Cycle-domain simulator for phase-locked loops

As computers become faster and more complex, clock synthesis becomes critical. Due to the relatively slower bus clocks compared to the processor, it is necessary to use phase-locked loops (PLL) for multiplication and phase aligning of the clocks. A PLL is composed of both digital and analog components and is not modeled well in a design environment for digital systems. There are design tools available that are more adept for doing PLL simulations; however, they can be very costly and are still not suitable for the way PLL's are used in computer systems. The goal of this paper is to introduce a new simulator that is specifically designed for simulating PLL's used in computer systems.