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Phase Margin Question for Phase Locked Loops

Hi,

Ok, so i've simulated my loop filter
(active Op-amp, integrator) in ADS, complete with
split input resistors for improved transient
suppression, and i got a phase shift of
+163 degrees at a unity gain frequency
of 10Hz. So I add the +90 degrees from the
1/s integration of the VCO, and i get
+253 degrees of phase shift open loop,
which gives me a phase margin of 73 degrees,
if i'm not mistaken. Supposedly
45 degrees is optimum, but higher
phase margins are more stable.

Which got me to wondering, if
the closed loop system instability
is dependent on the Barkhausen criteria,
and the characteristic equation of the
closed loop is of the form: (1+G(s)H(s)),
then because of the "+", the Phase
Detector must have a 180 degree phase shift.

Do all phase detectors, whether
XOR or phase/frequency, have this
180 degree phase shift inherently
built-in?

Thanks in advance!


Slick
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

Ok, so i've simulated my loop filter
(active Op-amp, integrator) in ADS, complete with
split input resistors for improved transient
suppression, and i got a phase shift of
+163 degrees at a unity gain frequency
of 10Hz. So I add the +90 degrees from the
1/s integration of the VCO, and i get
+253 degrees of phase shift open loop,
which gives me a phase margin of 73 degrees,
if i'm not mistaken. Supposedly
45 degrees is optimum, but higher
phase margins are more stable.

Which got me to wondering, if
the closed loop system instability
is dependent on the Barkhausen criteria,
and the characteristic equation of the
closed loop is of the form: (1+G(s)H(s)),
then because of the "+", the Phase
Detector must have a 180 degree phase shift.

Do all phase detectors, whether
XOR or phase/frequency, have this
180 degree phase shift inherently
built-in?

Thanks in advance!


Slick
I don't know how you're adding things up, but if you're getting 253
degrees of phase shift without an inverter then you're going to be unstable.

Are you sure that your program isn't taking the VCO phase shift into
account? The VCO is also going to have gain that varies with frequency,
so finding the loop filter's unity gain frequency is pretty meaningless
without knowing the VCO's gain.

Unfortunately the Barkhausen criterion, while it's dandy for determining
that you _are_ oscillating, isn't sufficient to determine if you're
_not_ oscillating. For example you can have 180 degrees of phase shift
before you hit the inverting terminal of your summation junction, with a
gain that exceeds 1, and still have a perfectly stable system -- it's
only if that gain goes _down_ that you'll have problems. The only way
to really tell is with a Nyquist plot, and even then you have to know if
you have any unstable zeros (you almost certainly don't).

And to answer your question, no.

However any multiplying phase detector, such as a mixer or an XOR, have
an output vs. phase characteristic that is either triangular or
sinusoidal in phase, and has a 0-degree phase shift segment as well as a
180-degree segment so you're always covered.
 
K

Ken Smith

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim Wescott said:
gain that exceeds 1, and still have a perfectly stable system -- it's
only if that gain goes _down_ that you'll have problems. The only way
to really tell is with a Nyquist plot, and even then you have to know if
you have any unstable zeros (you almost certainly don't).

You can also tell looking at a Bode plot. The place where the phase
matters is where the gain curve drops below unity for the last time. If
the total phase shift at that point is less than 180 degrees, the line on
the Nyquist plot can't enclose the -1 point.
And to answer your question, no.

However any multiplying phase detector, such as a mixer or an XOR, have
an output vs. phase characteristic that is either triangular or
sinusoidal in phase, and has a 0-degree phase shift segment as well as a
180-degree segment so you're always covered.

I assume you mean "alway covered against an extra invertering" here.

There is another gotch to watch out for. In the case of a multi-pole
filter, the multiplying phase detector can lead to situations that are
unstable for large phase errors but stable for small errors. If this PLL
is being used to track a moving target, and uses a muliplying phase
detector, check that the system is stable for reduced gains. If it isn't,
some modulation frequencies may cause early loss of lock.
 
A

Andrew Holme

Jan 1, 1970
0
[email protected] wrote:

[snip]
the Phase Detector must have a 180 degree phase shift.

Do all phase detectors, whether
XOR or phase/frequency, have this
180 degree phase shift inherently
built-in?

They detect the phase difference. If the inputs are a(t) and b(t) then the
phase difference is:

a(t) - b(t)

The -ve sign in front of b(t) is where the 180 degrees comes from.

a(t) = reference
b(t) = vco
 
Tim said:
I don't know how you're adding things up, but if you're getting 253
degrees of phase shift without an inverter then you're going to be unstable.

Are you sure that your program isn't taking the VCO phase shift into
account? The VCO is also going to have gain that varies with frequency,
so finding the loop filter's unity gain frequency is pretty meaningless
without knowing the VCO's gain.

Well, you bring up a good point. I'm not yet able
to simulate a VCO in ADS.

So at this point, i'm simulating only the loop filter,
which is fairly easy for anyone really, and then defining
the phase margin as how far the phase shift is from 90 degrees.

