IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. COM-28, NO.
11, NOVEMBER 1980
Charge-Pump Phase-Lock Loops
FLOYD M. GARDNER, FELLOW,
Abstract-Phaselfrequency detectors deliver output in the form of
three-state, digital logic. Charge pumps areutilized to convertthe
timed logiclevels into analog quantitiesforcontrollingthelocked
oscillators.
This
paper analyzes
typical
charge-pumpcircuits,
identifies salient features, and provides equations and graphs for the
design engineer.
I. INTRODUCTION
P HASE-LOCK loops (PLL‘s) incorporating sequential-logic,
phaselfrequency detectors (PFD’s) have been widely used
in recent years [ 11-[SI, [6, ch. 61 . Reasons for their popular-
ity include extended tracking range, frequency-aided acquisi-
tion, andlow cost. Acharge pump usually accompaniesthe PFD,
as illustrated in Fig. 1. The purpose of the charge pump is to
convert the logic states of the PFD into analog signals suitable
for controlling the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).
Good understanding of the PFD itself has been attained but
very little hasbeenpublished ontheoperation ofcharge
pumps.Inconsequence,designof.PLL’scontainingcharge
pumps has often proceeded as an intuitive extension of con-
ventional PLL’s. That approach obscures the special benefits
and the special problems ofa charge-pump PLL.
The intent of this paper is to place the design analysis of a
charge-pump PLL on a sound basis so that its special features
are recognized and can be either utilized or avoided, as neces-
sary. In Section I1 we introduce the basic charge-pump model
and derive the loop transfer function based on assumptions of
small error (linearized loop) and narrow bandwidth as com-
pared to the input frequency (continuous-time approximation).
Section I11 is devoted to second-order PLL’s wherein it is
shown that Type-I1 operation is obtainable even with a passive
loop-filter. This behavior is contrary to that obtained in con-
ventional PLL‘s andis a particular benefit associated with
charge pumps.
A continuous-time approximation is not validif the loop
bandwidth approaches the input frequency. In that case, the
discrete-time-or sampled-nature of the loop must be recog-
nized. Inparticular, sampling introduces stability problems
that do not exist in continuous time networks; the stability
limit for the second-order loop is presented.
Furthermore, the control voltage (uc in Fig. 1) has large,
rectangularexcursions (ripple) on eachcycleof operation.
Ripple magnitude is shown to be proportional to loop band-
width; ripple can easily be so large as to overload the VCO.
The existence of ripple places limits on the application of the
simple second-order loop.
Paper approved by the Editor for Communication Electronics of the
IEEE Communications Society for publication without oral presenta-
tion. Manuscript received Janaury 4, 1980; revisedMay 27, 1980.
The author is at 1755 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
0090-6778/80/1100-1849$00.75 0 1980 IEEE
Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1849
IEEE
PHASE/FRE&ENCY
..
DETECTOR
REFERENCE.=-
INPUT ei CHARGE LOOP
PUMP FILTER
D-
,--v
8e=ei-eo
Filters are frequently added after the chargepump to re-
duce the ripple. SectionIV describes the loop performance
obtaining fromaddition of a singlecapacitor-the simplest-
possible ripple fiter. The loop isnow third order (although
still Type 11) so analysis is more complicated. Root-locus plots
aregiven for the continuous-time approximation. Forwider
bandwidths,a discrete-time, linearized analysis yields a z-
plane characteristic-function from whichpolelocationsand
stability limits maybe obtained. Ripplereduction factor is
also set forth.
Results of a nonlinear, discrete state-variable analysis of the
s e c o n d - o r d e r loop are d e s c r i b e d in Part V. It turns out that
transient settling timesofwide-band loops obtained bydis-
crete-time analysis are very similar to the scaled settling times
ofnarrow loops analyzed ontheordinary continuous-time
basis. Similar analysis is possible for the third-order loop, but
has not been pursued.
11. MODEL
The states of a sequential-logic PFD are initiated by edges
of the input waveform. In Fig. 1, if the R-inputphase leads the
V-inputphase,thenanedgeofthe R input sets the U (de-
noting “up”) terminal true. The next V edge resets the U
terminal false. As long as R leads V , the D (for“down”)
terminal remains false. Conversely, if V leads, R , a V edge sets
D true and the next R edge resets D false.
Both U and D can be false simultaneously, or either one
alone can be true, but both can never be true simultarieously.
Therefore, a PFD has three allowable states at its two output
terminals. The states will be denoted as U ,D, and N , where the
last connotes “null” or “neutral.”
It is also possible to have combinatorial (or multiplier; see
[6, ch. 61 for terminology)phase detectors with three-state
logic outputs as in [7] and [8]. A combinatorial PD does not
have the frequency-detector properties of the sequential PFD,
but the charge-pump analyses given here apply to either type
of circuit in the phase-locked condition: Matters of frequency
acquisition are not treated in this paper.
 1850 TRANSACTIONS
COMMUNICATIONS,
IEEEON VOL. COM-28,
NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1980

