OSCILLATOR, PLL AND FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZERS

TUNED CIRCUITS

Reactive Components: Inductors

• An inductor, also called a coil or choke, is a winding of multiple turns of wire.
• When a current is passed through a coil, a magnetic field is produced around the coil.
• If the applied voltage and current are varying, this causes a voltage to be self- induced
into the coil winding.
• This process has the effect of opposing current changes in the coil. This effect is known
as inductance.
• The basic unit of inductance is the henry (H). However, practical inductance values are in
the millihenry (mH = 10-3), microhenry (μH = 10-6), and nanohenry (nH = 10−9 H)
regions.
• Opposition to alternating current offered by inductors is continuous and constant and is
known as inductive reactance (XL).

Types of inductors. (a) Heavy self-supporting wire coil. (b) Inductor made as copper pattern. (c)
Insulating form. (d) Toroidal inductor. (e) Ferrite bead inductor. (f ) Chip inductor

✓ Inductive reactance (XL) is directly proportional to frequency and inductance.

XL = 2𝝅fL

Example 1: What is the inductive reactance of a 40-μH coil at 18 MHz?

Sol’n: XL = 6.28 (18 × 106) (40 × 10-6) = 4522 Ω
 Reactive Components: Resistors
• At low frequencies, a standard resistor offers nearly pure resistance.
• At high frequencies, a resistor’s leads have inductance.
• A resistor’s lead inductance and stray capacitance cause the resistor to act like
• a complex RLC circuit.
• Tiny resistor chips used in surface mount circuits minimize inductance and
• stray capacitance.
• Film resistors minimize thermal effect noise.

Equivalent circuit of a resistor at high (radio) frequencies.

Reactive Components: Skin Effect.

• Skin effect is the tendency of electrons flowing in a conductor to flow near and on the
outer surface of the conductor frequencies in the VHF, UHF, and microwave regions.
• This process increases the resistance of the conductor and greatly affects the
performance of the circuit.

✓ Skin effect increases wire and inductor resistance at high frequencies.

TUNED CIRCUIT AND RESONANCE

 • A tuned circuit is made up of inductance and capacitance and resonates at a specific
frequency, the resonant frequency.
• The terms tuned circuit and resonant circuit are used interchangeably.
• Tuned circuits are frequency-selective and respond best at their resonant frequency.

Tuned Circuits and Resonance: Series Resonant Circuits

• A series resonant circuit is made up of inductance, capacitance and resistance

connected in series.
• Series resonant circuits are often referred to as LCR or RLC circuits.
• Resonance occurs when inductive and capacitive reactances are equal.
• Resonant frequency (fr) is inversely proportional to inductance and capacitance.

Series RLC circuit. Variation of reactance with frequency.

Example 1: What is the resonant frequency of a 2.7-pF capacitor and a 33-nH inductor?
Sol’n: fr = 1/2π√LC= 1/6.28√33 × 10−9 × 2.7 × 10−12
fr = 5.33 × 108 Hz or 533 MHz

• The bandwidth (BW) of a series resonant circuit is the narrow frequency range over
which the current is highest.
• Half-power points are the current levels at which the frequency response is 70.7% of the
peak value of resonance.
• The quality (Q) of a series resonant circuit is the ratio of the inductive reactance to the
total circuit resistance.
• Selectivity is how a circuit responds to varying frequencies.
• The bandwidth of a circuit is inversely proportional to Q.
 Bandwidth of a series resonant circuit. The effect of Q on bandwidth and selectivity

Tuned Circuits and Resonance: Parallel Resonant Circuits

• A parallel resonant circuit is formed when the inductor and capacitor of a tuned circuit
are connected in parallel with the applied voltage.
• A parallel resonant circuit is often referred to as a LCR or RLC circuit.
• Resonance occurs when inductive and capacitive reactances are equal.
• The resonant frequency (fr) is inversely proportional to inductance and capacitance.

Parallel resonant circuit currents. (a) Parallel resonant circuit. (b) Current relationships in
parallel resonant circuit.
• At resonance, a parallel tuned circuit appears to
• have infinite resistance
• draw no current from the source • have infinite impedance
• act as an open circuit.
• However, there is a high circulating current between the inductor and capacitor,
storing and transferring energy between them.
• Because such a circuit acts as a kind of storage vessel for electric energy, it is often
referred to as a tank circuit and the circulating current is referred to as the tank current.

FILTERS
• A filter is a frequency-selective circuit.
 • Filters pass certain frequencies and reject others.
• Passive filters are created using components such as: resistors, capacitors, and
inductors that do not amplify.
• Active filters use amplifying devices such as transistors and operational amplifiers.