So the question is: is assuming the phase shift
of the 1/s integrator of the VCO as always being PLUS
90 degrees across the band, a good/decent assumption?

Unfortunately the Barkhausen criterion, while it's dandy for determining
that you _are_ oscillating, isn't sufficient to determine if you're
_not_ oscillating. For example you can have 180 degrees of phase shift
before you hit the inverting terminal of your summation junction, with a
gain that exceeds 1, and still have a perfectly stable system -- it's
only if that gain goes _down_ that you'll have problems. The only way
to really tell is with a Nyquist plot, and even then you have to know if
you have any unstable zeros (you almost certainly don't).

I believe the Barkhausen criterion is only good for
when [GH]=1, or at least very close to one. Even if you
look at the closed loop formula> G/(1+GH) you can see
that if [GH] is greater than one, that the closed loop
gain gets smaller, not larger, whether you have positive
OR negative feedback!


Slick
 
G

gwhite

Jan 1, 1970
0
So at this point, i'm simulating only the loop filter,
which is fairly easy for anyone really, and then defining
the phase margin as how far the phase shift is from 90 degrees.

So the question is: is assuming the phase shift
of the 1/s integrator of the VCO as always being PLUS
90 degrees across the band, a good/decent assumption?

The VCO is 1/s and accounts for 90 degrees. The loop filter has another
integrator, and that accounts for another 90 degrees. So the closed loop would
be unstable where the open loop gain = 1, except this is explicitly why the zero
is put into the loop filter: to pull phase back from 180 degrees where open loop
gain crosses 1.
 
gwhite said:
The VCO is 1/s and accounts for 90 degrees. The loop filter has another
integrator, and that accounts for another 90 degrees. So the closed loop would
be unstable where the open loop gain = 1, except this is explicitly why the zero
is put into the loop filter: to pull phase back from 180 degrees where open loop
gain crosses 1.

That's true. So would it be safe to
just add 90 degrees to the phase shift of the loop
filter, at the open loop gain=1, and then subtract
180, and call this the phase margin?

Or in other words, is the phase shift
of the VCO always +90 degrees across the
band? This seems to be the assumption.


Slick
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
loop would


why the zero


where open loop



That's true. So would it be safe to
just add 90 degrees to the phase shift of the loop
filter, at the open loop gain=1, and then subtract
180, and call this the phase margin?

Mathematically safe, but 90 + 90 - 180 = 0, and that's exactly the phase
margin you'd have.
Or in other words, is the phase shift
of the VCO always +90 degrees across the
band? This seems to be the assumption.


Slick

You need to brush up on your control theory. An integrator has a
transfer function of k/s, when you evaluate this at a sinusoidal
frequency it always has a phase shift of 90 degrees -- but most people
refer to it as -90 degrees, because you're evaluating k/(j w), which is
equal to -j k/w, which has -- negative 90 degrees phase.
 
Tim said:
Mathematically safe, but 90 + 90 - 180 = 0, and that's exactly the phase
margin you'd have.

You need to brush up on your control theory. An integrator has a
transfer function of k/s, when you evaluate this at a sinusoidal
frequency it always has a phase shift of 90 degrees -- but most people
refer to it as -90 degrees, because you're evaluating k/(j w), which is
equal to -j k/w, which has -- negative 90 degrees phase.



Opps! Yes, the VCO is 1/s, so it's like
a capacitor, with a -90 phase shift.

Well, i got +163 degrees in simulation, so that would
be 163-90=73. 180-73= 107 degrees phase margin.
Quite a bit from 45 degrees.


SLick
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
Opps! Yes, the VCO is 1/s, so it's like
a capacitor, with a -90 phase shift.

Well, i got +163 degrees in simulation, so that would
be 163-90=73. 180-73= 107 degrees phase margin.
Quite a bit from 45 degrees.


SLick
What were you using for a filter? In general a low-pass filter will
have negative phase shift. I find it hard to believe that a practical
PLL loop filter would _add_ phase margin -- you're generally engaged in
a battle between reducing phase detection noise and keeping a stable loop.
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

Ok, so i've simulated my loop filter
(active Op-amp, integrator) in ADS, complete with
split input resistors for improved transient
suppression, and i got a phase shift of
+163 degrees at a unity gain frequency
of 10Hz. So I add the +90 degrees from the
1/s integration of the VCO, and i get
+253 degrees of phase shift open loop,
which gives me a phase margin of 73 degrees,
if i'm not mistaken. Supposedly
45 degrees is optimum, but higher
phase margins are more stable.

Which got me to wondering, if
the closed loop system instability
is dependent on the Barkhausen criteria,
and the characteristic equation of the
closed loop is of the form: (1+G(s)H(s)),
then because of the "+", the Phase
Detector must have a 180 degree phase shift.

Do all phase detectors, whether
XOR or phase/frequency, have this
180 degree phase shift inherently
built-in?

Thanks in advance!


Slick
For some reason your postings show your messages as going to
sci.engr.control, and our replies go there, but your postings don't.
 
