EP1938462A2 - Recepteur de conversion directe a melangeur sous-harmonique - Google Patents
Recepteur de conversion directe a melangeur sous-harmoniqueInfo
- Publication number
- EP1938462A2 EP1938462A2 EP06804156A EP06804156A EP1938462A2 EP 1938462 A2 EP1938462 A2 EP 1938462A2 EP 06804156 A EP06804156 A EP 06804156A EP 06804156 A EP06804156 A EP 06804156A EP 1938462 A2 EP1938462 A2 EP 1938462A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- phase
- signal
- signals
- subharmonic mixer
- receiver
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
- H04B1/06—Receivers
- H04B1/16—Circuits
- H04B1/30—Circuits for homodyne or synchrodyne receivers
Definitions
- Radio frequency (RF) transmitters are found in many one-way and two-way communication devices, such as portable communication devices, (cellular telephones), personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other communication devices.
- An RF transmitter must transmit using whatever communication methodology is dictated by the particular communication system within which it is operating.
- communication methodologies typically include amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, phase modulation, or a combination of these.
- GSM global system for mobile communications
- GMSK Gaussian minimum shift keying
- PM phase-modulated
- a non-linear power amplifier which is highly efficient, can be used, thus allowing efficient transmission of the phase-modulated signal and minimizing power consumption. Because the modulated signal is supplied directly from an oscillator, the need for filtering, either before or after the power amplifier, is minimized.
- Other transmission standards such as that employed in IS- 136, however, use a modulation scheme in which the transmitted signal is both phase modulated (PM) and amplitude modulated (AM). Standards such as these increase the data rate without increasing the bandwidth of the transmitted signal.
- PM phase modulated
- AM amplitude modulated
- the EDGE communication system attempts to increase the data transmission capability of a GSM communication system by including an amplitude modulation (AM) component in the transmit signal.
- AM amplitude modulation
- the power control loop will attenuate the amplitude variations present in the signal in an attempt to maintain a constant output power. In such an arrangement, the power control loop tends to cancel the AM portion of the signal.
- the transceiver components for such a communication system were typically implemented using multiple devices, also referred to as "chips.”
- chips multiple devices
- industry pressures to reduce cost, implementation complexity and power consumption and to extend battery life are driving the industry to attempt single chip architectures.
- a single chip implementation for a GSM/EDGE transceiver presents many design challenges, especially in a system in which a closed power control loop is used to control output power of the transmitter.
- RF radio frequency
- a low IF receiver converts a radio frequency (RF) signal to an intermediate frequency that is lower than the IF of a convention receiver.
- a direct conversion receiver downconverts a received radio frequency (RF) signal directly to baseband (DC) without first converting the received RF signal to an intermediate frequency (IF).
- IF intermediate frequency
- One of the benefits of a direct conversion receiver is the elimination of costly filter components used in systems that employ an intermediate frequency conversion.
- a low IF or a direct conversion receiver allows the filter components to be implemented using electronic circuitry that can be located on the same device (i.e., "on- chip") as many of the receiver components.
- high-order (e.g., fifth-order or higher) active filters are used to convert the received signal from RF to DC.
- the filters are implemented using electronic circuitry on the same chip as the receiver components, the filter adds significant noise to the received signal. The added noise reduces the sensitivity of the receiver, thereby making such an active filter challenging to implement.
- one or more mixers are used to downconvert the received RF signal.
- a mixer combines the received RF signal with a reference signals, referred to as a "local oscillator,” or “LO" signal.
- the resultant signal is the received signal at a different, and typically lower, frequency.
- One mixer technology used today is referred to as a “subharmonic” mixer.
- a subharmonic mixer uses an LO signal that has a lower frequency, and is typically on the order of one-half of the system LO signal.
- a subharmonic mixer generally produces lower “self-mixing" components and generally reduces or eliminates feedback to the system antenna.
- blocking signals are amplified at the output of the low noise amplifier (LNA) and couple into the mixer core where they are downconverted and corrupt the desired signal at baseband.
- LNA low noise amplifier
- IP2 second order intercept point
- Embodiments of the invention include a differential radio frequency (RF) receiver comprising a fully differential direct conversion receive chain, a subharmonic mixer in the receive chain, the subharmonic mixer configured to receive a differential radio frequency (RF) input signal and a local oscillator (LO) signal that is phase-shifted by a nominal 45 degrees, and a synthesizer having a voltage controlled oscillator and having at least one frequency divider to generate desired receive LO signals.
- RF radio frequency
- LO local oscillator
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a simplified portable transceiver.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the receiver of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the synthesizer of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the receiver of FIG. 1 in greater detail.
- FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a receiver having a simplified LNA and mixer circuit for one LNA and for processing the in-phase (I) signal component.
- the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer can be implemented in any system where it is desirable to have a direct conversion receiver.
- the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. When implemented in hardware, the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer can be implemented using specialized hardware elements and logic. When the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer is implemented partially in software, the software portion can be used to precisely control the various components in the receiver.
- the software can be stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system (microprocessor).
- the hardware implementation of the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer can include any or a combination of the following technologies, which are all well known in the art: discrete electronic components, a discrete logic circuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals, an application specific integrated circuit having appropriate logic gates, a programmable gate array(s) (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.
- the software for the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, and can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions.
- a "computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
- the computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium.
- the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a simplified portable transceiver 100.
- the portable transceiver 100 includes speaker 102, display 104, keyboard 106, and microphone 108, all connected to baseband subsystem 110.
- the portable transceiver 100 can be, for example but not limited to, a portable telecommunication handset such as a mobile cellular-type telephone.
