US3694766A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Frequency synthesizer apparatus
Assignee: GTE Sylvania Inc
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Filing: 1971-08-30
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Granted: 1972-09-26
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Expires: 1991-08-30
Abstract
Abstract Harmonic generator type of frequency synthesizer employing a reference frequency signal equal to the spacing between adjacent channels and a displaced reference frequency signal which differs from the reference frequency by a few hertz. The reference frequency signal is applied to a first harmonic generator which generates a spectrum of harmonics of the reference frequency. The spectrum is applied to a phase-locked loop which produces an output frequency signal equal to a particular one of the harmonics of the reference frequency. The displaced reference frequency signal is applied to a second harmonic generator which generates a spectrum of harmonics of the displaced reference frequency. The spectrum of harmonics of the displaced reference frequency is combined with the output signal of the phase-locked loop in a mixer and the output of the mixer is applied to a lowpass filter. The frequency of the only output signal from the filter is equal to the same particular harmonic to which the phase-locked loop is locked times the difference in frequency between the reference frequency and the displaced reference frequency. Since the difference between the frequencies is a known, fixed value, the signal from the filter is thus a precise measure of the particular harmonic of the reference frequency being produced by the phase-locked loop. The output frequency of the filter may be counted and compared with a preset count representing the value of a predetermined harmonic of the reference frequency to which it is desired to tune the phase-locked loop. The difference between the counts is employed to generate a voltage signal which is coupled to the phase-locked loop to change the tuning of the phase-locked loop to another harmonic of the reference frequency.
Inventors
- 👤 Gilbert L Boelke
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 19:12
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03L; H03L7/00; H03L7/06; H03L7/16; H03L7/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
284 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus including in combination means for producing a reference frequency signal; means for producing a displaced reference frequency signal differing from the reference frequency signal by a predetermined differential frequency; first harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the reference frequency signal; second harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the displaced reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the displaced reference frequency signal; a voltage controlled oscillator; phase detector means having a first input coupled to the first harmonic generating means, a second input coupled to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator, and an output coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator to provide a phase-locked loop, whereby the frequency of the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator is equal to a harmonic of the reference frequency signal; tuning means coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator for selectively tuning the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of a particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal; frequency mixing means coupled to the second harmonic generating means and to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator for frequency mixing the plurality of harmonics of the displaced frequency signal with the particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal from the voltage controlled oscillator; filtering means coupled to the output of the frequency mixing means for removing the high frequency components of frequency mixing and passing the particular harmonic of the differential frequency; and means coupled to the filtering means for providing an indication of the value of the frequency of the signal passed by the filtering means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
284 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus including in combination means for producing a reference frequency signal; means for producing a displaced reference frequency signal differing from the reference frequency signal by a predetermined differential frequency; first harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the reference frequency signal; second harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the displaced reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the displaced reference frequency signal; a voltage controlled oscillator; phase detector means having a first input coupled to the first harmonic generating means, a second input coupled to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator, and an output coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator to provide a phase-locked loop, whereby the frequency of the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator is equal to a harmonic of the reference frequency signal; tuning means coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator for selectively tuning the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of a particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal; frequency mixing means coupled to the second harmonic generating means and to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator for frequency mixing the plurality of harmonics of the displaced frequency signal with the particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal from the voltage controlled oscillator; filtering means coupled to the output of the frequency mixing means for removing the high frequency components of frequency mixing and passing the particular harmonic of the differential frequency; and means coupled to the filtering means for providing an indication of the value of the frequency of the signal passed by the filtering means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
53 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including oscillator means for producing an oscillator frequency signal; firSt frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said reference frequency signal; and second frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said displaced reference frequency signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
316 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus including in combination means for producing a reference frequency signal; means for producing a displaced reference frequency signal differing from the reference frequency signal by a predetermined differential frequency; first harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the reference frequency signal; second harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the displaced reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the displaced reference signal; a voltage controlled oscillator; phase detector means having a first input coupled to the first harmonic generating means, a second input coupled to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator, and an output coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator to provide a phase-locked loop, whereby the frequency of the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator is equal to a harmonic of the reference frequency signal; tuning means coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator for selectively tuning the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of a particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal; frequency mixing means coupled to the second harmonic generating means and to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator for frequency mixing the plurality of harmonics of the displaced frequency signal with the particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal from the voltage controlled oscillator; filtering means coupled to the output of the frequency mixing means for removing the high frequency components of frequency mixing and passing the particular harmonic of the differential frequency; and adjustment means coupled to the filtering means and to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator and operable to change the tuning of the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of another harmonic of the reference frequency signal when the particular harmonic of the differential frequency from the filtering means differs from a predetermined harmonic.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
