voltage-controlled oscillator
Sign in to saveAlso known as VCO
electronic oscillator controlled by a voltage input
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A microwave (12–18 GHz) voltage-controlled oscillator
A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is an electronic oscillator whose oscillation frequency is controlled by a voltage input. The applied input voltage determines the instantaneous oscillation frequency. Consequently, a VCO can be used for frequency modulation (FM) or phase modulation (PM) by applying a modulating signal to the control input. A VCO is also an integral part of a phase-locked loop. VCOs are used in synthesizers to generate a waveform whose pitch can be adjusted by a voltage determined by a musical keyboard or other input.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “voltage-controlled oscillator” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.