GB2333011A

GB2333011A - Radio Frequency Controller in GSM Terminal Unit

Info

Publication number: GB2333011A
Application number: GB9727416A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeong-Hoon Park
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 1997-12-30
Filing date: 1997-12-30
Publication date: 1999-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 2017-12-30
Also published as: GB2333011B; KR19990062533A; KR100299028B1; GB9727416D0

Abstract

A device for controlling radio frequency section in a GSM terminal unit has a TDMA counter and a clock signal generator. An RF controller 14 generates radio frequency control signals for the radio frequency section 25, in response to clock signals from the clock signal generator 22 and control signals from a control section 20. The control section 20 receives interrupts from the TDMA counter 21 and controls the clock signal generator 22 and the RF controller 14. The RF controller 14 includes a frequency composition register 23 and an automatic gain controller register 24.

Description

RADIO FREQUENCY CONTROLLER IN GROUP SPECIAL MOBILE TERMINAL UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a Group Special Mobile (GSM) terminal unit and in particular to a device for controlling the Radio Frequency (RF) component.

A controller of the RF components of GSM terminal unit consists of a frequency generator for generating frequency signals and an automatic gain controller ("AGC") for controlling the RF power. A conventional GSM terminal unit has the frequency generator and the AGC integrated into a single component which is designed such that RF control is programmed by a control section.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a RF controller in such a conventional GSM terminal unit. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a control section, which controls the overall operation of the GSM terminal unit. Reference numeral 14 represents the RF controller in which the frequency generator and the AGC are integrated as a single component. The RF controller includes a program status section 11, a register section 12 and a serial interface section 13 and generates a signal to control the RF controller 14 through a RF interface section, which is under the control of the control section 10. Program status section 11 controls the operation of the RF controller 14 in response to a clock signal and a control signal from control section 10. The register section 12 stores different values that will be generated according to the status of the device.

Since the frequency generator and the AGC, which operate independently of each other, are integrated into a single unit, both have to be operated even when only one is required, resulting in unnecessary power consumption.

Further, a number of extra registers (more than about 4,000 gates) are added to the design that has the radio frequency control programmable with the control section. However, such a program function is not necessarily needed because the GSM terminal unit is always under the control of the control section and it has only to know the time to send data to the RF section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An objective of the present invention is to provide an RF controller with a simplified design that reduces the power consumption of a GSM terminal unit.

To achieve this objective, the present invention is directed to a device for controlling radio frequency section in a GSM terminal unit which has a TDMA counter and a clock signal generator, comprising: an RF controller adapted to generate radio frequency control signals for the radio frequency section, in response to clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from a control section; and a control section adapted to receive interrupts from the TDMA counter and to control the clock signal generator and the RF controller.

Preferably, the RF controller comprises: a frequency composition register for generating a radio frequency control signal for determining frequency composition in response to the clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from the control section; and an automatic gain controller register for generating a radio frequency control signal for adjusting transmission power in response to the clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from the control section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 shows the construction of the RF controller in a conventional GSM terminal unit; and FIG. 2 shows the construction of the RF controller in a GSM terminal unit according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 2 shows the construction of the RF controller in a GSM terminal unit according to the present invention in which the frequency generator and an AGC are separated from each other and each is composed of simple shift registers.

GSM is a system that employs time division multiple access ("TDMA"). Thus, a system using GSM requires a TDMA counter 21 and adjusts its synchronization with the base station.

The system counts in the units of 1 TDMA, which comprises 8 time slots. TDMA counter 21 generates an interrupt in every TDMA so that control section 20 records the values to be used in the next TDMA and timing information in all registers, with the number of TDMA frames (i.e., from 05000 to 0-2715647) increased. If an interrupt occurs in TDMA counter 21, the control section 20 sets a previously calculated time and the values to be used in the register.

At the time that is set by TDMA counter 21, to control the frequency composition section and AGC, control section 20 controls clock signal generator 22 to apply clock pulses to a frequency composition register 23 and an AGC register 24, each of which send data to RF interface 25. The RF interface 25 performs its operation in response to the data. Consequently, the frequency generator is put into operation twice per TDMA for the purposes of sending and receiving data, while the AGC operates only to receive data.

Accordingly, as described above, the frequency composition section and the AGC are separate and operate independently, resulting in a reduction in power consumption. The conventional program function is also eliminated, reducing unnecessary gates used in the register.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A device for controlling radio frequency section in a GSM terminal unit which has a TDMA counter and a clock signal generator, comprising: an RF controller adapted to generate radio frequency control signals for the radio frequency section, in response to clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from a control section; and a control section adapted to receive interrupts from the TDMA counter and to control the clock signal generator and the RF controller.
2. A device for controlling radio frequency section in a GSM terminal unit according to claim 1 in which the RF controller comprises: a frequency composition register for generating a radio frequency control signal for determining frequency composition in response to the clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from the control section; and an automatic gain controller register for generating a radio frequency control signal for adjusting transmission power in response to the clock signals from the clock signal generator and control signals from the control section.
3. A device for controlling radio frequency section in a GSM terminal unit, the device being substantially as described with reference to and/or as illustrated in FIG.

2 of the accompanying drawings.