Phase Noise: A New Frontier for Amplifier MMICs

Phase noise is an important, yet often misunderstood, parameter of microwave systems. In this presentation, we will begin by defining the origins of phase noise. Next, we will examine how phase noise affects system performance and give examples to show why its level can be so important. We will discuss the phase noise properties of different technologies when utilized for oscillators, amplifiers, and frequency multipliers. Finally, we will discuss current work aimed at reducing phase noise by specifically considering the design of Custom MMIC’s new broadband MMIC amplifiers and multipliers in the 6 to 40 GHz range. 

Presenter Bio:
Paul Blount founded Custom MMIC in 2006 and has served as its CEO and CTO since its inception. His primary focus was to develop products that solve the issues encountered by engineers as they try to build state of the art systems. To that end he has been instrumental in the creation of 6 product lines - amplifiers, switches, mixers, attenuators, phase shifters, and multipliers. Key features within these products are positive gain slopes, all positive bias operation, low phase noise, and high integration. He was awarded the Army Achievement Award in 2011 for his work on lowering the power dissipation of low noise amplifiers in phased array systems by an order of magnitude.

Prior to Custom MMIC, Paul worked designing MMICs for Hittite Microwave, Alpha Industries (Skyworks), and Thorn EMI Electronics. He is a US citizen. His education includes a BEng from Brunel University and an MSc from University College London.