- the speaker 102 and the display 104 receive signals from the baseband subsystem 110 via connections 112 and 114, respectively, as known to those skilled in the art.
- the keyboard 106 and the microphone 108 supply signals to the baseband subsystem 110 via connections 116 and 118, respectively.
- the baseband subsystem 110 includes microprocessor ( ⁇ P) 120, memory 122, analog circuitry 124, and digital signal processor (DSP) 126 in communication via bus 128.
- the microprocessor 120 and the memory 122 provide the signal timing, processing and storage functions for the portable transceiver 100. If portions of the direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer are implemented in software, then the memory 122 also includes transceiver software 155 that can be executed by the microprocessor 120, the DSP 126 or by another processor.
- the analog circuitry 124 provides the analog processing functions for the signals within the baseband subsystem 110.
- the baseband subsystem 110 communicates with the radio frequency (RP)/mixed signal device (MSD) subsystem 130 via the bus 128.
- RP radio frequency
- MSD mixed signal device
- the RF/MSD subsystem 130 includes both analog and digital components.
- the RF/MSD subsystem 130 includes a receiver 200, a synthesizer 300 and a transmitter 400.
- the RF/MSD subsystem 130 includes an analog-to- digital converter 134
- the transmitter 400 includes one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACS) 142 and 144.
- the baseband subsystem 110 provides an automatic power control signal (supplied as an analog voltage signal and referred to as VAP C ) to the RF/MSD subsystem 130.
- VAP C automatic power control signal
- control signals may originate from the DSP 126 from the microprocessor 120, or from another element, and are supplied to a variety of points within the RF/MSD subsystem 130 by the DAC 142. It should be noted that, for simplicity, only the basic components of portable transceiver 100 are illustrated.
- the ADC 134, the DAC 142 and the DAC 144 also communicate with microprocessor 120, memory 122, analog circuitry 124 and DSP 126 via bus 128.
- the DAC 144 converts the digital communication information within baseband subsystem 110 into an analog signal for transmission by the transmitter 400 via connection 140.
- Connection 140 while shown as two directed arrows, includes the information that is to be transmitted by RF/MSD subsystem 130 after conversion from the digital domain to the analog domain.
- the DAC 144 may operate on either baseband in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) components or phase and amplitude components of the information signal.
- the modulator 146 is an I/Q modulator as known in the art while in the case of phase and amplitude components, the modulator 146 operates as a phase modulator utilizing only the phase component and passes the amplitude component, unchanged, to the power control element 145.
- the DAC 142 supplies various other control signals to various components within the RF/MSD subsystem 130 via connection 132.
- the modulator 146 modulates either the I and Q information signals or the phase information signal received from the DAC 144 onto a frequency reference signal referred to as a "local oscillator” or "LO” signal provided by the synthesizer 300 via connection 156.
- the modulator 146 is part of the upconverter 154, but need not be.
- the modulator 146 also supplies an intermediate frequency (IF) signal containing only the desired amplitude modulated (AM) signal component on connection 138 for input to the power control element 145 via connection 138.
- IF intermediate frequency
- the AM signal supplied by the modulator via connection 138 is first supplied to a reference variable gain element associated with the RF subsystem 130.
- the AM signal supplied by the modulator 146 is an intermediate frequency (IF) AM signal with a constant (average) power level that is supplied as a reference signal to the reference variable gain element to be described below.
- the synthesizer 300 determines the appropriate frequency to which the upconverter 154 will translate the modulated signal.
- the synthesizer uses a single voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), operating at a center frequency of approximately 2.5 to 3.0 gigahertz (GHz) in this example, and only frequency dividers to provide the desired LO signals to the transmitter 400 and to the receiver 200.
- VCO voltage controlled oscillator
- the upconverter 154 supplies a phase modulated signal at the appropriate transmit frequency via connection 158 to the power amplifier 160.
- the power amplifier 160 amplifies the phase modulated signal on connection 158 to the appropriate power level for transmission via connection 162 to antenna 164.
- switch 166 controls whether the amplified signal on connection 162 is transferred to antenna 164 or whether a received signal from antenna 164 is supplied to filter 168. The operation of switch 166 is controlled by a control signal from baseband subsystem 110 via connection 132.
- a portion of the amplified transmit signal power on connection 162 can be supplied via connection 170 to power control element 145.
- the power control element 145 forms a continuous closed power control feedback loop and supplies an information signal on connection 172 instructing the power amplifier 160 as to the power to which the signal on connection 158 should be amplified.
- the power control element 145 also receives an LO signal from the synthesizer 300 via connection 198.
- a synthesizer 300 having a single VCO supplies all of the required LO signals to the receiver 200 and the transmitter 400.
- a signal received by antenna 164 may, at the appropriate time determined by baseband subsystem 110, be directed via switch 166 to a receive filter 168.
- the receive filter 168 filters the received signal and supplies the filtered signal on connection 174 to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 176.
- LNA low noise amplifier
- the receive filter 168 may be a bandpass filter that passes all channels of the particular cellular system where the portable transceiver 100 is operating. As an example, for a 900MHz GSM system, receive filter 168 would pass all frequencies from 925.1MHz to 959.9MHz, covering all 175 contiguous channels of 20OkHz each. The purpose of the receive filter 168 is to reject all frequencies outside the desired region.
- the LNA 176 amplifies the very weak signal on connection 174 to a level at which downconverter 178 can translate the signal from the transmitted frequency back to a baseband frequency.
- the functionality of the LNA 176 and the downconverter 178 can be accomplished using other elements, such as, for example but not limited to, a low noise block downconverter (LNB).
