Tuning control system

Claim 2

A tuning control system for a wave signal receiver capable of receiving signals in a plurality of frequency bands and having local oscillator means tunable to different transmitted signals in such bands in response to a tuning control signal, said tuning control system including in combination: mixer means having an output and at least first and second input; means for applying output signals from the local oscillator means to at least a first input of said mixer means; first and second gated offset oscillator means enabled for operation by an enabling gating signal and each producing output signals on an output terminal thereof at a different frequency having a predetermined relationship with a different frequency band which the wave signal receiver is capable of receiving, the outputs of said first and second gated offset oscillators each being coupled with a second input of said mixer means; selection means coupled with said first and second gated offset oscillator means for supplying an enabling gating signal to a selected one of said first and second gated offset oscillator means corresponding to the frequency band in which a desired selected transmitted signal appears; programmable frequency divider means coupled with the output of said mixer means and coupled with and controlled by said selection means for dividing the frequency of the output signal of said mixer means by an amount having a predetermined relationship with said desired selected transmitted frequency; reference oscillator means producing a reference signal on an output thereof; phase comparator means having an output and first and second inputs coupled respectively to the output of said reference oscillator means and the output of said programmable frequency divider means, the output of said phase comparator means providing a control voltage for tuning the local oscillator means.

Claim 3

The combination according to claim 1 wherein the outputs of said first and second gated offset oscillators are coupled in common with the same second input of said mixer means.

Claim 4

The combination according to claim 1 wherein said mixer means includes first and second mixers, each having an output and each having first and second inputs; said means for applying output signals comprises first and second means for supplying first and second local oscillator output signals to the first inputs of said first and second mixers, respectively; and the output of said first gated offset oscillator means is coupled with the second input of said first mixer and the output of said second gated offset oscillator means is coupled with the second input of said second mixer, the outputs of said first and second mixers being coupled in common to comprise the output of said mixer means.

Claim 5

The combination according to claim 3 further including a third gated offset oscillator means enabled for operation by an enabling gating signal, the output of said third gated oscillator means being connected in common with the output of said first gated offset oscillator means to the second input of said first mixer, said selection means further coupled for supplying an enabling gating signal to said third gated offset oscillator means.

Claim 6

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving signals in a plurality of frequency bands, and having local oscillator means tunable to different channels in such bands in response to tuning control signals, said tuning control system including in combination: a mixer having an output and first and second inputs; means for applying the output signals from the local oscillator to the first input of said mixer; at least first and second gated offset oscillators enabled for operation by an enabling gating signal and each producing an output signal on an output terminal thereof at a different frequency, the output frequency of each of said gated offset oscillators having a predetermined relationship with a different frequency band which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the outputs of said gated offset oscillators coupled in common with the second input of said mixer; channel selection means coupled with said gated offset oscillators for supplying an enabling gating signal to one only of said gated offset oscillators corresponding to the band of frequencies in which a selected channel appears; programmable frequency divider means coupled with the output of said mixer and coupled with and controlled by said channel selection means for dividing the output frequency of said mixer by an amount having a predetermined relationship to the number of the channel selected by said channel selection means; a reference oscillator producing on an output thereof a reference signal having a predetermined frequency; and phase comparator means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said reference oscillator and a second input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means and producing a control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the local oscillator means.

Claim 7

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving signals in a plurality of frequency bands, and having local oscillator means tunable to different channels in such bands in response to tuning control signals, said tuning control system including in combination: a mixer having an output and first and second inputs; means for applying the output signals from the local oscillator to the first input of said mixer; at least first and second gated offset oscillators enabled for operation by an enabling gating signal and each producing an output signal on an output terminal thereof at a different frequency, the output frequency of each of said gated offset oscillators having a predetermined relationship with a different frequency band which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the outputs of said gated offset oscillators coupled in common with the second input of said mixer; channel selection means coupled with said gated offset oscillators for supplying an enabling gating signal to one only of said gated offset oscillators corresponding to the band of frequencies in which a selected channel appears; programmable frequency divider means coupled with the output of said mixer and coupled with and controlled by said channel selection means for dividing the output frequency of said mixer by an amount having a predetermined relationship to the number of the channel selected by said channel selection means; a reference oscillator producing on an output thereof a reference signal having a predetermined frequency; and phase comparator means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said reference oscillator and a second input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means and producing a control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the local oscillator means.

Claim 8

The combination according to claim 5 further including a third gated offset oscillator enabled for operation by an enabling gating signal and producing an output signal at a third different frequency on an output terminal thereof, with the output terminal of said third gated offset oscillator coupled in common with the output terminals of said first and second gated offset oscillators, said channel selection means further coupled with said third offset oscillator for supplying an enabling gating signal thereto.

