Phase measurement algorithm without phase jump

A phase comparator provides two outputs proportional to the cosine and sine of the input phase difference. A new algorithm is devised which calculates the phase from the comparator outputs without a phase jump and without the limit of 2π. Instead of calculating the absolute phase at a given time, it calculates the relative phase differences between two subsequent measurements and accumulates them to get the absolute phase. The phase jump can be avoided if the sampling time is selected fast enough that the phase variation does not exceed 2π during the sampling period