- the receiver 200 operates as a direct conversion receiver (DCR) in which the received RF signal is downconverted directly to a baseband signal.
- the LNA 176 is fully differential and operates without inductances and baluns and using no voltage gain such that large electric fields are eliminated at the input to the LNA 176.
- the downconverter 178 receives one or more LO signals from synthesizer 300 via connection 180.
- the LO signals are shifted in phase by approximately 45 degrees to provide frequency translation of the in-phase and the quadrature-phase received signals without the use of poly-phase filters or large inductances in the receive signal path.
- the synthesizer 300 determines the frequency to which to downconvert the signal received from the LNA 176 via connection 182. In the case of a DCR, the received signal is converted directly to baseband (DC), or near- baseband.
- the downconverter 178 sends the downconverted signal via connection 184 to a channel filter 186, also called the "IF filter.”
- the channel filter 186 selects the one desired channel and rejects all others.
- the synthesizer 300 by controlling the local oscillator frequency supplied on connection 180 to downconverter 178, determines the selected channel.
- the demodulator 194 recovers the transmitted analog information and supplies a signal representing this information via connection 196 to the ADC 134.
- the ADC 134 converts these analog signals to a digital signal at baseband frequency and transfers it via bus 128 to DSP 126 for further processing.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the receiver 200 of FIG. 1.
- the depiction of the receiver 200 in FIG. 2 is simplified to illustrate primarily the concepts of the GSM/EDGE transceiver architecture that pertain to the receiver 200.
- the receiver 200 includes an LNA section 176, a downconverter section illustrating using mixer 250 and both in-phase and quadrature-phase gain and filter elements 274 and 276.
- the LNA section 176 comprises LNAs 212, 214, 216 and 218, each designed to receive a signal in a particular transmission frequency band.
- the LNAs 212, 214, 216 and 218, and all the elements in the receiver to be described below, are fully differential, thereby eliminating the need for single ended to differential conversion circuitry.
- the LNAs 212 and 214 operate in the GSM (850MHz) / EGSM (900MHz) communication bands and the LNAs 216 and 218 operate in the PCS (1900MHz) / DCS (1800MHz) communication bands.
- the LNA 212 is designed to receive a differential 850 MHz receive signal via connection 202 and the LNA 214 is designed to receive a differential 900 MHz receive signal via connection 204.
- the LNA 216 is designed to receive a differential 1800 MHz receive signal via connection 206 and the LNA 218 is designed to receive a differential 1900 MHz receive signal via connection 208.
- the outputs of the LNAs 212, 214, 216, and 218 are supplied via connection 182 directly to the mixer 250.
- a subharmonic mixer 250 is used to down convert the RF signal directly to baseband.
- a subharmonic mixer reduces DC offset created by LO self-mixing.
- the in- phase and quadrature-phase signals are created by providing phase-shifted LO signals that are at a nominal 45 degrees phase shift from each other. This approach avoids the use of "poly-phase filters" in the RP path, therefore, avoiding the loss caused by polyphase filters in the RF path.
- phase shifted LO signals the generation of which will be described below, allows the receiver 200 to be free of the lossy "poly-phase" filter in the RF path.
- the phase of the received RF signal was phase shifted by one or more poly-phase filter networks to achieve the in-phase and quadrature-phase downconversion.
- the RF signal had to be amplified prior to being applied to a subharmonic mixer (requiring extra current and degrading the IP2 second order intercept point), hi the GSM/EDGE transceiver architecture described herein, the mixer 250 employs phase-shifted LO signals to perform the downconversion, thereby eliminating the need for the poly-phase filters.
- the use of the phase-shifted LO signals allows the output of the LNAs 212, 214, 216 and 216 to be combined and supplied to a single mixer 250.
- the signal path from the input of the LNA section 176 to the output of the mixer 250 is fully differential, thus reducing DC offset, receiver self-mixing, frequency variations between the in-phase and quadrature-phase channels, and minimizing degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio (s/n) and leakage of the transmit signal through the receive path.
- the mixer 250 comprises in-phase mixer element 252 and quadrature-phase mixer element 254.
- the in-phase mixer element 252 includes mixer cores 256 and 258.
- the quadrature-phase mixer element 254 comprises mixer cores 262 and 264.
- the received RF signal is coupled via connection 182 to the mixer cores 256, 258, 262 and 264.
- the mixer cores 256, 258, 262 and 264 receive phase-shifted LO signals from the synthesizer 300, which will be described in detail below.
- phase-shifted LO signals By employing phase-shifted LO signals, the RF input signal supplied to the mixer stays intact, thus eliminating the need for a phase shifting network (such as one or more poly-phase filters) in the RF path.
- the use of fully differential LNA section 176 and the single mixer 250 substantially improve the second intercept point (IP2) performance of the receiver 200 to the point where IP2 calibration is not necessary.
- the ability to use a single mixer 250 for both high bands (1800MHz / 1900MHz) and low bands (850MHz / 900MHZ) allows the die area consumed by the receiver 200 to be minimized and simplifies the layout of the integrated circuit on which the receiver 200 is formed. Further, simplifying the layout of the integrated circuit minimizes parasitic capacitances, makes the receiver design more symmetrical than if two or more mixers were used, and simplifies and minimizes gain receive calibration for different receive bands. Further, minimizing the voltage of the RF signal prior to the mixer 250 helps minimize RF self-mixing, which can occur if large RF voltage couples or radiates onto the LO ports of the mixer 250.
- a fully differential path from the input of the down-converter to its output i.e., from the input to the LNA section 176 to the output of the in-phase and quadrature-phase gain and filter elements 274 and 276) allows the minimization of another IP2 mechanism, which is related to asymmetric analog processing of the positive and negative half- waveform of the input signal.
