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CHAPTER 2

THE BASIC LOOP

We begin by studying the basic phase-locked loop (PLL), whose loop filter is represented by a frequency-independent gain. We will look at its transient response and its
frequency response in the same way that we will later look at those for the more complicated cases, but it is important that we first gain a clear understanding by studying
this simpler case.

2.1 STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS

The center frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) f c is the frequency
that occurs when the phase detector is in the center of its output range or the frequency
midway between the frequencies that occur at the edges of the phase detector range.
If the transfer function from the phase detector to the VCO output frequency is linear,
these are the same thing. The output from the phase detector is not necessarily zero
at that point; it depends on the particular phase detector realization. Even if it is zero,
a voltage shift may be implemented between the phase detector and the VCO. In
fact, most VCOs are operated with a tuning voltage that is always positive or always
negative. While these details are of considerable practical concern, they are easily
understood, and our studies will concentrate on changes from some initial or average
condition.
Figure 2.1 is similar to Fig. 1.6 except that the independent variable has been
changed from the tuning voltage u 2 to the phase difference . It illustrates the
Phase-Lock Basics, Second Edition. By William F. Egan
C 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright 

15

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Fig. 2.1 Loop output frequency vs. phase difference at the phase detector with a typical VCO.
The hold-in range, over which the frequency will vary as the phase detector covers its output
range, is indicated.

one-to-one correspondence between the VCOs frequency and its phase (relative to
the reference phase) in steady state. In this simple first-order, loop, the one-to-one
relationship holds not only in steady state but always. If we know one variable, we
know the other because there is no storage, no memory, in the filter. The loops that we
will study later will be different in this regard; the filter will permit the relationship
between the VCOs frequency and phase to change with time. That will make those
loops more versatile, and more challenging.

2.2 CLASSICAL ANALYSIS

Before using Laplace transforms to analyze the loops dynamics, let us first determine
the response by more directly solving Eq. (1.15). We will find that the PLL responds
to changes in phase or frequency in a manner similar to that in which other simple
circuits respond to changes in voltage or current. Thus we find that, whereas, in other
circuits voltage and current are the variables that describe the state of the circuit and
phase and frequency are parameters of those variables, in the PLL frequency and
phase are state variables. They too, nevertheless, have frequencies and phases, which
are their modulation parameters. For example, Eq. (2.1),
out = c + A sin (m t + 0 ),

(2.1)

describes the state variable out , which represents the output frequency of the loop,
but out can be seen to possess a frequency (its modulation frequency) m and a

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2.2 CLASSICAL ANALYSIS

17

modulation phase, 0 . These parameters must also be parameters of u 1 and u 2 , other

state variables in the loop, since u 1 , and u 2 are proportional to out .
2.2.1 Transient Response
Equation (1.15) can be rewritten as
dout = K d.

(2.2)

The time derivative of this equation is

dout
d
=K
= K (in out ),
dt
dt

(2.3)

where Eq. (1.9) was used. We rewrite (2.3) as

dout = K (in out ) dt.

(2.4)

If in is constant, it may be subtracted from out on the left side, since the differential
will not be affected by inclusion of a constant. This gives
d(out in ) = K (out in ) dt

(2.5)

d = K  dt,

(2.6)

 out in .

(2.7)

d
= K dt


(2.8)

or

where

We now write Eq. (2.6) as

and integrate both sides to obtain



1
d =



K dt

(2.9)

with the solution

ln  = K t + C.

(2.10)

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Taking the exponential of both sides, we obtain

 = eK t+C = eC eK t .

(2.11)

We can determine the value of eC by evaluating this expression at t = 0. When we

do so and substitute the results in Eq. (2.11), we obtain
(t) = (0)eK t .

(2.12a)

The output frequency is the input frequency plus ,

out = in + (t) = in + (0)eK t .

(2.12b)

Thus we see that this simple loop responds to an initial frequency error (difference
between the output and reference frequencies) (0) by exponentially decreasing
the error with a time constant equal to 1/K . As a result, the step response shown in
Fig. 2.2a is obtained. This is the same response to a frequency step that a single-pole
low-pass circuit has to a voltage step (Fig. 2.2b).
We might intuit this exponential response through the following considerations.
After the input frequency steps, there is a frequency error  that causes  to
change. This change in  (multiplied by K ) causes the VCO frequency to change in
such a direction as to decrease the frequency error (Fig. 2.3). This, in turn, decreases
the rate of phase change and thus the rate at which the VCO frequency changes.
As always, when the rate of change of a variable is proportional to the value of the
variable, it changes exponentially. Of course, the exponential shape will be perturbed
to the degree that there is curvature in the gain characteristics over the operating
region.

