Phase Lock Loop

EE174 SJSU
Tan Nguyen
 OBJECTIVES

Introduction to Phase-locked loop

(PLL)
Historical Background
Basic PLL System
Phase Detector (PD)
Voltage Controlled Oscillator
(VCO)
Loop Filter (LF)
PLL Applications
 Introduction to Phase-locked
Loop (PLL)
PLL is also referred as frequency synthesizer.
PLL is a circuit that locks the phase of the output to the input.
PLL is a negative feedback control system where fout tracks fin and rising edges of
input clock align to rising edges of output clock
PLL is a circuit synchronizing an output signal with a reference or input signal in
frequency as well as in phase.
In the synchronized or locked state, the phase error between the oscillators
output signal and the reference signal is zero, or it remains constant.
If a phase error builds up, a control mechanism acts on the oscillator to reduce
the phase error to a minimum so that the phase of the output signal is actually
locked to the phase of the reference signal. This is why it is called a phase-
locked loop.
How Are PLLs Used?
 Brief Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) History

1932: Invention of coherent communication using vacuum tube,

(deBellescize)
1943: Horizontal and vertical sweep synchronization in television
(Wendt and Faraday)
1954: Color television (Richman)
1965: PLL on integrated circuit
1970: Classical digital PLL
1972: All-digital PLL
PLLs today: in every cell phone, TV, radio, pager, computer,
Clock and Data Recovery
Frequency Synthesis
Clock Generation
Clock-skew minimization
Duty-cycle enhancement
1.people.ee.duke.edu/~mbrooke/defense/Borte.ppt
 Basic PLL System
The basic PLL block diagram consists of three components connected in a
feedback loop :
A phase detector (PD) or phase frequency detector (PFD)
The phase detector produces a signal
A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)
V proportional to the phase difference
A loop filter (LF)
between the incoming signal and the
VCO output signal.
The output of the phase detector is
filtered by a low-pass loop filter. The
filter output voltage Vo controls the
frequency of the VCO.
The voltage at the input of the VCO
determines the frequency fosc of the
periodic signal Vosc at the output of the
A basic property of the PLL is that it attempts to maintain the frequency lock fosc= fi between
VCO.
Vosc and Vi even if the frequency fi of the incoming signal varies in time.
Suppose that the PLL is in the locked condition, and that the frequency fi of the incoming
signal increases slightly. The phase difference between the VCO signal and the incoming
signal will begin to increase in time.
As a result, the filter output voltage Vo increases the VCO output frequency fosc increases
until it matches f , thus keeping the PLL in the locked condition.
 Locked Range and Capture Range of the PLL

Locked condition: fosc = fi

Unlocked condition: fosc = fo = const

Lock Range of the PLL: The range of frequencies from fi = fmin to fi = fmax where the locked PLL
remains in the locked condition. The lock range is wider than the capture range.

If the PLL is initially locked, and if fi < fmin, or fi > fmax the PLL becomes unlocked fi fosc.
When the PLL is unlocked, the VCO oscillates at the frequency fo called the center frequency, or
the free-running frequency of the VCO.

Capture Range of the PLL: The lock can be established again if the incoming signal frequency
fi gets close enough to fo. The range of frequencies fi = fo- fc to fi = fo+ fc such that the initially
 Locked Range and Capture Range of the PLL
Once the PLL is in the locked condition, it remains locked as long as the VCO output
frequency fosc can be adjusted to match the incoming signal frequency fi fmin fi fmax.
When the lock is lost, the VCO operates at the free-running frequency f o, fmin fo
fmax.
To establish the lock again, i.e. to capture the incoming signal again, the incoming signal
frequency fi must be close enough to fo fo fc fi fo+ fc . The 2fc is called the capture
range.
The capture range 2fc is an important PLL parameter because it determines whether the
locked condition can be established or not. Note that the capture range 2fc < the lock
range fmax fmin.
The capture range 2fc depends on the characteristics of the loop filter. For the simple RC
filter, a very crude, approximate implicit expression for the capture range can be found
as:

where fp is the cut-off frequency of the filter, VDD is the supply voltage, and Ko is the VCO
gain.
 Phase Detector (PD)
simple phase detector is an XOR gate with logic
A
low output (V = 0V) and the logic high output (V
= VDD).
An example below shows the PLL is in the locked
condition where Vi and Vosc are two phase-shifted
periodic square-wave signals at the same
frequency fosc = fi = , and with 50% duty ratios.
The output of the phase detector is a periodic
square-wave signal V(t) at the frequency 2fi , and
with the duty ratio D that depends on the phase
difference (t) = [osc(t) - i(t)] between Vi and Vosc
D = (for XOR)
The output of the XOR phase detector can be
written as the Fourier series:

