JP6526365B1 - Diversity receiver front end system with impedance matching components - Google Patents

Abstract

A diversity receiver front end system with impedance matching components is provided. A diversity receiver configuration (800) includes a controller configured to selectively activate one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiver configuration and an output of the receiver configuration. The receiver configuration further includes a plurality of amplifiers 314a, 314b. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths to amplify the received signal at the amplifier. The receiver configuration further includes a plurality of impedance matching components 834a, 834b. Each of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along one corresponding path of the plurality of paths to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the one corresponding path of the plurality of paths. [Selected figure] Figure 8

Description

  The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems having one or more diversity receive antennas.

This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application Ser. No. 62 / 073,043, filed Oct. 31, 2014, entitled “Diversity Receiver Front End System”, filed on Oct. 31, 2014, entitled “LNA Post-LNA U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 073,040, entitled "Carrier aggregation using phase matching", U.S. Patent entitled "LNA pre-band out-of-band impedance matching for carrier aggregation operation," filed October 31, 2014 Provisional application no. 62 / 073,039, US application Ser. No. 14 / 734,775, entitled "Diversity receiver front end system with impedance matching components" filed Jun. 9, 2015, June 2015 Named “Diversity receiver front end system with phase shift component” filed on the 9th No. 14 / 734,759, and US application Ser. No. 14 / 727,739 entitled “Diversity front end system with variable gain amplifier” filed Jun. 1, 2015 Insist. Each disclosure is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

  The application, size, cost and performance of wireless communication are examples of factors that may be important for a given product. For example, to improve performance, wireless components such as diversity receive antennas and related circuits have become commonplace.

  In many radio frequency (RF) applications, the diversity receive antenna is physically located remotely from the primary antenna. If both antennas are used at one time, the transceiver can process the signals from both antennas to increase data throughput.

  According to some implementations, the present disclosure relates to a receiving system including a controller, wherein the controller selectively selects one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system. Configured to be active. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of impedance matching components. Each one of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along one corresponding path of the plurality of paths, and at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the one path of the plurality of paths. Configured to reduce.

  In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along a first path corresponding to a first frequency band of the plurality of paths and corresponds to a second path of the plurality of paths The second frequency band may be configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the second frequency band.

  In some embodiments, a second impedance matching component of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along the second path to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the first frequency band Can be configured to In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component is further configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for a third frequency band corresponding to a third of the plurality of paths be able to.

  In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component can be further configured to reduce at least one of the in-band noise figure for the first frequency band or to increase in-band gain. In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component can be configured to reduce the in-band metric minus the in-band gain from the in-band noise figure to within the threshold amount of the in-band metric minimum. In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component can be configured to reduce the out-of-band metric of out-of-band noise figure plus out-of-band gain to an in-band constrained out-of-band minimum.

  In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a multiplexer configured to divide the input signal received at the input into a plurality of signals for each of a plurality of frequency bands propagating along a plurality of paths. In some embodiments, each one of the plurality of impedance matching components may be provided between the multiplexer and each one of the plurality of amplifiers. In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a signal combiner configured to combine signals propagating along multiple paths.

  In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of impedance components can be a passive circuit. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of impedance matching components can be a RLC circuit.

  In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of impedance matching components may include a tunable impedance matching component configured to represent an impedance controlled by an impedance tuning signal received from the controller.

  In some embodiments, a first impedance matching component provided along a first path corresponding to a first frequency band of the plurality of paths further includes a second frequency band of a signal passing through the first impedance matching component. Are phase-shifted so that the initial signal propagating along the second path corresponding to the second frequency band of the plurality of paths is at least partially in phase with the reflected signal propagating along the first path. To be configured.

  In some implementations, the present disclosure relates to a radio frequency (RF) module that includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components. The RF module further includes a receiving system mounted on the packaging substrate. The receiving system includes a controller configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input of the receiving system and the output of the receiving system. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of impedance matching components. Each one of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the one of the plurality of paths. To be configured. In some embodiments, the RF module can be a diversity receiver front end module (FEM).

  In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component of the plurality of impedance matching components provided along the first path corresponding to the first frequency band of the plurality of paths corresponds to the second path of the plurality of paths. The second frequency band may be configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the second frequency band.

  According to some teachings, the present disclosure relates to a wireless device including a first antenna configured to receive a first radio frequency (RF) signal. The wireless device further includes a first front end module (FEM) in communication with the first antenna. The first FEM includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components. The first FEM further includes a receiving system mounted on the packaging substrate. The receiving system includes a controller configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input of the receiving system and the output of the receiving system. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of impedance matching components. Each one of the plurality of impedance matching components is provided along one corresponding path of the plurality of paths, and at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the one path of the plurality of paths. Configured to reduce. The wireless device further includes a transceiver configured to receive the processed version of the first RF signal from the output via the transmission line and to generate data bits based on the processed version of the first RF signal. .

  In some embodiments, the wireless device may further include a second antenna configured to receive a second radio frequency (RF) signal, and a second FEM in communication with the first antenna. The transceiver may be configured to receive the processed version of the second RF signal from the output of the second FEM, and to generate data bits based on the processed version of the second RF signal.

  In some embodiments, the first impedance matching component of the plurality of impedance matching components provided along the first route corresponding to the first frequency band of the plurality of routes corresponds to the second route of the plurality of routes. Configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the second frequency band.

  According to some implementations, the present disclosure relates to a receiving system including a controller, wherein the controller selectively selects one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system. Configured to be active. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of phase shift components. Each one of the plurality of phase shift components is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to phase shift a signal passing through the phase shift component.

  In some embodiments, the first phase shift component of the plurality of phase shift components provided along the first path corresponding to the first frequency band of the plurality of paths is a portion of the signal passing through the first phase shift component. A second initial signal that is phase-shifted in the second frequency band and propagated along a second path corresponding to the second frequency band of the plurality of paths, and a second reflected signal propagated along the first path Can be configured to be at least partially in phase.

  In some embodiments, the second phase shift component of the plurality of phase shift components provided along the second path phase shifts the first frequency band of the signal passing through the second phase shift component to The first initial signal propagating along one path and the first reflected signal propagating along the second path may be configured to be at least in phase.

  In some embodiments, the first phase shift component further phase shifts a third frequency band of the signal passing through the first phase shift component to correspond to the third frequency band of the plurality of paths. The third initial signal propagating along the path and the third reflected signal propagating along the first path may be configured to be at least partially in phase.

  In some embodiments, the first phase shift component phase shifts a second frequency band of the signal passing through the first phase shift component such that the second initial signal and the second reflected signal are integer multiples of 360 degrees It can be configured to have a phase difference of

  In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a multiplexer configured to divide the input signal received at the input into a plurality of signals for each of a plurality of frequency bands propagating along a plurality of paths. In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a signal combiner configured to combine signals propagating along multiple paths. In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a signal coupler and a coupler post amplifier provided between the outputs. The combiner post amplifier is configured to amplify the received signal at the combiner post amplifier. In some embodiments, each one of the plurality of phase shift components can be provided between the signal combiner and each one of the plurality of amplifiers. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of amplifiers may include a two-stage amplifier.

  In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of phase shift components can be a passive circuit. In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of phase shift components can be an LC circuit.

  In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of phase shift components may include a tunable phase shift component. This is configured to phase shift the signal passing through the tunable phase shift component by an amount controlled by the phase shift tuning signal received from the controller.

  In some embodiments, the receiving system may further include a plurality of impedance matching components. Each one of the impedance matching components is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths, and reduces at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the corresponding one of the plurality of paths. To be configured.

  In some implementations, the present disclosure relates to a radio frequency (RF) module that includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components. The RF module further includes a receiving system mounted on the packaging substrate. The receiving system includes a controller configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input of the receiving system and the output of the receiving system. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of phase shift components. Each one of the plurality of phase shift components is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to phase shift a signal passing through the phase shift component.

  In some embodiments, the RF module can be a diversity receiver front end module (FEM).

  In some embodiments, a first phase shift component of a plurality of phase shift components provided along a first path corresponding to a first frequency band of the plurality of paths is a signal passing through the first phase shift component A second initial signal propagating along a second path corresponding to the second frequency bands of the plurality of paths, and a second reflection propagating along the first path by phase shifting the second frequency band of It is configured to be at least partially in phase with the signal.