Fig. 2.2 Step response of (a) a simple loop compared to the step response of (b) a low-pass
filter. The filter in this loop is a simple amplifier. The frequency of the loop responds like the
voltage of the RC circuit.

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2.2 CLASSICAL ANALYSIS

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Fig. 2.3 Output frequency vs. phase for two phase detector characteristics. Since frequency
is the derivative of phase, the direction of change is determined by the sign of the frequency
difference.

Example 2.1 Transient Response When the input frequency to a particular loop
steps to a new frequency, we require that the output achieve that frequency, to within
an accuracy of 1%, in 1 msec. What are the range of K values that allow a simple
loop to comply with this requirement?
Restating the problem, we require
(1 msec)/(0) 0.01.
From (2.12a) this requires
(eK 10

sec

) 0.01 K ln (0.01)/103 sec = 4.6 103 sec1 .

2.2.2 Modulation Response

Rearranging Eq. (2.3) we can write
1 dout
+ out = in .
K dt

(2.13)

If the input is frequency modulated, then we expect the response to be frequency

modulated also, so we assume a response of the form
out (t) = c + A sin (m t),

(2.14)

where c is the center, or carrier, frequency, A is the peak frequency deviation, and
m is the modulation frequency. Putting Eq. (2.14) into (2.13), we obtain
A

m
cos(m t) + c + A sin (m t) = in .
K

(2.15)

We rewrite (2.14) and (2.15) in terms of deviations from the mean:

out out (t) c = A sin (m t),
m
in in c = A
cos(m t) + A sin (m t).
K

(2.16)
(2.17)

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The amplitude of out is A and that of in is

|in | = A



m 2
+ 1,
K

(2.18)

so the magnitude of the frequency response is

|H (m )| = 1/



m 2
+ 1.
K

(2.19)

Since in contains a component equal to out plus one that leads it by 90 and is
larger by m /K , the phase angle of in relative to out is tan1 [m /K ] and the
transfer phase is


H (m ) out (m ) in (m ) = tan1 [m /K ].

(2.20)

As with the time response, the response of this loop to a sinusoidally modulated
frequency is the same as the response of a low-pass filter to a sinusoidal voltage. In
each case the corner (3 dB) frequency is = K .
Example 2.2 Modulation Response A simple loop has a sinusoidal phase detector characteristic (Fig. 1.5) and K = 1000 sec1 . The input (reference) frequency
is frequency modulated at an unknown rate with a peak deviation of 50 Hz. What
is the phase shift between the VCO modulation and the input modulation when the
deviation at the output is 10 Hz?
We will use the gain to determine the modulation frequency and then use the
modulation frequency to determine the phase shift. The closed-loop gain is
|H (m )| = 10 Hz/50 Hz = 0.2.
From (2.19), this occurs at
 
2
m

+ 1 = 5,

from which we obtain

m
= 24,
K
giving the modulation frequency as m = 4899 rad/sec. Inserting m /K into (2.20),
we obtain the phase shift as  H (m ) = tan1 (4.9) = 78.5 . Thus the output
modulation lags the input modulation by 78.5 .

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2.3 MATHEMATICAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

21

The usual input and output state variables (y for voltage or current) are shown below
the plot of instantaneous frequency. The input happens to be a sinusoid while the
output is a square wave. These are intended to illustrate the meaning of the frequency
deviations plotted above. Note that the magnitude of the output frequency deviation is
smaller than that of the input deviation and how the times of occurrence of maximum
frequency (minimum period) correspond to the peaks in the frequency plots.

2.3 MATHEMATICAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

The mathematical relationships in the loop can be shown by means of a block diagram
such as Fig. 2.4. Here the input variable is the reference, or input, instantaneous phase
in , which is, in general, a function of time, perhaps a sinusoidal function such as
in (t) = i + Ai sin (m t + i )

(2.21)

with average value i , peak deviation Ai , modulation frequency m , and phase i .

Generally, as in any control system, responses are given in terms of the deviation from

Fig. 2.4 Mathematical block diagram of the simple loop with phase variables as input and output. The frequency state variables are shown to indicate how they relate to the phase variables.

