Patents by Inventor G. Stephen Curtis

G. Stephen Curtis has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4573026
    Abstract: Apparatus to provide calibrated frequency modulation (FM) of frequencies generated in a phase-locked loop is disclosed. A phase-locked loop (PLL) includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) which is locked to a loop frequence signal frequency. A modulo-10 divider is included which adds integral multiples of two pi radians of phase to the output signal of the VCO whenever the modulus of the divider is reduced by an integer. This forces the PLL to step change the loop frequency by an integral multiple of the reference frequency. A sampling circuit senses and measures the change in the VCO control voltage resulting from the step change in the loop frequency. The change in the control voltage is a measure of the VCO gain at that frequency. The change in the control voltage is converted to a digital number which is loaded into a multiplying digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to adjust the gain of the DAC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 1984
    Date of Patent: February 25, 1986
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company
    Inventors: G. Stephen Curtis, David P. Whipple