MICRF501 datasheet(10/18 Pages) MICREL

10 / 18 page

MICRF501

Micrel

MICRF501

March 2003

equal to two (Ref6 = 1) reference steps or four reference

steps (Ref6 = 0).

The bit setting that corresponds to lock can vary, depending

on temperature, loop filter and type of varactor. Therefore, the

lock detect circuit needs to be calibrated regularly by a

software routine that finds the correct bit setting, by running

through all combinations of bits Ref0 – Ref5. Depending on

the size of the reference window, there will be several bit

combinations that show lock. For instance, with a large

reference window, as much as five bit combinations can

make the lock detector show lock. To have the maximum

robustness to noise, the third of the bit settings should be

chosen.

Charge Pump

The charge pump can be programmed to four different modes

with two currents,

±125µA and ±500µA. Bits 70 and 71 in the

control word (cpmp1 and cpmp0) controls the operation. The

four modes are:

1. cpmp1 = 0 Current is constant

±125µA. Used in

cpmp0 = 0 applications where short PLL lock

time is not important.

2. cpmp1 = 0 Current is constant

±500µA. Used in

cpmp0 = 1 applications where a short PLL lock

time is important, e.g., internal modula-

tion. See

“Modulation Inside PLL”

section.

3. cpmp1 = 1 Current is

±500µA when PLL is out of

cpmp0 = 0 lock and

±125µA when it is in lock.

Controlled by LOCKDET (Pin 15). Lock

time is halved.

See

“Modulation Outside PLL” section.

4. cpmp1 = 1 Same as above in Tx. In Rx the current

cpmp0 = 1 is

±500µA. Used when using dual-loop

filters. See

“Modulation Outside PLL

Dual-Loop Filters” section.

Tuning of VCO and XCO

There are two circuit blocks that may need tuning, the VCO

and the crystal oscillator.

VCO Tuning

When the tuning voltage is not at its mid-point measured at

Pin 9, a capacitor value for C35 is chosen.

This is particularly important when using VCO modulation.

The gain curve of the VCO (MHz/Volt) is not linear and the

gain will therefore vary with loop voltage. This means that the

FSK frequency deviation also varies with loop voltage. It is

therefore important to trim the loop voltage to the same value

from circuit to circuit.

When using internal modulation, tuning the VCO can be

omitted as long as the VCO gain is large enough to allow the

PLL to handle variations in process parameters and tempera-

ture without going out of lock.

XCO Tuning

Tune the trimming capacitor in the crystal oscillator to the

precise desired transmit frequency. It is not possible to tune

the crystal oscillator over a large frequency range. N, M and

A values must therefore be chosen to give a RF frequency

very close to the desired frequency. Because of the small

tuning range the VCO will not go out of lock when tuning the

crystal oscillator.

FSK Modulation

The circuit has two sets of frequency dividers A0, N0, M0 and

A1, N1, M1. The frequency dividers are programmed via the

control word. A0, N0, M0 are to be programmed with the

receive frequency and are used in receive mode. There are

three ways of implementing FSK:

• FSK modulation can be applied to the VCO. This

way of implementing FSK modulation is ex-

plained more in detail in the next section. The

values corresponding to the transmit frequency

should be programmed in dividers A1, N1 and

M1. Pin DATAIXO must be kept in tri-state from

the time Tx-mode is entered until one starts

sending data.

• FSK modulation can be applied to the crystal

oscillator. A, N and M values corresponding to

the receive frequency and the low transmit

frequency have to be found. The values corre-

sponding to the low transmit frequency should

be programmed in dividers A1, N1 and M1. In

transmit mode, set DataIXO=‘1’ and tune the

trimming capacitor until the output frequency

that corresponds to data ‘1’ is reached. Check

that the output frequency equals the low FSK

frequency when DataIXO=‘0’.

• FSK modulation by switching between the two

sets of A, N and M dividers. A, N and M values

corresponding to the receive frequency and both

transmit frequencies have to be found. In

transmit the values corresponding to data ‘0’

should be programmed in dividers A0, N0 and

M0, and the values corresponding to data ‘1’

should be programmed in dividers A1, N1 and

M1.

• FSK modulation by adding/subtracting 1 to

divider A1. The frequency deviation will be equal

to the comparison frequency. The values

corresponding to the transmit frequency should

be programmed in dividers A1, N1 and M1.

For all types of FSK modulation, data is entered at the

DATAIXO pin.

Loop Filter

The design of the loop filter is of great importance for

optimizing parameters like modulation rate, PLL lock time,

bandwidth and phase noise. Low bitrates will allow modula-

tion inside the PLL, which means the loop will lock on different

frequency for 1s and 0s. This can be implemented by switch-

ing the internal dividers (M, N and A), or by pulling the

reference frequency (XCO–modulation).

Higher modulation rates (above 2400bps) imply implementa-

tion of modulation outside the PLL. This can be implemented

by applying the modulation directly to the VCO.

Loop filter values can be found using an appropriate software

program.

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