- 0 degree and 180 degree LO signals are supplied to the mixer core 256
- 90 degree and 270 degree LO signals are supplied to the mixer core 258
- 45 degree and 225 degree LO signals are supplied to the mixer core 262
- 135 degree and 315 degree LO signals are supplied to the mixer core 264.
- the differential output of the in-phase mixer element 252 is supplied via connection 270 to the in-phase gain and filter element 274, and the differential output of the quadrature-phase mixer element 254 is supplied via connection 272 to the quadrature-phase gain and filter element 276.
- the baseband section of the receiver 200 illustrated as the baseband gain and filtering elements 274 and 276 provide gain, channel select filtering that enables the receiver 200 to meet the GSM standard, and DC offset compensation (DCOC).
- DCOC DC offset compensation
- the differential output of the in-phase gain and filter element 274 and the differential output of the quadrature-phase gain and filter element 276 is supplied via connection 196 to the ADC 134 (FIG. 1) for conversion to the digital domain and further processing the baseband subsystem 110.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the synthesizer 300 of FIG. 1.
- the synthesizer 300 includes a voltage controlled oscillator 302 (VCO) designed to operate approximately in the 2.5-3.0 gigahertz (GHz) frequency range, and in one embodiment, has a center frequency of approximately 2.8 GHz and a tuning range of approximately +/- 250 megahertz (MHz).
- VCO voltage controlled oscillator
- the output of the VCO 302 is supplied via connection 304 to a frequency divider 306.
- the frequency divider 306 divides the input frequency on connection 304 by one (1).
- the frequency divider 306 divides the input frequency on connection 304 by two (2).
- the output of the frequency divider 306 is sent via connection 314 to another frequency divider 320.
- the frequency divider 320 divides the frequency of the signal on connection 314 by three (3) and supplies outputs on connections 322, 324 and 326 to a phase combiner 330.
- the dividers 306 and 320 generally provide a wide range of operation while maintaining the phase accuracy of the input signals and provide a consistent harmonic content.
- phase locked loop 308 is a delta-sigma fractional N phase locked loop.
- the output of the phase locked loop 308 is supplied via connection 318 as feedback to the VCO 302.
- the phase combiner 330 In the receive mode, the phase combiner 330 generates the 1 A LO phase-shifted LO signals that are supplied to the sub-harmonic mixer 250 (FIG. 2).
- the phase combiner 330 occupies significantly less area on the die and consumes less power when compared to a poly-phase filter network, and supplies accurate 45 degree phase-shifted signals on connections 332.
- the phase combiner supplies 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270 and 315 degree LO signals for downconverting the RF signal in the sub-harmonic mixer 250 (FIG. 2).
- the phase combiner 330 receives an IF signal on connections 322, 324 and 326.
- the phase of the signal on connection 322 is 0 degrees
- the phase of the signal on connection 324 is 60 degrees
- the phase of the signal on connection 326 is 120 degrees.
- the phase combiner 330 receives 3 phases, 0, 60 and 120 degrees, of the divide by three output of the divider 320. From these 0, 60 and 120 degree phases, 0 and 90 degree (relative to each other) signals are generated. From the 0 and 90 degree signals, the 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270 and 315 degree signals are generated. This signal generation occurs in the phase combiner 330.
- the output of the divider 320 on connection 324 is also supplied to components in the transmitter 400, but which are illustrated in FIG. 3 for ease of description of the synthesizer 300. Portions of the transmitter 400 are shown for reference.
- the transmitter 400 comprises an VQ modulator divider 350 and an LO multiplier element 340.
- the LO multiplier element 340 provides the frequency reference LO signal to a mixer located in the transmitter 400, and which will be described below. In high band operation, the LO multiplier element 340 multiplies the signal on connection 324 by a factor of two (2) and supplies the multiplied signal via connection 342 (connection 198 in FIG. 1) to the transmitter 400.
- the LO multiplier element 340 multiplies the signal on connection 324 by a factor of one (1) and supplies the signal via connection 342 (connection 198 in FIG. 1) to the transmitter 400.
- the I/Q modulator divider 350 receives the output of the frequency divider 306 on connection 312 and operates on it to provide the proper LO signal to the modulator 146 (FIG. 1) via connections 352, 354 and 356.
- the I/Q modulator divider 350 can be implemented using a number of different divide factors, depending on the implementation of the modulator. In one embodiment, the I/Q modulator divider 350 is implemented to have a first stage programmable to divide by 4.25, 4.5, 4.75, or 5, and a second stage to divide by 6.
- the I/Q modulator divider 350 is implemented to have a first stage programmable to divide by 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, or 4, and a second stage to divide by 8. Having at least two divide options maximizes flexibility in the transmit frequency plan. In this manner, the same RF transmit frequency can be generated from the different combination of the UHF LO frequency and interim intermediate frequency. Such flexibility is desirable because in many cases some M x N products of different frequencies coexist in the chip and would generate unwanted spurious tone or tones. The unwanted spurious tones could cause the transceiver to fail either far-off or close-in spectrum/spurious emission requirements.
- the last frequency divider for IF generation for the I/Q modulator is a multiple of either 3 or 4 due to the particular architectures of the harmonic reject I/Q modulators that will likely be implemented as the modulator 146 (FIG. 1).
- the modulator 146 can be implemented with an additional ⁇ 30 degree phase shifted LO in addition to the normal 90 degrees.
- the I/Q modulator 146 can be implemented with three (3) differential 45 degree phase-shifted LO signals.
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the receiver 200 of FIG. 1 in greater detail.
