An overview of frequency synthesizers for radars

The authors present an overview of frequency synthesizer techniques suitable for radar systems. Various synthesizer architectures and key synthesizer components are considered along with a discussion of advantages and disadvantages. Some architectures are hardware intensive and, because of their physical size, are more suitable for stationary or shipboard radars. Architectures requiring smaller volume are more suitable for airborne applications. Direct, phase-locked, and frequency-locked architectures are covered, including key building blocks and performance limitations. The direct digital synthesizer (DDS) architecture is considered briefly, as it is not yet widely used in radar systems. Finally, projections are made of advances in components that have a direct effect on frequency synthesis