荷蘭物理學家克里斯蒂安·惠更斯早在1673年就發現弱耦合的擺鐘會有自發性同步的情形[1]。在19世紀時,瑞利男爵發現弱耦合的風琴管及音叉也有同步的情形[2]。1919年時,威廉·埃克爾斯(英語:William Eccles)和J. H. Vincent發現二個調諧到頻率略有差異的電子振盪器,若在諧振電路中耦合,會以相同的頻率共振[3]。電子振盪器的自動同步是由愛德華·阿普爾頓在1923年發現的[4]。
1925年時,布里斯托爾大學電機系的大衛·羅賓森(David Robertson)教授,在威爾斯紀念大樓Great George鐘敲鐘出聲的時鐘控制電路中,引入了鎖相的概念。羅賓森教授設計的鐘有一個機電裝置可以調整擺鐘的振動速率,所用的修正訊號是來自一個比較電路,在每天上午格林威治時間10點時,比較格林威治天文台的電報脈衝以及擺鐘的相位。其中除了現在電子鎖相迴路中會有的每一個組件之外,羅賓森的設計還有一個特點,其相位比較器是用繼電器邏輯的方式實現相位/頻率比較的機能,一直到1970年代之後才在電子電路中看到類似的設計。羅賓森的研究比後來1932年提出,後來命名為「鎖相迴路」(phase-lock loop)的研究要早。1932年的研究是英國科學家設法想找到可以代替埃德溫·霍華德·阿姆斯特朗的超外差收音機、同差檢測(英語:Homodyne detection)或直接變換接收機(英語:direct-conversion receiver)的方案。在同差系統中,會將本機振盪器(英語:local oscillator)調到想要的頻率,再乘上輸入的信號。所得的輸出信號會包括原始的調變資訊。原意是想發展一種調諧電路比超外差收音機要少的電路。因為本機振盪器的頻率會快速的飄移,會有自動修正信號加到振盪器上,使其頻率和相位和輸入信號相同。此技術是在1932年時,在Henri de Bellescize發表在法文期刊L'Onde Électrique的論文中所提及[5][6][7]。
在數位無線通訊系統(例如GSM、CDMA等)中,在傳輸時會用PLL針對本地振盪器進行上轉換(up-conversion),在接收時也會對本地振盪器進行數位下轉換(英語:Digital down converter)。大部份的行動電話中,此一機能已整合到單一的積體電路中,以減小行動電話的成本及體積。在基地站,因為訊號需要的高性能,需要用分立元件來達到所需的性能。GSM本地振盪器模組一般會用頻率合成器(英語:frequency synthesizer)積體電路及分立的共振腔壓控振盪器[來源請求]。
% This example is written in MATLAB% Initialize variablesvcofreq=zeros(1,numiterations);ervec=zeros(1,numiterations);% Keep track of last states of reference, signal, and error signalqsig=0;qref=0;lref=0;lsig=0;lersig=0;phs=0;freq=0;% Loop filter constants (proportional and derivative)% Currently powers of two to facilitate multiplication by shiftsprop=1/128;deriv=64;forit=1:numiterations% Simulate a local oscillator using a 16-bit counterphs=mod(phs+floor(freq/2^16),2^16);ref=phs<32768;% Get the next digital value (0 or 1) of the signal to tracksig=tracksig(it);% Implement the phase-frequency detectorrst=~(qsig&qref);% Reset the "flip-flop" of the phase-frequency% detector when both signal and reference are highqsig=(qsig|(sig&~lsig))&rst;% Trigger signal flip-flop and leading edge of signalqref=(qref|(ref&~lref))&rst;% Trigger reference flip-flop on leading edge of referencelref=ref;lsig=sig;% Store these values for next iteration (for edge detection)ersig=qref-qsig;% Compute the error signal (whether frequency should increase or decrease)% Error signal is given by one or the other flip flop signal% Implement a pole-zero filter by proportional and derivative input to frequencyfiltered_ersig=ersig+(ersig-lersig)*deriv;% Keep error signal for proportional outputlersig=ersig;% Integrate VCO frequency using the error signalfreq=freq-2^16*filtered_ersig*prop;% Frequency is tracked as a fixed-point binary fraction% Store the current VCO frequencyvcofreq(1,it)=freq/2^16;% Store the error signal to show whether signal or reference is higher frequencyervec(1,it)=ersig;end
佛洛依德·加德納(英語:Floyd M. Gardner):鎖相迴路研究的專家,有提出電荷泵鎖相迴路猜想(Gardner's conjecture on charge-pump phase-locked loops),鎖定範圍問題(Gardner's problem on the lock-in range)也和他有關。
威廉·伊根(英語:William F. Egan),有提出對type II類比鎖相迴路鎖定範圍的猜想(Egan's conjecture on the pull-in range of type II APLL)