- the receiver is generally referred to using reference numeral 400.
- the receiver 400 includes a GSM LNA 402 and a PCS LNA 422.
- the GSM LNA 402 and the GSM LNA 422 are illustrated in FIG. 4 as implemented using bipolar junction transistor technology.
- the GSM LNA 402 and the GSM LNA 422 can be implemented using other technology, such as for example, field effect transistor (FET) technology, or other technologies, hi this embodiment, the GSM LNA 402 comprises transistors 404, 406, 408 and 409.
- FET field effect transistor
- the base terminals of the transistors 408 and 409 are coupled to the GSM band radio frequency input signals GSMinp and GSMinm on connections 411 and 412, respectively.
- the designations "p" (plus) and “m” (minus) are arbitrary and denote differential signals.
- the GSMinp and GSMinm input signals are differential signals.
- inductor 409 are arranged in a two inductor (inductors 417 and 418) degeneration arrangement for the differential signal and have a common inductor 419 coupled to ground.
- the base terminals of the transistors 404 and 406 are coupled to a bias signal (Bias_CSCDl), which in this embodiment is a cascode bias signal.
- Bias_CSCDl a bias signal
- the collector terminal of the transistor 404 provides an output on connection 414 and the collector terminal of the transistor 406 provides an output on connection 416.
- the GSM LNA 422 comprises transistors 424, 426, 428 and 429.
- the base terminals of the transistors 428 and 429 are coupled to the PCS band radio frequency input signals PCSinp and PCSinm on connections 431 and 432, respectively.
- the PCSinp and PCSinm input signals are differential signals.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 428 and 429 are arranged in a two inductor (inductors 447 and 448) degeneration arrangement for the differential signal and have a common inductor 449 coupled to a ground.
- the base terminals of the transistors 424 and 426 are coupled to a bias signal (Bias_CSCD2), which in this embodiment is a cascode bias signal.
- Bias_CSCD2 a bias signal
- the collector terminal of the transistor 424 provides an output on connection 414 and the collector terminal of the transistor 426 provides an output on connection 416.
- connections 414 and 416 are coupled to a supply voltage source, Vcc, via connections 434 and 436, respectively.
- the connection 434 is coupled to a resistor 437 and the connection 436 is coupled to a resistor 438.
- the resistors 437 and 438 provide a resistive load that is shared among the transistors in the GSM LNA 402 and the PCS LNA 422.
- the resistive load provided by the resistors 437 and 438 appears as a high impedance to the differential LNAs 402 and 422.
- Capacitors 441 and 442 are coupled to the connections 414 and 416, respectively.
- the capacitors 441 and 442 block direct current (DC) signals from entering the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474.
- the capacitors 441 and 442 fold the RF current from the GSM LNA 402 and the PCS LNA 422 to the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474, and provide a low impedance to the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474. Further, after the conversion of the RF signal to a current by the LNAs, the capacitors 441 and 442 remove any second order nonlinearities created in the LNAs, thus improving IP2 performance by minimizing second order intermodulation (IM2). The IM2 gives rise to the second order intercept point (IP2).
- IP2 second order intercept point
- the input impedance provided to the subharmonic mixer by the capacitors 441 and 442 that are located in series with the subharmonic mixer is lower than the impedance provided to the subharmonic mixer by the resistors 437 and 438. Therefore, the majority of the current will flow through the capacitors 441 and 442 to the mixer input rather than flowing into the resistors 437 or 438. In this manner, the capacitors 441 and 442 provide a lower impedance path for the RF input signal and therefore, the RF input signal, which is in current mode, will go through the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474.
- the receiver 400 also includes a current source 450.
- the current source 450 provides current for the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474. While the current source 450 is illustrated as being implemented using bipolar junction transistor technology, the current source 450 can be implemented using other technologies, such as for example, FET technology.
- the current source 450 includes transistors 451, 452 and 454 having emitter terminals that are coupled to a common reference through resistors 456, 457 and 458, respectively.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 451 is coupled to a supply voltage, Vcc.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 452 is coupled to connection 446 and the collector terminal of the transistor 454 is coupled to the connection 444.
- the RF current signals from the LNAs 402 and 422 are supplied on connections 444 and 446. In this example, one of the differential signals is supplied on connection 444 and the other differential signal is supplied on connection 446; however, this designation is arbitrary.
- both differential signals supplied by the LNAs 402 and 422 on connections 444 and 446 are supplied to each of the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474.
- the subharmonic mixer 472 is referred to as the quadrature-phase (Q) subharmonic mixer and the subharmonic mixer 474 is referred to as the in-phase (I) subharmonic mixer; however, this designation is arbitrary.
- the LO phase generator 330 (described above) supplies offset phase LO signals to the subharmonic mixers 472 and 474.
- the LO phase generator supplies 0, 90, 180 and 270 degree offset LO signals to the subharmonic mixer 474 and supplies 45, 135, 225 and 315 degree offset LO signals to the subharmonic mixer 472.
- polyphase filters are eliminated from the RF path. Eliminating polyphase filters from the RF path removes the associated loss from the RF path that would degrade the noise performance of the receiver and minimizes the amount of die area used by the RF components.
- placing the mixer phase shift in the LO path instead of the RF path minimizes the RF voltage amplitude, which further improves the IP2 performance of the receiver.
- the output of the subharmonic mixer 472 is supplied as differential signals on connections 476 and 477 to a low pass filter 481.
- the output of the low pass filter 481 on connection 484 is one of the differential baseband quadrature-phase signals (BBQp) and the output of the low pass filter 481 on connection 486 is the other differential baseband quadrature-phase signal (BBQm).