  According to some teachings, the present disclosure relates to a wireless device including a first antenna configured to receive a first radio frequency (RF) signal. The wireless device further includes a first front end module (FEM) in communication with the first antenna. The first FEM includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components. The first FEM further includes a receiving system mounted on the packaging substrate. The receiving system includes a controller configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input of the receiving system and the output of the receiving system. The receiving system further includes a plurality of amplifiers. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The receiving system further includes a plurality of phase shift components. Each one of the plurality of phase shift components is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to phase shift a signal passing through the phase shift component. The wireless device further includes a transceiver configured to receive the processed version of the first RF signal from the output via the transmission line and to generate data bits based on the processed version of the first RF signal. .

  In some embodiments, the wireless device may further include a second antenna configured to receive a second radio frequency (RF) signal, and a second FEM in communication with the first antenna. The transceiver may be configured to receive the processed version of the second RF signal from the output of the second FEM, and to generate data bits based on the processed version of the second RF signal.

  In some embodiments, a first phase shift component of a plurality of phase shift components provided along a first path corresponding to a first frequency band of the plurality of paths is a signal passing through the first phase shift component A second initial signal propagating along a second path corresponding to the second frequency bands of the plurality of paths, and a second reflection propagating along the first path by phase shifting the second frequency band of It is configured to be at least partially in phase with the signal.

  Certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention are described herein in order to summarize the present disclosure. It should be understood that not all such advantages can be achieved by any particular embodiment of the present invention. That is, the present invention embodies or implements in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages taught herein, without necessarily achieving the other advantages taught or suggested herein. be able to.

1 shows a wireless device having a communication module coupled to a primary antenna and a diversity antenna. FIG. 7 shows a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration including a DRx front end module (FEM). In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration may include a DRx module with multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands. In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver configuration may include a diversity RF module with fewer amplifiers than a diversity receiver (DRx) module. 7 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module coupled to an off-module filter. In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with one or more phase matching components. In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with one or more phase matching components and a two-stage amplifier. In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with one or more phase matching components and a coupler post amplifier. 7 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with tunable phase shift components. In some embodiments, it is shown that a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with one or more impedance matching components. In some embodiments, it is shown that the diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with tunable impedance matching components. In some embodiments, it is shown that the diversity receiver configuration can include a DRx module with tunable impedance matching components provided at the input and output. In some embodiments, it is shown that the diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with multiple tunable parts. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a flow chart representation of a method of processing an RF signal. FIGURES depicts a module having one or more of the features described herein. 2 depicts a wireless device having one or more features described herein.

  The headings provided herein, if any, are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a wireless device 100 having a communication module 110 coupled to a primary antenna 130 and a diversity antenna 140. Communication module 110 (and its components) may be controlled by controller 120. Communication module 110 includes a transceiver 112 configured to convert between analog radio frequency (RF) signals and digital data signals. To that end, the transceiver 112 may be a digital to analog converter, an analog to digital converter, a local oscillator that modulates or demodulates a baseband analog signal to a carrier frequency, digital samples and data bits (eg voice or other Data processor), or other components that convert between the types of data).

  Communication module 110 further includes an RF module 114 coupled between primary antenna 130 and transceiver 112. The RF module 114 can be referred to as a front end module (FEM) because the RF module 114 is physically close to the primary antenna 130 to reduce attenuation due to cable losses. The RF module 114 may process an analog signal received from the primary antenna 130 of the transceiver 112 or an analog signal received from the transceiver 112 and transmitted through the primary antenna 130. To that end, the RF module 114 may include filters, power amplifiers, band select switches, matching circuits and other components. Similarly, communication module 110 includes a diversity RF module 116 coupled between a transceiver 112 and a diversity antenna 140 that perform similar processing.

  When the signal is transmitted to the wireless device, the signal may be received at both the primary antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140. Because the primary antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 are physically separated, the signals received at the primary antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 have different characteristics. For example, in one embodiment, primary antenna 130 and diversity antenna 140 may receive signals with different attenuations, noise, frequency response or phase shift. The transceiver 112 can use both signals with different characteristics to determine the data bit corresponding to that signal. In some implementations, the transceiver 112 selects from the primary antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 based on the characteristics such that the antenna with the highest signal to noise ratio is selected. In some implementations, the transceiver 112 combines the signal from the primary antenna 130 and the signal from the diversity antenna 140 to increase the signal to noise ratio of the combined signal. In some implementations, transceiver 112 processes the signal to provide multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) communication.

  Because diversity antenna 140 is physically separated from primary antenna 130, diversity antenna 140 is coupled to communication module 110 via transmission line 135, such as a cable or printed circuit board (PCB) trace. In some implementations, the transmission line 135 is lossy and attenuates the signal received at the diversity antenna 140 before the signal reaches the communication module 110. That is, in some implementations, gain is applied to the signal received at diversity antenna 140, as described below. Gain (or other, analog processing such as filtering) can be applied by the diversity receiver module. Such a diversity receiver module can be referred to as a diversity receiver front end module because it is located physically close to the diversity antenna 140.

  FIG. 2 shows a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration 200 that includes a DRx front end module (FEM) 210. The DRx configuration 200 includes a diversity antenna 140 configured to receive the diversity signal and provide the diversity signal to the DRx FEM 210. The DRx FEM 210 is configured to process the diversity signal received from the diversity antenna 140. For example, the DRx FEM 210 can be configured to filter the diversity signal into one or more active frequency bands as indicated, for example, by the controller 120. In another example, the DRx FEM 210 can be configured to amplify the diversity signal. To that end, the DRx FEM 210 may include filters, low noise amplifiers, band select switches, matching circuits and other components.

  The DRx FEM 210 transmits the processed diversity signal to a downstream module, such as a diversity RF (D-RF) module 116, via transmission line 135. The downstream module supplies the further processed diversity signal to the transceiver 112. Diversity RF module 116 (and, in some implementations, transceivers) is controlled by controller 120. In some implementations, controller 120 is implemented within transceiver 112.

  FIG. 3 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration 300 may include a DRx module 310 with multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands. The DRx configuration 300 includes a diversity antenna 140 configured to receive a diversity signal. In some implementations, the diversity signal can be a single band signal that includes data modulated to a single frequency band. In some implementations, the diversity signal may be a multi-band signal (also referred to as an inter-band carrier aggregation signal) that includes data modulated to multiple frequency bands.

  The DRx module 310 has an input for receiving the diversity signal from the diversity antenna 140 and an output for providing the processed diversity signal to the transceiver 330 (via the transmission line 135 and the diversity RF module 320). An input of the DRx module 310 is provided to an input of a first multiplexer (MUX) 311. The first multiplexer 311 includes a plurality of multiplexer outputs. Each multiplexer output corresponds to the path between the input and output of DRx module 310. Each path may correspond to each frequency band. The output of the DRx module 310 is provided by the output of the second multiplexer 312. The second multiplexer 312 includes a plurality of multiplexer inputs. Each multiplexer input corresponds to one of the paths between the input and output of the DRx module 310.

  The frequency band may be a cellular frequency band such as the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) frequency band. For example, let the first frequency band be the UMTS downlink or "Rx" band 2 between 1930 megahertz (MHZ) and 1990 MHz and the second frequency band be the UMTS downlink or "Rx" band 5 between 869 MHz and 894 MHz be able to. Other downlink frequency bands may also be used, such as those listed below in Table 1 or other non-UMTS frequency bands.

  In some implementations, DRx module 310 includes DRx controller 302. The DRx controller 302 receives a signal from the controller 120 (also referred to as a communication controller) and selectively activates one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and the output based on the received signal. In some implementations, DRx module 310 does not include DRx controller 302 and controller 120 selectively activates one or more of the plurality of paths directly.

  As mentioned above, in some implementations, the diversity signal is a single band signal. That is, in some implementations, the first multiplexer 311 routes the diversity signal based on the signal received from the DRx controller 302 to one of a plurality of paths corresponding to the frequency band of the single band signal. It is a multiple throw (SPMT) switch. The DRx controller 302 can generate a signal based on the band selection signal received by the DRx controller 302 from the communication controller 120. Similarly, in some implementations, the second multiplexer 312 is an SPMT switch that routes signals from one of a plurality of paths corresponding to the frequency band of a single band signal based on signals received from the DRx controller 302. is there.