There are five basic kinds of filter circuits:

1. Low-pass filters only pass frequencies below a critical (cutoff) frequency.
2. High-pass filters only pass frequencies above the cutoff frequency.
3. Bandpass filters pass frequencies over a narrow range between lower and
4. upper cutoff frequencies.
5. Band-reject filters reject or stop frequencies over a narrow range between lower and
upper cutoff frequencies.
6. All-pass filters pass all frequencies over a desired range but have a predictable phase
shift characteristic.

RC FILTERS
• RC filters use combinations of resistors and capacitors to achieve a desired
• frequency response.
• Most RC filters are of the low-pass or high-pass type.
• Any low-pass or high-pass filter is effectively a frequency-dependent voltage divider.
• An RC coupling circuit is a high-pass filter because the ac input component is developed
across the resistor while dc voltage is blocked by a capacitor.

RC Filters: Low-Pass Filter

• A low-pass filter is a circuit that introduces no attenuation at frequencies below the cutoff
frequency but completely eliminates all signals with frequencies above the cutoff.
• Low-pass filters are sometimes referred to as high cut filters.
• The cutoff frequency of a filter is that point where the resistance (R) and capacitive
reactance (XC) are equal.

RC low-pass filter. (a) Circuit. (b) Low-pass filter.

RC Filters: High-Pass Filter

• A high-pass filter passes frequencies above the cutoff frequency with little or
 • no attenuation but greatly attenuates those signals below the cutoff.
• The basic high-pass filter is a voltage divider with the capacitor serving as the frequency-
sensitive component.
• A high-pass filter can be implemented with a coil and a resistor.

(a) RC high-pass filter. (b) RL high-pass filter.

RC Filters: RC Notch Filter

• Notch filters, also called band-stop or band-reject filters, attenuate a narrow range of
• frequencies around a center point (frequency).
• A simple notch filter implemented with resistors and capacitors is called a parallel-T or
twin-T filter.
• The center notch frequency is calculated:

RC notch filter

LC FILTERS
• LC filters use combinations of inductors and capacitors to achieve a desired frequency
response.
• They are typically used with radio frequency (RF) applications.
• Passband is the frequency range over which the filter passes signals.
• Stop band is the range of frequencies outside the passband; that is, the range of
frequencies that is greatly attenuated by the filter.
• Attenuation is the amount by which undesired frequencies in the stop band are
reduced.
• Insertion loss is the loss the filter introduces to the signals in the passband.
• Impedance is the resistive value of the load and source terminations of the filter.
• Ripple is a term used to describe the amplitude variation with frequency in the
passband.
• Shape factor is the ratio of the stop bandwidth to the pass bandwidth of a bandpass
filter.
• A pole is a frequency at which there is a high impedance in the circuit.
• Zero is a term used to refer to a frequency at which there is zero impedance in the
circuit.
• Envelope delay or time delay is the time it takes for a specific point on an input
waveform to pass through the filter.
• Roll-off or attenuation rate is the rate of change of amplitude with frequency in a filter.

Types of Filters

- The most widely used LC filters are named after the people who discovered them
and developed the analysis and design method for each.

(a) Butterworth: The Butterworth filter effect has maximum flatness in response in the
passband and a uniform attenuation with frequency.
(b) Chebyshev: Has extremely good selectivity, and attenuation just outside the
passband is very high, but has ripple in the passband.
(c) Cauer (Elliptical): Produces greater attenuation out of the passband, but with higher
ripple within and outside of the passband.
(d) Bessel (Thomson): Provides the desired frequency response (i.e., low-pass,
bandpass, etc.) but has a constant time delay in the passband.
 Butterworth, elliptical, Bessel, and Chebyshev response curves.

Types of Filters: Mechanical and Bandpass Filters

- A mechanical filter uses resonant vibrations of mechanical disks to provide the

selectivity.
- Bandpass filters, configured with series or parallel resonant circuits, allow a narrow
range of frequencies around a center frequency to pass with minimum attenuation
but rejects frequencies above and below this range

Types of Filters: Band-Reject Filters

- Band-reject filters reject a narrow band of frequencies around a center or notch

frequency.
- Band-reject filters are also known as bandstop filters or traps.

LC tuned bandstop filters. (a) Shunt. (b) Series. (c) Response curve.

ACTIVE FILTERS

- Active filters are frequency-selective circuits that incorporate RC networks and

amplifiers with feedback to produce low-pass, high-pass, bandpass, and bandstop
performance. Advantages are:

1. Gain
2. Noinductors
3. Easy to tune
4. Isolation
5. Easier impedance matching

- A special form of active filter is the variable-state filter, which can simultaneously
provide low-pass, high-pass, and bandpass operation from one circuit.

