try to predict it using mathematical expressions. His heuristic model without mathematical proof is almost universally accepted. However, it entails a c- cuit specific noise factor that is not known a priori and so is not predictive. In this work, we attempt to address the topic of oscillator design from a diff- ent perspective. By introducing a new paradigm that accurately captures the subtleties of phase noise we try to answer the question: 'why do oscillators behave in a particular way?' and 'what can be done to build an optimum design?' It is also hoped that the paradigm is useful in...

The proliferation of bands and modulation formats calls for a universal software-defined radio (SDR) receiver. This digitizes the received waveforms as soon as possible to relegate most of the functionality to DSP. In order to use low-cost ADCs, we envisage the SDR receiver as a signal conditioner which emphasizes the desired channel and de- emphasizes the rest. This approach requires clock- programmable built-in anti-aliasing pre-filters that attenuate interferers to the extent that ADC can resolve the wanted signal and residual blockers without being overloaded. Most of this work is to...