2002 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium

Saturday
8:15 - 9:45 a.m.	Introduction to Quartz Frequency Standards --J. R. Vig, US Army CECOM, USA	The Basics of Statistical Processes and Time and Frequency --V.S. Reinhardt, Boeing Satellite Systems, USA	Wireless Passive SAW Identification Marks and Sensors --L.M. Reindl, Clausthal University of Technology, Germany
10:00 - 11:45 a.m.	Resonant Piezoelectric Devices as Physical and Biochemical Sensors --F. Josse and R.W. Cernosek, Marquette University, Auburn University, USA	PM and AM Noise Measurement Techniques-I --E. Ferre-Pikal, University of Wyoming, USA	Global Positioning System --K. Ghassemi, Boeing Navigation Systems, USA
11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.		Lunch
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.	Passive Atomic Frequency Standards --L. Cutler, Agilent Laboratories, USA	PM and AM Noise Measurement Techniques-II --C. Nelson, NIST	Low Noise Oscillator Design and Performance --M. M. Driscoll, Northrup-Grumman Corp., USA
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.	Introduction to Time and Frequency Transfer --T. E. Parker, NIST, USA	Digital Measurement of Precision Oscillators --S. Stein, Timing Solutions, USA	Introduction to Sapphire Microwave Frequency Sources --G. J. Dick, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA

The subject of quartz frequency standards will be reviewed. Emphasis will be on those aspects, which are of greatest interest to users (as opposed to designers). The discussion will include:
o crystal resonator and oscillator basics;
o the characteristics and limitations of temperature compensated crystal oscillators (TCXOs) and oven controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs);
o oscillator instabilities: aging; noise; and the effects on frequency stability of: temperature, acceleration, radiation, warm-up, pressure, magnetic field, and the oscillator circuitry;
o guidelines for oscillator comparison, selection and specification.

Dr. John R. Vig holds 53 patents and has authored more than 100 publications and book chapters. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, and was the recipient of the 1990 IEEE Cady Award for outstanding contributions to the development of improved quartz crystals and processing techniques, significantly advancing the field of precision frequency control and timing. He was the Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC-S) for 1992-93, and he was president of the IEEE UFFC-S in 1998-99. He was awarded the IEEE UFFC-S's highest award, the UFFC-S Achievement Award, in 2000. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the IEEE, and is Chair, Technical Program Committee of the IEEE Int'l Frequency Control Symposium. In his day job, he leads a frequency control research program in the US Army Communications-Electronics Command.

Introduction to Time and Frequency Transfer
--Thomas E. Parker, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA

This tutorial will provide an introduction to the technology of time and frequency transfer. Users of time and frequency range from the casual user who simply wants to set his/her watch to the nearest minute to high precision navigation and telecommunication users where nanoseconds are important. Consequently there are a wide range of services that are provided. The first part of the tutorial will be a brief introduction to what time and frequency references are available and to the statistical techniques used to quantify time and frequency transfer instabilities and uncertainties. Next, the range of transfer services will be surveyed. The techniques discussed will include, Internet time services, telephone dial up services, earth based radio broadcasts, one way time transfer using the Global Positioning System (GPS), common-view GPS, carrier-phase GPS, and Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT). The basic concepts of each technique will be presented along with typical performance characteristics. The sources of instability and error will be reviewed. Internet, telephone, and radio broadcasts make up what can be considered low precision services where the best accuracy that can be achieved may range from a second to tens of microseconds. The GPS based services and TWSTFT can be considered high precision services where accuracies ranging from hundreds of nanoseconds to nearly a nanosecond can be achieved. Ultimately, the performance attained may depend strongly on the quality of the users local clock.

Thomas E. Parker received his B.S. in Physics from Allegheny College in 1967. He received his M.S. in 1969 and his Ph.D. in 1973, both in Physics, from Purdue University. In August 1973, Dr. Parker joined the Professional Staff of the Raytheon Research Division, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA. At Raytheon Dr. Parker contributed to the development of high performance surface acoustic wave (SAW) oscillator technology, including the "All Quartz Package" for SAW devices. His primary interest was frequency stability, with an emphasis on 1/f noise, vibration sensitivity, and long-term frequency stability. In June of 1994 Dr. Parker joined the Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He is the leader of the Atomic Frequency Standards Group and his interests include primary frequency standards, time scales, and time/frequency transfer technology. Dr. Parker is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Low Noise Oscillator Design and Performance
--M. M. Driscoll, Northrup-Grumman Corp., USA

This Tutorial will describe methods for achieving and verifying low phase noise in oscillators operating in the HF through microwave frequency bands. A comparison of oscillator stabilization elements will be discussed, including acoustic, coaxial, and dielectric resonators. Also included will be a description of recently developed feedback and feed-forward techniques for detection and reduction of oscillator sustaining stage amplifier near-carrier noise. Tutorial topics will include: Frequency Stability Measures and Measurement, Basic Oscillator Operation, Types of Resonators, Useful Network Transformations, Sustaining Stage Design, Environmental Stress Effects, Linear Frequency Tuning, Circuit Simulation & Noise Modeling, Test/Troubleshooting Methods, and Noise De-correlation and Reduction Techniques.