Christiaan Huygens, Horologium Oscillatorium … (Paris, France: F. Muguet, 1673), pages 18–19. From page 18: " … illudque accidit memoratu dignum, … brevi tempore reduceret." ( … and it is worth mentioning, since with two clocks constructed in this form and which we suspend in like manner, truly the cross beam is assigned two fulcrums [i.e., two pendulum clocks were suspended from the same wooden beam]; the motions of the pendulums thus share the opposite swings between the two [clocks], since the two clocks at no time move even a small distance, and the sound of both can be heard clearly together always: for if the innermost part [of one of the clocks] is disturbed with a little help, it will have been restored in a short time by the clocks themselves.) English translation provided by Ian Bruce's translation of Horologium Oscillatorium … (頁面存檔備份,存於網際網路檔案館), pages 16–17.
Lord Rayleigh, The Theory of Sound (London, England: Macmillan, 1896), vol. 2. The synchronization of organ pipes in opposed phase is mentioned in §322c, pages 221–222.
Lord Rayleigh (1907) "Acoustical notes — VII," Philosophical Magazine, 6th series, 13 : 316–333. See "Tuning-forks with slight mutual influence," pages 322–323. (頁面存檔備份,存於網際網路檔案館)
Vincent (1919) "On some experiments in which two neighbouring maintained oscillatory circuits affect a resonating circuit," Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, 32, pt. 2, 84–91.
W. H. Eccles and J. H. Vincent, British Patent Specifications, 163 : 462 (17 Feb. 1920).
E. V. Appleton (1923) "The automatic synchronization of triode oscillators," Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 21 (Part III): 231–248. Available on-line at: Internet Archive.
Henri de Bellescize, "La réception synchrone," L'Onde Électrique (later: Revue de l'Electricité et de l'Electronique), vol. 11, pages 230–240 (June 1932).
See also: French patent no. 635,451 (filed: 6 October 1931; issued: 29 September 1932); and U.S. patent "Synchronizing system," (頁面存檔備份,存於網際網路檔案館) no. 1,990,428 (filed: 29 September 1932; issued: 5 February 1935).
A. B. Grebene, H. R. Camenzind, "Phase Locking As A New Approach For Tuned Integrated Circuits", ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 100–101, Feb. 1969.
Leonov, G. A.; Kuznetsov, N. V.; Yuldashev, M. V.; Yuldashev, R. V. Hold-in, pull-in, and lock-in ranges of PLL circuits: rigorous mathematical definitions and limitations of classical theory.. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers (IEEE). 2015, 62 (10): 2454–2464. S2CID 12292968. arXiv:1505.04262. doi:10.1109/TCSI.2015.2476295.
Basab Bijoy Purkayastha; Kandarpa Kumar Sarma. A Digital Phase Locked Loop based Signal and Symbol Recovery System for Wireless Channel. India: Springer (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Part of Springer Scinece+Business Media). 2015: 5. ISBN 978-81-322-2040-4.
Basab Bijoy Purkayastha; Kandarpa Kumar Sarma. A Digital Phase Locked Loop based Signal and Symbol Recovery System for Wireless Channel. India: Springer (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Part of Springer Scinece+Business Media). 2015: 94. ISBN 978-81-322-2040-4.
Liu, Mingliang, Build a 1.5-V 2.4-GHz CMOS PLL, Wireless Net Design Line, February 21, 2006, (原始內容存檔於July 1, 2010). An article on designing a standard PLL IC for Bluetooth applications.
Wolaver, Dan H., Phase-Locked Loop Circuit Design, Prentice Hall, 1991, ISBN 0-13-662743-9