Patent ID: 8604890

Claim:
A method for increasing a resolution of a digitally controlled oscillator, comprising: controlling the oscillator so that an output signal of the oscillator varies between semi-periods having a first frequency and semi-periods having a second frequency; applying the output signal of the oscillator as an input to a divider to obtain a divided signal, a frequency of at least one semi-period of the divided signal being a function of both an oscillator semi-period having the first frequency and an oscillator semi-period having the second frequency, wherein each semi-period of the divided signal is a function of a plurality of oscillator semi-periods; and controlling the oscillator based on a target frequency for the divider so that each semi-period of the divided signal has the target frequency, by: for any particular target frequency, setting the number of oscillator semi-periods having the first frequency to be the same for each semi-period of the divided signal; and for any particular target frequency, setting the number of oscillator semi-periods having the second frequency to be the same for each semi-period of the divided signal.