Michael M. Driscoll (M'80-SM'86-F-'91) is a Consulting Engineer in the RF Signal Generation and Receive Systems Group at the Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems facility in Baltimore, MD. He is currently directing and conducting research aimed at the development of low noise signal generation hardware, primarily intended for use in radar systems. His work includes design and development of ultra-low noise RF signal processing components, especially oscillators using bulk acoustic wave, surface acoustic wave, and cooled sapphire dielectric resonator technologies.

Mike received his BSEE degree at the University of Massachusetts in 1965, when he began work at the Westinghouse Defense and Space Center in Baltimore (now Northrop Grumman). He has been a member of the IEEE Frequency Control Symposium Technical Program Committee since 1987, and he is an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on UFFC. In 1997, he was the recipient of the IEEE UFFC Society's Cady Award for "outstanding contributions in the development of low noise signal generation technology". He holds 16 U.S. and foreign patents and is the author of over 70 technical papers appearing in IEEE journals and Symposia proceedings.

This tutorial will cover much of the basic physics and electronics of passive atomic frequency standards. Particular attention will be paid to the design aspects that affect the accuracy and frequency stability of the standards and ways to optimize the performance. The cesium atomic beam standard will be treated in the most detail.

Leonard S. Cutler received the PhD degree in theoretical physics from Stanford University in 1966. He has been heavily involved in the theory and design of atomic frequency standards and precision quartz oscillators since 1957. His present position is Distinguished Contributor, Technical Staff, Agilent Laboratories.

The Basics of Statistical Processes and Time and Frequency
--V.S. Reinhardt, Boeing Satellite Systems

Most text books on statistical process emphasize communications theory and stationary processes and do not say much about the non-stationary processes that are most important to time and frequency. This tutorial will attempt to fill that gap. It will cover the basics of statistical processes, but will emphasize areas that are importance to time and frequency. First, the basics of statistical processes will be covered, starting from the concept of a random variable. Concepts such as stationarity, ergodicity, correlation, and spectral densities will be discussed and the important distinction between ensemble and time averaging will be made. Second, the basic concepts used in time and frequency, such as near periodicity, amplitude, phase, and frequency error will be introduced and used to illustrate the statistical concepts. Third, linear transformations (filtering) of random variables will be discussed, and fundamental theorems relating the statistical properties of transformed variables will be presented. Applications of these theorems will be demonstrated using time and frequency examples. Graphical techniques will be introduced that aid in the understanding of system errors and demonstrate that both the standard and Alan variance can be described as a variance of a filtered system variable. Fourth, non-stationary processes that give rise to random walk and flicker noise will be treated. Physical models will be given to graphically demonstrate how these processes arise, and techniques will be described which turn these non-stationary processes into the limits of stationary processes. Finally, oscillator noise will be discussed. A graphical derivation of Leeson's equation will be given, showing how the feedback inherent in an oscillator gives rise to random walk and flicker of frequency noise. The importance of resonator Q in this feedback process will also be discussed.

PM and AM Noise Measurement Techniques-I
--E. Ferre-Pikal, University of Wyoming, USA

Part I describes the fundamental concepts and definitions used in both PM and AM noise metrology. Simple PM and AM noise measurement systems are described and analyzed. The effects of frequency translation and multiplication on the spectral purity are examined. Simple noise models for oscillators, mixers, and amplifiers are discussed.

Eva S. Ferre-Pikal received her B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, in 1988. In 1989, she received her M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. From 1988 to 1991 she worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories in Westminster, CO. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1996. The main topic of her thesis was the up-conversion of low frequency noise into phase and amplitude noise in BJT amplifiers.

From 1997 to 1998 she was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 1998 she joined the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Wyoming as an assistant professor. Her research interests are phase and amplitude noise processes in oscillators and amplifiers, the generation and synthesis of frequency stable signals, and the design and applications of low noise devices.