Assume that the PLL is locked and denotethe frequency of

the input signal as ai,radians/second. Let the phase error be
B i - B o = B e radians. The ON time’ of either U or D, as ap-
propriate, is

I
t p = Be I/wi (1)

for each period 2n/wi of the input signal. (The subscript “p”
connotes “pump.”)
These two features-the three-state description and the O N -
timeequation-completely characterize the PFD or PD for
purposes of this paper.
A charge pump is nothing but a three-position, electronic
switch that is controlled by the three states of the PFD. When
the switch is set in the U or D position, it delivers a pump
voltage kVp [Fig.2(a) and (c)]or a pump current U p [Fig.
2(b) and (d)] to the loop filter. In the N position, the switch is
open, thereby isolating the loop filter from the charge pump (Cl
and the phase detector. This open condition is not encoun-
tered in the conventional, analog PLL‘s and it engenders
important, novel characteristics, as will be seen presently.
The loop filter can be either passive, as in Fig. 2(a) and (b),
or active, as in Fig. 2(c) and (d). The significant features of the
filters to be studied hereare contained in the impedance
Zs(,) ofFig. 2, where s is the Laplace-transform complex I (d)

variable. Fig. 2. Charge pumps and loop filters.

Most attention will be given to the current-pump, passive-
filter configuration ofFig.2(b).This choice is made partly
filter impedance 2, for the time t p on each cycle. Each cycle
because analysis is simplified but alsobecause the configura-
has aduration 2n/wi seconds so, utilizing (l), the average
tion is eminently practical under many real-life conditions. It
error current over a cycle is
will be shown that performance of the other three configura-
tions isreadily obtained, at least approximately,from the
analysis of2(b). amps.id = IpBe/2n (2)
Because of the switching, the charge-pump PLL is a time-
varying network; an exact analysis must take account of the Equation ( 2 ) is also the error current averaged over many
time variations of the circuit topologyand that is amore- cycles, provided that both inputs are periodic-that no input
involved procedure than usually found in the common time- cycles are missing. However, in some applications-notably, in
invariant networks. In particuiar, simple transfer-function recovery of clock from digital bit streams-edges, or pulses, of
analysis is not directly applicable to time-varying networks. the R input will be missing at random. To avoid imposing an
In many applications, the state of the PLL changes by only erroneously large error current upon the PLL, it is necessary
a very small amount on each cycle of the input signal. That is, to arrange the logic circuits to recognize the absence of R and
the loop bandwidth is small compared to the signal frequency. to force the circuit into the N state upon those occasions. If
In thesecaseswemay not care about the detailed behavior the average error current on a single cycle is id, as in (2), and
within a single cycle and may be interested only in the average if the probability of occurrence of R (the so-called transition
behavior over many cycles. By applying an averaged analysis, density) is denoted d , then the average error current over
the time-varying operation .can be bypassed and the powerful many cycles is idd. Where applicable, d must be factored into
tool of transfer functions retained for our usage.The re- each of the following expressions that treats average behavior.
mainder of this section is devoted to the derivation of average- Oscillator control voltage is given by
operation transfer functions. Be aware, though, that the per-
cycle behavior can be important even for quite narrow band-
widths, as will be shownlater.
Using Fig. 2(b), a pump currentIp s g n Be is delivered to the
where Id(s) is the Laplace transform of id(t), and shilarly for
the other symbols. For a locked loop (the only condition for
1 Equation (1) is exact if the VCO leads the input signal but is an
which transfer functions are applicable, becauseof out-of-
approximation, valid for small bandwidth(compared to input fre- lock nonlinearities) the VCO phase is given by
quency), if the signal leads the VCO. The approximation arises because
the VCO phase can change during the ON interval. The effect is usually
negligible andis considered further in Section V.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
GARDNER: CHARGE-PUMP PHASE-LOCK LOOPS
where KO is the VCO gain' in radians/second/volt.These
expressions, plus e&) = e,+) - eo(s), lead to the loop. trans-
fer functions
These functions apply for any 2,.
An important property of any PLL is the static phase error
[6, ch. 41 or loop stress that arises from a frequency offse$--
A u between the input signal and the free-running frequency
of the VCO. Applying the final-value theorem, as in [6], the
static phase error is found to be
The foregoing results were all obtained for the configura-
tion of Fig. 2(b): the current switch with passive filter. Much
the same expressions arise for each of the otherthree configu-
rations. For an active filter, it is necessary to take the polarity
reversal of the operational amplifier into account. For a volt-
age switch, the same equations as above occur if we let I, %
Vp/R For Fig.2(a)-voltageswitch with passivefilter-the
resulting equations are approximate with the approximation
being valid only if I u, I 4 V,.
111. SECOND-ORDER LOOP
Continuous-TimeApproximation
A large preponderance of applications utilize second-order
PLL's. To obtain a zero-stabilized, second-order loop, consider
a loop filter function
which is produced by a series connection of a resistor and a
capacitor.
To systematize the notation, define
W, = (KoIP/2nC)" rad/s
K I R
K=- radls.
271
2 Notation throughout corresponds to that established in
Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
185 1
These quantities are interrelated by
2
K/72 = W , (10)
where K is the loop gain, a,,is the natural frequency and 5 is
the damping factor. Any two of the three parameters com-
pletelydefinethelinearized,time-averagedbehaviorof the
PLL. Substituting (8) and (9) into (5) and (6) gives the trans-
fer functions forthe second-order, charge-pumpPLL.They
turn out to have exactly the same form as obtained for a con-
ventional second-order PLL [6, ch. 21. Therefore, to the ex-
tentthatthe various approximations arevalid, the charge-
pump PLL has exactly the same small-scale behavior as con-
ventional PLL's with the same values for the loopparameters.
To explore further, we note that Z,(O) = 00 so that the
static phase error, from (7), is zero. This desirable performance
is achieved with a passive filter. To approach zero static phase
error in a conventional PLL requires an active filter with large
dc gain. Therefore, the charge pump permits zero static phase
error (Type-I1 response)without the need for dcamplification.
This effect arises because of the input open circuit during the
N state and does not necessarily depend upon use of an active
current switch. The same behavior is found in any of the four
configurations of Fig. 2.
Practical circuits will impose some shunt loading across the
passive filter impedance. Denote the load as a resistor R,. The
actual staticphase error, from (7), will be
2nAw
e, =--- rad.
KoIpR,
Shunt loading is most likely to come from input impedance
of the VCO control terminal or from the switch itself. Both
impedances can be made extremely large. The VCO may be
varactor-tuned, which implies near-infinite resistance, and the
switch is typically a reverse-biased semiconductor. Some other
variety of VCO could utilize a high-impedance buffer, if neces-
sary to isolate a small-input impedance.
When R, is very large, then leakage current may be more
significant in producingphase error. Thephase error O b
resulting from a bias current I b injected continuously into the
filter node can be calculated as
Anactive filter, incorporating anideal op amp, will,of
course, obviate anystatic phase error from VCO control-
terminal loading effects.
Although the variousresultsabovewere obtained specifi-
cally for the configuration of Fig. 2(b), they also apply for the
other three configurations, as noted at the end of Section 11.
However, the voltageswitch with passive filter [Fig.2(a)]
exhibits a curious nonlinearity that may disqualify it from
[6], serious consideration in many applications. Denote the voltage
 1852 IEEE TRANSACTIONS
COMMUNICATIONS,
ON VOL. COM-28, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1980

