Reference Clock Setup And Operation; Phase Noise Specification - Analog Devices AD9361 Reference Manual

AD9361 Reference Manual

REFERENCE CLOCK SETUP AND OPERATION

If the DCXO is not used, an external reference clock needs to
be ac-coupled to XTALN (Pin M12). XTALP (Pin M11) is not
connected (leave floating). The clock frequency must be
between 5 MHz and 320 MHz, and can be scaled by 1×, ½×, ¼×
and 2× using BBPLL, Rx and Tx reference dividers. The valid
frequency range for the RFPLL phase detectors is 10 MHz to
80 MHz, and the scaled frequency of the reference clock must
be within this range. For optimum phase noise it is
recommended to operate the scaled clock as close to 80 MHz as
possible. The selection between DCXO and external reference
clock is made in the ad9361_init function.
–80
–90
–100
–110
–120
–130
–140
–150
–160
10 100 1k
OFFSET FREQUENCY (Hz)
Figure 2. Phase Noise vs. Offset Frequency
Rev. A | Page 15 of 128
The level for the clock should be 1.3 V p-p maximum(lower
swings can be used but will limit performance). This signal can
be a clipped sine wave or a CMOS signal. The best performance
will be seen with the highest slew rate possible.
The XTALN (Pin M12) has an input resistance of ~ 10 kΩ in
parallel with 10 pF.

PHASE NOISE SPECIFICATION

The AD9361 Rx and Tx RFPLLs use the DCXO or external
clock as their reference clock as well. For this reason, it is
extremely critical that the crystal or clock source have very low
phase noise. The recommended phase noise specification is
shown in Figure 2.
10k 100k 1M
UG-570