Design and realization of a digital ΔΣ modulator for fractional-n frequency synthesis

The basic operation of a fractional-n frequency synthesizer has been published, but to date little has been presented on the digital ΔΣ modulators which are required to drive such synthesizers. This paper provides a tutorial overview, which relates digital ΔΣ modulation to other applications of ΔΣ modulation where the literature is more complete. The paper then presents a digital ΔΣ modulator architecture which is economical and efficient and which is practical to realize with commercially available components in comparison with other possible implementations which require extensive custom very large-scale integration (VLSI). A demonstration is made of a 28-b modulator using the architecture presented, which provides a 25-MHz tuning bandwidth and <1-Hz frequency resolution. The modulator is demonstrated in an 800-MHz frequency synthesizer having phase noise of -90 dBC/Hz at a 30-kHz offset