  As mentioned above, in some implementations, the diversity signal is a multi-band signal. That is, in some implementations, based on the divider control signal received from the DRx controller 302, the first multiplexer 311 transmits diversity signals to more than one of the plurality of paths corresponding to more than one frequency band of the multi-band signal. It is a signal divider for routing. The functionality of the signal divider may be implemented as a SPMT switch, a diplexer filter, or some combination thereof. Similarly, in some implementations, the second multiplexer 312 may combine signals from two or more of the plurality of paths corresponding to two or more frequency bands of the multi-band signal into the combiner control signal received from the DRx controller 302. It is a signal combiner based on which it combines. The function of the signal combiner may be implemented as a SPMT switch, a diplexer filter, or some combination thereof. The DRx controller 302 can generate a divider control signal and a combiner control signal based on the band selection signal received by the DRx controller 302 from the communication controller 120.

  That is, in some implementations, DRx controller 302 can selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on the band select signal received by DRx controller 302 (eg, from communication controller 120) Configured In some implementations, the DRx controller 302 selectively activates one or more of the plurality of paths by transmitting a divider control signal to the signal divider and transmitting a combiner control signal to the signal combiner. To be configured.

  The DRx module 310 includes a plurality of band pass filters 313a-313d. Each one of the band pass filters 313a to 313d is provided along one corresponding path of the plurality of paths, and the signal received in the band pass filter is applied to the corresponding one frequency band of the plurality of paths. And configured to filter. In some implementations, the band pass filters 313a-313d are further configured to filter signals received at the band pass filter into downlink frequency sub-bands of the corresponding frequency band of the plurality of paths. The DRx module 310 includes a plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d. Each one of the amplifiers 314a-314d is provided along one corresponding path of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the signal received at the amplifier.

  In some implementations, the amplifiers 314a-314d are narrowband amplifiers configured to amplify a signal within the corresponding frequency band of the path in which the amplifier is provided. In some implementations, amplifiers 314 a-314 d are controllable by DRx controller 302. For example, in some implementations, the amplifiers 314a-314d each include enable / disable inputs and are enabled (or disabled) based on the amplifier enable signal received at the enable / disable inputs. The amplifier enable signal may be sent by the DRx controller 302. That is, in some implementations, the DRx controller 302 transmits the amplifier enable signal to one or more of the amplifiers 314a-314d, respectively, along one or more of the plurality of paths to Configured to selectively activate one or more. In such an implementation, rather than being controlled by the DRx controller 302, the first multiplexer 311 is a signal divider that routes the diversity signal to each of the plurality of paths, and the second multiplexer 312 is from each of the plurality of paths. Can be a signal combiner that combines the However, in implementations where the DRx controller 302 controls the first multiplexer 311 and the second multiplexer 312, the DRX controller 302 also enables (or disables) certain amplifiers 314a-314d, for example to conserve battery. It can also be done.

  In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain amplifiers (VGAs). That is, in some implementations, the DRx module 310 includes a plurality of variable gain amplifiers (VGAs), each one of the VGAs being provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths, and received at the VGA The amplified signal is configured to be amplified by a gain controlled by an amplifier control signal received from the DRx controller 302.

  The gain of the VGA can be bypassable, step variable, or continuously variable. In some implementations, at least one of the VGAs includes a fixed gain amplifier and a bypass switch controllable by an amplifier control signal. The bypass switch (in the first position) can allow the signal to bypass the fixed gain amplifier by closing the line between the input of the fixed gain amplifier and the output of the fixed gain amplifier . The bypass switch can allow the signal to pass through the fixed gain amplifier by opening the line between the input and the output (at the second position). In some implementations, when the bypass switch is in the first position, the fixed gain amplifier is disabled or reconfigured to conform to the bypass mode.

  In some implementations, at least one of the VGAs includes a step variable gain amplifier configured to amplify the signal received at the VGA by one of a plurality of constituent quantities dictated by the amplifier control signal. In some implementations, at least one of the VGAs includes a continuous variable gain amplifier configured to amplify the signal received at the VGA with a gain proportional to the amplifier control signal.

  In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable current amplifiers (VCAs). The current drawn by the VCA can be bypassable, step-variable, continuously variable. In some implementations, at least one of the VCAs includes a fixed current amplifier and a bypass switch controllable by an amplifier control signal. The bypass switch (in the first position) can allow the signal to bypass the fixed current amplifier by closing the line between the input of the fixed current amplifier and the output of the fixed current amplifier . The bypass switch can cause the signal to pass through the fixed current amplifier by opening the line between the input and the output (in the second position). In some implementations, when the bypass switch is in the first position, the fixed current amplifier is disabled or reconfigured to conform to the bypass mode.

  In some implementations, at least one of the VCAs is a step-variable current amplifier configured to amplify a signal received at the VCA by drawing a current of one of a plurality of constituent quantities dictated by the amplifier control signal. including. In some implementations, at least one of the VCAs includes a continuously variable current amplifier configured to amplify the signal received at the VCA by drawing a current proportional to the amplifier control signal.

  In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are fixed gain, fixed current amplifiers. In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are fixed gain, variable current amplifiers. In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain, fixed current amplifiers. In some implementations, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain, variable current amplifiers.

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 302 generates amplifier control signal (s) based on quality of service metrics of the input signal received at the input. In some implementations, the DRx controller 302 generates amplifier control signal (s) based on the signal received from the communication controller 120. The amplifier control signal may further be based on quality of service (QoS) metrics of the received signal. The QoS metric of the received signal may be based at least in part on the diversity signal received at diversity antenna 140 (eg, the input signal received at the input). The QoS metric of the received signal may be further based on the signal received at the primary antenna. In some implementations, the DRx controller 302 generates amplifier control signal (s) based on the QoS metric of the diversity signal without receiving a signal from the communication controller 120.

  In some implementations, the QoS metric includes signal strength. In other examples, the QoS metric may include bit error rate, data throughput, transmission delay, or any other QoS metric.

  As mentioned above, the DRx module 310 receives an input for receiving the diversity signal from the diversity antenna 140 and an output for providing the processed diversity signal to the transceiver 330 (via the transmission line 135 and the diversity RF module 320). Have. Diversity RF module 320 receives the processed diversity signal over transmission line 135 for further processing. In particular, the processed diversity signal is split or routed by the diversity RF multiplexer 321 into one or more paths. In the path, the divided or routed signals are filtered by the corresponding band pass filters 323a to 323d and amplified by the corresponding amplifiers 324a to 324d. The output of each of the amplifiers 324 a-324 d is provided to the transceiver 330.

  Diversity RF multiplexer 321 may be controlled by controller 120 (either directly or by way of an on-chip diversity RF controller) to selectively activate one or more of the paths. Similarly, amplifiers 324 a-324 d may also be controlled by controller 120. For example, in some implementations, each of the amplifiers 324a-324d includes an enable / disable input and is enabled (or disabled) based on the amplifier enable signal. In some implementations, the amplifiers 324a-324d amplify the received signal at the VGA with a gain controlled by an amplifier control signal received from the controller 120 (or the on-chip diversity RF controller controlled by the controller 120). It is a variable gain amplifier (VGA). In some implementations, the amplifiers 324a-324d are variable current amplifiers (VCAs).

  By adding the DRx module 310 to the receiver chain already containing the diversity RF module 320, the number of bandpass filters in the DRx configuration 300 is doubled. That is, in some implementations, bandpass filters 323 a-323 d are not included in diversity RF module 320. Rather, the band pass filters 313a-313d of the DRx module 310 are used to reduce the strength of the out-of-band blocker. Furthermore, shifting the automatic gain control (AGC) table of the diversity RF module 320 to reduce the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320 by the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 314a-314d of the DRx module 310. Can.

  For example, if the DRx module gain is 15 dB and the receiver sensitivity is -100 dBm, then the diversity RF module 320 has a sensitivity of -85 dBm. When the closed loop AGC of the diversity RF module 320 becomes active, its gain automatically drops by 15 dB. However, both the signal component and the out-of-band blocker are received and amplified by 15 dB. That is, the 15 dB gain drop of diversity RF module 320 may also be accompanied by a 15 dB increase in its linearity. In particular, the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320 may be designed such that the linearity of the amplifier increases with gain reduction (or current increase).