The dc component Vo of the phase detector output

can be found easily as the average of V(t) over a
period

The average output rise to Vout = when goes from
For > , the average output begins to drop.
 Loop Filter

The output V(t) of the phase detector is filtered by the low-pass loop filter. The purpose of the
low-pass filter is to pass the dc and low-frequency portions of V (t) and to attenuate high-
frequency ac components at frequencies 2kfi . The simple RC filter has the transfer function:
F(s) = =
where p = and fp = is the cut-off frequency of the filter.
If fp << 2fi the output of the filter Vo is approximately equal to the
dc component V of the phase detector output.
In practice, the high-frequency components are not completely eliminated
and can be observed as high-frequency ac ripple around the dc or slowly-varying V o.

general, the filter output Vo as a function of the

In
phase difference. Note that Vo = 0 if Vi and Vosc are
in phase ( = 0), and that it reaches the maximum
value Vo = VDD when the two signals are exactly
(out of phase ( = ).
For 0 , Vo increases, and for > , Vo
decreases. The characteristic of periodic in with
period 2.
 Voltage Controlled Oscillator
PLL applications, the VCO is treated as (VCO)
In a linear, time-invariant system. To obtain an arbitrary
output frequency (within the VCO tuning range), a finite V o is required. Lets define osc i = .
The XOR function produces an output pulse whenever there is a phase misalignment. Suppose
that an output frequency 1 is needed. From the upper right figure, we see that a control voltage
V1 will be necessary to produce this output frequency. The phase detector can produce this V 1 only
by maintaining a phase offset at its input. In order to minimize the required phase offset or
error, the PLL loop gain, KD KO, should be maximized, since =

The VCO gain is defined

as:
Ko =
 VCO Example
The filter output Vo controls the VCO, i.e., determines the frequency fosc of the VCO output Vosc .
From PLL 4046 circuit below, the voltage Vo controls the charging and discharging currents
through capacitor C1. As a result the frequency fosc of the VCO is determined by the Vo. The VCO
output Vosc is a square wave with 50% duty ratio and frequency fosc.
The VCO characteristics are adjustable by three
components: R1, R2 and C1.
When Vo = 0, the VCO operates at the minimum
frequency fmin given approximately by:
fmin =
When Vo = VDD, the VCO operates at the
minimum frequency fmax given approximately by:
fmax = fmin+
For fmin fosc fmax, the VCO output frequency fosc
is ideally a linear function of the control voltage
Vo.
The slope Ko = of the fosc(Vo) characteristic is
called the gain or the frequency sensitivity of the
VCO, in Hz/V.
 Examples
Problem 1.
Determine the change in frequency for a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) with a transfer
function of KO = 2.5KHz/V and a DC input voltage change of VO = 0.8V.
Solution: f = VO KO f = (0.8 V)(2.5 kHz/V) = 2 kHz
Problem 2.
Calculate the voltage at the output of a phase comparator with a transfer function of K D =
0.5V/rad and a phase error of V = 0.75 rads.
Solution: VD = KD V = (0.5 V/rad)(0.75 rad) = 0.375 V
Problem 3.
Determine the hold in range, (i.e. the maximum change in frequency) for a phase lock loop
with an open loop gain of KV = 20kHz/rad.
Solution: fmax = KV /2 = (20 krad) /2 rad = 31.4 kHz
Problem 4.
Find the phase error necessary to produce a VCO frequency shift of f = 10KHz for an open
loop gain of
KV = 40KHz/rad.
Solution: V = f / KV = 10 kHz / 40 kHz/rad) = 0.25 rad
Problem 5:
Given fosc = 1.2 MHz at VCOin = 4.5 V and fosc = 380 kHz at VCOin = 1.6 V. Find Ko
Solution: Ko = 2 x (1.2 MHz 380KHz) / (4.5V 1.6V) rad/V = 1,777 krad/s/v
 Overall PLL system
First we will consider the PLL with feedback = 1; therefore, input
and output frequencies are identical. The input and output
phase should track one another, but there may be a fixed offset
depending on the phase detector implementation.

Vi Vos
c

 Frequency and phase tracking loop

We will start from the open loop gain, T(s).

T(s) = KDF(s)KO/s

F(s) is a simple LPF with a cutoff (3 dB) frequency 1 = 1/RC.