on the capacitor as u,. Pump current is (up - u,)/(R, R2), +

where up = ' V p with the sign determined by the phase error
direction.
For small u,, the pump current is influenced little by the /
/
/

I
.
,' j C
\
A

\
l
UNIT
R 1
,---.
C.LE

/'
capacitor charge so u, could be neglected in determining the I
approximate behaviorof the circuit. If u, should become
large then it cannot be neglected. (A large u, would be re-
quired if the VCO needed a large v, to tune it to the proper A ROOT
frequency.Capacitor voltage u, is"large"if its magnitude , ' LOCUS

reaches a significant fraction of V p ;it can never exceed V p . )

STABILITY\\,
LIMIT
, --_- /

Let u, be some positive voltage. When up = + V p , then the

pump current is iP+= (V, - u,)/(Rl + R 2 ) while a negative Fig. 3. Root locus plot of second-order loop in z-plane.
up drives a pump current of ip- = -(Vp + u,)/(R1 + R 2 ) .
These currents areunequal-substantially so if U, is large circle with center at z = (1 + 2n/oi72)- for values of
enough-so loop gain about this u, operatingpoint willbe
larger for negativephase errors than for positive. It is un-
likely thatany significant asymmetrycan be tolerated in
most applications.

Granularity Problems
All of the foregoingisbased on averaged-response, time-
continuous, constant-element operation of the loop. There are
features arising from the actual discontinuous operation that
need attention, even for narrow bandwidths. The primary fea-
tures are loop stability and phase-detectorripple.
In some sense, the loop operates on sampled
a basis and not
as a straightforward continuous-timecircuit. A sampled system
almost always has more stability problems than arise in con-
tinuous-timesystems.In particular, ananalog, second-order
PLL is unconditionallystable for any value of loop gain, but
the sampled equivalent will go unstable if the gain is made too
large. Prudent design requires that the stability limit beknown.3
A linearized, sarnpled\malysis is presented in Appendix A.
The end result is the characteristic equation (denominator of
the transfer function) of the sampledPLL in the z-plane,
which has the form
4n2 K'
D(z) = (z - 1)2 + (z - 1) -
where Kt = Kr2 may be regarded as a normalized loop gain,
oi is the input frequency, and 72 = R2C is the time constant
of the filter zero.
Transient response for small phase errors and loop stability
are studied by examining the locations of the zeros of D(z)-
the polesof the z-domain transfer function. The root locus
shows pole locations in the z plane for varying K'; an example
is sketched in Fig. 3. The shape of the locus is very similar to
that of aconventionalsecond-orderloop in the s-plane [6,
ch. 21.
The two poles start at z = 1 for K' = 0 and move on a
3 Tal [ 91 has investigated sampled-stabilityof a phase-locked speed-
control servo that uses a PFD and a simple lag Wter. His problem differs
somewhat from that considered here and his method provides an alter-
nate approach.
F,or larger K', the poles lie on the real axis; one pole migrates
towards the center of the locus circle and the other migrates
towards --.
The loop is stable only if the poles lie inside the unit circle.
Instability results where the outbound pole crosses the unit
circle at z = -1, as noted in Fig. 2 . Normalized gain at the
crossing point is
This value ofK' is the stability limit and is plotted in Fig. 4.
Ripple is another granularity effect that demands attention.
Upon each cycle of the PFD, the pump current I p is driven
into the filter impedance Zp,which responds with an instan-
taneous voltage jump of Au, = I p R z . At the endof the
charging interval (t = t p ) ,the pump current switches off and a
voltage jump of equalmagnitudeoccurs in theopposite
direction.
Frequency of the VCO follows the voltage steps so there
will be frequency excursionsof A o o =KoIpR2 = 2nK radians/
second for each pump pulse. The phase excursion during the
pump interval t p will be AO0 = 27rKI B e I/wi [using (l)] , so
the phase jitter vanishes for 8, = 0. (A not-unexpected hap-
pening since the pump pulses are supposed to vanish for Be =
0J
Some applications (e.g., bit synchronizers) may be'able to
tolerate such frequency jitter, but others (eg., frequency syn-
thesizers) may require much better spectral purity.
A possibly more serious consequence of the jumps is 'the
potential for overload of the VCO, even if the indicated ripple
is allowable from a spectral-purity standpoint. Any real VCO
has only a finite frequency range over which it can be tuned. If
control voltages outside of this range are applied, the VCO fre-
