Dual Modulus Prescaler




A Dual-Modulus Prescaler (DMP) is an important circuit block used in frequency synthesizers to divide the high-frequency signal from the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to a low-frequency signal by a predetermined divide ratio, either (N+1) or N, which is controlled by a swallow counter.
This low-frequency signal is then further divided by the main counter to the desired channel-spacing frequency which is then fed to the phase detector to form the closed feedback loop in frequency synthesizers.