Patent ID: 7180334

Claim:
A method of locking a loop circuit, comprising: determining a loop circuit frequency range of operation; dividing the frequency range of operation into a plurality of non-overlapping frequency windows, wherein each of the frequency windows are disposed adjacent to at least to one of the plurality of frequency windows, each frequency window containing a range of frequencies, wherein one of the frequencies within each respective frequency window is a starting frequency; selecting an output frequency of the loop circuit; selecting one of the frequency windows that includes the selected output frequency; determining a plurality of starting voltage levels of a loop control voltage as a function of voltage oscillator gain and the output frequency, wherein each of the starting voltage levels of the loop control voltage is configured to set a frequency output of a voltage-controlled oscillator to a respective starting frequency for the selected frequency window; prior to phase locking the loop, programming a voltage control circuit to generate the loop control voltage at a starting voltage level corresponding to the respective starting frequency; in response to logic states associated with a plurality of programmable control signals, programming the voltage control circuit to adjust the starting voltage level of the loop control voltage to the desired output frequency; and phase locking the loop with the adjusted loop control voltage.