quency is unable to follow. (In fact, oscillations may cease or
the circuit might even sustain damage.) We require that the fre-
quency jumps remain within the allowable tuning range of the
VCO under all conditions.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
GARDNER: CHARGE-PUMP PHASE-LOCK LOOPS 1853

50

I
1
T"
1
Fig. 5. Filterfor third-order loop.
C
Y

loop transfer function from (5) is found to be

K (?)(S+;)

-. . H(s) =
1 2 5 10 20 50 1 0 0 200 500
wi7~
+ y - 1)
' s3-br2+ s 2 + K ( F ) s K(b
Fig. 4. Stability and overload limits for second-order loop.
where thecontinuous-operation, time-averagingassumption
As an extreme instance, thefrequencyjump must not has been made.
exceed the input frequency. A larger jump would imply that Simple addition of C3 across R 2 + l/sC ought to serve very
the VCO frequency was driven negative-a meaningless status. well for the passive filter but is not likely to be satisfactory for
For this extreme condition, the overload bound is 2nK < wi the active filter. The operational amplifiers would be required
or, in normalized form to deliver step currents of I, on each cycle, which is likely to
bebeyond the slew capabilities ofmost amplifiers. Rather
K' <w i ~ 2 / 2 ~ . (15) than attempting to accommodate the current by brute force
amplifiers, it is more conservative to prevent the current step
from ever reaching the op amp, as in the circuits of Fig. 6 . The
A multivibrator, operatednear thecenter of its tuning general characteristics of these circuits ought to be much the
range, mightbe able to approachthe excursionsimplied in same as those for the simple passive circuit, but some fine de-
(15). Most other oscillators willhave a much smallertuning tails will differ. This paper treats only the passive-filter, cur-
rangeandthereforewillbe restricted to use in PLL's with rent-switch circuit.
much smaller values ofK .
As a comparison to the stability limit, the overload limit of Properties
(15) has also been plotted in Fig. 4. It is apparent that over- The transfer function (17) has a denominator of third de-
load is the actual restriction on loop gain; overload sets in at a gree, so the system is a third-order PLL. In the open-loop
lowervalueofgain than does instability for any practical transfer function, the additional pole is located at s = -b/r2,
circuit. which is far away from the dominant, low-frequency poles for
In all discussion of granularity effects it has been assumed large b . If C3 is small compared to C ( b %- I), then we should
tacitlythat all transitions are present. If transitions canbe expect onlyhigh-frequency effects from the additional fil-
missing at random, as in bit-clock recovery applications, then tering. Low-frequencypropertiesshouldbe essentially the
there may be a data-pattern-dependent jitter induced into the same as for the second-order loop.
VCO phase. That problem is not treated in this paper. In particular, the steady-state responses will be the same as
for the second-order loop. The static phase error caused by a
IV. THIRD-ORDER LOOP frequency offset will bezeroand the phaselagcausedby a
Origination frequency ramp will be Oa = Cj/on2, [ 6 ,ch. 41 where GJ is the
slope of the ramp. Although the loop is third order, it is only
The frequencyjumpsinherent to the second-order loop Type 11.
usually cannot beaccepted and additional filtering is often The s-plane root locus of (17) has beenstudied in [ 6 , ch. 81
included within the PLL in order to mitigate the ripple. The foranother application. Root loci are shown in Fig. 7 for
simplest ripple filter isan additional capacitor C3 in parallel various selections of b . For large b and small-enough K' (the
with the earlier RC impedance, as shown in Fig. 5. Defining normalized loop gain)the dominant poles are virtually un-
b = 1 + C/C3,we obtain changed from the locationsexpectedforthe second-order
loop. As K' becomes very large, the outward-bound real pole
meets the extra pole coming in from - b / ~and ~ the pair go
complex asymptotic to a vertical line at s = - 0 S ( b - 1 ) ~ The
~ .
(16 ) loop could become seriously underdamped for large gain.
As b is reduced, the breakaway point for the vertical asymp-
tote approaches closer to the low frequency portion of the
locus; if b < 9, the locus never returns to the real axis and is
Retaining the previous definition (9) for K , the closed- underdamped for all values ofK'.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1854 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CO"UNICATIONS, VOL. COM-28, NO. 1 1 , NOVEMBER 1980