Part II describes the practical aspects of phase noise measurements. Also discussed are enhanced measurement systems that have high accuracy and resolution. The use of PM and AM noise standards and wide-band modulators for system calibration is discussed. Two channel systems for AM and PM noise measurements that have noise floors approaching -195 dBc/Hz will be described

Craig Nelson received his BSEE from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1990. After working in the optical disk market and co-founding SpectraDynamics, he joined the staff at the Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He has worked on the control electronics and software for both the NIST-7 and F1 primary frequency standards. He is presently involved in research and development of ultra-stable synthesizers, low phase noise electronics, and phase noise metrology. Current areas of research include high speed pulsed phase noise measurements and phase noise metrology in the 100 GHz range. He has published over 20 papers and frequently presents tutorials on the practical aspects of high-resolution phase noise metrology.

Resonant Piezoelectric Devices as Physical and Biochemical Sensors
F. Josse and R.W. Cernosek, Marquette University and Auburn University, USA

This tutorial will cover devices based on piezoelectric crystals and used for materials characterization and sensor applications. Various acoustic wave devices used for physical and bio-chemical sensing applications will be presented and described. The course will then focus on two types of sensors that have reached some level of maturity - available as commercial products or under intense development. They are the thickness shear mode (TSM) resonators and surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices (both Rayleigh SAW and shear horizontal-SAW) used for sensing in gas and/or liquid phase. Devices with selective absorptive coatings will be described. Sensor device principles, design parameters, operating characteristics, and key sensing parameters will be covered. Various measurement schemes used with the acoustic wave sensors will be described. Acoustic array systems and selected pattern recognition schemes will be introduced.

Fabien Josse received the License (BS) in Maths and in Physics from the Universite du Benin in 1976 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maine at Orono in 1979 and 1982, respectively. He joined Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI in 1982 and is currently Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of Graduate Studies. He is also an adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST), University of Maine; and has been a visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany since 1990. His primary research interest is in microwave acoustics and solid-state device sensors (bio-chemical sensors) for liquid-phase detection. His current research also involves sensor signal analysis and pattern recognition for sensor arrays and systems, and optical waveguide sensors.

Richard W. Cernosek is a Professor of Materials Engineering at Auburn University and a Principal Member of the Technical Staff in the Microsensor Science & Technology Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He received the BS and MS degrees in Physics from Texas A&M University - Commerce in 1975 and 1976, respectively, and the Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1993. Dr. Cernosek joined Sandia National Labs in 1977 and over the past 25 years, his work has ranged from fundamental research & development to system engineering, applications, and commercialization. During the past 12 years, microsensor development has been his concentration. In January 2001, Dr. Cernosek joined the faculty at Auburn University. His academic pursuits in sensor research & development complement the work he began at Sandia and focus primarily in the area of biosensing for food safety. Dr. Cernosek's current research interests include (1) acoustic wave sensors for chemical/biological detection, fluid monitoring, and materials characterization; (2) RF sensor electronics and integrated sensing systems; and (3) data analysis and pattern recognition for sensor arrays and systems.

Introduction to Sapphire Microwave Frequency Sources
--G. J. Dick, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA

With microwave quality factors (Q's) ranging from 250 thousand at room temperature to 10 billion at liquid helium temperature, sapphire resonators, together with innovative resonator configurations and electronic designs, have given rise to a variety of new capabilities in short-term and low-noise frequency sources. The resonators themselves have important performance advantages over every other microwave resonator technology, advantages that derive principally from a very rapid drop in RF losses (or increase in Q) as sapphire is cooled. Because of their overmoded nature, sapphire resonators are significantly larger than, for example, high performance quartz crystals. However, some of the disadvantages of this fact are overcome by a very rapid increase in thermal conductivity as temperature is lowered, guaranteeing excellent thermal integrity, even for the relatively complex resonator designs required for temperature compensation. And, in fact, the macro nature of the resonator tends to reduce inherent resonator noise processes, and so has allowed advances in the art of low-noise RF circuitry to complement resonator development and further increase performance. Thus, amplified carrier suppression and advanced Pound frequency lock loops are now achieving new levels of noise performance that multiply the sapphire Q advantage.

Sapphire frequency sources now define the state of the art with regard to phase noise and short-term frequency stability in a number of key areas. They range from room temperature units with RF carrier suppression to helium- and cryo-cooled oscillators stability in the 10^-15 and 10^-16 ranges.

