Numerically controlled oscillator: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Digital signal generator}}

A '''numerically-controlled oscillator''' ('''NCO''') is a digital [[signal generator]] which creates a [[Synchronous circuit|synchronous]] (i.e. clocked), discrete-time, discrete-valued representation of a [[waveform]], usually [[sinusoidal]].<ref name="IEEE">{{cite book |last=Radatz |first=J. |title=The IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms |publisher=IEEE Standards Office |___location=New York, NY |year=1997 |isbn=}}</ref> NCOs are often used in conjunction with a [[digital-to-analog converter]] (DAC) at the output to create a [[direct digital synthesizer]] (DDS).{{#tag:ref|While some authors use the terms DDS and NCO interchangeably,<ref name="latticeSC" /> by convention an NCO refers to the digital (i.e. the discrete-time, discrete amplitude) portion of a DDS<ref name="IEEE"/>}}

Numerically-controlled oscillators offer several advantages over other types of oscillators in terms of agility, accuracy, stability and reliability.<ref name="latticeSC">{{ cite web | title = Numerically Controlled Oscillator | url = http://www.latticesemi.com/Products/DesignSoftwareAndIP/IntellectualProperty/IPCore/IPCores02/NumericallyControlledOscillator.aspx | publisher = Lattice Semiconductor Corporation | year = 2009 }}</ref> NCOs are used in many communications systems including digital up/down converters used in 3G wireless and software radio systems, digital PLLs, radar systems, drivers for optical or acoustic transmissions, and multilevel [[Frequency-shift keying|FSK]]/[[Phase-shift keying|PSK]] modulators/demodulators.<ref name="latticeSC"/>