If b < 1, then the loop is unstable for all K'. In the con-
figurationofFig. 5 it isimpossible to have b < 1, but it is
entirely possible in Fig. 6. (In terms of the component values,
b is defined differently in Fig. 6 than in Fig. 5, but thetransfer
function and root locus plots have the same form for both
configurations.)
This stability impairment caused by the third pole is calcu-
lated on the basisofassumed continuous-time operation.
Time-discrete operation can be expected to cause even more
impairment. To investigate stability of the third-order loop, an
analysis similar to that given in the Appendix was performed.
(The analysis is omitted here because of space constraints.)
The criterion for stability-all poles inside the unit circle-is
satisfied if

Fig. 6.
(b)

Jump suppression for active filters. K T<

~
4(1 + a)
(18)

where
b 1
40 -

30 -
a = exp (-E)-
20 -
Knowledge of the stability limit alone is not sufficient for
gooddesign;someinsight into the transient responseisalso
needed. To that end, thez-plane characteristic equation is
10-

2 0-
b
-10-

-20-. b

-30 -
where

-40 -

The zeros of D(z) are the z-plane poles; their location defines
the response to transients.
Fig. 8 shows the stabilitylimitsfor'several valuesof b .
Given values for b and air2, any value of Kr2 below the curve
yields a stableloop while any value abovethe curve isunstable.
Because of the extra capacitor, control voltage u, describes
a continuous, ramp-like, exponential function for each pump
pulse, instead of the rectangular jump that was found for the
second-order loop. The same analysis that provided the stabil-
ity limit gives the ramp amplitude as

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
072
as compared to I Awo I2 = 27rK for the second-order loop. De-
(b)
fine 0 = I Awo 13// Awo 12, and assume b 1 Be I / W ~ T ~ < 1 (not
Fig. 7. Root locus plots for third-order, type I1 PLL.(a)Large scale.
(b) ExpandedTick mark< show values for K' = KT2. (Taken necessarily true,but a commoncondition).Then the SuppreS-
from [ 6 ] .Reproduced by permission of publisher.) sion of unwanted frequency excursion provided by the extra

