Patent ID: 7132864

Claim:
A method of configuring a multiple-output phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer having a VCO and set of output dividers that divide the VCO output frequency, comprising: providing a desired set of output frequencies; determining one or more candidate VCO output frequencies and corresponding output divider configurations based upon the desired set of output frequencies, each candidate VCO output frequency and corresponding output divider configuration determining a set of potential synthesized output frequencies; for each candidate VCO output frequency, determining a corresponding feedback frequency from the set of potential synthesized output frequencies, wherein each combination of a candidate VCO output frequency and the corresponding output divider configuration determines a potential configuration of the frequency synthesizer; and testing the suitability of at least one of the potential configurations based upon predetermined suitability criteria, wherein the testing comprises at least one of the following: determining how closely the candidate VCO output frequency matches a desired VCO output frequency; and determining how closely the set of potential synthesized output frequencies matches the desired set of output frequencies.