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the average or initial or steady-state value, and i is only of interest in establishing

the steady-state operating point. A block is shown preceding in in order to establish
the integral relationship (1/s) between in (s) and in (s). The output from the summer
(a subtracter in this case) is the phase error e (s),1 the difference between the input
phase and the VCO phase, out . The phase error is converted to voltage in the phase
detector, which is represented by the gain K p = u 1 (s)/e (s). For this simple case the
loop filter is merely an amplifier with gain K LF ; K v represents the tuning sensitivity
out (s)/u 2 (s) of the VCO. The output from this block is the output frequency out .
However, out is needed to complete the loop so out (s) is integrated (multiplied
by 1/s) to produce it. Then the loop is completed by subtracting out (s) from in (s)
in the summer. Note that the minus sign at the summer represents 180 of phase
shift around the loop that does not appear in the transfer functions of the individual
blocks.
The generic control system block diagram is shown in Fig. 2.5. The well-known
equations describing its transfer function are the response of the controlled variable
C to the reference R,
C
GF
,
=
R
1 + GFGR

(2.22)

where G F and G R are forward and reverse transfer functions, respectively, and the
response of the error E to the reference2
E
1
.
=
R
1 + GFGR

(2.23)

The correspondence between the usual designations for loop signals, C, R, and E, and
state variables of the phase-locked loop depends on the input and output of interest.
Most often, in this text, we will be interested in the configuration shown in Fig. 2.4
so we identify C as out (s) and R as in (s). Because the feedback path has unity gain,
we have also G R = 1 and G F is the entire open-loop transfer function G(s),
G(s) = K p K LF K /s K /s.

(2.24)

Fig. 2.5 Generic control system diagram.

1 With reference to Eq. (1.9),

e (s) = (s) except that e (s) is used to refer to a change without reference
to the steady-state phase difference.
2 Note: G G is the open-loop gain and C/R and E/R are closed-loop gains.
F R

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23

Thus from Eq. (2.22) we obtain

out (s)
G(s)
=
in (s)
1 + G(s)
=

K /s
1
=
,
1 + K /s
1 + s/K

(2.25a)
(2.25b)

while from Eq. (2.23) we obtain

e (s)
1
=
in (s)
1 + G(s)
=

1
s
=
.
1 + K /s
s+K

(2.26a)
(2.26b)

When we are interested in inputs or outputs at points other than those used above, we
can rewrite the equations or, what is often simpler, relate the desired input or output
to that shown in Fig. 2.4 by the transfer function of the segment that connects them.
Equation (2.25) represents a low-pass characteristic with a cutoff (3 dB) frequency of = K . This is analogous to the low-pass filter of Fig. 2.6a in which the
voltages have been given names corresponding to the phases. Equation (2.26) says
that the error phase has a high-pass characteristic, analogous to Fig. 2.6b. It is generally true, even in more complex loops, that the output has a low-pass relationship
to the input while the error has a high-pass relationship. This reflects the fact that the
error responds immediately to a change in the input while, and because, the output
response is delayed.
Figure 2.7 is essentially the same as Fig. 2.4 except that the two 1/s blocks have
been moved forward through the summer; since both integration and summing are
linear operations, either can be done first. The input and output are now frequencies
rather than phases, illustrating that the response of output frequency to input frequency
is the same as the response of output phase to input phase. We can show the same

Fig. 2.6 Electrical analogs to the PLL. Voltages have names of analogous loop variables.

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Fig. 2.7 Mathematical block diagram of the simple loop with frequency variables as input
and output.

results as follows:
out (s)
sout (s)
out (s)
=
=
.
in (s)
sin (s)
in (s)

(2.27)

A similar relationship holds for error responses.

It is apparent from Figs. 2.4 and 2.7 that
in = out + e

(2.28a)

in = out + e

(2.28b)

and

and thus
1=

out
e
out
e
+
=
+
in
in
in
in

(2.28c)

so that the output can easily be obtained from error and vice versa in most cases.
Example 2.3 Modulation Response
ple 2.2. At s = j4899/sec, we have

Use (2.25b) to obtain the results of Exam-

out
1
=
= 0.2 78.5
in
1 + j4899/1000
as before.

2.4 BODE PLOT

One of the most important tools with which we will work is a logarithmic plot of openloop gain |G F G R | and phase shift  G F G R versus modulation frequency, s m .
This plot, called the Bode plot, is shown for this simple loop in Fig. 2.8. Sometimes
we will forgo the phase plot since the phase shift is implied by the slope of the gain.

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2.4 BODE PLOT

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Fig. 2.8 Bode plot for the simple loop. Note that the abscissa axis is marked with the values
of m (e.g., K ), rather than the actual distance, log(m sec/rad). Similarly, the ordinate axis is
marked with gain rather than its logarithm or value in dB.

A linear increase in gain with m originates in a term such as s = j and therefore

implies both a gain that is increasing proportionally with frequency and a 90 phase
shift. In general the segments of the Bode plot correspond to approximations of the
form
F() = C( j)n = Cn  n(90 ).

(2.29)

Thus, for example, when n = 2, the gain drops as the square of the frequency and
the phase is 180 . The slope is often expressed logarithmically. The magnitude is
described by
|F()| 20 dB log10 (Cn ) = 20n dB log10 () + C  .

