Introduction

Abstract

A major advantage of a direct digital synthesizer (DDS) is that its output frequency, phase and amplitude can be precisely and rapidly manipulated under digital processor control. Other inherent DDS attributes include the ability to tune with extremely fine frequency and phase resolution, and to rapidly “hop” between frequencies. These combined characteristics have made the technology popular in military radar and communications systems. In fact, DDS technology was previously applied almost exclusively to high-end and military applications: it was costly, power-hungry, difficult to implement, and required a discrete high speed D/A converter. Due to improved integrated circuit (IC) technologies, they now present a viable alternative to analog-based phase-locked loop (PLL) technology for generating agile analog output frequency in consumer synthesizer applications.