- the output of the subharmonic mixer 474 is supplied as differential signals on connections 478 and 479 to a low pass filter 482.
- the output of the low pass filter 482 on connection 487 is one of the differential baseband in-phase signals (BBIp) and the output of the low pass filter 482 on connection 488 is the other differential baseband in- phase signal (BBIm).
- FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment 500 of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- the subharmonic mixer 500 can be implemented using other technologies, such as for example, FET technology.
- the subharmonic mixer 500 as illustrated is configured to operate on the in-phase differential signals.
- the subharmonic mixer 500 includes transistors 502, 504, 506, 508, 512, 514, 516 and 518 connected in a common-emitter configuration.
- the base terminals of the transistors 504 and 514 are configured to receive a 0 degree LO signal and the base terminals of the transistors 506 and 516 are configured to receive a 90 degree LO signal.
- the base terminals of the transistors 502 and 512 are configured to receive a 180 degree LO signal and the base terminals of the transistors 508 and 518 are configured to receive a 270 degree LO signal.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 502, 504, 506 and 508 are coupled to one of the differential RF inputs (RFp) and the emitter terminals of the transistors 512, 514, 516 and 588 are coupled to the other differential RF input (RFm).
- One of the differential baseband in-phase output (BBIp) is provided from the collector terminals of the transistors 502, 504, 516 and 518 via connection 524, and the other differential baseband in-phase output (BBIm) is provided from the collector terminals of the transistors 506, 508, 512 and 514 via connection 522.
- FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment 600 of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- the subharmonic mixer 600 can be implemented using other technologies, such as for example, FET technology.
- the subharmonic mixer 600 is similar to the subharmonic mixer 500 of FIG. 5; however, the subharmonic mixer 600 includes a cascode circuit to further isolate the RF input signal from the switching core of the subharmonic mixer 600.
- the devices in the cascode circuit also provide a low input impedance at their emitters (i.e. the output of the LNAs experience a low impedance node).
- the subharmonic mixer 600 as illustrated is configured to operate on the in- phase differential signals.
- the subharmonic mixer 600 includes transistors 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 616 and 618 connected in a common-emitter configuration.
- the base terminals of the transistors 604 and 614 are configured to receive a 0 degree LO signal and the base terminals of the transistors 606 and 616 are configured to receive a 90 degree LO signal.
- the base terminals of the transistors 602 and 612 are configured to receive a 180 degree LO signal and the base terminals of the transistors 608 and 618 are configured to receive a 270 degree LO signal.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 602, 604, 606 and 608 are coupled to the collector of cascode transistor 632.
- the emitter terminal of the cascode transistor 632 is coupled to one of the differential RF inputs (RFp).
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 612, 614, 616 and 688 are coupled to the collector terminal of the cascode transistor 634.
- the emitter terminal of the cascode transistor 634 is coupled to the other differential RF input (RFm).
- One of the differential baseband in-phase output (BBIp) is provided from the collector terminals of the transistors 602, 604, 616 and 618 via connection 624, and the other differential baseband in-phase output (BBIm) is provided from the collector terminals of the transistors 606, 608, 612 and 614 via connection 622.
- a cascode bias signal (Bias_CSCD) is supplied via connection 636 to the base terminals of the cascode transistors 632 and 634.
- FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment 700 of the subharmonic mixer of FIG. 4.
- the subharmonic mixer 700 is referred to as a stacked- parallel topology.
- the subharmonic mixer 700 as illustrated is configured to operate on the in-phase differential signals.
- a complete subharmonic mixer would include additional circuitry to operate on the quadrature-phase signals and would have LO inputs shifted by 45 degrees.
- the subharmonic mixer 700 includes a first portion 710 and a second portion 720.
- the first subharmonic mixer portion 710 includes transistors 702, 704, 706, 708, 712, 714, 716 and 718.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 702, 704, 712 and 714 are configured to receive one of the differential RF inputs (RFp).
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 706, 708, 716 and 718 are configured to receive the other differential RF input (RFm).
- the second portion 720 includes transistors 722, 724, 726, 728, 732, 734, 736 and 738.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 722 and 724 are coupled to the collector terminals of the transistors 702 and 706.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 726 and 728 are coupled to the collector terminals of the transistors 704 and 708.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 732 and 734 are coupled to the collector terminals of the transistors 712 and 716.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 736 and 738 are coupled to the collector terminals of the transistors 714 and 718.
- One of the baseband differential output signals (BBp) is taken from the collector terminals of the transistors 722 and 732.
- the other baseband differential output signal (BBm) is taken from the collector terminals of the transistors 728 and 738.
- the architecture of the subharmonic mixer 700 provides improved IP2 performance, minimizes noise and is highly immune to base-emitter voltage mismatch, parasitic capacitive loading of the common emitter switching core, and current mismatch.
- FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a receiver having a simplified LNA and mixer circuit for one LNA and for processing the in-phase (I) signal component.
- the receiver 800 comprises a PCS LNA 802 that is illustrated as being operable on the PCS signal band. However, the LNA could be operative on other receive bands.
- the PCS LNA 802 is illustrated in FIG. 8 as implemented using bipolar junction transistor technology. However, the PCS LNA 802 can be implemented using other technology, such as for example, field effect transistor (FET) technology, or other technologies, hi this embodiment, the PCS LNA 802 comprises transistors 804, 806, 808 and 809.
- FET field effect transistor
- the base terminals of the transistors 808 and 809 are coupled to the PCS band radio frequency input signals PCSinp and PCSinm on connections 811 and 812, respectively.
- the PCSinp and PCSinm input signals are differential signals.