Then, T(s) becomes second order, Type 1:

 Frequency and phase tracking loop

It is sometimes useful to define a natural frequency, n, and a damping factor, .
This is standard control system terminology for a second order system. The key is
to put the denominator of the closed loop transfer function, 1 + T(s), into a
standard form:

either s 2 + 2 n s + n 2 or + 1

Taking the first formula, 1 + T(s) can be written as:

so, we can associate n and with:

 Example
A phase-locked loop has a center frequency of 0 = 105 rads, KO = 103 rad/s per V, and KD =
1 V/rad. There is no other gain in the loop. Determine the overall transfer function H(s) for:
a) The loop filter is F(s) = 1.
b) The loop filter F(s) is shown below.

1 = 1/RC
= 1/(120k x3.3nF) =
2525
 Example
Consider a PLL with KO = 250 krad s per V and that uses a Type I (XOR)
phase detector KD = Vcc / . The supply voltage is 5 V, and a simple RC
filter (see below) is used. For the filter R = 120 k and C = 3.3 nF.
There is no other gain in the loop.
a) Determine the transfer function H(s) = o(s) i(s) of the loop.
b) Calculate natural frequency n and damping ratio .

 Synthesizer PLL
We will now add the divider 1/N to the feedback path.
This architecture is called an integer-N synthesizer.

We can calculate the loop gain, T(s):

Loop gain is reduced by a factor of N.

In most applications, N is not constant, so KV = KDKO is not a constant varies with
frequency according to the choice of N
 Synthesize PLL

Phase Lock Loop

Applications
EE174 SJSU
Tan Nguyen
PLL Applications
FM Demodulation
Phase-Locked Loop Based Clock
Generator
PLL perform:
Clock input division
Frequency Multiplication
In this manner, the non integer frequencies can be developed.
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers without Prescalers

Divider /R

Frequency synthesizers are found in FM receivers, CB transceivers,

TV receivers, etc. In these applications, there is a need for
generating a great number of frequencies with a narrow spacing of
50, 25, 10, 5, or even 1 kHz. If channel spacing of 10 KHz is
desired, a reference frequency of 10 KHz is normally chosen. A
quartz crystal oscillating in kHz region is quite bulky and not
practical. A more convenient to use higher frequency crystal in the
range of MHz and scale down to desired reference frequency. This
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers cont.
Divider /R
fosc = 10MHz

Four-modulus prescalers
To extend the upper frequency range of a frequency synthesizer
but still allows the synthesis of lower frequencies. The solution is
the four-modulus prescaler. The four-modulus prescaler is a
logical extension of the dual-modulus prescaler. It offers four
different scaling factors, and two control signals are required to
select one of the four available scaling factors.
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers cont.
As an example, the four-modulus prescaler can divide by factors of 100, 101, 110, and
111. By definition, it scales down by 100 when both control inputs are LOW. The internal
logic of the four-modulus prescaler is designed so that the scaling factor is increased by
1 when one of the control signals is HIGH, or increased by 10 when the other control
signal is HIGH. If both control signals are HIGH, the scaling factor is increased by 1 + 10
= 11.
There are three programmable /N counters in the system: /N1, /N2, and /N3 dividers. The
overall division ratio is given by:
Ntot = 100N1 + 10N2 + N3
In this equation N3 represents the units, N2 the tens, and N1 the hundreds of
the division ratio Ntot. Here N2 and N3 must be in the range 0 to 9, and N1 must be at least
as large as both N2 and N3 because when the content of N1 becomes 0, all /N1, /N2
and /N3 counters are reloaded to their preset values, and the cycle is repeated (N 1,min =
9). The smallest realizable division ratio is consequently:
Ntot,min = 100 x 9 = 900
For a reference frequency f1 of 10 kHz, the lowest frequency to be synthesized is
therefore: 900 x f1 = 9 MHz.
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers Examples
Numerical Example: We wish to generate a frequency that is 1023 times the
reference frequency. The division ratio Ntot is thus 1023; hence N1 = 10, N2 = 2,
and N3 = 3 are chosen. Furthermore, we assume that the /N1 counter has just
stepped down to 0, so all three counters are now loaded to their preset values.
Both outputs of the /N2 and /N3 counters are now HIGH, a condition that causes
the four-modulus prescaler to divide initially by 111.