  In some implementations, controller 120 controls the gain (and / or current) of amplifiers 314 a-314 d of DRx module 310 and amplifiers 324 a-324 d of diversity RF module 320. As in the above example, controller 120 responds to the increase of the fixed amount of gain provided by amplifiers 314a-314d of DRx module 310, and the fixed amount of gain provided by amplifiers 324a-324d of diversity RF module 320. Can be reduced. That is, in some implementations, controller 120 may convert the downstream amplifier control signal (for amplifiers 324a-324d of diversity RF module 320) into an amplifier control signal (for amplifiers 314a-314d for DRx module 310). And is configured to control the gain of one or more downstream amplifiers 324a-324d generated based on and coupled to the output (of DRx module 310) via transmission line 135. In some implementations, controller 120 also controls the gain of other components of the wireless device, such as the amplifier in the front end module (FEM), based on the amplifier control signal.

  As mentioned above, in some implementations, band pass filters 323a-323d are not included. That is, in some implementations, at least one of the downstream amplifiers 324a-324d is coupled to the output (of the DRx module 310) via the transmission line 135 without passing through the downstream band pass filter.

  FIG. 4 illustrates that in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 400 may include diversity RF module 420 with fewer amplifiers than diversity receiver (DRx) module 310. Diversity receiver configuration 400 includes diversity antenna 140 and DRx module 310 described above with reference to FIG. The output of the DRx module 310 passes through the transmit line 135 to the diversity RF module 420. Diversity RF module 420 differs from diversity RF module 320 of FIG. 3 in that diversity RF module 420 of FIG. 4 includes fewer amplifiers than DRx module 310.

  As mentioned above, in some implementations, diversity RF module 420 does not include a band pass filter. That is, in some implementations, one or more amplifiers 424 of diversity RF module 420 need not be band specific. In particular, diversity RF module 420 may include one or more paths. Each path includes an amplifier 424 that is not mapped one-to-one to the path of the DRx module 310. The mapping of such paths (or corresponding amplifiers) may be stored in controller 120.

  Thus, while DRx module 310 includes a fixed number of paths, each corresponding to one frequency band, diversity RF module 420 may include one or more paths that do not correspond to a single frequency band.

  In some implementations (shown in FIG. 4), diversity RF module 420 includes a single wideband or tunable amplifier 424 that amplifies the signal received from transmit line 135 and outputs the amplified signal to multiplexer 421. The multiplexer 421 includes a plurality of multiplexer outputs, each corresponding to a respective frequency band. In some implementations, diversity RF module 420 does not include any amplifiers.

  In some implementations, the diversity signal is a single band signal. That is, in some implementations, multiplexer 421 is an SPMT switch that routes the diversity signal based on the signal received from controller 120 to one of the multiple outputs corresponding to the frequency band of the single band signal. In some implementations, the diversity signal is a multi-band signal. That is, in some implementations, multiplexer 421 routes the diversity signal based on the divider control signal received from controller 120 to two or more outputs corresponding to two or more frequency bands of the multi-band signal. It is a signal divider. In some implementations, the diversity RF module 420 can be combined with the transceiver 330 as a single module.

  In some implementations, diversity RF module 420 includes multiple amplifiers, each corresponding to a set of frequency bands. The signal from the transmission line 135 can be fed along a first path to a band splitter which outputs high frequency to the high frequency amplifier and along the second path outputs low frequency to the low frequency amplifier. The output of each amplifier may be provided to a multiplexer 421 configured to route the signal to the corresponding input of transceiver 330.

  FIG. 5 shows that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 500 may include DRx module 510 coupled to off-module filter 513. The DRx module 510 may include a packaging substrate 501 configured to receive a plurality of components and a receiving system implemented on the packaging substrate 501. The DRx module 510 may include one or more signal paths made available to the system integrator, designer or manufacturer that are routed out of the DRx module 510 to support filters for any desired band.

  The DRx module 510 includes a fixed number of paths between the input and output of the DRx module 510. The DRx module 510 includes a bypass path between the input and output activated by the bypass switch 519 controlled by the DRx controller 502. Although FIG. 5 illustrates a single bypass switch 519, in some implementations, the bypass switch 519 may be a multiple switch (eg, a first switch physically located near the input, and the physical nature of the output). And a second switch provided close to the target). As shown in FIG. 5, the bypass path does not include a filter or an amplifier.

  The DRx module 510 includes a fixed number of multiplexer paths, including a first multiplexer 511 and a second multiplexer 512. The multiplexer path includes a fixed number of on-module paths. This includes a first multiplexer 511, band pass filters 313a to 313d mounted on the packaging substrate 501, amplifiers 314a to 314d mounted on the packaging substrate 501, and a second multiplexer 512. The multiplexer path includes one or more off module paths. This includes a first multiplexer 511, a band pass filter 513 implemented outside the packaging substrate 501, an amplifier 514, and a second multiplexer 512. The amplifier 514 may be a wide band amplifier mounted on the packaging substrate 501 or may be mounted outside the packaging substrate 501. As mentioned above, the amplifiers 314a-314d, 514 can be variable gain amplifiers and / or variable current amplifiers.

  The DRx controller 502 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and the output. In some implementations, the DRx controller 502 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on the band selection signal received by the DRx controller 502 (eg, from the communication controller). The DRx controller 502 selectively activates the path, for example, by opening and closing the bypass switch 519, enabling or disabling the amplifiers 314a to 314d and 514, controlling the multiplexers 511 and 512, or via other mechanisms. Can be For example, the DRx controller 502 can open and close switches along the path (e.g., between the filters 313a-313d, 513 and the amplifiers 314a-314d, 514) or substantially gain the gain of the amplifiers 314a-314d, 514. Can be set to zero.

  FIG. 6A shows that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 600 may include DRx module 610 with one or more phase matching components 624a-624b. The DRx module 610 includes two paths from the input of the DRx module 610 coupled to the antenna 140 to the output of the DRx module 610 coupled to the transmit line 135.

  In the DRx module 610 of FIG. 6A, the signal divider and band pass filter are implemented as a diplexer 611. Diplexer 611 includes an input coupled to antenna 140, a first output coupled to first amplifier 314a, and a second output coupled to second amplifier 314b. At a first output, diplexer 611 receives at an input (eg, from antenna 140) and outputs a filtered signal to a first frequency band. At a second output, diplexer 611 outputs a signal received at the input and filtered to a second frequency band. In some implementations, the diplexer 611 is a triplexer configured to divide an input signal received at the input of the DRx module 610 into multiple signals for each of multiple frequency bands propagating along multiple paths. It can be replaced by a multiplexer or any other multiplexer.

  As mentioned above, each one of the amplifiers 314a-314b is provided along one corresponding path of the path and is configured to amplify the signal received at the amplifier. The outputs of the amplifiers 314a-314b are provided by the signal combiner 612 after being provided through the corresponding phase shift components 624a-624b.

  Signal combiner 612 includes a first input coupled to first phase shifting component 624 a, a second input coupled to second phase shifting component 624 b, and an output coupled to the output of DRx module 610. The signal at the output of the signal combiner is the sum of the signals at the first and second inputs. That is, the signal combiner is configured to combine signals propagating along multiple paths.

  When a signal is received by the antenna 140, the signal is filtered by the diplexer 611 into a first frequency band and propagates along a first path through the first amplifier 314a. The filtered amplified signal is phase shifted by the first phase shifting component 624 a and provided to the first input of the signal combiner 612. In some implementations, the signal combiner 612 or the second amplifier 314 b does not prevent the signal from continuing through the signal combiner 612 along the second path in the reverse direction. That is, the signal propagates through the second phase shift component 624 b and through the second amplifier 314 b where it is reflected from the diplexer 611. The reflected signal propagates through the second amplifier 314 b and the second phase shifting component 624 b to reach the second input of the signal combiner 612.

  If the initial signal (at the first input of the signal combiner 612) and the reflected signal (at the second input of the signal combiner 612) are out of phase, the addition performed by the signal combiner 612 causes the signal at the output of the signal combiner 612 Is weakened. Similarly, if the initial signal and the reflected signal are in phase, the addition performed by signal combiner 612 intensifies the signal at the output of signal combiner 612. That is, in some implementations, the second phase shifting component 624b is configured to phase shift the signal (in at least a first frequency band) to make the initial signal and the reflected signal at least partially in phase . In particular, the second phase shifting component 624b is configured to phase shift the signal (in at least the first frequency band) such that the amplitude of the sum of the initial signal and the reflected signal is greater than the amplitude of the initial signal. .

