Comments on "State-preserving intermittently locked loop (SPILL) frequency synthesizer for portable radio" [with reply]

For the original article see ibid., vol.37, no.12, p.1898-1903 (1989). The commenter on the above-mentioned work draws attention to a similar technique in which the feedback path is controlled using a sample-and-hold circuit between the loop filter and the voltage-controlled oscillator block. The author, in replying, indicates that there is a substantial difference between his system and the commenter's system: the initial phase adjustment technique for resetting the programmable counter and prescaler is necessary to reestablish a phase-locked loop in a very short time after power is supplied to the VCO. However, if power is always supplied to the VCO, phase and frequency may be sustained by using only a sample-and-hold circuit.<
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