316 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus including in combination means for producing a reference frequency signal; means for producing a displaced reference frequency signal differing from the reference frequency signal by a predetermined differential frequency; first harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the reference frequency signal; second harmonic generating means coupled to the means for producing the displaced reference frequency signal for producing a plurality of harmonics of the displaced reference signal; a voltage controlled oscillator; phase detector means having a first input coupled to the first harmonic generating means, a second input coupled to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator, and an output coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator to provide a phase-locked loop, whereby the frequency of the output signal of the voltage controlled oscillator is equal to a harmonic of the reference frequency signal; tuning means coupled to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator for selectively tuning the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of a particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal; frequency mixing means coupled to the second harmonic generating means and to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator for frequency mixing the plurality of harmonics of the displaced frequency signal with the particular harmonic of the reference frequency signal from the voltage controlled oscillator; filtering means coupled to the output of the frequency mixing means for removing the high frequency components of frequency mixing and passing the particular harmonic of the differential frequency; and adjustment means coupled to the filtering means and to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator and operable to change the tuning of the voltage controlled oscillator to produce an output signal of another harmonic of the reference frequency signal when the particular harmonic of the differential frequency from the filtering means differs from a predetermined harmonic.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
98 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said adjustment means includes means for selectively setting the value of the predetermined harmonic; and means for comparing a representation of the value of the predetermined harmonic with a representation of the value of the particular harmonic of the differential frequency and operable to produce an output voltage to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator for changing the value of the harmonic of the reference frequency produced by the voltage controlled oscillator toward the value of the predetermined harmonic when the particular harmonic differs from the predetermined harmonic.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 4 including oscillator means for producing an oscillator frequency signal; first frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said reference frequency signal; and second frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said displaced reference frequency signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
219 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said adjustment means includes counter means coupled to said filtering means and operable to count the cycles of an input signal; timing means coupled to said counter means and operable to activate the counter means for a period, whereby the counter means accumulates a count of the cycles of the harmonic of the differential frequency from the faltering means occuring during said period; compArator means coupled to said counter means and operable to be selectively set to a representation of the count of cycles occurring during said period for a predetermined harmonic of the differential frequency, said comparator means being operable to compare a count of cycles occurring during said period and accumulated within said counter means with the representation set in the comparator means, and to produce an output signal indicating whether the accumulated count is equal to, greater than, or less than the representation; and voltage control means coupled to the comparator means and to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator and operable in response to an output signal from the comparator means to adjust the voltage level at the input of the voltage controlled oscillator so as to change the harmonic of the reference frequency signal produced by the voltage controlled oscillator toward the predetermined harmonic.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
53 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 6 including oscillator means for producing an oscillator frequency signal; first frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said reference frequency signal; and second frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said displaced reference frequency signal.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
260 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said adjustment means includes counting means operable to count the cycles of an input signal; means for producing a standard frequency signal coupled to the input of said counting means; means coupled to said filtering means and said counting means and operable to activate the counting means for a pre-established number of cycles of the harmonic of the differential frequency signal from the filtering means, whereby the counting means accumulates a count of the cycles of the standard frequency signal occurring during said pre-established number of cycles; comparing means coupled to said counting means and operable to be selectively set to a representation of the count of cycles of the standard frequency signal occurring during said pre-established number of cycles of a predetermined harmonic of the differential frequency, said comparing means being operable to compare a count of cycles occurring during said pre-established number of cycles of the particular harmonic of the differential frequency and accumulated within said counting means with the representation set in the comparing means, and to produce an output signal indicating whether the accumulated count is equal to, greater than, or less than the representation; and voltage adjusting means coupled to the comparing means and to the input of the voltage controlled oscillator and operable in response to an output signal from the comparing means to adjust the voltage level at the input of the voltage controlled oscillator to change the harmonic of the reference frequency signal produced by the voltage controlled oscillator toward the predetermined harmonic.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
53 words
Frequency synthesizer apparatus in accordance with claim 8 including oscillator means for producing an oscillator frequency signal; first frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said reference frequency signal; and second frequency reducing means coupled to the oscillator means and operable to produce said displaced reference frequency signal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2581594A
Cited
US2810832A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-09-26 | 1976-03-27 | 1976-09-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-09-26 | 1980-03-27 | 1980-09-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-09-26 | 1984-03-27 | 1984-09-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |