Frequency synthesis using on-chip micromechanical resonator

First considerations for obtaining a Local Oscilator (LO) for RF transceivers using high frequency MicroMechanical Resonators (MMR) are presented. The MMR based on microfabricated resonant devices is integrated monolithically on CMOS standard technology. A novel structure in RF-IC, using a mixer as basic cell, is presented and studied comparing classical frequency synthesis schemes in terms of power consumption. A behavioural model for a mixer has been developed to define the required characteristics for the resonator (for instance quality factor) to accomplish with RF standards.