Abstract: A second or third-order phase-locked loop with higher loop gain at medium and low frequencies, while avoiding the problem of amplifier saturation caused by high amplifier gain combined with the DC offset of imperfect phase detectors, includes a voltage controlled oscillator and a phase detector for comparing the phase of the reference oscillator and the VCO. In a third-order embodiment, two operational amplifiers are connected in series between the output of the phase detector and the input to the VCO, each amplifier having an associated feedback circuit including a series capacitor and a resistor to provide gain shaping. A Tee circuit is provided from the output of one of the amplifiers to the input of the other, and includes a shunt-connected capacitor to provide low frequency sensitive feedback to reduce the gain of the amplifiers at frequencies approaching DC, thereby preventing saturation and enabling increased loop gain at frequencies thereabove.

Abstract: A planar oscillator (9, 109) having a dielectric cavity (25, 125) and which is operative at microwave frequencies, said oscillator consisting of a dielectric material base (10, 110) one surface of which has, superposed thereto, a continuous layer (11,111) of a conductive material which coats portions of said face; the remaining portions (10A, 10B, 110A', 110A", 110B) of the surface have, superposed thereto, strips of a conductive material (12,13,14,112,113,114) which are separate from each other and are electrically connected to an active element (19, 119), a dielectric cavity (25,125) adhering to the opposite surface of the dielectric material base (10,110), the layer of conductive material (11,111) providing a grounding plane and the strips of conductive material (12,13,14,112,113,114) providing transmission and output lines for the oscillator.

Abstract: A self-oscillating vibrator exciting circuit utilizing a drive transistor that operates in a switching mode. The ON-period of the transistor is determined by base/emitter inductance and capacitance and base/collector capacitance, while the OFF-period of the transistor is determined by collector/emitter inductance and capacitance. The vibrator is connected between transistor collector and emitter, and the ON-period frequency of the transistor is set in the neighborhood of the resonance frequency of the vibrator so that the vibrator exciting circuit oscillates generally at the resonance frequency of the vibrator.

Abstract: An integrated single-sideband modulator comprises six integrated capacitors C1-C6 and first switch means alternately connecting C1 and C2 as feedback capacitors across a differential input operational amplifier A1. The amplifier has a virtual ground potential on its inverting input terminal for causing it to operate as a voltage source and render the circuit relatively insensitive to parasitic capacitance effects associated with capacitor plates. Second switch means cooperates with A1, C1 and C2 and is responsive to 4-phase clock signals for driving input capacitors C3-C6 so as to convert first and second quadrature-phase input signal voltages into first and second electrical charge flow signals on the inverting input terminal that are a function of products of representations of the first and second voltages in switch state time intervals and associated pulse trains which have a 90.degree. phase difference therebetween and a repetitive pattern such as +1, +1, -1, -1, etc.

Abstract: An integrated single-sideband modulator comprises six integrated capacitors C1-C6 and first switch means alternately connecting C1 and C2 as feedback capacitors across a differential input operational amplifier A1. The amplifier has a virtual ground potential on its inverting input terminal for causing it to operate as a voltage source and render the circuit relatively insensitive to parasitic capacitance effects associated with capacitor plates. Second switch means cooperates with A1, C1 and C2 and is responsive to 4-phase clock signals for driving input capacitors C3-C6 so as to convert first and second quadrature-phase input signal voltages into first and second electrical charge flow signals on the inverting input terminal that are a function of products of representations of the first and second voltages in switch state time intervals and associated pulse trains which have a 90.degree. phase difference therebetween and a repetitive pattern such as +1, +1, -1, -1, etc.

Abstract: A first embodiment of an integrable switched capacitor modulator comprises a differential input operational amplifier A1 having a virtual ground potential impressed on its inverting input terminal; capacitors C1, C2 and C3; and switch means operative for alternately (1) charging C1 with an input voltage while connecting C2 and C3 in series with A1 and across it, respectively, for causing it to produce an inverted version of the input voltage, and (2) discharging C2 and C3 while connecting the sample of the input voltage on C1 across A1 for causing it to output a non-inverted sample of the input voltage. The modulated output signal from A1 is preferably bandpass filtered to eliminate baseband spectral components fed through A1 when C2 is connected in series with the input terminal thereof.

Abstract: An integrated single-sideband modulator comprises six integrated capacitors C1-C6 and first switch means alternately connecting C1 and C2 as feedback capacitors across a differential input operational amplifier A1. The amplifier has a virtual ground potential on its inverting input terminal for causing it to operate as a voltage source and render the circuit relatively insensitive to parasitic capacitance effects associated with capacitor plates. Second switch means cooperates with A1, C1 and C2 and is responsive to 4-phase clock signals for driving input capacitors C3-C6 so as to convert first and second quadrature-phase input signal voltages into first and second electrical charge flow signals on the inverting input terminal that are a function of products of representations of the first and second voltages in switch state time intervals and associated pulse trains which have a 90.degree. phase difference therebetween and a repetitive pattern such as +1, +1, -1, -1, etc.

Abstract: A third order phase-locked loop providing increased gain in the high frequency portion of a predefined bandwidth includes an oscillator providing a reference signal, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) providing a variable signal, and a phase detector for comparing the phase of the reference signal to the phase of the variable signal. The phase detector produces a difference signal for application to an input of the VCO to bring the variable signal into phase with the reference signal. First and second active amplifiers are connected in series between the output of the phase detector and the input to the VCO, operative to provide decreasing loop gain with increasing frequency at the rate of 18 db per octave at frequencies approaching the predefined bandwidth.

Abstract: An integrated single-sideband modulator comprises six integrated capacitors C1-C6 and first switch means alternately connecting C1 and C2 as feedback capacitors across a differential input operational amplifier A1. The amplifier has a virtual ground potential on its inverting input terminal for causing it to operate as a voltage source and render the circuit relatively insensitive to parasitic capacitance effects associated with capacitor plates. Second switch means cooperates with A1, C1 and C2 and is responsive to 4-phase clock signals for driving input capacitors C3-C6 so as to convert first and second quadrature-phase input signal voltages into first and second electrical charge flow signals on the inverting input terminal that are a function of products of representations of the first and second voltages in switch state time intervals and associated pulse trains which have a 90.degree. phase difference therebetween and a repetitive pattern such as +1, +1, -1, -1, etc.

Abstract: A first embodiment of an integrable switched capacitor modulator comprises a differential input operational amplifier A1 having a virtual ground potential impressed on its inverting input terminal; capacitors C1, C2 and C3; and switch means operative for alternately (1) charging C1 with an input voltage while connecting C2 and C3 in series with A1 and across it, respectively, for causing it to produce an inverted version of the input voltage, and (2) discharging C2 and C3 while connecting the sample of the input voltage on C1 across A1 for causing it to output a non-inverted sample of the input voltage. The modulated output signal from A1 is preferrably bandpass filtered to eliminate baseband spectral components fed through A1 when C2 is connected in series with the input terminal thereof.

Abstract: The optical injection-locking of an FET oscillator is accomplished by injecting the beat signal between two coherently mixed slave lasers, which are locked to different harmonics of a modulated master laser, into the FET oscillator to be locked. 120 GHz injection-locking beat signals are possible using this technique.

Abstract: A wideband phase locked loop oscillator (PLLO) for tracking the frequency of an altitude signal in an FM/CW type radio altimeter. The phase locked loop oscillator conventionally includes a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a phase comparator for comparing the phase of the altitude signal to be tracked with the phase of the VCO output and an error signal amplifier for applying the output of the phase comparator as control voltage to the VCO. The frequency range of the PLLO is extended by changing the natural frequency of the VCO in steps spanning the useful frequency range of the altitude signal. Selection of the proper value of VCO natural frequency is effected through microprocessor directed digital control.

Abstract: A baseband discriminator decodes a pair of trigonometric transform function signals, sin f(t) and cos f(t), to provide an original audio signal f(t) by first deriving the derivative of the audio signal from the pair of trigonometric signals and integrating that derivative. The discriminator is used in a new system of SSB transmission termed "transform modulation" and also in FM transmission.

Abstract: A frequency-modulated input signal is converted at an adequately high sampling rate into a time-discrete and amplitude-discrete digital signal. This digital signal is applied to a simple transversal filter, having a sloping amplitude characteristic, more specifically having a sin.sup.2 transfer function and a constant group delay time, and to a delay device having a time delay which is equal to the group delay time. The output signal of the filter is applied to a numerator input of a divider (6) and the output signal of the delay device to a denominator input the divider (6) whose quotient contains the frequency corresponding to the amplitude characteristic of the filter. In this manner, a frequency demodulator having a very good AM-suppression and an adequate linearity at broad-band-FM is realized. The divider is formed, in accordance with the "pipeline principle", from a plurality of identically constructed sections corresponding to the number of bit positions of the processed digital signals.

Abstract: An alarm circuit operatively associated with a phase-locked loop provides an error indication when the phases of the referenced signal and voltage controlled oscillator signal lose synchronization for times less than one millisecond. The alarm circuit includes an amplifier connected to receive the phase detector error signal, and an impedance connected to conduct the phase detector error signal to the amplifier. The impedance and amplifier have a frequency response corresponding to a frequency response of an associated receiver circuit, so that short duration deviations in the reference signal frequency which the receiver circuit cannot track produce an error indication and long duration deviations which can be tracked by the receiver circuit do not produce an error indication.

Abstract: A demodulator for a composite PSK-PSK modulated signal having a 2.sup.n -phase main data signal and a 2-phase subdata signal including a frame signal, said demodulator comprising an orthogonal detector 21 producing two orthogonally demodulated signals P, Q, a subdata reproducing section 50 for phase-shifting the orthogonal signals and multiplying together the phase-shifted signals to reproduce the subdata signal, a lock-in phase discriminator 42 for detecting the frame synchronization, and a main data reproducing section 51 for phase-shifting and switching the orthogonal signals in response to the phase discriminator and the reproduced subdata signal to reproduce the main signal.

Abstract: A phase locked loop control circuit for a digital audio disk system is disclosed which has a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a reference signal generator for generating a reference signal corresponding to the phase state of a digital audio signal when the digital audio signal is reproduced or read out and which is recorded on a digital audio disk (DAD) to have a maximum or minimum inverting period value predetermined by the eight to fourteen modulation method, a phase comparator connected to the output terminal of the reference signal generator and the VCO, a detector for detecting the maximum inverting period value included in the digital audio signal; and an adder for adding outputs from the phase comparator and the detector and for supplying a sum result as an oscillation control signal to the VCO.

Abstract: Phase shifting apparatus is illustrated using a feedback loop to monitor the frequency and correct the phase shifting mechanism so that the desired amount of phase shift will occur at all frequencies. The phase shifter comprises a multistage storage means which samples the incoming signal periodically and outputs this information after a time delay. This time delay will vary for a given amount of phase shift depending upon the frequency. Thus, the feedback loop adjusts the sampling time whereby the time period of the sample times is electrically correct.

Abstract: An optical-physics package used in an atomic frequency standard is miniaturized and the performance thereof improved. The optical-physics package includes a microwave cavity in which is positioned a filter cell and an absorption cell, preferably located in close physical proximity to one another. The microwave cavity may double as an oven, and is preferably designed to operate in the TE111 mode with "E" probe microwave coupling. Dielectric loading is provided by the filter cell and absorption cell to reduce the internal dimensions of the microwave cavity.

Abstract: An improved temperature compensation circuit for an oscillator circuit having a frequency response that is parabolic with respect to temperature, including a time dependent ramp signal, an AC integrator for converting the ramp signal to single-sided parabolic voltage functions and means for sampling the resulting time dependent one-sided parabolic voltage functions with respect to a time base at selected times corresponding to ambient temperatures.