  For example, the second phase shift component 624b introduces a signal passing through the second phase shift component 624b by back propagation through the second amplifier 314b, reflection from the diplexer 611, and forward propagation through the second amplifier 314b. Can be configured to shift the phase by -1/2 times the phase shift. In another example, the second phase shift component 624b may be configured to transmit the signal passing through the second phase shift component 624b 360 degrees, back propagation through the second amplifier 314b, reflection from the diplexer 611, and the second amplifier 314b. It can be configured to phase shift by half the difference from the phase shift introduced by the forward propagation through. In general, the second phase shift component 624b shifts the signal passing through the second phase shift component 624b so that the initial signal and the reflected signal have a phase difference of an integral multiple of 360 degrees (including zero). It can be configured.

  In one example, the initial signal may be 0 degrees (or any other reference phase), by back propagation through the second amplifier 314b, reflection from the diplexer 611, and forward propagation through the second amplifier 314b. , Can introduce a phase shift of 140 degrees. That is, in some implementations, the second phase shifting component 624b is configured to phase shift the signal passing through the second phase shifting component 624b by -70 degrees. That is, the initial signal is to -70 degrees by the second phase shift component 624b, to 70 degrees by back propagation through the second amplifier 314b, reflection from the diplexer 611, and forward propagation through the second amplifier 314b. , And the second phase shift component 624b to shift the phase back to 0 degrees.

  In some implementations, the second phase shifting component 624b is configured to phase shift the signal passing through the second phase shifting component 624b by 110 degrees. That is, the initial signal is to 110 degrees by the second phase shift component 624b, to 250 degrees by back propagation through the second amplifier 314b, reflection from the diplexer 611, and forward propagation through the second amplifier 314b, And phase shifted to 360 degrees by the second phase shift component 624 b.

  At the same time, the signal received by the antenna 140 is filtered to a second frequency band by the diplexer 611 and propagates along a second path through the second amplifier 314 b. The filtered amplified signal is phase shifted by the second phase shift component 624 b and supplied to the second input of the signal combiner 612. In some implementations, the signal combiner 612 or the first amplifier 314a does not prevent the signal from continuing through the signal combiner 612 along the first path in the reverse direction. That is, the signal propagates through the first phase shift component 624 a and through the second amplifier 314 a where it is reflected from the diplexer 611. The reflected signal propagates through the first amplifier 314 a and the first phase shifting component 624 a to reach the first input of the signal coupler 612.

  If the initial signal (at the second input of the signal combiner 612) and the reflected signal (at the first input of the signal combiner 612) are out of phase, the addition performed by the signal combiner 612 causes the signal at the output of the signal combiner 612 When weakened and the initial signal and the reflected signal are in phase, the addition performed by the signal combiner 612 intensifies the signal at the output of the signal combiner 612. That is, in some implementations, the first phase shifting component 624a is configured to phase shift the signal (in at least the second frequency band) to make the initial signal and the reflected signal at least partially in phase .

  For example, the first phase shift component 624a introduces a signal passing through the first phase shift component 624a by back propagation through the first amplifier 314a, reflection from the diplexer 611, and forward propagation through the first amplifier 314a. Can be configured to shift the phase by -1/2 times the phase shift. In another example, the first phase shift component 624a may include 360 degrees of the signal passing through the first phase shift component 624a, back propagation through the first amplifier 314a, reflection from the diplexer 611, and the first amplifier 314a. It can be configured to phase shift by half the difference from the phase shift introduced by the forward propagation through. In general, the first phase shift component 624a phase shifts the signal passing through the first phase shift component 624a such that the initial signal and the reflected signal have a phase difference of an integral multiple of 360 degrees (including zero). It can be configured.

  Phase shift components 624a-624b may be implemented as passive circuits. In particular, phase shift components 624a-624b are implemented as LC circuits and may include one or more passive components such as inductors and / or capacitors. These passive components are connected in parallel and / or in series between the outputs of the amplifiers 314a-314b and the input of the signal coupler 612 or between the outputs of the amplifiers 314a-314b and the ground voltage. be able to. In some implementations, phase shift components 624a-624b are integrated on the same die or in the same package as amplifiers 314a-314b.

  In some implementations (eg, as shown in FIG. 6A), phase shift components 624a-624b are provided along the path after amplifiers 314a-314b. That is, any signal attenuation caused by phase shift components 624a-624b does not affect the performance of module 610, eg, the signal to noise ratio of the output signal. However, in some implementations, phase shift components 624a-624b are provided along the path in front of amplifiers 314a-314b. For example, phase shift components 624a-624b may be integrated into impedance matching components provided between diplexer 611 and amplifiers 314a-314b.

  FIG. 6B shows that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 640 may include DRx module 641 with one or more phase matching components 624a-624b and dual stage amplifiers 614a-614b. The DRx module 641 of FIG. 6B is substantially similar to the DRx module 610 of FIG. 6A. However, the amplifiers 314a to 314b of the DRx module 610 of FIG. 6A are replaced with the two-stage amplifiers 614a to 614b of the DRx module 641 of FIG. 6B.

  FIG. 6C shows that, in some embodiments, the diversity receiver configuration 680 can include a DRx module 681 with one or more phase matching components 624 a-624 b and a combiner post amplifier 615. The DRx module 681 of FIG. 6C is substantially similar to the DRx module 610 of FIG. 6A. However, the DRx module 681 of FIG. 6C includes a coupler post amplifier 615 provided between the output of the signal coupler 612 and the output of the DRx module 681. Similar to amplifiers 314a-314b, combiner post-amplifier 615 can be a variable gain amplifier (VGA) and / or a variable current amplifier controlled by a DRx controller (not shown).

  FIG. 7 shows that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 700 may include DRx module 710 with tunable phase shift components 724a-724d. Each of the tunable phase shifting components 724 a-724 d may be configured to phase shift the signal passing through the tunable phase shifting components by an amount controlled by the phase shift tuning signal received from the DRx controller 702.

  Diversity receiver configuration 700 includes DRx module 710 having an input coupled to antenna 140 and an output coupled to transmit line 135. The DRx module 710 includes a fixed number of paths between the input and output of the DRx module 710. In some implementations, the DRx module 710 includes one or more bypass paths (not shown) between inputs and outputs activated by one or more bypass switches that the DRx controller 702 controls.

  The DRx module 710 includes a fixed number of multiplexer paths, including an input multiplexer 311 and an output multiplexer 312. The multiplexer path includes a fixed number of on-module paths (shown) including input multiplexer 311, bandpass filters 313a-313d, amplifiers 314a-314d, tunable phase shift components 724a-724d, output multiplexer 312 and combiner post-amplifier 615. Including. The multiplexer path may include one or more off module paths (not shown) as described above. Again, as noted above, the amplifiers 314a-d (gain post-amplifiers 615) may be variable gain amplifiers and / or variable current amplifiers.

  Tunable phase shift components 724a-724d may include one or more variable components such as inductors and capacitors. These variable components may be connected in parallel and / or in series between the outputs of the amplifiers 314a to 314d and the inputs of the output multiplexer 312 or between the outputs of the amplifiers 314a to 314d and the ground voltage. Can.

  The DRx controller 702 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and the output. In some implementations, the DRx controller 702 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on the band select signal (eg, from the communication controller) received by the DRx controller 702. The DRx controller 702 can selectively activate the path, for example, by enabling or disabling the amplifiers 314a-314d as described above, by control of the multiplexers 311, 312, or through other mechanisms. .

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 702 is configured to tune the tunable phase shift components 724a-724d. In some implementations, DRx controller 702 tunes tunable phase shift components 724a-724d based on the band select signal. For example, the DRx controller 702 tunes the tunable phase shift components 724a-724d based on a lookup table that associates multiple frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band select signal with tuning parameters. be able to. Thus, the DRx controller 702 transmits the phase shift tuning signal to the tunable phase shift components 724a-724d of each active path in response to the band select signal, and the tunable phase shift component (or its variable according to the tuning parameters) Parts) can be tuned.

  The DRx controller 702 can be configured to tune the tunable phase shifting components 724 a-724 d such that the out-of-band reflected signal is in phase with the out-of-band initial signal at the output multiplexer 312. For example, a band selection signal may be a first path (through the first amplifier 314a) corresponding to the first frequency band and a second path (through the second amplifier 314b) corresponding to the second frequency band (third) If the DRx controller 702 indicates that the third path (through the amplifier 314c) is to be activated (1) (for the second frequency band), for signals propagating along the second path (2) so that the initial signal propagates backward along the first path, is reflected from the band pass filter 313a, and is in phase with the reflected signal propagating forward through the first path, ) For signals propagating along the third path (in the third frequency band), the initial signal propagates backward along the first path, is reflected from the band pass filter 313a, and Propagate forward through So that the reflected signal phase with that, it is possible to tune the first tunable phase shifting part 724a.