J

John Woodgate

Jan 1, 1970
0
I read in sci.electronics.design that Tim Wescott
com>) about 'Phase Margin Question for Phase Locked Loops', on Mon, 3
Jan 2005:
For some reason your postings show your messages as going to
sci.engr.control, and our replies go there, but your postings don't.

Maybe his ISP doesn't carry that newsgroup.
 
Tim said:
What were you using for a filter? In general a low-pass filter will
have negative phase shift. I find it hard to believe that a practical
PLL loop filter would _add_ phase margin -- you're generally engaged in
a battle between reducing phase detection noise and keeping a stable loop.

Single-ended input inverting integrator op-amp.

We get -90 from the feedback capacitor, but then
+180 from the inversion, so it's a positive phase shift
overall:


4.7uF
-----33k---{}----
] ]
] ]
] ] ] ]
---66k---] - ] ]
] ] ]
] ]----------
Ground---] + ]
] ]
] ]



This is a simplified version,
but if you put it in your simulator,
you should get a positive phase shift
at around 10Hz.


Slick
 
engaged stable

That other ascii diagram didn't turn out,
so let's just say it's a single-ended input
inverting integrator op-amp, your garden variety
active pll filter, with input R1=66k, feedback
R2=33k, and feedback C1=4.7uF ("+" input grounded).

We get -90 from the feedback capacitor, but then
+180 from the inversion, so it's a positive phase shift
overall:

This is a simplified version,
but if you put it in your simulator,
you should get a positive phase shift
at around 10Hz.


Slick
 
J

Jerry Avins

Jan 1, 1970
0
That other ascii diagram didn't turn out,
so let's just say it's a single-ended input
inverting integrator op-amp, your garden variety
active pll filter, with input R1=66k, feedback
R2=33k, and feedback C1=4.7uF ("+" input grounded).

We get -90 from the feedback capacitor, but then
+180 from the inversion, so it's a positive phase shift
overall:

This is a simplified version,
but if you put it in your simulator,
you should get a positive phase shift
at around 10Hz.


Slick

You need to use a fixed-width font and avoid tabs to make ASCII art work.

An inverter doesn't always solve a phase problem. What comes out of an
integrator is a quarter cycle delayed, whatever polarity you arrange for
it. You can think of 90 degrees and an inversion as -90 + 180 = +90
degrees. You can just as well think of it as -90 -180 = -270 degrees.

Jerry
 
Jerry said:
You need to use a fixed-width font and avoid tabs to make ASCII art work.

An inverter doesn't always solve a phase problem. What comes out of an
integrator is a quarter cycle delayed, whatever polarity you arrange for
it. You can think of 90 degrees and an inversion as -90 + 180 = +90
degrees. You can just as well think of it as -90 -180 = -270 degrees.

We need the inverter for our design in this
case, otherwise our phase margin ain't enough.

And i don't see too many integrating op-amp loop
filters that aren't inverting by design anyways.


Slick
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
We need the inverter for our design in this
case, otherwise our phase margin ain't enough.

And i don't see too many integrating op-amp loop
filters that aren't inverting by design anyways.


Slick
That just won't work. Putting an inverter into your loop to "add phase
margin" is like driving backwards fast so you won't exceed the speed
limit -- it's correct in a sense, but you'll just get busted worse.

If you have a loop with negative feedback at DC, which is what you need
to get all the nice benefits of, well, _negative_ feedback, and your
phase margin isn't right so you put an inverter in it, then you have
_positive_ feedback, with all it's nasty disadvantages.
 
Tim said:
That just won't work. Putting an inverter into your loop to "add phase
margin" is like driving backwards fast so you won't exceed the speed
limit -- it's correct in a sense, but you'll just get busted worse.

It already does work!

You've only designed with passive, single
ended filters?

Most active PLL filters are inverting.


Slick
 
A

Andrew Holme

Jan 1, 1970
0
You've only designed with passive, single
ended filters?

Most active PLL filters are inverting.

The up/down steering logic between the phase detector and the charge
pump is reversed to cancel the inversion in the active loop filter.

F(s) may be -A*(s+B)/s but kPD is really -kPD
The negative signs cancel out.

The open loop gain is

G(s) = kPD * A*(s+B)/s * kVCO/s

i.e. two poles at the origin and a strategically positioned zero.

The phase is +180 until the zero kicks-in. The phase then gradually
drops to +90. Phase margin is how far below 180 it has fallen, at the
frequency where magnitude of G passes through unity.
 
J

Jerry Avins

Jan 1, 1970
0
[email protected] wrote:

...
It already does work!

That's fine. Still, you don't understand why. An inverter between the
error signal and the loop is necessary to achieve negative feedback. The
inverter provides 180 degrees and the integrator by itself eats half of
that, leaving 90 degrees phase margin, the best one can do. Other
roll-offs decrease the phase margin even more, putting some ringing into
the response. 40 degrees of phase margin usually allows a very
acceptable overall response.

...
Most active PLL filters are inverting.

That's easily changed without altering their characteristics. All
feedback circuits need inversion to be stable. It's the additional phase
shift between DC and the zero-dB frequency that matters.

Jerry
 
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