Alternate Ways in the Analysis of a Feedback Oscillator and Its Application

It is a well-known fact that negative feedback has a favorable influence on the phase stability of an amplifier. However, if the negative feedback is applied between the input and output terminals of an amplifier, which is the active part of an oscillating loop, it turns out that the negative feedback may be interpreted either in terms of phase stability of the amplifying section or in terms of phase discriminating properties of the passive frequency determining section of the loop. The consequences of this alternate point of view for the design of oscillator networks are discussed.