Abstract
The purpose of this work is to study the processing and transmission of clock
signals in networks of geographically distributed nodes, in order to derive conditions for
frequency and phase synchronization between the nodes. The focus is
on the master-slave architecture, which presents a priority scheme of clock
distribution. One-way master-slave (OWMS ) and two-way master-slave
(TWMS) chains are studied, considering that the slave nodes are third-order
phase-locked loops (PLLs). Third-order PLLs are chosen to improve the transient
response but, if their parameters are not well adjusted, stability problems and chaotic
behaviors appear, restricting the lock-in range of the network.
Lock-in range for third-order PLLs with Sallen-Key filter is determined and it is
verified whether this range is reduced when the PLLs are connected to a network.
Numerical experiments show how chain size changes the lock-in ranges and the
acquisition times.