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
GARDNER: CHARGE-PUMP PHASE-LOCK LOOPS
100
50
I-
20
cm
Y
10
5 corresponds to the continuous-time PLL. Transient curves are
I It is apparent that, even for such a low frequency as com-
I
2
1I
10 100
972
Fig. 8. Stability limits for third-order loop.
capacitor is
When the loop is tracking near equilibrium, I Be I is very
small so the suppression afforded by C, can be substantial.
V. TRANSIENT RESPONSE
The results in all of the preceding sections-the continuous-
time approximation, the z-plane characteristic function, and
the stability limits-wereallbased upon an assumption of
small phase error. That assumption fails for large phase errors
such as occur during acquisition of lock. An analysis was per-
formed forlargephase errors for the second-order loop; the
analysis is outlined in the Appendix.
In essence, the method is to consider the loop state vari-
ables of phase error and frequency at the instant immediately
before each pump pulse. These state variables are related by
difference equations whichwere iterated numericallyon a
programmable calculator. The resulting printout is a sequence
of the state variables along with the times of occurrence.
Two different displaysarepossible: frequency- orphase-
error versustime to show the familiar transient response, or
frequency error versusphase error to produce a phase-plane
portrait [ 101. Examples of both are shown below.
The question to be addressedis the following. If band-
width (orgain, , K ) isverysmall compared to the switching
frequency mi, then we knowthat the continuous analysis
providesan excellent approximation to the behaviorof the
charge-pump loop and we canutilize the extensive informa-
tion available from the study of conventional, analog PLL’s.
In many applications we want to be able to use a large band-
width. Thereforewe ask, “How small can oi/K be made before
behavior departs significantly from that predicted by the con-
tinuous-time analysis?”
Severalexample calculations were performed in order to
explore the question. A valueof K’ = 2, corresponding to
< = 0.707 in the continuous PLL, was chosen as representative
of many applications. Referring to the overload curve of Fig.
4, it can beseen that the VCO is certain to overload unless
Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1855
wir2 > 12.6, or, in other words, wi/K > 12.612 = 6.3. TO
allowsomemargin on the limit, a valueof o J K = 10 was
chosen for the example calculations. For practical VCOS that
is probably still too small a ratio but it will illustrate the re-
sults very well.
Transient phase error in response to a phase step of *6 rad
andof afrequency step of + X radianspersecondwere
calculated for the conditions of wi/K = 10 and 00. The latter
plotted in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively.
pared to bandwidth, the response of the charge-pump loop is
very close to thatof the classical, continuous loop.
Asymmetry between positive and negativephase errors is
evident for the charge-pump loop. (Theclassical loop, of
course, has symmetric response with respect to error polarity.)
This asymmetry arises fromthepolarity-asymmetricdepen-
dence of pulse duration upon phase error (see the Appendix)
and dwindles aswi/K is made larger.
The same program yields a phase-plane solution of the PLL.
Example trajectories are shown in Fig. 11. Asymmetry is also
apparent in this display.Eachmarked poiit represents the
state of the systemat thestarting instant of consecutive charge
pulses. The points havebeen connected by straight lines, to
aid in following the individual trajectories, butthe actual
trajectory between two calculated points has not been deter-
mined andthere is no reason to suppose that itwould be linear.
The shape of the trajectories may seem rather peculiar; the
vertical sections do not occur on the A o = 0 axisasis ex-
pected from previous phase-plane plots [lo] . The discrepancy
arises not from the charge-pump action, but from the choice
of state variables. Here the variables are Be and A o = wi -
- Kou,, whereis the free-running frequency of the
VCO and u, is the voltage stored on the capacitor C in the
loop filter. The usual phase-plane plot uses Be and be as the
state variables. Proportional and integral elements enter into
Be whereas only integral elements contribute to the frequency
variable in Fig. 11. If equivalent state variables were defined,
then simiiar,skewed trajectories wouldalso be obtained for
the classical loop.
It is clear that the loop converges towardsequilibrium
without difficulty, at least for the trajectories examined. At-
tempts were made to examine trajectories with larger initial
frequency errors. An overload phenomenon intervened: a
phenomenonthatthe program was not designed to accom-
modate, so an error message was produced instead of a trajec-
tory.Inasmuch as theloop was running veryclose to the
nominal overload as deduced from Fig. 4, the program break-
down for small oi/K was not pursued further, on theSupposi-
tion that a practical loop would break down under even more
restrictive conditions.
Trajectories werealso obtained for oi/K = 100. Much
larger Aw/K values could be accommodatedfor that condition
and the program breakdown was not encountered again. With
large enough initial frequency error, the loop does not con-
verge within the phase interval (-2n, 271) but slips one or more
cycles before settling. The program was not designed to ac-
commodate phase excursions beyond +2n, so no results are
provided.
 Aw/K

-.t n Fig. 11. Phase-plane portrait; second-order loop. K72 = 2; wi/K = 10.