(2.30)

Note that we precede log10 by 20 dB rather than 10 dB because G F G R is a voltage

gain. We can break the loop at a point where the variable is voltage and G F G R will
describe the open-loop gain there.
In each decade of frequency change the function changes by
|F(10)/F()| 20n dB log10 (10) = 20n dB

(2.31)

so the slope is 20n dB per decade. Similarly, a two-to-one change in frequency

corresponds to
|F(2)/F()| 20n dB log10 (2) = 6n dB
or 6n dB per octave (an octave is a two-to-one change).

(2.32)

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Figure 2.8 also illustrates that K is both the gain at = 1 and the radian frequency
at which the open-loop gain is unity. As has been shown, this is the frequency at which
the closed-loop gain is 3 dB. At frequencies well below = K , Eq. (2.25) can be
approximated as
out (s)
= 1,
in (s)

(2.33)

whereas at frequencies well above = K the equation is approximately

out (s)
K
K
=
= j .
in (s)
s

(2.34)

This equals the open-loop transfer function, Eq. (2.24). Thus, at low frequencies,
where the gain is high, the output follows the input faithfully, whereas, at high frequencies, where the gain becomes low, the loop is essentially open and the response
is as if there were no loop (except that the low-frequency gain keeps it locked
otherwise none of these equations would be valid). At the loop corner frequency,

= K , it is easy to show from Eq. (2.25b) that the closed-loop gain is 1/ 2, or

3 dB, and the phase shift is 45 , just as in the case of the low-pass filter.
Similarly, the high-pass characteristic of Eq. (2.26) approaches unity at high frequencies and zero at low frequencies and, at = K , also has a gain of 3 dB, but
the phase shift is +45 .
The more complex loops that we will study also have these general tendencies,
but we will be able to shape their characteristics more exactly to our needs because
of the increased number of parameters at our disposal.

2.5 NOTE ON PHASE REVERSALS

It is not uncommon that the transfer functions of the various blocks in Fig. 2.4 have
negative signs. It is only necessary that the total phase shift around the loop not be
altered. The negation of an even number of transfer functions has no important effect.
In fact, when a balanced mixer is used, it will automatically operate on the proper
slope to produce a correct number of phase reversals.

2.6 SUMMARY OF TRANSIENT RESPONSES OF

THE FIRST-ORDER LOOP
Here we will summarize the transient responses of the first-order loop based on
previous material and simple extensions of that material.
The unit step response is given in Eq. (2.12b) and shown in Fig. 2.2. Since a
unit ramp t is the time integral of a unit step, we can obtain the time response to

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2.6 SUMMARY OF TRANSIENT RESPONSES OFTHE FIRST-ORDER LOOP

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TABLE 2.1 Summary of First-Order Loop Transient Responses

Inpout
f (t)
Step
Ramp
Parabola

1
t
sec
t2
2 sec2

Response (sec not shown)

F(s)

Error

Output

1
s
1
s2
1
s3

eK t

1-eK t

1
(1 eK t )
K
1
1
[t + (ekt1 )]
K
k

1
(1 eK t )
K
1
1
t2
[t + (ekt1 ])
2
K
K
t

t by integrating the time response to the unit step. Similarly, the integral of t is a
parabola t 2 /2, and we can obtain the response to this by integrating the ramp response.
Alternately, we can take the inverse Laplace transform of the transform obtained by
multiplying the transfer function of Eq. (2.25b) by 1/s, 1/s 2 , and 1/s 3 to obtain step,
ramp, and parabola responses. (The parabolic input is important because it represents
the phase corresponding to a frequency ramp.)
The error response can be obtained by following the above process but starting
with equations for the error response, Eq. (2.12a) or the Laplace transform of the error
response, Eq. (2.26b).
Either the output response or the error response can be obtained from the other by
subtraction according to Eq. (2.28c).
Table 2.1 summarizes these responses. If an input is a 5-Hz step, since that is 5 Hz
times the given unit input, the output or error will be 5 Hz times the given output or
error. If the input is a 2-rad or 2 step, then the output will be 2 rad or 2 times the
given response. A 10-Hz step is also a 10-cycle/sec ramp (10 cycles t/sec), 10 cycles
times the given ramp input, so the output phase will be 10 cycles times the given ramp
response. If the input is a frequency ramp of 100 rad/sec/sec [(100 rad/sec) t/sec],
the output frequency will be obtained by multiplying the ramp output response by
100 rad/sec. However, we can also obtain the output phase by considering the input
as a parabolic phase [100 rad t 2 /(2 sec2 )] and obtaining the phase of the response
by multiplying the given response by 100 radians.