Solution: After N2 x 111 = 2 x 111 = 222 pulses generated by the VCO, the /N 2
counter steps down to 0. Consequently, the prescaler will divide by 101. At this
moment, the content of the /N3 counter is 3 2 = 1. After another 101 pulses
(1 x 101) have been generated by the VCO, the /N3 counter also steps down to 0.
The division ratio of the four-modulus prescaler is now 100.
The content of the /N1 counter is now 7. After another 700 pulses (7 x 100) have
been generated by the VCO, the /N1 counter also steps down to 0, and the cycle is
repeated. To step through an entire cycle, the VCO had to produce a total of
Ntot = 2 x 111 + 1 x 101 + 7 x 100 = 1023 pulses, which is exactly the
number desired.
Jitters Example
 Clock Data Recovery
The first CDR design required that the same clock used to serialize the
data be sent to the receiver alongside the data. This method created
some added problems for the receiver, as it had to deal with the jitter in
the data stream and with the jitter in the clock stream, alongside the data
stream. Another issue is the amount of data links is reduced by two using
this system.
 Differentiation CDR
The steps taken by the algorithm to obtain the recovered data. The first plot is
the input data, the second is the differentiated input data. We can see that the
peaks occur at the zero crossings of the input data. The third plot is the fullwave
rectified differentiated data. This data is used to create a clock, which is then
used to create the fourth plot, the regenerated data
 Clock Data Recovery
To counteract the effect of the system described earlier, a method
utilizing two separate clock was developed. The transmitter serializes the
data stream using the clock A. The cdr, at the receiver, uses information
from a reference clock, clock B, located at the receiver end. To
accomplish this operation a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) is used.
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers

Fixed division ratio prescalers:

To generate higher frequencies, prescalers are used; these are
often built with
other IC technologies such as ECL, Schottky TTL, GaAs (gallium-
arsenide), or
SiGe (silicon-germanium compound). Such prescalers extend the
range of frequencies into the microwave frequency bands. This
implies that it is no longer possible to generate every desired
integer multiple of the reference frequency f1; if V = 10, only
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers cont.

Dual-modulus prescalers
A counter whose division ratio can be switched from one value to another by an
external control signal. As an example, the prescaler above can divide by a factor of
11 when the applied control signal is HIGH, or by a factor of 10 when the control
signal is LOW. It can be demonstrated that the dual-modulus prescaler makes it
possible to generate a number of output frequencies that are spaced only by f1 and
not by a multiple of f1.
Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers cont.

The following conventions are used with respect to dual-modulus

prescalers:
Both programmable /N1 and /N2 counters are DOWN counters.
The output signal of both of these counters is HIGH if the
content of the corresponding counters has not yet reached the
value 0.
When the /N1 counter has counted down to 0, its output goes
LOW and it
immediately loads both counters to their preset values N1 and
N2, respectively.
N1 is always greater than or equal to N2.
As shown by the AND gate, underflow below 0 is inhibited in
the case of the /N2 counter. If this counter has counted down to
0, further counting pulses are inhibited.
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers with Prescalers cont.
The operation of the system becomes clearer if we assume that
the /N1 counter has just counted down to 0 and both counters
have been loaded with their preset values N1 and N2, respectively.
We now have to find the number of cycles the VCO must produce
until the same logic state is reached again. This number is the
overall scaling factor Ntot of the arrangement shown in Fig. 6.4. As
long as the /N2 counter has not yet counted down to 0, the
prescaler is dividing by V + 1. Consequently, both the /N1 and
the /N2 counters will step down by one count when the VCO has
generated V + 1 pulses. The /N2 counter will therefore step down
to 0 when the VCO has generated N2 x (V + 1) pulses. At that
moment, the /N1 counter has stepped down by N2 countsthat is,
its content is N1 N2.
The scaling factor of the dual-modulus prescaler is now switched to
the value
V. The VCO will have to generate additional (N1 - N2)V pulses until
the /N1
counter steps to 0. When the content of N1 becomes 0, both the
 Integer-N Frequency Synthesizers Examples
If V = 10, Ntot = 10N1 + N2
In this expression, N2 represents the units and N1 the tens of the
overall division ratio Ntot. Then N2 must be in the range of 0 9,
and N1 can assume any value greater than or equal to 9that is,
N1,min = 9. The smallest realizable
division ratio is therefore: Ntot,min = N1,minV = 90
The synthesizer is thus able to generate all integer multiples of
the reference frequency f1 starting from Ntot = 90.

If V = 16, Ntot = 16N1 + N2, Then N2 range of 0 15 N1,min = 15.

In this case, the smallest realizable division ratio N tot,min = 16 x 15
= 240.

Using V = 100, Ntot = 100N1 + N2

where N2 range of 0 99 N1,min = 99.
In this case, the smallest division ratio Ntot,min = 100N1,min = 100 x
99 = 9900
If the reference frequency f1 = 10 kHz, the lowest frequency to be
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