- the emitter terminals of the transistors 808 and 809 are arranged in a two inductor (inductors 817 and 818) degeneration arrangement for the differential signal and have a common inductor 819 coupled to ground.
- the base terminals of the transistors 804 and 806 are coupled to a bias signal (Bias_CSCD2).
- the collector terminal of the transistor 804 provides an output on connection 814 and the collector terminal of the transistor 806 provides an output on connection 816.
- connections 814 and 816 are coupled to a supply voltage source, Vcc, via connections 834 and 836, respectively.
- the connection 834 is coupled to a resistor 837 and the connection 836 is coupled to a resistor 838.
- the resistors 837 and 838 provide a resistive load that is shared among the transistors in the PCS LNA 802. The resistive load provided by the resistors 837 and 838 appears as a high impedance to the differential LNA 802.
- Capacitors 841 and 842 are coupled to the connections 816 and 814, respectively.
- the capacitors 841 and 842 block direct current (DC) signals from entering the subharmonic mixer 700.
- the capacitors 441 and 442 fold the RF current from the PCS LNA 802 to the subharmonic mixer 700 a current source 850 and a cascode transistor circuit 860, and provide a low impedance to the subharmonic mixer 700. Further, after the conversion of the RF signal to a current by the LNA 802, the capacitors 441 and 442 remove any second order nonlinearities created in the LNA 802, thus improving IP2 performance.
- the receiver 800 also includes a current source 850.
- the current source 850 provides current for the subharmonic mixer 700. While the current source 850 is illustrated as being implemented using bipolar junction transistor technology, the current source 850 can be implemented using other technologies, such as for example, FET technology.
- the current source 850 includes transistors 851, 852 and 854 having emitter terminals that are coupled to a common reference through resistors 856, 857 and 858, respectively.
- the current source 850 is connected to a cascode transistor circuit 860. While the cascode transistor circuit 860 is illustrated as being implemented using bipolar junction transistor technology, the cascode transistor circuit 860 can be implemented using other technologies, such as for example, FET technology.
- the cascode transistor circuit 860 includes transistors 862, 864 and 866.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 851 in the current source 850 is coupled to the emitter of the transistor 862 in the cascode transistor circuit 860.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 852 in the current source 850 is coupled to the emitter of the transistor 864 in the cascode transistor circuit 860 and the collector terminal of the transistor 854 in the current source 850 is coupled to the emitter of the transistor 866 in the cascode transistor circuit 860.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 866 is coupled to a supply voltage, Vcc.
- the collector terminal of the transistor 862 is coupled to connection 868 (RFp) and the collector terminal of the transistor 864 is coupled to the connection 869 (RFm).
- the RF current signals from the LNA 802 are supplied on connections 871 and 872. In this example, one of the differential signals is supplied on connection 871 and the other differential signal is supplied on connection 872; however, this designation is arbitrary.
- Both differential signals supplied by the LNA 802 pass through the cascode transistor circuit 860 and are supplied on connections 868 and 869 to the differential inputs of the mixer 700.
- the subharmonic mixer 700 is shown as operate on the in-phase (I) signal component, hi practice, the receiver 800 would operate on both the in-phase (I) and the quadrature-phase (Q) signals.
- the LO phase generator 330 (described above) supplies offset phase LO signals to the subharmonic mixer 700.
- the LO phase generator supplies 0, 90, 180 and 270 degree offset LO signals to the subharmonic mixer 700.
- polyphase filters are eliminated from the RF path. Eliminating polyphase filters from the RF path removes the associated loss from the RF path that would degrade the noise performance of the receiver and minimizes the amount of die area used by the RF components.
- placing the mixer phase shift in the LO path instead of the RF path minimizes the RF voltage amplitude, which further improves the IP2 performance of the receiver.
- the output of the subharmonic mixer 700 is supplied as differential signals on connections 874 and 875 to output circuitry 970.
- the output circuitry is a schematic representation of one of the low pass filters 481 and 482 of FIG. 4.
- the output circuitry 870 includes cascode transistors 878 and 879 that receive a bias signal, Bias_CSCD, on their respective gate terminals.
- a capacitor 881 is located across the output connections OUTp and OUTm.
- the output circuitry 870 also includes resistors 882 and 884, transistors 886 and 887 and resistors 888 and 889.
- the output OUTp is one of the differential baseband in-phase signals (BBIp) and the output OUTm is the other differential baseband in-phase signal (BBm).
