Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)

Electronics Engineering

How It Works

A Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) is an automated closed-loop electronic feedback control system that continuously aligns the output frequency and phase of a Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO) with an incoming reference signal. A phase detector measures phase differences between reference and feedback signals, generating an error voltage filtered by a low-pass loop filter. The resulting filtered control voltage tunes the VCO until the phase error vanishes, achieving synchronized frequency and phase lock.

Governing Equation
V_{ctrl}(s) = K_d · F(s) · (θ_{ref} - θ_{vco})   |   ω_{vco}(t) = ω₀ + K_{vco} · V_{ctrl}(t)