has shown that therule-of-thumb is not far wrong ifconsidered

as an approximate outer limit beyond which troubles begin to
appear. Somewhat more conservative design wouldbe prudent
in most circumstances.
The passive filter with current switching has been shownto
n have attractive properties. Afast,balanced,current-switch
integrated circuit wouldbevery helpful tothe hardware
designer.
The second-order loop has switching-rate frequencyexcur-
sions that are excessive for most applications. Any smoothing
4 results in at least a third-order loop, although still Type 11.
2 -2- Root loci for the third-order loop are presented to aid design
Fig. 10. Response to frequencystep. A w l K = * 2 ; K 7 2 = 2; second- efforts.
order loop. -wilK = -, ++X wilK = 10. Transient response of practical charge-pump PLL's can be
expected to be nea5ly the same as the response of the equiva-
(Thephase-plane port+ for anordinary phase detector lent classical PLL.
is periodic in 277, but the PFD portrait is more complicated.
One can consider that Fig. 11 is the central region of a phase APPENDIX
portrait but the outer regions to either side of center each ex-
DIFFERENCE-EQUATION ANALYSIS OF
tend over only -27r to 0 or 0 to +27r. The PFD portrait is not
CHARGE-PUMP PLL
strictly periodic.)
Calculations were performedonly for thesecond-order Analysisof the charge-pump circuit is impededbythe
loop, but the third-order loop resulting from the filter of Fig. switching of the pump current between thevalues -Ip, 0, and
5 is more likely to beemployed inreal applications. It is I p . Moreover, the switching times are complicated functions of
possible to calculate the transient response of the third-order the relative, time-varying phases Oi(t) of the signal input and
loop in much the sameway employed for second-orderby O o ( t ) of the VCO. However, during any one switch condition,
taking account of three state variables. That has not yet been the circuit is a.linear, time-invariant network and is described
accomplished.Moreover, state trajectories for a third-order by linear differential equationswithconstant coefficients.
loop are three-dimensional and cannot bedisplayed readily on Given the initial conditions at the startof a switching interval,
a two-dimensionalsheet. it is straightforward to calculate the state variables at any time
If the extra capacitor C3 is effective, the third-order loop within the interval. The final state variables at the end of one
ought not suffer from VCO overload. Instead, stability limits interval become the initial conditions for the next interval.
the allowable gain for a given switch frequency (as in Fig. 8). If we define the phase and frequency errors at the start of
From Fig. 7, we see' that is it improbable that we would ever a current pulse as the discrete-time state variables, then it is
take b significantlyless than about 10. If K' = 2, then the possible to write difference equations that describe a recursive
stability limit for b = 10 from Fig. 8 is q / K * 7.5. To obtain sequence of the state. Theexact difference equations were
some stability margin, a value of wi/K in excess of 15 to 20 iterated to obtain the transient responses of Section'V while
might be considered reasonable. In light of the results obtained discrete-time stability was examined for SectionsI11 and IV by
with the second-order loop it seems fairto predict that response means of linearized difference equations.
of the third-order charge-pump loop will be very much the This Appendix derives the linearized difference equations
same as that of the equivalent continuous-time loop. for the second-order PLL and shows an outline of the deriva-
tion of the exact difference equations of thesecond-order
VI. CONCLUSIONS PLL, The process for the exact equations isshownascom-
Theconventional-wisdomrule-of-thumb has been that ments in parentheses following the corresponding portion of
switching granularity effects can be neglected if the switching the linear-equations derivation.
frequency exceeds 10 times the loop bandwidth. This paper Linearized equations were also obtained for the third-order

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
GARDNER: CHARGE-PUMP PHASE-LOCK LOOPS 1857

loop, but the derivation is not shown here because of space

limitations. Exact difference equations could be found for the
third-order loop, but that problemhas not yetbeen attacked.
The notation and circuit configuration for the analysis are
shown in Fig. 12. It is convenient to set the time origin to co-
incide with an instant of turn-on of the current switch. Observ-
ing that convention, we obtain the following equations that
-
are valid for the entire fust cycle (i.e., until the next turn-on
instant of the currentswitch). Fig. 12. Equivalent circuit of charge-pump PLL.

e,(t) = ei(o) + Wit (A11

These equations, (A9) and (AIO), are exact. (By substituting
0 0( t ) = n o + KO uc(t) (A2) the exact solution for t p into (A9) and (AlO), the calculator
t
program carries the statevariables numericallyup to tp.)
e o ( t ) = eo(o) + Q 0 t + K O u,(T) d T (A31 Let t* be the time following t p at which the next edge-
from signal or VCO, as the case may be-activates the PFD and
i p = I p s g n O,(O); 0 <t <tp ('44) starts a new pump pulse. Charge on the capacitor remains con-
stant fromt p to t*. Therefore, theVCO phase at t* is
= 0; tp < t < 27rjWi
ee = ei- eo (-45)

tp 1 I/ai (Ab) Substituting (A9) and (A10) into (A1 1 ) gives

u,(t) = ipRZ+ u, (A71 eo(t*) = eo(o) + n o t *

ux(t)= -
:[ ip(T) d ~ .

