What is the purpose of a phase comparator in...

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Question 1 of 20H43eoFozb1ESArmFCM3s

What is the purpose of a phase comparator in a frequency synthesizer?

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Question 1 of 20

H43eoFozb1ESArmFCM3s

What is the purpose of a phase comparator in a frequency synthesizer?

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🔍 Key Concepts

• Phase-locked loop (PLL) operation in a frequency synthesizer • Relationship between reference frequency, divider circuits, and VCO (voltage-controlled oscillator) output • Why we use frequency division before comparison in synthesizers

💭 Think About

• In a PLL-based synthesizer, what signal do we want the VCO to ultimately lock to: the raw master oscillator, or a reference derived from it? • Think about typical synthesizer blocks: reference oscillator → divider → phase comparator → loop filter → VCO → divider. Which points in this chain are actually fed into the phase comparator? • Why is dividing one or both signals before comparison helpful when generating many different output frequencies from a single stable reference?

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which signals are usually divided down to form a low-frequency reference for comparison. • Check which signal is the controllable one (the VCO) and how its output is prepared before entering the phase comparator. • Verify that in common PLL diagrams, the phase comparator almost never compares two high-frequency direct outputs but rather at least one divided signal.

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Question 1 of 20H43eoFozb1ESArmFCM3s

What is the purpose of a phase comparator in a frequency synthesizer?

Back

Question 1 of 20

H43eoFozb1ESArmFCM3s

What is the purpose of a phase comparator in a frequency synthesizer?

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts!

If the question has a related picture, it will appear here.

🔍 Key Concepts

💭 Think About

✅ Before You Answer

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