
Micrel
MICRF506BML/YML
Frequency Synthesizer
The MICRF506 frequency synthesizer consists of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a crystal oscillator, dual
modulus prescaler, programmable frequency dividers and a phase-detector. The loop-filter is external for flexibility
and can be a simple passive circuit. The phase detector compares frequencies of two signals and produces an
error signal which is proportional to the difference between the input frequencies. The error signal is used to
control a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) which creates an output frequency. The output frequency is fed
through a frequency divider back to the input of the phase detector, producing a feedback loop. If the output
frequency drifts, the error signal will increase, driving the frequency in the opposite direction so as to reduce the
error. Thus the output is locked to the frequency at the other input. This input is called the reference and is
derived from a crystal oscillator, which is very stable in frequency. The block diagram below shows the basic
elements and arrangement of a PLL based frequency synthesizer. The MICRF506 has a dual modulus prescaler
for increased frequency resolution. In a dual modulus prescaler the main divider is split into two parts, the main
part N and an additional divider A, where A < N. Both dividers are clocked from the output of the dual-modulus
prescaler, but only the output of the N divider is fed into the phase detector. The prescaler will first divide by 16.
Both N and A count down until A reaches zero, at which point the prescaler is switched to a division ratio 16+1. At
this point, the divider N has completed A counts. Counting continues until N reaches zero, which is an additional
N-A counts. At this point the cycle repeats.
Loop filter
VCO
1800MHz
Prescaler
A-Divider
N-Divider
PA
Div/4
XCO
M-Divider
Phase
detector
Charge pump
A6…A0
0001010
0001011
0001100
0001101
0001110
0001111
0010000
0010001
0010010
0010011
D7
-
-
N0_7
-
M0_7
-
-
N1_7
-
M1_7
D6
-
-
N0_6
-
M0_6
-
-
N1_6
-
M1_6
D5
A0_5
-
N0_5
-
M0_5
A1_5
-
N1_5
-
M1_5
D4
A0_4
-
N0_4
-
M0_4
A1_4
-
N1_4
-
M1_4
D3
A0_3
N0_11
N0_3
M0_11
M0_3
A1_3
N1_11
N1_3
M1_11
M1_3
D2
A0_2
N0_10
N0_2
M0_10
M0_2
A1_2
N1_10
N1_2
M1_10
M1_2
D1
A0_1
N0_9
N0_1
M0_9
M0_1
A1_1
N1_9
N1_1
M1_9
M1_1
D0
A0_0
N0_8
N0_0
M0_8
M0_0
A1_0
N1_8
N1_0
M1_8
M1_0
July 2006
15
M9999-092904
+1 408-944-0800