Design issues to be discussed will include:
Resonators: Electromagnetic design, whispering gallery modes, shielding can, RF coupling, thermal effects, finite element design tools
Thermal design: thermal integrity, thermal shielding, thermal compensation
Electronics: Amplified carrier suppression, Pound circuits
Cryogenics
Bath cooling: Cryocooler techniques

John Dick was born in 1939 in Ohio, received his A.B. in Physics and Mathematics from Bethel College (Kansas) in 1961 and a Ph.D. Degree in Physics from U.C. Berkeley in 1969. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech, he joined the research faculty there as Senior Research Fellow, developing RF resonator technology for superconducting accelerator applications. During 1979-80 he was also appointed as a visiting faculty member at SUNY, Stonybrook. In 1986 he joined the staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he is presently a Principal Member of the Technical Staff. Duties include development of cryogenic sapphire oscillators (10K CSO) presently being installed in NASA's Deep Space Network, and Project Scientist responsibility for SUMO, a Superconducting Microwave Oscillator experiment scheduled for the second flight of the Low Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) aboard the International Space Station. Research interests include high-Q cryogenic resonator design, low noise circuitry, and frequency standards systematics. He is widely published, and holds several patents relating to sapphire resonator design and low noise circuitry. In 1999 he was awarded "Le Prix Europeen "Temps-Frequence" at the joint meeting of the 13th European Frequency and Time Forum and 1999 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium.

Wireless Passive SAW Identification Marks and Sensors
--L.M. Reindl, Clausthal University of Technology, Germany

In the recent years wireless SAW sensors and identification tags have come under notice with a growing number of publications and applications. In this tutorial the operating principles of wireless passive SAW based identification marks and sensors are treated.

The discussed radio sensor system consists of a request unit, comparable to an RADAR device, combined with a passive transponder, consisting of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device together with an antenna. The surface acoustic wave stores the request signal for a predefined period of time to suppress of all environmental echo interferences. Physical or chemical effects may influence the propagation characteristics of the surface acoustic wave. Storing and modulating of surface acoustic waves is faciliated by two fundamental devices: the resonator, and uniform or chirped delay lines.

In this tutorial, the transponder setup, like reflective delay lines, resonators, and impedance sensors, are explained in detail, as well as the setup of the request unit, like pulse radars or FMCW radars, together with the obtainable accuracy and sensitivity range. Some examples of wireless passive acoustic sensors for identification, temperature, pressure, torque, current, as well as the friction coefficient between a car tire and the road, and the water content of soil are illustrated. A discussion of further resonant structures for building up a passive transponder system will close the tutorial.

Leonhard Reindl was born in Neuburg/Do, Germany, in 1954. He received the Dipl. Phys. degree from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 1985 and the Dr. sc. techn. degree from the University of Technology Vienna, Austria, in 1997. From 1985 to 1999 he was with the micro-acoustics group of the Siemens Corporate Technology department, Munich, Germany, where he has been engaged in research and development on SAW convolvers, dispersive and tapped delay lines, ID-tags, and wireless passive SAW sensors. In 1999, he became professor of communications and microwave techniques at the Institute of Electrical Information Technology, Clausthal University of Technology. He holds 30 patents in SAW devices and wireless passive sensors and has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers in this field. He is member of the IEEE.

Digital Measurement of Precision Oscillators
--S. Stein, Timing Solutions, USA

This tutorial reviews the subject of digital measurements of clocks and oscillators. It focuses primarily on the precision measurement of phase and the use of these measurements in estimating both phase and frequency and statistics such as the Allan deviation and the spectral density of phase. The subject matter includes direct counting, interpolating counters, dividers, heterodyne conversion, and dual-mixer systems. Biases in the measurements caused by aliasing and measurement quantization are evaluated. Analog techniques, which are used primarily to evaluate phase noise, are covered in a related tutorial.

Dr. Stein is founder and President of Timing Solutions Corporation, a company that specializes in real time applications and provides timing systems to National Laboratories, DoD programs such as GPS, and Government Prime Contractors. He has developed ultra high precision time measurement, generation and distribution systems and is an internationally recognized leader in time and frequency measurement methods and the ensembling of clocks. He has previously held management positions at Ball Corporation (Efratom Division) and the National Bureau of Standards (NIST). Dr. Stein has more than 48 publications and eight patents.

Kamran Ghassemi is a Senior Scientist and Project Manager at Boeing Navigation Systems. He holds a M.S. and PH.D. in Mathematics from University of California, Berkeley and Purdue University respectively. He joined Rockwell (now Boeing) in 1990 as a Systems Engineer. He has been involved in a variety of Satellite, Space Shuttle and advanced launch vehicle projects since then. He joined the GPS IIF System Engineering team in 1995 as a senior analyst. He is currently the lead for GPS IIF System Analysis team.