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Transceivers (AREA)
- Superheterodyne Receivers (AREA)
Abstract
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/235,907 US7483678B2 (en) | 2005-09-27 | 2005-09-27 | Single chip GSM/EDGE transceiver architecture with closed loop power control |
US11/369,403 US7711327B2 (en) | 2005-09-27 | 2006-03-07 | Direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer |
PCT/US2006/037420 WO2007038482A2 (fr) | 2005-09-27 | 2006-09-26 | Recepteur de conversion directe a melangeur sous-harmonique |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1938462A2 true EP1938462A2 (fr) | 2008-07-02 |
EP1938462A4 EP1938462A4 (fr) | 2013-09-25 |
Family
ID=37900378
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP06804156.5A Withdrawn EP1938462A4 (fr) | 2005-09-27 | 2006-09-26 | Recepteur de conversion directe a melangeur sous-harmonique |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1938462A4 (fr) |
WO (1) | WO2007038482A2 (fr) |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6560301B1 (en) * | 1998-10-21 | 2003-05-06 | Parkervision, Inc. | Integrated frequency translation and selectivity with a variety of filter embodiments |
US6587678B1 (en) * | 1999-03-02 | 2003-07-01 | Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | Direct conversion receiver employing subharmonic frequency translator architecture and related preprocessor |
US6658066B1 (en) * | 2000-02-17 | 2003-12-02 | Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | Method and apparatus for multiple phase splitting for dual band IQ subharmonic mixer |
US6810242B2 (en) * | 2002-09-30 | 2004-10-26 | Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | Subharmonic mixer |
US7248850B2 (en) * | 2002-12-10 | 2007-07-24 | Nanoamp Solutions, Inc. | Passive subharmonic mixer design |
-
2006
- 2006-09-26 WO PCT/US2006/037420 patent/WO2007038482A2/fr active Application Filing
- 2006-09-26 EP EP06804156.5A patent/EP1938462A4/fr not_active Withdrawn
Non-Patent Citations (5)
Title |
---|
JOU C F ET AL: "Design of a concurrent dual-band receiver front-end in 0.18um CMOS for WLANs IEEE 802. It a/b/g Applications", IEEE INTERNATIONAL MIDWEST SYMPOSIUM, IEEE, vol. 1, 25 July 2004 (2004-07-25), pages 1_177-1_180, XP010738673, DOI: 10.1109/MWSCAS.2004.1353926 ISBN: 978-0-7803-8346-3 * |
LIWEI SHENG ET AL: "A Wide-Bandwidth Si/SiGe HBT Direct Conversion Sub-Harmonic Mixer/Downconverter", IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, IEEE SERVICE CENTER, PISCATAWAY, NJ, USA, vol. 35, no. 9, 1 September 2000 (2000-09-01), XP011061331, ISSN: 0018-9200 * |
NGOMPE E ET AL: "Architecture and performance overview of a highly integrated 13x13mm single-package radio ( SPR ) module for dualband EGSM900 / GSM1800 applications", 2003 IEEE RADIO FREQUENCY INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (RFIC) SYMPOSIUM. DIGEST OF PAPERS. PHILADELPHIA, PA, JUNE 8 - 10, 2003; [IEEE RADIO FREQUENCY INTEGRATED CIRCUITS SYMPOSIUM], NEW YORK, NY : IEEE, US, 8 June 2003 (2003-06-08), pages 387-390, XP010646579, DOI: 10.1109/RFIC.2003.1213968 ISBN: 978-0-7803-7694-6 * |
See also references of WO2007038482A2 * |
UPADHYAYA P ET AL: "A high IIP2 doubly balanced sub-harmonic mixer in 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS for 5-GHz ISM band direct conversion receiver", 2005 IEEE RADIO FREQUENCY INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (RFIC) SYMPOSIUM; 12-14 JUNE 2005; LONG BEACH, CA, USA, IEEE, PISCATAWAY, NJ, USA, 12 June 2005 (2005-06-12), pages 175-178, XP010822872, DOI: 10.1109/RFIC.2005.1489622 ISBN: 978-0-7803-8983-0 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2007038482A3 (fr) | 2007-12-13 |
WO2007038482A2 (fr) | 2007-04-05 |
EP1938462A4 (fr) | 2013-09-25 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US7711327B2 (en) | Direct conversion receiver having a subharmonic mixer | |
US7605669B2 (en) | System and method for generating local oscillator (LO) signals for a quadrature mixer | |
US7194242B2 (en) | Direct-conversion transmitter circuit and transceiver system | |
He et al. | A low-power, low-EVM, SAW-less WCDMA transmitter using direct quadrature voltage modulation | |
US7684763B2 (en) | Transceiver circuit and method for providing local oscillator signals in a transceiver circuit | |
EP1941659B1 (fr) | Melangeur a faible bruit | |
US7653372B2 (en) | Communication device, mixer and method thereof | |
KR20010051695A (ko) | 송수신기 및 이동 통신기 | |
EP1798850B1 (fr) | Convertisseur de frequence bidirectionnel et equipement radio l'utilisant | |
US12101095B2 (en) | Fractional divider with duty cycle regulation and low subharmonic content | |
US6961547B2 (en) | Wireless transmitter incorporating a synchronous oscillator in a translation loop | |
US6798294B2 (en) | Amplifier with multiple inputs | |
WO2023166385A1 (fr) | Circuits tripleurs doubleurs de fréquence à auto-mélange pour communication sans fil | |
US7263334B2 (en) | Directional coupler for use in VCO unequal power splitting | |
WO2007038482A2 (fr) | Recepteur de conversion directe a melangeur sous-harmonique | |
KR100657009B1 (ko) | 초광대역 상향 주파수 변환 장치 | |
O'Sullivan et al. | A Highly Integrated Transceiver for Mobile Satellite Services User Terminals Incorporating Dual Receivers for Satellite Handover and Digital Pre-Distortion for PA Linearization on 0.18 μm CMOS | |
EP1938461A2 (fr) | Multiplicateur de frequence a gain variable | |
KR20240152919A (ko) | 무선 통신을 위한 셀프 믹싱 주파수 더블러 트리플러 회로들 | |
EP2432130B1 (fr) | Architecture de transmetteurs sans filtres SAW |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20080327 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR |
|
AX | Request for extension of the european patent |
Extension state: AL BA HR MK RS |
|
RAP1 | Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred) |
Owner name: INTEL CORPORATION |
|
DAX | Request for extension of the european patent (deleted) | ||
A4 | Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched |
Effective date: 20130827 |
|
RIC1 | Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant |
Ipc: H04B 1/30 20060101ALI20130821BHEP Ipc: H04B 1/44 20060101ALI20130821BHEP Ipc: H04M 1/00 20060101AFI20130821BHEP |
|
17Q | First examination report despatched |
Effective date: 20130903 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 20140114 |