In view of the lack of systemic analysis for stepless transmission using noncircular gears, two basic noncircular gear units, an addition unit adopting differential mechanism and a multiplication unit applying a fixed gear train, are proposed. Then, the design methods of the noncircular gear pair of each unit, transmission ratio relationship, rotation angle relationship and key parameters with specific physical meanings are studied. The adjusting properties, composing strategy and varying range of transmission ratio etc. are investigated in detail for each unit. Following this, several examples of using a noncircular gear pair in the units and their manipulation technique are introduced.