Suppose that the switching is initiated by an edge of the

(A81
uxot* +-iptpt*
C 1 (A12)

VCO waveform. Then -Ip is switched on so as to retard the This last equation is also exact. To pursue the linearized ana-
VCO phase; also Oo(0) = 0, and Oi(0)= e,(O), which is a nega- lysis, substitute i p t p 2 I p e e / a i from (A4) and (A6), and
tive number. The input-signal edge that shuts off the current approximate t" by 2nlwi to obtain
switch occurs when ei(t) = e i ( t p )= 0; in other words, when
the input phase has advanced by e,(O) radians at a rate of ai
radianslsecond. In this case, that time is exactly t p - =
I Be I/ai S.
Now suppose that the switch-on is initiated by an edge of
input signal. Thepumpcurrent is + I p ; ei(0) = 0, Oo(0) =
-O,(O), e,(O) is positive, andthe pump currentremains on until
the next edgeof the VCO. For the linearizedanalysis, that Except for the very last term, (A13) is linear in. e,(O). By
time is approximated by t,, = e,(O)/ai, the same expression dropping the last term-a valid approximation for small ( 9 ,-
as for the opposite polarity of phase error. we obtaina linear equation for the VCOphase at time r*
(In actual fact, since uc is not constant during the pump in terms of the initial phaseand frequency and theloop
interval, the frequency of the VCO changes during (0, t p + ) parameters.
so a linear equation for t, is incorrect for positive phase error. Define An = ai -.aoand recall that 0, = Bi - Bo. By the
In the nonlinearanalysis it was found that thecorrect charging previous approximations, Oi advances by 277 in the time inter-
interval is a solution of aquadraticequation involving the val (0, t*). With these substitutions, we obtain the linear dif-
initial conditions at t = 0 andtheloopparameters.The ference equations
quadratic solution is carried through in the numerical iteration
of the nonlinear difference equations.)
Define u,O = u,(O); uxp = ux(tp).Ordinary linear-network
analysis methods yield
e&,) = eo(o) + n o t p + Ko(uxotp+ i$2tp +'ptp2/2c).
('49) and

(For positive Oe(0), setting Oo(tp) = 0 in (A9) gives the

quadraticequation for theexact valueof t p + , asdescribed
above.) Furthermore,
(All approximations are avoided in the calculator program.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1858 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. COM-28, NO. 11: NOVEMBER 1980

Wit2 = 277 aresolved for r1 and t2. Thesmallerof these is rived in the same manner for the third-order loop. The Volume
taken as the value for t*. Having obtained the correct values of of algebra is substantially greater than for thesecond-order
t p and t*, the values for e&*) and Ao(t*) are calculated and loop so only the results are given in Section IV. Only linear
the process repeats with these state variablesas the new approximations have been performed for the third-order
initial conditions. The program starts atspecified initial condi- loop; the exact equations havenot been attempted.
tions and stops after arriving within a specified tolerance band
about the zero state.) REFERENCES
The linearized analysis continues by takingz-transforms [I] R. C. E. Thomas, “Frequency comparator performs double duty.”
[l 11 of (A14) and (A15). Treating the initial frequency error EDN, pp.29-32,Nov. I , 1970.
[2] J. 1. Brown,“Adigitalphaseandfrequency-sensitivedetector,”
as a frequency stepgives the z-transformed equations Proc.IEEE, vol.59, p. 717,Apr.I97 I . ’

[3] Phase-LockedLoopDataBook, 2nd ed.Motorola,Inc.,Aug.

1973.
[4] D. K. Morganand G . Steudel,“TheRCACOS/MOSphase-
locked-loop,”RCA,Somerville,NJ,Application Note ICAN-
6101, Oct.1972.
[SI c . A. Sharpe, “A 3-state phase detector can improve yournext PLL
design,” EDN, pp.55-59,Sept.1976.
[6l F. M. Gardner, PhaselockTechniques, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley,
1979.
[7] P. Lue, “A multispeed digital .regenerative repeater for digital data
transmission,” in Conf. Rec.. 1979 Nut. Telecommun Conf., paper
14. I .
Solving for Oe(z) gives [8] J . A. Afonso, A. J. Quiterio, and D. S . Arantes. “A phase-locked
loop with digital frequency comparator for timing signal recovery,”
in Conf. Rec., 1979 Nut. Telecommun. Conf.. paper 14.4.
191 J . Tal,“Speedcontrol by phase-locked
servo systems-New
possibilitiesandlimitations.” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. Contr.
Instrum.. vol.IECI-24.pp. 118-125, Feb.1977.
[IO] A. J. Viterbi, Principles of CoherenrCommunication. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1966, ch. 3.
[I I ] J. T.Tou, Digital and Sampled-DuraControlSystems. New
York:McGraw-Hill,1959.

Applying notation definitions from (9), the denominator of

(A18) becomes D(z), as shown in (13). Analysis of pole loca-
*
tions follows by standard methods[ l l ] . Floyd M. Gardner (A’54-SM’58-F’80),for a photographandbiog-
Linearized difference equations (three of them) werede- raphy. see page 1106 of the August 1980 issue of this TRANSACTIONS.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Technische Universitaet Berlin. Downloaded on June 22,2023 at 11:32:59 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.