Patent ID: 11870451
Assignee: VIAVI SOLUTIONS INC.
Field: Basic communication processes (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 8:
9. A method for wide band frequency synthesis, comprising:
receiving a reference signal with an input frequency at an input of a frequency synthesizer;
generating a first signal with a first frequency that is a first multiple of the input frequency;
generating a local signal with a local frequency, wherein the local frequency is a second multiple of the first frequency;
selecting a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) from a VCO bank to provide a VCO signal with a VCO frequency based on a tuning voltage;
generating the VCO signal at the selected VCO;
generating a second signal comprising the local signal and the VCO signal mixed together;
providing the first signal and the second signal to a phase-locked loop (PLL);
performing a phase comparison at the PLL between the first signal and the second signal; and
generating the tuning voltage based, at least in part, on the phase comparison, wherein
the VCO bank is on-chip in an integrated circuit (IC) with an output circuitry, and
the PLL is off-chip external to the IC.