLL, PFD-based PLL, TAPFD-based PLL. TAPFD-based PLL achieves ultra-low in-band phase noise while keeping strong locking acquisition capability. It is a good candidate for the application of sub-100fs mmW frequency synthesizer.