  The DRx controller 702 can tune the first tunable phase shifting component 724a such that the second frequency band is phase shifted by an amount different from the third frequency band. For example, the signal in the second frequency band is phase shifted by 140 degrees and the third frequency band is back-propagated through the first amplifier 314a, reflected from the band pass filter 313a, and forward through the first amplifier 314b. When phase shifted by 130 degrees by propagation, the DRx controller 702 phase shifts the second frequency band by -70 degrees (or 110 degrees) and phases the third frequency band by -65 degrees (or 115 degrees) The first tunable phase shifting component 724a can be tuned to shift.

  The DRx controller 702 may also tune the second phase shift component 724b and the third phase shift component 724c.

  In another example, if the band select signal indicates that the first path, the second path, and the fourth path (through the fourth amplifier 314d) should be activated, then the DRx controller 702 ) For signals propagating along the second path (in the second frequency band), the initial signal propagates backward along the first path, is reflected from the band pass filter 313a, and The initial signal is in the first path so that it is in phase with the reflected signal forwardly propagating through and (2) for signals propagating along the fourth path (in the fourth frequency band) Tuning the first tunable phase shifting component 724a to be in phase with the reflected signal back propagating along, reflected from the band pass filter 313a, and forward propagating through the first path it can

  The DRx controller 702 can tune the variable components of the tunable phase shift components 724a-724d to have different values for different sets of frequency bands.

  In some implementations, tunable phase shift components 724 a-724 d are replaced with fixed phase shift components that are not tunable or controlled by DRx controller 702. Each of the phase shift components provided along one corresponding path of a plurality of paths corresponding to one frequency band corresponds to each other frequency band and an initial signal along the corresponding other path. Are configured to be phase-shifted to be in phase with the reflected signal propagating back along the one path, reflected from the corresponding band pass filter, and forward propagating through the one path be able to.

  For example, the third phase shift component 724c is fixed and (1) an initial signal at a first frequency (propagating along the first path) propagates backward along the third path, Phase shift the first frequency band so as to be in phase with the reflected signal reflected from the band pass filter 313c and forward propagated through the third path, (2) (propagating along the second path) The initial signal at the second frequency propagates backward along the third path, is reflected in phase with the reflected signal that is reflected from the third band pass filter 313c, and forward propagated through the third path And (3) an initial signal at a fourth frequency (propagating along a fourth path) propagates backward along the third path, and a third band pass filter Reflected from 313c and through the third path Configured to phase shift the fourth frequency band to be reflected signals in phase to propagating forward Te. Other phase shifting components can be similarly fixed and configured.

  That is, the DRx module 710 includes a DRx controller 702 configured to select one or more of the plurality of paths between the input of the DRx module 710 and the output of the DRx module 710. The DRx module 710 further includes a plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the signal received at that amplifier. The DRx module further includes a plurality of phase shift components 724a-724d. Each one of the plurality of phase shift components 724a-724d is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to phase shift a signal passing through the phase shift component.

  In some implementations, the first phase shifting component 724a is provided along a first path that corresponds to a first frequency band (eg, the frequency band of the first band pass filter 313a), and the first phase shifting component 724a The second frequency band of the signal passing through (for example, the frequency band of the second band pass filter 313b) is phase shifted, and the initial signal propagated along the second path corresponding to the second frequency band; It is configured to be at least partially in phase with the reflected signal propagating along one path.

  In some implementations, the first phase shifting component 724a further phase shifts a third frequency band of the signal passing through the first phase shifting component 724a (eg, the frequency band of the third band pass filter 313c) to The initial signal propagating along the third path corresponding to the three frequency bands and the reflected signal propagating along the first path are at least partially in phase.

  Similarly, in some implementations, a second phase shift component 724b provided along a second path phase shifts a first frequency band of a signal passing through the second phase shift component 724b to form a first path. And the reflected signal propagating along the second path is at least in phase.

  FIG. 8 illustrates that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 800 may include DRx module 810 with one or more impedance matching components 834a-834b. The DRx module 810 includes two paths from the input of the DRx module 810 coupled to the antenna 140 to the output of the DRx module 810 coupled to the transmit line 135.

  In the DRx module 810 of FIG. 8 (as in the DRx module 610 of FIG. 6A), the signal divider and band pass filter are implemented as a diplexer 611. The diplexer 611 includes an input coupled to the antenna, a first output coupled to the first impedance matching component 834a, and a second output coupled to the second impedance matching component 834b. At the first output, diplexer 611 outputs the filtered signal to the first frequency band received at the input (eg, from antenna 140). At the second output, the diplexer 611 outputs the filtered signal to the second frequency band received at the input.

  The impedance matching components 834a-634d are each provided between the diplexer 611 and the amplifiers 314a-314b. As mentioned above, each one of the amplifiers 314a-314b is provided along one corresponding path of the path and is configured to amplify the received signal in the amplifier. The outputs of amplifiers 314 a-314 b are provided to signal combiner 612.

  Signal combiner 612 includes a first input coupled to first amplifier 314 a, a second input coupled to second amplifier 314 b, and an output coupled to the output of DRx module 610. The signal at the output of the signal combiner is the sum of the signals at the first and second inputs.

  When a signal is received by the antenna 140, the signal is filtered by the diplexer 611 into a first frequency band and propagates along a first path through the first amplifier 314a. Similarly, the signal is filtered by the diplexer 611 into a second frequency band and propagates along a second path through the second amplifier 314b.

  Each path can be characterized by noise figure and gain. The noise figure for each path is a degraded representation of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) caused by the amplifiers and impedance matching components provided along that path. In particular, the noise figure for each path is the decibel (dB) difference between the SNR at the input of the impedance matching components 834a-834b and the SNR at the output of the amplifiers 314a-314b. That is, the noise figure is a measure of the difference between the noise output of the amplifier and the noise output of an "ideal" amplifier (with no noise) of the same gain. Similarly, the gain for each path is a representation of the gain caused by the amplifiers and impedance matching components provided along that path.

  The noise figure and gain of each path may be different for different frequency bands. For example, the first path may have in-band noise figure and gain for the first frequency band and out-of-band noise figure and out-of-band gain for the second frequency band. Similarly, the second path may have in-band noise figure and gain for the second frequency band, and out-of-band noise figure and out-of-band gain for the first frequency band.

  The DRx module 810 is also characterized by noise figure and gain which may be different for different frequency bands. In particular, the noise figure of the DRx module 810 is the dB difference between the SNR at the input of the DRx module 810 and the SNR at the output of the DRx module 810.

  The noise figure and gain of each path (in each frequency band) depend, at least in part, on the impedance (in each frequency band) of impedance matching components 834a-834b. Thus, it may be advantageous for the impedance of the impedance matching components 834a-834b to minimize the in-band noise figure of each path and / or maximize the in-band gain of each path. That is, in some implementations, each of the impedance matching components 834a-834b (in comparison to a DRx module lacking such impedance matching components 834a-834b) lowers the in-band noise figure of its respective path, and / or Or configured to increase the in-band gain of each path.

  Because the signals propagating along the two paths are combined by the signal combiner 612, out-of-band noise that the amplifier generates or amplifies can negatively affect the combined signal. For example, out-of-band noise that the first amplifier 314a generates or amplifies may increase the noise figure of the DRx module 810 at the second frequency. Thus, it may be advantageous that the impedance of the impedance matching components 834a-834b minimize the out-of-band noise figure of each path and / or minimize the out-of-band gain of each path. That is, in some implementations, impedance matching components 834a-834b each reduce the out-of-band noise figure of their respective paths (as compared to the DRx module lacking such impedance matching components 834a-834b), and / or Or configured to reduce the out-of-band gain of each path.

  The impedance matching components 834a-834b can be implemented as passive circuits. In particular, the impedance matching components 834a-834b are implemented as RLC circuits and may include one or more passive components such as resistors, inductors and / or capacitors. These passive components can be connected in parallel and / or in series between the output of diplexer 611 and the inputs of amplifiers 314 a-314 b or between the output of diplexer 611 and the ground voltage. In some implementations, impedance matching components 834a-834b are integrated on the same die or in the same package as amplifiers 314a-314b.

