KR20070093689A - Auto gain control method - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic gain control method is provided to enhance a user convenience by detaching or attaching RFICs(Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits) regarding various communication modules from or to a single system board to check it, or using radio communication by having the RFICs as RF modules. Information of an RFIC is received(S301). It is checked whether the RFIC information is identical to one RFIC information on an RFIC list stored in a memory(S302). When the RFIC information is identical one RFIC information on the RFIC list, the RFIC is set with the RFIC information stored in the memory(S303). Radio communication is performed by using the RFIC(S304).

Description

Automatic gain control method {Auto gain control method}

1 is a block diagram showing the components of a conventional communication module.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of setting and using AGC values of RFICs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: DMB system 110: RF module

111: diode 112: first order tracking filter

113: LNA 114: Secondary Tracking Filter

120: RFIC 121: RF AGC Amplifier

122: mixer 123: first IF amplifier

124: second IF amplifier 125: IF AGC amplifier

126: third IF amplifier 127: VCO

128: PLL 130: saw filter

140: control unit

The present invention relates to an automatic gain control method capable of selectively setting values of automatic gain control for various RFICs.

Recently, a transmission / reception system for using services such as DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite), etc. has been developed. Such a transmission / reception system not only reproduces multimedia data but also has a large capacity memory and a hard disc drive (HDD). And storage means such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) device.

Transceiver systems, such as high-definition digital television (HDTV) or digital set-top boxes, all have internal communication modules. The communication module is connected to the antenna or cable receiving terminal and allows the user to see the particular channel they want to see.

As the digital broadcasting era gets full swing, high-definition and high-definition of broadcasts are recognized as an important aspect. Therefore, much research is being conducted in terms of reception performance. In other words, numerous field tests are being conducted to verify the performance of the receiver chip and related RF components or the developed products, and it is important for digital broadcasting systems to maintain more stable reception performance in the field under various conditions.

In particular, when the transmission / reception system is installed in a mobile means such as a vehicle, the communication module has a function of selecting a signal that can be received in a moving area and displaying the predetermined number of channels. All signals are sorted and automatic tuning is performed, which requires a lot of throughput and time.

1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a communication module 10 according to the prior art.

First, the high band filter 11 connected to the antenna 20 filters the corresponding high frequency band signal, and the first band pass filter 12 filters only the narrow frequency band signal among the filtered high frequency signals.

The RF amplifier 13 amplifies the received signal into a signal of a size that can be processed in the RF stage, and the second bandpass filter 14 suppresses an unnecessarily amplified signal among the signals amplified by the RF amplifier. Extract only the signal.

In addition, the phase synchronization circuit 19 and the mixer 16 detects the synchronization signal of the signal passed through the second band pass filter 14, selects a signal corresponding to the channel set by the user, and the saw The filter 17 filters the high frequency radio signal into a signal of an intermediate frequency band that can be processed by the demodulator.

The demodulator 180 demodulates a satellite signal by VSB. At this time, the strength of the signal is detected by generating a gain control signal (RF AGC) by detecting the strength of the signal and transmitting the gain control signal to the RF amplifier 13. To adjust it.

The channel setting unit 30 stores channel information set by the user, and transmits a control signal according to the channel information to the phase synchronization circuit 19 to process automatic channel selection.

Such a conventional communication module 10 may be an example of an RF module, and the performance of the RF module depends on the RFIC 40. Therefore, since the RFIC 40 is a factor that determines the performance of the RF module, when each performance selectively mounts various RFICs or inspects the RF module, the system board is required as much as the type of the RFIC. The problem arises of making the right system board.

The present invention provides a method for mounting or inspecting various communication modules on one system board such as a mobile communication terminal or using them as a suitable communication module.

The automatic gain control method according to the present invention includes an RFIC detachment step of detaching one RFIC from various RFICs to an RFIC detachment unit in a system board including an RFIC detachment unit; RFIC information receiving step for receiving the information on any one RFIC; An RFIC information determination step of determining whether the RFIC information matches any one of the RFIC information stored in the memory; An RFIC setting step of setting the RFIC with the RFIC information stored in the memory if the RFIC information matches any one of the RFIC information stored in the memory; And performing a wireless communication by using the RFIC.

In the automatic gain control method according to the present invention, the RFIC information includes AGC information on the RF AGC amplifier and AGC information on the IF AGC amplifier.

In the automatic gain control method according to the present invention, the RFIC information receiving step includes a plurality of terminals provided by the RFIC information connected to the RFIC detachment unit and a pull up provided in each of the plurality of terminals. A step is received using a resistor or a pull down resistor.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) system.

Here, in addition to the DMB system, the European Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) system may be used as a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The DVB-H system is a technology standard established to improve terrestrial digital television reception rates in Europe, enabling mobile multimedia broadcasting to provide high-quality voice and video services anytime, anywhere while driving or walking. It is superior to DMB and has the advantage of utilizing the UHF band.

As shown in FIG. 2, the DMB system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an RF module 110 and a controller 140 having a detachable RFIC 120.

The RF module 110 includes a diode 111 for preventing a signal received through an antenna from being reflected back, a primary tracking filter 112 for inputting a received signal and selectively outputting only a frequency signal tuned according to each channel; Secondary tracking filter 114, LNA (low noise amplifier: 113) for suppressing incidental noise while amplifying satellite broadcast signals transmitted to the ground in a stationary track of 35,800 km to achieve clear picture reception, and It may be configured to include a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) (120) provided in the RFIC detachable portion.

