Analog Devices has introduced a PLL (phase-locked loop) frequency synthesiser that can be used to implement local oscillators as high as 18 GHz in the up- and down-conversion sections of wireless receivers and transmitters. The ADF41020 consists of a low-noise, digital phase-frequency detector, a precision charge pump, a programmable reference divider and high-frequency programmable feedback dividers. A complete synthesiser can be implemented if the PLL is used with an external loop filter and VCO. The PLL can be used to drive external microwave VCOs via an active loop filter. The pin-out matches very closely that of the ADF4106/7/8 family of integer-N PLLs, meaning only a minor layout change is required when updating a design to take advantage of the much wider bandwidth.