Claim 9

The combination according to claim 6 wherein said means for applying the output signals from the local oscillator to the first input of said mixer applies VHF local oscillator output signals to such mixer input, said first, second and third gated offset oscillators produce output signals at 89 megahertz, 93 megahertz, and 179 megahertz, respectively, and wherein said programmable frequency divider means comprises a first fixed frequency divider section coupled with the output of said mixer for dividing the output frequency thereof by 50 and a programmable frequency divider section, the input of which is coupled with the output of said fixed frequency divider section, said programmable frequency divider section coupled with said channel selection means and dividing directly by the selected channel number; and the Frequency of the reference signal supplied by said reference oscillator is 120 kilohertz.

Claim 10

The combination according to claim 7 further including oscillator selection switching means coupled with said channel selection means for supplying said enabling gating signal to said first gated offset oscillator whenever channels 2, 3, or 4 are selected by said channel selection means, for supplying said enabling gating signal to said second gated offset oscillator whenever channels 5 and 6 are selected by said channel selection means, and for supplying said enabling gating signal to said third gated offset oscillator whenever any one of channels 7 to 13 is selected by said channel selection means.

Claim 11

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving signals in VHF and UHF frequency bands and having first and second local oscillators tunable to different channels in such VHF and UHF frequency bands, respectively, in response to tuning control signals, said tuning control system including in combination: first and second mixers, each having an output and each having first and second inputs; means for applying the output signal of the first local oscillator to the first input of said first mixer; means for applying the output signal of the second local oscillator to the first input of said second mixer; a first gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof at a first predetermined frequency having a predetermined relationship with the VHF band of frequencies which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said first gated offset oscillator being coupled with the second input of said first mixer; a second gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof at a frequency having a predetermined relationship with the UHF band of frequencies which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said second gated offset oscillator being coupled with the second input of said second mixer; channel selection means for selecting channels in said VHF and UHF frequency bands and coupled with said gated offset oscillators for causing said first gated offset oscillator to supply signals to said first mixer whenever a VHF channel is selected and for causing said second gated offset oscillator to supply signals to said second mixer whenever a UHF channel is selected; programmable frequency divider means having an input coupled in common with the outputs of said first and second mixer means and controlled by said channel selection means for dividing the frequency of output signals from said mixer means by an amount a predetermined relationship with respect to the selected channel number; a reference oscillator producing an output signal at a predetermined frequency; and phase comparator circuit means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said reference oscillator and a second input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means for producing a control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the first and second local oscillators.

Claim 12

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving signals in VHF and UHF frequency bands and having first and second local oscillators tunable to different channels in such VHF and UHF frequency bands, respectively, in response to tuning control signals, said tuning control system including in combination: first and second mixers, each having an output and each having first and second inputs; means for applying the output signal of the first local oscillator to the first input of said first mixer; means for applying the output signal of the second local oscillator to the first input of said second mixer; a first gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof at a first predetermined frequency having a predetermined relationship with the VHF band of frequencies which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said first gated offset oscillator being coupled with the second input of said first mixer; a second gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof at a frequency having a predetermined relationship with the UHF band of frequencies which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said second gated offset oscillator being coupled with the second input of said second mixer; channel selection means for selecting channels in said VHF and UHF frequency bands and coupled with said gated offset oscillators for causing said first gated offset oscillator to supply signals to said first mixer whenever a VHF channel is selected and for causing said second gated offset oscillator to supply signals to said second mixer whenever a UHF channel is selected; programmable frequency divider means having an input coupled in common with the outputs of said first and second mixer means and controlled by said channel selection means for dividing the frequency of output signals from said mixer means by an amount a predetermined relationship with respect to the selected channel number; a reference oscillator producing an output signal at a predetermined frequency; and phase comparator circuit means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said reference oscillator and a second input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means for producing a control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the first and second local oscillators.

Claim 13

The combination according to claim 9 wherein the output frequencies of said first and second gated offset oscillators and the frequency of said reference oscillator are such that said programmable frequency divider is operated to divide directly by the selected channel number to produce a signal of the same frequency as said reference oscillator whenever the local oscillator for the selected VHF or UHF frequency band produces an output signal at a frequency corresponding to the selected channel.

Claim 14

The combination according to claim 10 wherein said programmable frequency divider comprises a first fixed frequency divider stage for dividing the output signals from said mixers by 50, and a second programmable divider stage having an input coupled with the output of said firSt fixed divider stage for directly dividing such output by the selected channel number to produce the output coupled with the second input of said phase comparator circuit means.

