Modulating Direct Digital Synthesizer:DDS Overview In the pursuit of more complex phase continuous modulation techniques, the control of the output waveform becomes increasing more difficult with analog circuitry. In these designs, using a non-linear digital design eliminates the need for circuit board adjustments over yield and temperature. A digital design that meets these goals is a Direct Digital Synthesizer DDS. A DDS system simply takes a constant reference clock input and divides it down a to a specified output frequency digitally quantized or sampled at the reference clock frequency. This form of frequency control makes DDS systems ideal for systems that require precise frequency sweeps such as radar chirps or fast frequency hoppers. With control of the frequency output derived from the digital input word, DDS systems can be used as a PLL allowing precise frequency changes phase continuously. As will be shown, DDS systems can also be designed to control the phase of the output carrier using a digital phase word input. With digital control over the carrier phase, a high spectral density phase modulated carrier can easily be generated.