PLL Discussion Incomplete
PLL Discussion Incomplete
In the diagram, the input signal is multiplied by the VCO output (a sine wave of
variable frequency), resulting in a beat frequency. If the signals are close in
frequency, the output is a low-frequency sine and the low-pass filter (LPF)
passes it and lets it control the VCO frequency, thus bringing it back closer to
the input signal frequency. If the frequencies are far apart (in comparison to
the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter) then the VCO receives no signal and
does not try to move closer to the input signal frequency. The LPF thus
determines the lock range of the PLL, and not surprisingly also determines the
noise in the PLL, so that tailoring it to your application is important. For
frequency estimation applications it is fairly common to include an integrator in
the LPF, so as to drive the steady-state error in the frequency of the VCO to
zero. Alternatively, one can emphasize the transient response of the LPF to
follow a time-varying signal for the purpose of e.g. decoding the phase
information in it.
PLL's were initially defined in hardware, using mixers, filters and real voltagecontrolled oscillators, and then later implemented entirely on an integrated
circuit. Nowadays it is very common to find them implemented in software
following an analog-to-digital conversion of the input signal. This is an especially
effective way to go if real-time operation is not required, or if the signal is
already being digitized for archival use. They are computationally simple to
implement, although they can be difficult to tame. Some simple pseudo-code
for one is given below:
There are several well-known options for designing the first-order low-pass
filter Fa(s) . In particular we are interested in getting the denominator of Ha(s) to
the standard form
s2+2ns+2n
where n is the natural frequency of the filter and is the damping factor. This
simplifies analysis of the overall transfer function and allows the parameters
of Fa(s) to ensure stability. We are now free to choose the low pass filter Fa(s) .
There are several possibilities, but for this example we will use the active
"proportional plus integration" (PI) which has a loop filter
Fa(s)=1+2s1s
where 1 and 2 are also parameters relating to the damping factor and natural
frequency. This yields a closed-loop phase-locked loop transfer function:
2
Ha(s)=Ka*(1+s2)/[s +sKa2/1+Ka/(1+2)]/1
We are left with a loop filter that simply has three parameters:
n : the bandwidth of the loop filter
: the loop filter's damping factor (typically =1/20.707 )
Ka : the loop filter's gain (typically Ka is very large, on the order of 1,000)
The values 1 and 2 are derived from n , , and Ka .
Figure [iirfilt_sos_diagram]. scale:0.7 Direct form II realization for a 2nd order recursive (infinite
impulse response) filter
We can verify the stability of the filter by ensuring that the filter poles (the
complex roots of the polynomial in the denominator with respect to z1 ) are
within the unit circle. A careful inspection of the polynomial in the denominator
of [eqn:loop_filter_Hd] reveals that the two conjugate roots pd and pd are not
only on the unit circle, but they are also both real-valued:
12z1+z2pdpd===(1pdz1)(1pdz1)11
^(s)[1+Fa(s)Ga(s)Ka]=(s)Fa(s)Ga(s)Ka
Ha(s)=^(s)/(s) = Fa(s)Ga(s)Ka/[1+Fa(s)Ga(s)Ka]