  As noted above, it may be advantageous for particular paths to minimize the in-band noise figure, maximize the in-band gain, and minimize the out-of-band noise figure of the impedance of the impedance matching components 834a-834b. And out-of-band gain is to be minimized. All four goals with only two degrees of freedom (eg, impedance in the first frequency band and impedance in the second frequency band) or various other constraints (eg, number of parts, cost, die space) Designing impedance matching components 834a-834b to achieve this can be difficult. Thus, in some implementations, in-band noise figure minus in-band gain minus in-band metric, and out-of-band noise figure plus out-of-band gain minus out-of-band metric. Designing impedance matching components 834a-834b to achieve both of these goals with various constraints may still be difficult. That is, in some implementations, the in-band metrics are minimized with a set of constraints, and the out-of-band metrics are combined with the set of constraints and threshold amounts (eg, 0.1 dB, 0.2 dB, This is minimized due to the additional constraint that the in-band metric is not increased by more than 0.5 dB or any other value). Thus, the impedance matching component may be configured such that the in-band metric minus the in-band gain from the in-band noise figure is within the threshold amount of the in-band metric minimum, such as an in-band metric minimum possible under any constraints. Configured to reduce The impedance matching component further allows an out-of-band metric minimum possible with the additional constraint that the out-of-band noise figure plus out-of-band gain plus out-of-band metric not increase in-band metric by more than threshold amount, for example. Configured to reduce to an in-band constrained out-of-band minimum such as a value. In some implementations, a composite metric with an in-band metric (weighted by an in-band factor) plus an out-of-band metric (weighted by an out-band factor) is minimized with any constraints.

  That is, in some implementations, each of the impedance matching components 834a-834b reduces the in-band metric (in-band noise figure minus in-band gain) of its respective path (eg, reduces in-band noise figure To increase, or both). In some implementations, each of the impedance matching components 834a-834b further reduces the out-of-band metric (out-of-band noise figure plus out-of-band gain) of its respective path (e.g. Or both).

  In some implementations, by reducing the out-of-band metrics, the impedance matching components 834a-834b may increase the DRx module 810 in one or more of the frequency bands without substantially increasing the noise figure in the other frequency bands. Reduce the noise figure.

  FIG. 9 illustrates that, in some embodiments, diversity receiver configuration 900 may include DRx module 910 with tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d. Each of the tunable impedance matching components 934 a-934 d may be configured to represent an impedance controlled by an impedance tuning signal received from the DRx controller 902.

  Diversity receiver configuration 900 includes a DRx module 910 having an input coupled to antenna 140 and an output coupled to transmit line 135. The DRx module 910 includes a fixed number of paths between the input and output of the DRx module 910. In some implementations, the DRx module 910 includes one or more bypass paths (not shown) between inputs and outputs activated by one or more bypass switches that the DRx controller 902 controls.

  The DRx module 910 includes a fixed number of multiplexer paths, including an input multiplexer 311 and an output multiplexer 312. The multiplexer path includes a number of on-module paths (shown) including input multiplexer 311, bandpass filters 313a-313d, tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d, amplifiers 314a-314d, and output multiplexer 312. . The multiplexer path may include one or more off module paths (not shown) as described above. Again, as noted above, amplifiers 314a-314d may be variable gain amplifiers and / or variable current amplifiers.

  The tunable impedance matching components 934a-934b may be tunable T-circuits, tunable π-circuits or any other tunable matching circuit. Tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d may include one or more variable components such as resistors, inductors and capacitors. These variable components may be connected in parallel and / or in series between the output of the input multiplexer 311 and the inputs of the amplifiers 314a to 314d or between the output of the input multiplexer 311 and the ground voltage. it can.

  The DRx controller 902 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and the output. In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on the band select signal (eg, from the communication controller) received by the DRx controller 902. The DRx controller 902 can selectively activate that path, for example, by enabling or disabling the amplifiers 314a-314d as described above, by control of the multiplexers 311, 312, or through other mechanisms. .

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 is configured to tune the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d. In some implementations, DRx controller 702 tunes tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d based on the band select signal. For example, DRx controller 902 tunes tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d based on a look-up table that associates the plurality of frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band selection signal with the tuning parameters. be able to. Thus, the DRx controller 902 transmits impedance tuning signals to the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path in response to the band select signal, and the tunable impedance matching components (or variable components thereof) according to the tuning parameters. ) Can be tuned.

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 is based on the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d, at least in part, based on amplifier control signals transmitted to control the gain and / or current of the amplifiers 314a-314d. To tune.

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 controls the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path such that the in-band noise figure is minimized (or reduced) and the in-band gain is maximized (or increased). The out-of-band noise figure for each other active path is configured to be minimized (or reduced) and / or tuned to minimize out-of-band gain for each other active path.

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 can tune the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path such that in-band metrics (in-band noise figure minus in-band gain) are minimized (or reduced) and others. Are configured to be tuned such that the out-of-band metric (out-of-band noise figure plus out-of-band gain) for each of the active paths is minimized (or reduced).

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 may minimize (or reduce) the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path with a set of in-band metrics, and the set And additional constraints such as not increasing the in-band metric by more than a threshold amount (eg 0.1 dB, 0.2 dB, 0.5 dB or any other value) It is configured to tune out-of-band metrics to be minimized (or reduced).

  That is, in some implementations, the DRx controller 902 may tune the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path, and the tunable impedance matching components may include in-band metrics where in-band gain is subtracted from in-band noise figure. For example, it is configured to be reduced to within an in-band metric minimum threshold, such as, for example, an in-band metric minimum that is possible under any constraints. The DRx controller 902 further provides tunable impedance matching components 934a to 934d for each active path, for example, an in-band metric for out-of-band metrics where the tunable impedance matching components add out-of-band noise figure to out-of-band noise figure. It is configured to tune to reduce to an in-band constrained out-of-band minimum, such as an out-of-band metric minimum possible, with the additional constraint of not increasing by more than the threshold amount.

  In some implementations, the DRx controller 902 may tune the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d of each active path to an in-band metric (weighted by an in-band factor) (by the out-of-band factor for each other active path). It is configured to tune so that the composite metric plus the out-of-band metric for each of the other active paths that has been weighted is minimized (or reduced) under any constraint.

  The DRx controller 902 can tune the variable components of the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d to have different values for different sets of frequency bands.

  In some implementations, tunable impedance matching components 934 a-934 d are replaced with fixed impedance matching components that are not tunable or controlled by DRx controller 902. Each of the impedance matching components provided along one corresponding path of a plurality of paths corresponding to one frequency band reduces (or minimizes) the in-band metric for the one frequency band. And may be configured to reduce (or minimize) out-of-band metrics for one or more of the other frequency bands (e.g., each other frequency band).

  For example, the third impedance matching component 934c is fixed and (1) reduces the in-band metric for the third frequency band and (2) reduces the out-of-band metric for the first frequency band (3 B.) Configured to reduce out-of-band metrics for the second frequency band and / or to reduce (4) out-of-band metrics for the fourth frequency band. Other impedance matching components can be similarly fixed and configured.

  That is, DRx module 910 includes a DRx controller 902 configured to select one or more of a plurality of paths between the input of DRx module 910 and the output of DRx module 910. The DRx module 910 further includes a plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d. Each one of the plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify the signal received at that amplifier. The DRx module further includes a plurality of impedance matching components 934a-934d. Each one of the plurality of phase shift components 934a to 934d is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths, and the out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain of the corresponding one of the plurality of paths is Configured to reduce at least one.

  In some implementations, the first impedance matching component 934a is provided along a first path corresponding to a first frequency band (eg, a frequency band of the first band pass filter 313a) and corresponds to a second path It is configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the second frequency band (e.g., the frequency band of the second band pass filter 313b).

  In some implementations, the first impedance matching component 934a further includes at least an out-of-band noise figure or an out-of-band gain for a third frequency band corresponding to the third path (eg, the frequency band of the third band pass filter 313c). It is configured to reduce one.

  Similarly, in some implementations, the second impedance matching component 934b provided along the second path is configured to reduce at least one of out-of-band noise figure or out-of-band gain for the first frequency band Be done.

  FIG. 10 shows that, in some embodiments, the diversity receiver configuration 1000 can include a DRx module 1010 with tunable impedance matching components provided at the input and output. The DRx module 1010 may include one or more tunable impedance matching components provided at one or more of the input and output of the DRx module 1010. In particular, the DRx module 1010 may include an input tunable impedance matching component 1016 provided at the input of the DRx module 1010, an output tunable impedance matching component 1017 provided at the output of the DRx module 1010, or both.

