A
frequency synthesizer is an
electronic system for generating any of a range of
frequencies from a single fixed
timebase or
oscillator. They are found in many modern devices, including
radio receivers,
mobile telephones,
radiotelephones,
walkie-talkies,
CB radios, satellite receivers,
GPS systems, etc. A frequency synthesizer can combine
frequency multiplication,
frequency division, and
frequency mixing (the frequency mixing process generates sum and difference frequencies) operations to produce the desired output signal.