Impact of technology on PLL power and frequency

Abstract

PurposeThis paper presents a prediction on the impact of technology scaling on phase‐locked loop (PLL) performance behaviour. Power and maximum operating frequency of an Analogue PLL and a Type II phase‐frequency detector (PFD)‐based PLL from which the behaviours of other PLLs derived from the two architectures can be estimated, are analysed and their future behaviours as a function of technology are predicted.Design/methodology/approachAnalogue models were developed and Mentor Graphics VHDL‐AMS mixed‐signal simulations were performed on the two PLL architectures. Behavioural power and frequency equations as a function of technology were derived based on thorough data and graphical analyses.FindingsA prediction of PLL frequency and power dissipation as a function of technology for two main PLL architectures.Research limitations/implicationsThe parameters in each equation derived should include other contributing factors as well as other design approaches such as multi‐VDD, multi‐Vth, etc. future work should also include prediction of jitter and phase noise for the two main PLL topologies.Originality/valueThis paper is of high significance in PLL design. The predicted equations could be used to reduce a major portion of a PLL designers' design time when choosing a PLL topology, and help them predict the impact of technology on the performance of the chosen architecture.