Low Phase Noise Digital Division by 2 and by 3 of a 30 GHz Coupled Optoelectronic Oscillator

A frequency synthesis technique based on the division of a coupled optoelectronic oscillator (COEO) reference is presented. This technique overcomes one of the main issues of the most common frequency synthesis technique, namely the phase locked loop (PLL): the inherent phase noise degradation of frequency multiplication. In order to keep the benefits of the frequency division technique, residual phase noise of the dividers has to be reduced as much as possible. This article discusses the results of two digital dividers, a divider by 2 and a divider by 3, both with a 30 GHz COEO reference.