Phase locked loops (PLL)

• Earlier PLL in discrete form is limited by its

high cost
• Now with advanced IC technology , PLL
are available in inexpensive monolithic ICs
• This technique for electronic frequency
control is used today in
– satellite communications systems
– Air borne navigational systems
– FM communications systems etc
 Basic principles
• This system consists of phase detector/comparator,
a low pass filter, an error amplifier, & vco
VCO
• The vco is a free running multivibrator
• It operates at a set frequency fo called free running
frequency
• This frequency is determined by an timing
capacitor & resistor.
• It can be shifted to either side by applying a dc
control voltage Vc
• The frequency deviation is directly proportional to
Vc. Hence it is called VCO
 operation
• If an input signal Vs of frequency Fs is
applied to PLL
• The phase detector compares the phase and
frequency of input with output Vo
• If the two signals differ in frequency or
phase, an error voltage is generated
• The phase detector is a multiplier and
produces the sum (Fs+Fo) & difference
(Fs-Fo) at its output
• The high frequency components (Fs+Fo) is
removed by the LPF & the difference frequency is
amplified
• This difference frequency is then applied as
control voltage Vc to VCO
• This signal Vc shifts the VCO frequency to reduce
the frequency difference between Fs & Fo
• Once this action starts, we can say that the signal
is in capture range.
• The vco continues to change frequency till its o/p
freq is same as i/p freq.then the circuit is said to
be locked
• Thus once locked PLL tracks the frequency
changes of input signal.
• Hence PLL goes through three stages
– Free running
– Capture
– Locked or tracking
 Characteristics of PLL
• Lock in range : The range of frequency over
which the PLL can maintain lock with the
incoming signal is called lock in range or
tracking range.
• Capture range : The range of frequencies
over which the PLL can acquire with an
input signal is called the capture range.
• Pull in time : The total time taken by the
PLL to establish lock is called pull in time.
 Applications of PLL
• Frequency multiplier
• Frequency synthesizer
• FM demodulation
• Frequency shift keying (FSK) demodulator
• AM detection
• Frequency translation
 IC PLL-565
• The SE/NE 560,561,562,563,564,565,567
mainly differ in operating frequency range,
power supply requirement, frequency and
bandwidth.
• IC 565 is the mostly used PLL
• Here the output frequency of the vco is
given by F0 = 0.25/(RTCT) Hz
• RTCT are the external resistor connected to
pin 8 & 9
• The phase locked loop is internally broken
between the VCO output & phase
comparator input.
• The short circuit pins 4 & 5 connects vco
output to phase comparator.
• A capacitor is connected between pin 7 &
pin 10