A Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) is an electronic control system that synchronizes an output signal's phase with a reference signal. It consists of three key components: a phase detector, a low-pass filter, and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The phase detector compares the phase of the input signal with the phase of the output signal from the VCO, generating an error signal that represents the phase difference. This error signal is then filtered to remove high-frequency noise before being used to adjust the VCO's frequency, thus locking the output to the input signal's phase and frequency.
PLLs are widely used in various applications, such as:
Mathematically, the relationship between the input frequency and the output frequency can be expressed as:
where is the loop gain of the PLL. This dynamic system allows for precise frequency control and stability in electronic applications.
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