Prescaler PLL Frequency Synthesizer with Multi-Programmable Divider

In the phase locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer which is used in a higher frequency region, the prescaler method is employed in order to increase the operating frequency of the programmable divider. However, since the fixed divider whose division ratio is same as the prescaler is installed at the following stage of the reference divider, the reference frequency is decreased and the performance of the PLL frequency synthesizer is degraded. The prescaler PLL frequency synthesizer using multi-programmable divider is one of the counter measures answering the request. In this paper we propose the reduction of the number of programmable dividers by using the (N+1/2) programmable divider. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by experimental results. key words: PLL frequency synthesizer, prescaler, multiprogrammable divider, (N + 1/2) programmable divider