ZHCSG16A January 2017 – May 2017 LMK61E0M
PRODUCTION DATA.
NOTE
Information in the following applications sections is not part of the TI component specification, and TI does not warrant its accuracy or completeness. TI’s customers are responsible for determining suitability of components for their purposes. Customers should validate and test their design implementation to confirm system functionality.
The LMK61E0 features fine and coarse frequency margining capabilities which allow it to be used in applications requiring the output frequency to be adjusted on the fly. In fractional PLL mode, the numerator of the PLL fractional feedback divider can be updated over I2C to update the output frequency without glitches or spikes, allowing the device to be used as a DCXO. The output frequency step size for every bit change in the numerator of the PLL fractional feedback divider is given in Configuring the PLL. The Application Curves section below illustrates the glitch-less switch in output frequency when the numerator is updated. The frequency margining features can also aid the hardware designer during the system debug and validation phase.
Consider a typical digital subscriber line (DSL) application, in which a local modem must track the clock signal of a network modem to ensure accurate and efficient data transfer. In such systems, a DCXO is implemented to allow a local processor to digitally control the oscillator frequency to maintain synchronization. An example of such a clock frequency would be 70.656 MHz.
The typical schematic above shows the I2C connection to the processor and output configurations for AC or DC coupling. OE and ADD can be left floating. The internal pullup resistor on OE enables OUT0. Leaving ADD floating sets the LSB of the I2C slave address to 01.
The Detailed Design Procedure below describes the procedure to generate and adjust the required output frequency for the above scenario using LMK61E0M.
This design procedure will give a quick outline of the process of configuring the LMK61E0M in the above use case. Typically, the easiest approach to configuring the PLL is to start with the desired output frequency and work backwards.
1. POSSIBLE OUTPUT DIVIDER COMBINATIONS | 2. POSSIBLE VCO FREQUENCIES (MHz) | 3. FEEDBACK DIVIDER WITH PDF=12.5 MHz | 4. EQUIVALENT FRACTIONAL FEEDBACK DIVIDER VALUES |
---|---|---|---|
68 (/4, /17) | 4804.608 | 384.36864 | 384+1511424/4100000 |
70 (/5, /14) | 4945.92 | 395.6736 | 395+2822384/4190000 |
72 (/4, /18) | 5087.232 | 406.97856 | 406+4012096/4100000 |
75 (/5, /15) | 5299.2 | 423.936 | 423+3925584/4194000 |
76 (/4, /19) | 5369.856 | 429.58848 | 429+2412768/4100000 |
The EVM software tool TICS Pro/Oscillator Programming Tool can be used to aid loop filter design. The Easy Configuration GUI is able to generate a suggested set of loop filter values given a desired output frequency. The tool recommends a PLL configuration that is designed to minimize jitter. As of the publication of this document, it is not yet able to optimize for desired tuning range in DCXO mode. When configuring the device for operation in DCXO mode, TI recommends using the software suggested loop filter settings as a starting point and then perform the procedure described in Detailed Design Procedure to optimize the PLL configuration to suit the application needs.
A general set of loop filter design guidelines are given below:
The LMK61E0M offers several programmable features for optimizing fractional spurs. To get the best out of these features, it makes sense to understand the different kinds of spurs as well as their behaviors, causes, and remedies. Although optimizing spurs may involve some trial and error, there are ways to make this process more systematic. TI offers the Clock Design Tool (SNAU082) for more information and estimation of fractional spurs.
The phase detector spur occurs at an offset from the carrier equal to the phase detector frequency, fPD. To minimize this spur, consider a lower phase detector frequency. In some cases where the loop bandwidth is very wide relative to the phase detector frequency, some benefit might be gained from using a narrower loop bandwidth or adding poles to the loop filter by using R3 and C3 if previously unused, but otherwise the loop filter has minimal impact. Bypassing at the supply pins and board layout can also have an impact on this spur, especially at higher phase detector frequencies.
This spur occurs at an offset equal to the difference between the VCO frequency and the closest integer channel for the VCO. For instance, if the phase detector frequency is 100 MHz and the VCO frequency is 5003 MHz, then the integer boundary spur would be at 3-MHz offset. This spur can be either PLL or VCO dominated. If it is PLL dominated, decreasing the loop bandwidth and some of the programmable fractional words may impact this spur. If the spur is VCO dominated, then reducing the loop filter will not help, but rather reducing the phase detector and having good slew rate and signal integrity at the selected reference input will help.
These spurs occur at multiples of fPD/DEN and are not the integer boundary spur. For instance, if the phase detector frequency is 100 MHz and the fraction is 3/100, the primary fractional spurs would be at 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 6 MHz, and so forth. These are impacted by the loop filter bandwidth and modulator order. If a small frequency error is acceptable, then a larger equivalent fraction may improve these spurs. This larger unequivalent fraction pushes the fractional spur energy to much lower frequencies that where they are not impactful to the system performance.
These spurs appear at a fraction of fPD/DEN and depend on modulator order. With the first order modulator, there are no sub-fractional spurs. The second order modulator can produce 1/2 sub-fractional spurs if the denominator is even. A third order modulator can produce sub-fractional spurs at 1/2, 1/3, or 1/6 of the offset, depending if it is divisible by 2 or 3. For instance, if the phase detector frequency is 100 MHz and the fraction is 3/100, no sub-fractional spurs for a first order modulator or sub-fractional spurs at multiples of 1.5 MHz for a second or third order modulator would be expected. Aside from strategically choosing the fractional denominator and using a lower order modulator, another tactic to eliminate these spurs is to use dithering and express the fraction in larger equivalent terms. Because dithering also adds phase noise, its level needs to be managed to achieve acceptable phase noise and spurious performance.
Table 5 summarizes spur and mitigation techniques.
SPUR TYPE | OFFSET | WAYS TO REDUCE | TRADE-OFFS |
---|---|---|---|
Phase Detector | fPD | Reduce Phase Detector Frequency. | Although reducing the phase detector frequency does improve this spur, it also degrades phase noise. |
Integer Boundary | fVCO mod fPD | Methods for PLL Dominated Spurs | Reducing the loop bandwidth may degrade the total integrated noise if the bandwidth is too narrow. |
- Avoid the worst case VCO frequencies if possible. | |||
- Ensure good slew rate and signal integrity at reference input. | |||
- Reduce loop bandwidth or add more filter poles to suppress out of band spurs. | |||
Methods for VCO Dominated Spurs | Reducing the phase detector may degrade the phase noise. | ||
- Avoid the worst case VCO frequencies if possible. | |||
- Reduce Phase Detector Frequency. | |||
- Ensure good slew rate and signal integrity at reference input. | |||
Primary Fractional | fPD/DEN | - Decrease Loop Bandwidth. | Decreasing the loop bandwidth may degrade in-band phase noise. Also, larger unequivalent fractions don’t always reduce spurs. |
- Change Modulator Order. | |||
- Use Larger Unequivalent Fractions. | |||
Sub-Fractional | fPD/DEN/k k=2,3, or 6 | - Use Dithering. | Dithering and larger fractions may increase phase noise. |
- Use Larger Equivalent Fractions. | |||
- Use Larger Unequivalent Fractions. | |||
- Reduce Modulator Order. | |||
- Eliminate factors of 2 or 3 in denominator. |
The EVM software tool TICS Pro/Oscillator Programming Tool can be used to program the device with the desired configuration. Simply select the Program EEPROM option and the software will automatically load the current configuration to EEPROM. The settings will then be available upon subsequent startup without the need to reload the registers over I2C.