Crystal and Ceramic Filters

• Crystal and ceramic filters are made of thin slivers of quartz crystal or certain other
types of ceramic materials.
• Crystals and ceramic elements are widely used in oscillators to set frequency of
operation to a precise value.
• Crystals and ceramic elements are also used as circuit elements to form filters,
specifically bandpass filters.

Quartz crystal. (a) Equivalent circuit. (b) Schematic symbol.

Schematic symbol for a ceramic filter.

Crystal and Ceramic Filters: Surface Acoustic Wave Filters

• The surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter is a special form of a crystal filter designed to
provide the exact selectivity required by a given application.
• SAW filters are normally used at very high radio frequencies where selectivity is difficult
to obtain.
• They are widely used in modern TV receivers, radar receivers, wireless LANs, and cell
phones.
 A surface acoustic wave filter.

Switched Capacitor Filters

• Switched capacitor filters (SCFs), also known as analog sampled data filters or
commutating filters, are active IC filters made of op amps, capacitors, and transistor
switches.
• They provide a way to make tuned or selective circuits in an IC without the use of
discrete inductors, capacitors, or resistors.
• The secret to the SCF is that all resistors are replaced by capacitors that are switched by
MOSFET switches.

SIGNAL GENERATOR

OSCILLATOR

• Is a device or circuit that produces repetitive waveforms (oscillations).

• Used in producing high frequency carriers, clocks, and timing circuits
• Some oscillators are used self-sustaining while others are not.
• An oscillator converts a dc input signal to an AC output voltage.
• The output of an oscillator could be a sine wave, square wave or any other
waveform as long as it repeats at periodic intervals.

Feedback Oscillator

• An amplifier with a feedback loop

• According to Barkhausen Criterion, for a feedback circuit to sustain oscillations,
the net voltage gain around the feedback loop must be unity or greater, and the
net phase shift around the loop must be positive integer multiple of 360 °
• The four requirements for a feedback oscillator are:
o Amplification – there must be at least one active device capable
 • of voltage amplification
o Positive feedback – the feedback signal must be regenerative. It must
have the correct phase and amplitude necessary to sustain oscillation.
o Frequency determining components – such as capacitors, inductors, or
crystals.
o Power source – such as DC power supply.

An electrical model for an amplifier with feedback. It includes an amplifier with an open-loop
gain (Aol ) and a frequency-dependent regenerative feedback path with a feedback ratio of β
Where:
V1 = external input voltage
V2 = voltage input to amplifier
V3 = output voltage
V4 = feedback voltage

1.Desired frequency of operation

2.Required frequency stability
3.Variable or fixed frequency operation
4.Distortion requirements or limitations
5.Desired output power
6.Physical size
7.Application (i.e. analog or digital)
8. Cost
9.Reliability and durability
10.Desired accuracy

Wien-bridge Oscillator

• An RC phase shift oscillator that uses both positive and negative feedback.
• It is commonly used is frequencies between 5 Hz and 1MHz
• Is uses a lead-lag network shown below:
At frequency oscillation R =Xc, signal has -45 degrees phase shift across Zi and +45 degrees
across Z2. Total phase shift is 0degrees. Output voltage is maximum

Oscillator Circuit Operation

LC Oscillators

• Use LC tank circuits for the frequency determining components • Tank circuit
operation involves an exchange of energy between
• kinetic and potential
• The LC tank circuit is shown below:
• When the switch is turned on, current flows through C and L thereby charging the
capacitor to +Vcc, where the upper part of C being +
• Energy is exchange between L and C, producing a corresponding AC output voltage.
• This is called the flywheel effect

Hartley Oscillators

• Hartley oscillator use LC tank circuits as frequency determining components.

• VCC is the DC supply.
• L1 ad C1 are the frequency determining components. L1a and
• L1b are adjusted to achieve the unity (1) loop voltage gain.
• Q1 provides the amplification necessary for a lop voltage gain of unity at the
resonant frequency.
• Cc provides the path for regenerative feedback, and is a blocking capacitor that
isolates the base bias voltage of Q1 from being shorted to ground through L1b.
• C2 is a blocking capacitor that prevents the collector supply voltage from being
shorted to ground through L1a, and it is also couples AC signal from q1 to the tank
circuit.
• RFC is a DC short circuit and it prevents the high frequency signals from entering the
DC power supply.
• Oscillation is stated when noise having frequency of “fo” charges C1
Colpitts Oscillators

• Use LC tank circuits as frequency determining components.