In addition, the RFIC 120 may be, for example, an RF AGC amplifier 121, a mixer 122, a first IF amplifier 123, a second IF amplifier 124, an IF AGC amplifier 125, and a third IF amplifier ( 126), a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 127, and a phase locked loop 128 (PLL).

The RF AGC amplifier 121 performs a function of amplifying a signal transmitted from the secondary tracking filter 114 into a signal having a predetermined size according to a control signal transmitted from the controller 140.

The mixer 122 generates an intermediate frequency signal by mixing the oscillation frequency output from the VCO 127 and the RF signal transmitted from the RF AGC amplifier 121 and converts the generated intermediate frequency signal into the first IF amplifier 123. To pass).

The first IF amplifier 123, the second IF amplifier 124, and the third IF amplifier 126 each function to amplify and transfer the intermediate frequency transmitted from the mixer 122 to the controller 140.

The IF AGC amplifier 125 performs a function of amplifying the signal transmitted from the second IF amplifier 124 into a signal having a predetermined size according to the control signal transmitted from the controller 140.

The PLL 128 has a crystal oscillator (X-TAL) which has a high frequency and is stable against changes in temperature and the like according to the mechanical properties and the size of the crystal, and has a very high Q value. The mixer 122 converts the synchronization signal into a corresponding frequency signal, and the mixer 122 detects a synchronization signal among the high frequency radio signals based on this.

The saw filter 130 filters the high frequency radio signal output from the first IF amplifier 123 into a signal of an intermediate frequency band that may be processed by a demodulator (not shown) included in the controller 140.

The control unit 140 includes a demodulator, and the demodulator generates transport stream (TS) data by demodulating a synchronized side band (VSB). Here, in the VSB demodulation using the demodulator, the signal strength is sensed to generate a gain control signal, and as the gain control signal, an RF gain control signal (Radio Frequency AGC; Auto Gain Control) and an IF gain control signal ( Two signals can be generated: Intermediate Frequency AGC.

In addition, the demodulator provided in the control unit 140 transmits the generated RF gain control signal and the IF gain control signal to the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF AGC amplifier 125, respectively, to the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF AGC amplifier. The signal strength of 125 can be adjusted. Here, the RFIC 120 transmits the generated RF gain control signal and the IF gain control signal to the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF AGC amplifier 125, respectively, to the RF module 110, for example, in an I2C scheme. It may be provided using a connection structure.

Hereinafter, a process of setting and using AGC values of RFICs according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of setting and using an AGC value of an RFIC according to an embodiment of the present invention.

If one system board (not shown) including an RFIC detachment unit (not shown) is used to detach and attach various RFICs to the RFIC detachment unit to use wireless communication of a required specification, for example, illustrated in FIG. 2. When the DMB RFIC 120 is mounted on the RF module 110, the controller 140 receives an information signal of the DMB RFIC 120 (S301).

Specifically, in order to receive the information signal of the DMB RFIC 120, for example, a plurality of terminals (not shown) provided in the RF module 110 equipped with the RFIC 120 and the pull-up provided in each of the plurality of terminals When a predetermined recognition signal, for example, a signal represented by "1010" or "0111" is generated and transmitted to the controller 140 by using a resistor or a pull-down resistor, the controller 140 generates a predetermined signal such as "1010". The RFIC corresponding to the recognition signal can be recognized.

After receiving the information signal of the DMB RFIC 120, the controller 140 presets the information of the RFIC 120 included in the information signal of the RFIC 120 in a memory (not shown) provided on the system board. It is determined whether or not to match the information of the stored RFIC (S302). Here, the information of the RFIC preset and stored in the memory includes the RF gain control information for the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF gain control information for the IF AGC amplifier 125.

If it is determined whether the information matches the information of the RFIC stored in the memory, and if the information of the RFIC 120 included in the information signal of the RFIC 120 matches the information of the RFIC stored in the memory, the control unit 140 is the RFIC 120 AGC is set according to the AGC information, that is, the RF gain control information for the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF gain control information for the IF AGC amplifier 125 (S303).

Subsequently, the controller 140 operates the RF AGC amplifier 121 and the IF AGC amplifier 125 of the RFIC 120 according to the set AGC, thereby performing predetermined wireless communication using the RFIC 120 (S304). ).

Therefore, it is possible to use a wireless communication by detaching or inspecting RFICs related to various communication modules in one system board or by providing them as an RF module. Can solve the difficulty of making.

Although the technical spirit of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above-described preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention can facilitate the user's convenience by removing and inspecting RFICs related to various communication modules on one system board or by using wireless communication as an RF module.

Claims (5)

RFIC detachment step of detaching any one of a variety of RFIC RFIC in the RFIC detachment unit in a system board including an RFIC detachment unit; RFIC information receiving step for receiving the information on any one RFIC; An RFIC information determination step of determining whether the RFIC information matches any one of the RFIC information stored in the memory; An RFIC setting step of setting the RFIC with the RFIC information stored in the memory if the RFIC information matches any one of the RFIC information stored in the memory; And And a wireless communication performing step of performing a predetermined wireless communication using the RFIC. The method of claim 1, The RFIC information includes AGC information about the RF AGC amplifier and AGC information about the IF AGC amplifier. The method of claim 1, In the step of receiving the RFIC information The RFIC information is automatically received using a plurality of terminals connected to the RFIC detachment unit and a pull up resistor or pull down resistor provided at each of the terminals. Gain Control Method. The method of claim 1, The RFIC is an automatic gain control method, characterized in that connected to the RFIC detachment unit in an I2C manner. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The RFIC is an automatic gain control method characterized in that the RFIC for DMB or RFIC for Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H).

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