New approaches to computer-aided determination of oscillator frequency sensitivities

Conventional approximation methods for determining oscillator frequency sensitivity with respect to a particular element value often yield unsatisfactory, or even misleading results. Only for very few specific circuits have exact analytic expressions been developed. In this paper, an exact symbolic technique which is applicable to a large class of linear oscillators is developed. Also, a direct numerical approach, applicable to both linear and nonlinear circuits is developed. Both techniques have been implemented as FORTRAN programs, and examples of their application are discussed.