Claim 15

The combination according to claim 11 wherein the frequency of said reference oscillator is 120 kilohertz, the frequency of said second gated offset oscillator is 433 megahertz and the frequency of said first gated offset oscillator is one of the following frequencies: 89 megahertz, 93 megahertz, 179 megahertz.

Claim 16

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving channels in VHF and UHF frequency bands and having VHF and UHF local oscillators tunable to different channels in such bands, respectively, in response to a tuning control signal, said tuning control system including in combination: a first mixer circuit having an output and first and second inputs; a second mixer having an output and first and second inputs; means for coupling the output of the VHF local oscillator with the first input of said first mixer circuit; means for coupling the output of the UHF local oscillator with the first input of said second mixer circuit; first, second and third gated offset oscillators each producing an output signal on an output terminal thereof at a different frequency, the output frequency of said first offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the VHF frequencies for channels 2, 3 and 4, the output frequency of said second offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the frequencies of VHF channels 5 and 6, and the output frequency of said third offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the VHF channels 7 to 13, the outputs of said first, second and third gated offset oscillators coupled in common with the second input of said first mixer circuit; a fourth gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof having a predetermined frequency relationship with the UHF channels which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said fourth gated offset oscillator coupled with the second input of said second mixer circuit; channel selection means providing an output indicative of the channel to which the television receiver is to be tuned; oscillator enabling switch means coupled with the channel selection means and responsive thereto for selectively enabling for operation only one of said first, second, third and fourth gated offset oscillators corresponding to the channel selected by said channel selection means; programmable frequency divider means having an input coupled in common with the outputs of said first and second mixer circuits and coupled with said channel selection means and responsive thereto to divide the output frequency from said first and second mixer circuits by a predetermined amount corresponding to the selected channel number; reference oscillator means producing output signals at a predetermined frequency on an output terminal thereof; and phase comparator circuit means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means and having a second input coupled with the output terminal of said reference oscillator means for producing a tuning control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the VHF and UHF local oscillators.

Claim 17

A tuning control system for a television receiver capable of receiving channels in VHF and UHF frequency bands and having VHF and UHF local oscillators tunable to different channels in such bands, respectively, in response to a tuning control signal, said tuning control system including in combination: a first mixer circuit having an output and first and second inputs; a second mixer having an output and first and second inputs; means for coupling the output of the VHF local oscillator with the first input of said first mixer circuit; means for coupling the output of the UHF local oscillator with the first input of said second mixer circuit; first, second and third gated offset oscillators each producing an output signal on an output terminal thereof at a different frequency, the output frequency of said first offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the VHF frequencies for channels 2, 3 and 4, the output frequency of said second offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the frequencies of VHF channels 5 and 6, and the output frequency of said third offset oscillator having a predetermined relationship with the VHF channels 7 to 13, the outputs of said first, second and third gated offset oscillators coupled in common with the second input of said first mixer circuit; a fourth gated offset oscillator producing an output signal on the output terminal thereof having a predetermined frequency relationship with the UHF channels which the television receiver is capable of receiving, the output of said fourth gated offset oscillator coupled with the second input of said second mixer circuit; channel selection means providing an output indicative of the channel to which the television receiver is to be tuned; oscillator enabling switch means coupled with the channel selection means and responsive thereto for selectively enabling for operation only one of said first, second, third and fourth gated offset oscillators corresponding to the channel selected by said channel selection means; programmable frequency divider means having an input coupled in common with the outputs of said first and second mixer circuits and coupled with said channel selection means and responsive thereto to divide the output frequency from said first and second mixer circuits by a predetermined amount corresponding to the selected channel number; reference oscillator means producing output signals at a predetermined frequency on an output terminal thereof; and phase comparator circuit means having an output and having a first input coupled with the output of said programmable frequency divider means and having a second input coupled with the output terminal of said reference oscillator means for producing a tuning control signal on the output thereof for controlling the frequency of operation of the VHF and UHF local oscillators.

Claim 18

A tuning control system according to claim 13 wherein said programmable frequency divider means comprises a first stage for dividing the output frequency from said first and second mixer circuits by a predetermined fixed amount and a second stage for dividing the output signals from the first stage directly by the channel number.

Claim 19

The combination according to claim 14 wherein the output frequency of said first offset oscillator means is 89 megahertz, the output frequency of said second oscillator means is 93 megahertz, The output frequency of said third offset oscillator means is 179 megahertz, the output frequency of said fourth offset oscillator means is 433 megahertz, and the output frequency of said reference oscillator is 120 kilohertz.