• Vcc is the DC supply
• L1, C1 and C1b are the frequency determining
• components
• Q1 provides the amplification necessar7 for a loop voltage gain of unity at the
resonant frequency
• Cc provides the path for regenerative feedback
• C2 is a blocking capacitor that prevents the collector
• supply voltage from appearing at the output.
• RFC is a DC circuit and it prevents the high frequency signals from entering the DC
power supply
• Oscillation is started when noise having frequency of “fo” charges C1
 Clapp Oscillators

• Identical to colpitts oscillator except with the addition of a small capacitor Cs placed
in series with L1.
• Capacitance of Cs is made smaller relative to C1a and C1b thus providing a large
reactance. Cs has the most effect in determining the frequency of the tank circuit.
• The advantage of Clapp oscillator is that C1a and C1b can be selected for an
optimum feedback ratio, while Cs can be variable so it could be used in selecting the
frequency of operation.

FREQUENCY STABILITY
 Crystal Oscillators

• Feedback oscillator circuit in which the LC tank circuit is replaced with a crystal as the
frequency determining component.
• Crystal are sometimes called resonators and are capable of producing precise, stable
frequencies.
• The mechanical properties of crystal lattices allow them to exhibit piezoelectric effect.
• Materials exhibiting piezoelectric effect generate electrical oscillations (vibrates) when a
voltage is applied across the material, and it also produces a voltage across the material
when it is subjected to oscillating mechanical stresses (squeezing, stretching, twisting or
shearing)
• The mechanical vibrations are called bulk acoustic waves (BAWs) and are directly
proportional to the applied voltage.
• Sections of crystals that have been cut and polished vibrate when alternating voltages
are applied across their faces.
• The physical dimensions of a crystal, particularly its thickness and where it is cut,
determine its electrical and mechanical properties
• Crystals with "AT" cut are the most popular for high frequency and very high frequency
oscillators
• Crystallography is the study of the form, structure, properties and classifications of
crystals.
• Innature,completequartzcrystalshaveahexagonalcrosssectionandpointedends
• Crystals have three axes, Optical (Z-axis), electrical (X-axis), and mechanical (y- axis)
• Some of the crystal substances which exhibit piezoelectric effect are quartz, Rochelle
salt, tourmaline, and several substances such as ADP, EDT, and DKT
• Synthetic Quartz is used more often for frequency control in oscillators because of its
permanence, low temperature coefficient, and high mechanical Q.
• Rochelle Salt has the most produced piezoelectric effect, which is why it is the most
commonly used material for microphones.
• The relationship between a crystal’s operating frequency and its thickness is expressed
as: h= 65.5/fn

Where: h= crystal thickness in inches

fn = crystal natural resonant frequency (Hz)

• It is possible to operate a crystal in an overtone mode, in which the harmonically related

vibrations that occur with the fundamental vibrations are used
• This is done to overcome the maximum fundamental frequency that the crystal could be
operated on, because of limitations on making the crystal too thin that it could break
easily.
 TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT

CRYSTAL EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT

 • C2 is actual capacitance formed between the electrodes of the crystal, with the crystal
being the dielectric.
• C1 is the mechanical compliance of the crystal (also called it resilience or elasticity)
• L1 equivalent to the mass of the crystal in vibration.
• • R is the mechanical friction loss
• Q factors are quite high for crystals (typical
• value of 10,000 to 100,000)
• A crystal can operate un one of two resonant frequencies (series or parallel) , depending
on the circuit configuration it is used in.

DISCRETE PIERCE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT

• Operating frequency spans the full fundamental crystal range of 1KHz to around 30 MHz
• Has high output power with little power dissipation on the crystal.
• Has excellent short term frequency stability (high-in circuit loaded Q)
• Requires a high gain amplifier (approximately 70)
• Q1 requires the gain necessary.
• R1 and C1 provides a 65° phase lag to the feedback signal
• C2 and crystal impedance (resistive with small inductive) provides additional 115° phase
lag.
• Q1 inverts the signal (180°) giving the necessary of 360° phase shift for regenerative
feedback.
• C1 and C2 are mostly the crystal’s load, which provide substantial losses, but provide
good frequency stability
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PIERCE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT

• Cost less compared to those made using discrete components.

• RFB DC biases inverting amplifier A1’s input and output for class A operation.
• A2 converts the output of A1 to a full rail-to-rail swing (cut-off to saturation), reducing
the rise and fall times, and buffering A1’s output.
• The output resistance of A1 (R0) and C2 provide the RC phase lag needed for
regenerative feedback

RLC (MEACHAM) HALF BRIDGE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT

CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR MODULE

LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION OSCILLATOR

• LSI integrated circuits containing oscillator circuits are now widely used.
• IC oscillators offer the following advantages:
- Large number of devices in a single chip (more compact)
- Cheaper than discrete counter parts
- Excellent frequency stability
- Wide tuning frequency
• Available waveform generators include function generators, timers, voltage controlled
oscillators, and precision oscillators.

