Multi-loop synthesizers
Many high performance synthesizers use several loops that incorporate both mixers and digital dividers. By using these techniques it is possible to produce high performance wide range signal sources with very small step sizes. If only a single loop is used then there may be short falls in the level of performance.
There is a large variety of ways in which multi-loop synthesizers can be made, dependent upon the requirements of the individual system. However as an illustration a two loop system used as an example. This uses one loop to give the smaller steps and the second provides larger steps. This principle can be expanded to give wider ranges and smaller steps.