Abstract: A broadband, varactor-tuned shorted coax resonator is provided with a single point coupling port that facilitates coupling of discrete circuitry to the distributed resonator to form an oscillator. The coupling port is defined by adding a second shorted coax line across the end of the first. The outer conductors of the two lines are interconnected. The inner conductors of the two lines are serially coupled and define a coupling gap, either along their length or at their ends, across which discrete circuitry can be connected. In a preferred form of the invention, the discrete circuitry is positioned in a region within the periphery of one of the inner conductors in order to provide an electromagnetic shield for the circuitry.

Abstract: An RF oscillator is disclosed that can be tuned to operate over a wide range of frequencies while maintaining advantageous bias conditions. The oscillator includes circuitry that adjusts an oscillator bias signal in response to changes in oscillator frequency and/or ambient temperature, and does so without resort to using the same signal for both bias and frequency control. By so doing to control parameters such as phase noise, output power and compression angle, both the frequency range and temperature range of an oscillator can be extended, while simultaneously improving the oscillator's performance.

Abstract: A broadband, varactor-tuned shorted coax resonator is provided with a single point coupling port that facilitates coupling of discrete circuitry to the distributed resonator. The coupling port is defined by adding a second shorted coax line across the end of the first. The outer conductors of the two lines are interconnected. The inner conductors of the two lines are serially coupled and define a coupling gap, either along their length or at their ends, across which discrete circuitry can be connected. In a preferred form of the invention, the discrete circuitry is positioned in a region within the periphery of one of the inner conductors in order to provide an electromagnetic shield for the circuitry.

Abstract: A phase-locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer having an analog, out-of-band component path and a digital, in-band component path to provide frequency modulation (FM) of the synthesized output signal is described. The in-band FM component is octave scaled by an analog scaling means and coupled to an analog-to-digital converter to provide a digital number to be decade added to the PLL divide number to change the PLL frequency in response to the in-band FM signal. The out-of-band FM component is also scaled and applied to a loop summing node and summed with the PLL error signal to vary the PLL frequency. The scaling in both the in-band component path and out-of-band component path is equalized to provide a flat frequency response. Additional, the in-band component is scaled to allow use of the analog-to-digital converter over its maximum range to maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio.