Design of a Ddsm Modulator to Reduce Hardware and Power Dissipation in Fractional Frequency Synthesizers

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Department of Electrical Engineering, Sho. C, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran.

10.22075/mseee.2026.39635.1238

Abstract

The output of a Digital Delta-Sigma Modulator (DDSM) is always a periodic signal, and the input is constant. A hybrid DDSM is a premiere to its conventional counterpart for having a potential speed, by the choice of its smaller bus. Random techniques and deterministic methods are two strategies to maximize the periodicity. The dither signal is used in the random approach to enhance the signal cycle. The deterministic procedure causes the modulator's internal structure to alter. The majority of randomized approaches eliminate spurious tones. A novel approach for the DDSM modulator is suggested in this paper to improve the output period while reducing the undesired tones. Modulators with different word lengths are proposed in this paper. The length of the input word is divided into several parts, and each part is entered into a modulator to reduce hardware consumption. Consequently, the power consumption is decreased. Moreover, in this structure, the dither signal is used to change the alternating state of the output and reduce the spurious tones. Also, a four-stage modulator is proposed, each part of which has special characteristics. In this paper, a hybrid digital sigma-delta modulator is proposed that has lower power consumption than previous methods and reduces the number of transistors. In addition, there are fewer spurious tones in the output power spectrum of this modulator. The simulation results with 0.18 µm CMOS technology by HSPICE application show that 2530 transistors are used, which is a 15% decrease compared to the conventional method.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1] Asadi, F.A., Sharifkhani, M. (2015). “High throughput, High SNR digital delta sigma modulator for fractional-N frequency synthesizer”, Electrical Engineering (ICEE), 2015 23rd Iranian Conference on, Tehran, pp. 1271-1275.
[2] Borkowski, M., Kostamovaara, J. (2007). Variable modulus delta–sigma modulation in fractional-N frequency synthesis, Electronics Letters, vol. 43, no. 25, pp. 1399-1400.
[3] Borkowski, M., (2008). Digital Modulation: Variable Modulus and Tonal Behavior in a Fixed-Point Digital Environment. Oulu: Oulu University Press.
[4] Fitzgibbon, B., O’Neil, K., Grannell, A., Horgan, C., Ye, Z., Hosseini, K., Kennedy, M., (2009). “A Spur-Free MASH Digital Delta-Sigma Modulator with Higher Order Shaped Dither”, 978-1-4244-3896-9/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE.
[5] Fitzgibbon, B., Kennedy, M.P., Maloberti, F., (2011). ” Hardware Reduction in Digital Delta-Sigma Modulators via Bus-Splitting and Error Masking—Part I: Constant Input”, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—I: REGULAR PAPERS, VOL. 58, NO. 9, pp: 2137-2148.
[6] Fitzgibbon, B., and Kennedy, M.P. (2011). “Calculation of cycle lengths in higher-order error feedbackmodulators with constant inputs,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, vol. 58, pp. 6–10.
[7] Fitzgibbon, B., Kennedy, M.P., Maloberti, F. (2012). ” Hardware Reduction in Digital Delta-Sigma Modulators via Bus-Splitting and Error Masking—Part II: Non-Constant Input”, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—I: REGULAR PAPERS, VOL. 59, NO. 9, pp 1980-1991.
[8] Gonzalez-Diaz, V.R., Garcia-Andrade, M.A., Flores-Verdad, G.E. y Maloberti, F. (2010). “Efficient Dithering in MASH Sigma-Delta Modulators for Fractional Frequency Synthesizers”, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I, Reg. Papers, vol. 57, no. 9, pp. 2394–2403.
[9] Gonzalez-Diaz, V.R., Perez, A., Maloberti, F. (2012).” Fractional Frequency Synthesizers with Low Order Time-Variant Digital Sigma-Delta Modulator”, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—I: REGULAR PAPERS, VOL. 59, NO. 5.
[10] Mazzaro, V.; Kennedy, M.P.; Mitigation of “Horn Spurs” in a MASH-Based Fractional-N CP-PLL; IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, 67 (5), 821-825, (2020).
[11] Jahanpanah, L.; Sadatnoori, S.A.; Chaharmahali, I., Design a PLL for Fractional Frequency Synthesizers using DDSM with reduced hardware,  International Journal of Industrial Electronics, Control and Optimization (IECO), 5 (2), 177-187, (2022).
[12] Sadatnoori, S.A., A Fourth Order MASH DDSM for accurate fractional frequency synthesizers, Journal of Applied Research in Electrical Engineering, 1 (2), 211-220, (2022).
[13] Hematipour, G.; Sadatnoori, S.A., Design of DDSM Modulator without Unwanted Tones with Effective Random Dither, Majlesi Journal of Telecommunication Devices, 13 (2), 59-62, (2024).
[15] Mohammadi, I., Sobhi, J.,  Moallemi Khiavi, A., Daie Koozehkanani, Z., “A low power MASH digital delta-sigma modulator with accurate output average value”, Microelectronics Journal, Volume 121, March 2022, 105381
[16] S. Pourakbari; H. Jahanirad, “Fractional-N PLL for RF Applications with Adaptive Intelligent Controller and AVLS Divider, ” Journal of Modeling & Simulation in Electrical & Electronics Engineering Vol 5 (1). 11-26, 2025.
[17] Sadatnoori, S.A. Farshidi, E. Sadughi, S. A novel structure of dithered nested digital delta sigma modulator with low-complexity low-spur for fractional frequency synthesizers, COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic, 35(1), 157-171, (2016)
[18] Khani, S.,   Danaie, M.,  Rezaei, P., ”Fano Resonance Using Surface Plasmon Polaritons in a Nano‑disk Resonator Coupled to Perpendicular Waveguides for Amplitude Modulation Applications”, Plasmonics (2021) 16:1891–1908.
[19] Sinatkas, G., Christopoulos, T., Tsilipakos, O., E. Kriezis, E., ”Electro-optic modulation in integrated photonics”, Journal of APPLIED PHISICS, 130, 010901 (2021).