Method and apparatus for mitigating VCO pulling

An integrated circuit for mitigating VCO pulling effects due to re-circulated signal energy along undesired coupling paths comprising:

• a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) operative to generate a VCO signal;
• a local oscillator (LO) generator operative to receive the VCO signal and generate a LO signal used for frequency upconversion in a transmitter;
• and
• coupling circuit operative to receive an oscillator signal generated based on the VCO signal,
• wherein:
• the coupling circuit injects the oscillator signal into the transmitter, and
• the coupling circuit re-circulates the injected oscillator signal back to the VCO using the undesired coupling paths which cause the VCO pulling effects, the re-circulated oscillator signal being operable to neutralize the VCO pulling effects.

A method for mitigating VCO pulling effects due to re-circulated signal energy along undesired coupling paths comprising:

• generating a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) signal;
• generating a local oscillator (LO) signal based on the VCO signal, the LO signal being used for frequency upconversion by a transmitter;
• generating an oscillator signal based on the VCO signal;
• and
• injecting the oscillator signal into the transmitter to mitigate pulling of frequency of the VCO due to undesired coupling from the transmitter to the VCO,
• wherein the injected oscillator signal is re-circulated back to the VCO using the undesired coupling paths which causes the VCO pulling effects, the re-circulated oscillator signal being operable to neutralize the VCO pulling effects.

An apparatus for mitigating VCO pulling effects due to re-circulated signal energy along undesired coupling paths comprising:

• means for generating a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) signal;
• means for generating a local oscillator (LO) signal based on the VCO signal, the LO signal being used for frequency upconversion by a transmitter;
• means for generating an oscillator signal based on the VCO signal;
• means for injecting the oscillator signal into the transmitter to mitigate pulling of frequency of the VCO due to undesired coupling from the transmitter to the VCO;
• and
• means for re-circulating the injected oscillator signal back to the VCO using the undesired coupling paths which cause the VCO pulling effects, the re-circulated oscillator signal being operable to neutralize the VCO pulling effects.

A non-transitory storage medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions being configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• generating a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) signal;
• generating a local oscillator (LO) signal based on the VCO signal, the LO signal being used for frequency upconversion by a transmitter;
• generating an oscillator signal based on the VCO signal;
• and
• injecting the oscillator signal into the transmitter to mitigate pulling of frequency of the VCO due to undesired coupling from the transmitter to the VCO,
• wherein the injected oscillator signal is re-circulated back to the VCO using the undesired coupling paths which cause the VCO pulling effects, the re-circulated oscillator signal being operable to neutralize the VCO pulling effects.