IC WAVEFORM GENERATORS

• An oscillator circuit that generates well defined, stable waveforms that can be eternally
modulated or swept over a given frequency range.
• A typical waveform generator consists of four basic sections namely:
o Oscillator – generates the basic periodic wave form
o Wave shaper – shapes the basic wave into a form needed at the output, such as
a square wave or triangular wave.
o Optional AM modulator – can be used to modulated the generated waveform.
o Output buffer amplifier - provides gain necessary to drive the load of the
waveform generator.
 -
VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR (VCO)

Typical Transfer Curve for VCO

PHASE LOCK LOOP

• Closed loop feedback control system in which the feedback signal is a frequency rather
than simply a voltage.
• For PLL, the frequency or the phase of the feedback signal is the parameter of interest
rather than the magnitude of the signal’s voltage or current
• The PLL provides frequency selective tuning and filtering without the need for coils or
inductors
• PLLs are widely used un performing modulation, demodulation, frequency generation
and frequency synthesis.
• PLL are used in transmitters and receivers of analog and digital communication systems.
• PLLs using integrated circuits are available in the market.

Phase Lock Loop Operation

• The VCO operates at a set frequency called natural or free running frequency (fn), which
is set by external resistor (Rt) and capacitor Ct.
• When there is no external input signal (fi) or when the feedback loop is open, the VCO’s
output frequency is equal to its natural or free running frequency and the output
voltage of the PLL is 0volt.
• When an input signal is applied, the phase comparator (phase detector) compares the
phase and frequency of the input signal with the phase and frequency of the VCO
output signal, and generates an error voltage, Vd(t), which is related to the phase and
frequency difference between the two signals.
• The error voltage is filtered (through the low pass filter), amplified (through the low gain
amplifier), and applied to the input of the VCO.
• If the input frequency, fi, is sufficiently close to the VCO natural frequency (fn), the
feedback nature of the PLL causes the VCO to synchronize or lock, to the incoming signal
• Once in lock, the VCO frequency is identical to the input frequency, except for a finite
phase difference that is equal to the phase of the incoming signal minus the phase of
the VCO output signal.

• A PLL has three operating states: free running, capture and lock.
• In the free-running state, either there is no external input frequency or the feedback
loop is open.
o The VCO output is equal to its natural frequency
• In the capture state, there must be an external input signal (fi) and the feedback loop
must be completer.
o The PLL is in the process of acquiring frequency lock
o The output of the low pass filter is and AC voltage whose frequency is fi-fn
• In the lock state, the VCO output frequency is locked onto (equal to) the frequency of
the external input signal. The VCO output frequency tracks changes in the frequency of
the external input signal
o The output if the low pass filter is a DC voltage
o The time required to achieve lock is called acquisition time or pull-in time

PLL Lock Range

• Lock Range is the range of frequencies vicinity of the natural frequency of the VCO (fn),
over which the PLL can maintain lock with an external input signal.
o It is the range of the frequencies over which the PLL can accurately track or
follow the input frequency
o Lock range is also called tracking range.
• Hold in range is equal to the half the lock range
• The lowest frequency that the PLL will track is called the lower lock limit
• The lowest frequency that the PLL will track is called the upper lock limit
• Lock range depends on the transfer function (gains) of the phase comparator, low gain
amplifier, and the VCO.
 PLL Capture Range
• Capture range is the band of frequencies on the vicinity of fn, where the PLL can
establish or acquire lock with an external input signal.
• Capture range is also called acquisition range
• The capture range is generally 0.5 to 1.7 times the naturally
• Capture range is related to the bandwidth of the low pass filter.
• Pull in range is the peak capture range (capture range = 2 x pull in range)
• The lowest frequency that the PLL can lock onto is called the lower capture limit (fcl).
• The highest frequency that the PLL can lock onto is called the upper capture limit (fcu).
• Capture range is never greater than the Lock range.
• Pull in range is never greater than the Hold in range

FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER
• Crystal Controlled variable-frequency generator
• An electronic system for generating any of a range
• of frequencies from a single fixed time-base or oscillator.
• A frequency synthesizer can combine frequency multiplication, frequency division, and
frequency mixing (the frequency mixing process generates sum and difference
frequencies) operations to produce the desired output signal