  It is unlikely that all of the multiple frequency bands received at the same diversity antenna 140 will be an ideal impedance match. A tunable input impedance matching component 1016 is implemented at the input of the DRx module 1010 (eg, based on a band select signal from the communication controller) to match each frequency band using a compact matching circuit (eg, based on a band select signal from the communication controller) Can be controlled. For example, DRx controller 1002 tunes tunable input impedance matching component 1016 based on a lookup table that associates multiple frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band select signal with tuning parameters. Can. Thus, DRx controller 1002 transmits the input impedance tuning signal to tunable input impedance matching component 1016 in response to the band select signal to tune the tunable input impedance matching component (or its variable component) according to the tuning parameters. can do.

  The tunable input impedance matching component 1016 can be a tunable T circuit, a tunable π circuit, or any other tunable matching circuit. In particular, tunable input impedance matching component 1016 may include one or more variable components such as resistors, inductors and capacitors. These variable components may be connected in parallel and / or in series between the input of the DRx module 1010 and the input of the first multiplexer 311 or between the input of the DRx module 1010 and the ground voltage it can.

  Similarly, with only one transmission line 135 (or at least some transmission lines) carrying signals in many frequency bands, it is unlikely that all multiple frequency bands will be an ideal impedance match. The tunable output impedance matching component 1017 is implemented at the output of the DRx module 1010 (eg, based on a band select signal from the communication controller) to match each frequency band using a compact matching circuit (eg, based on a band select signal from the communication controller) Can be controlled. For example, DRx controller 1002 tunes tunable output impedance matching component 1017 based on a look-up table that associates the plurality of frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band selection signal with the tuning parameters. Can. Thus, DRx controller 1002 transmits the output impedance tuning signal to tunable output impedance matching component 1017 in response to the band select signal and tunes the tunable output impedance matching component (or its variable component) according to the tuning parameters. can do.

  The tunable output impedance matching component 1017 can be a tunable T circuit, a tunable π circuit, or any other tunable matching circuit. In particular, tunable output impedance matching component 1017 may include one or more variable components such as resistors, inductors and capacitors. These variable components may be connected in parallel and / or in series between the output of the second multiplexer 312 and the output of the DRx module 1010 or between the output of the second multiplexer 312 and the ground voltage. Can.

  FIG. 11 shows that, in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 1100 can include a DRx module 1110 with multiple tunable components. Diversity receiver configuration 1100 includes a DRx module 1110 having an input coupled to antenna 140 and an output coupled to transmit line 135. The DRx module 1110 includes a fixed number of paths between the input and output of the DRx module 1110. In some implementations, the DRx module 1110 includes one or more bypass paths (not shown) between the inputs and outputs activated by the one or more bypass switches controlled by the DRx controller 1102.

  The DRx module 1110 includes a fixed number of multiplexer paths, including an input multiplexer 311 and an output multiplexer 312. The multiplexer path includes tunable input impedance matching component 1016, input multiplexer 311, bandpass filters 313a-313d, tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d, amplifiers 314a-314d, tunable phase shift components 724a-724d, output multiplexer 312 and A number of on-module paths (shown) including tunable output impedance matching component 1017 are included. The multiplexer path may include one or more off module paths (not shown) as described above. Again, as noted above, amplifiers 314a-314d may be variable gain amplifiers and / or variable current amplifiers.

  The DRx controller 1102 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and the output. In some implementations, the DRx controller 1102 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on the band selection signal received by the DRx controller 1102 (eg, from the communication controller). The DRx controller 902 can selectively activate that path, for example, by enabling or disabling the amplifiers 314a-314d as described above, by control of the multiplexers 311, 312, or through other mechanisms. . In some implementations, the DRx controller 1102 is configured to transmit amplifier control signals to each of the one or more amplifiers 314a-314d provided along the one or more activated paths. The amplifier control signal controls the gain (or current) of the destination amplifier.

  The DRx controller 1102 is configured to tune one or more of the tunable input impedance matching component 1016, the tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d, the tunable phase shifting components 724a-724d, and the tunable output impedance matching component 1017. For example, the DRx controller 1102 can tune the tunable components based on a look-up table that associates the plurality of frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band selection signal with the tuning parameters. Thus, the DRx controller 1101 can send tuning signals to the (active path) tunable component in response to the band select signal to tune the tunable component (or its variable components) according to the tuning parameters. In some implementations, the DRx controller 1102 tunes the tunable components based at least in part on the transmitted amplifier control signal to control the gain and / or current of the amplifiers 314a-314d. In various implementations, one or more of the tunable components can be replaced with fixed components that are not controlled by the DRx controller 1102.

  As can be appreciated, tuning of one of the tunable components can affect the tuning of other tunable components. That is, the tuning parameters in the look-up table for the first tunable component may be based on the tuning parameters for the second tunable component. For example, tuning parameters for tunable phase shift components 724a-724d may be based on tuning parameters for tunable impedance matching components 934a-934d. In other examples, tuning parameters for tunable impedance matching components 934 a-934 d may be based on tuning parameters for tunable input impedance matching component 1016.

  FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of a flowchart representation of a method of processing an RF signal. In some implementations (and, eg, as described in more detail below), method 1200 may be performed by a controller such as DRx controller 1102 in FIG. In some implementations, method 1200 can be performed by processing logic that includes hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, method 1200 is performed by a processor that executes code stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium (eg, memory). Briefly, method 1200 includes receiving a band select signal and routing the received RF signal to one or more tuned paths to process the received RF signal.

  The method 1200 begins at block 1210 with the controller receiving a band select signal. The controller may receive a band select signal from another controller or may receive a band select signal from a cellular base station or other external source. The band select signal can indicate one or more frequency bands in which the wireless device transmits and receives RF signals. In some implementations, the band select signal indicates a set of frequency bands for carrier aggregation communication.

  At block 1220, the controller selectively activates one or more paths of the diversity receiver (DRx) module based on the band select signal. As mentioned above, the DRx module is a fixed number between one or more inputs (coupled to one or more antennas) and one or more outputs (coupled to one or more transmission lines) of the DRx module. May include the The paths may include bypass paths and multiplexer paths. The multiplexer path may include an on module path and an off module path.

  The controller may, for example, open or close one or more bypass switches and / or enable or disable divider control signals and / or one or more multiplexers by enabling or disabling an amplifier provided along the path via an amplifier enable signal. Alternatively, one or more of the plurality of paths can be selectively activated by control via a coupler control signal or via other mechanisms. For example, the controller can open and close switches provided along the path or set the gain of an amplifier provided along the path to substantially zero.

  At block 1230, the controller sends tuning signals to one or more tunable components provided along one or more activated paths. Tunable components include a tunable impedance matching component provided at the input of the DRx module, a plurality of tunable impedance matching components each provided along a plurality of paths, and a plurality provided each along a plurality of paths Or one or more of the tunable output impedance matching components provided at the output of the DRx module.

  The controller may tune the tunable component based on a look-up table that associates the plurality of frequency bands (or sets of frequency bands) indicated by the band selection signal with tuning parameters. Thus, the DRx controller can transmit a tuning signal to the (active path) tunable component in response to the band select signal to tune the tunable component (or its variable component) according to the tuning parameters. In some implementations, the controller controls the tunable components, at least in part, the gain and / or current of one or more amplifiers, each provided along one or more activated paths. Tuning based on the transmitted amplifier control signal.

  FIG. 13 illustrates that in some embodiments, some or all of the diversity receiver configurations (eg, the configurations shown in FIGS. 3-11) can be fully or partially implemented in one module . Such a module can be, for example, a front end module (FEM). Such a module may be, for example, a diversity receiver (DRx) FEM. In the example of FIG. 13, module 1300 may include packaging substrate 1302. A certain number of components can be mounted on such a packaging substrate 1302. For example, controller 1304 (which may include front end power management integrated circuit [FE-PIMC]), low noise amplifier assembly 1306 (which may include one or more variable gain amplifiers), (one or more fixed or tunable phase shift components A matching component 1308, which may include 1331 and one or more fixed or tunable impedance matching components 1332; a multiplexer assembly 1310; and a filter bank 1312 (which may include one or more band pass filters) on the packaging substrate 1302; And / or may be mounted and / or mounted within the packaging substrate 1302. Other components, such as a number of SMT devices 1314 may also be mounted to the packaging substrate 1302. It will be appreciated that although all of the various components are depicted as being laid out on the packaging substrate 1302, some component (s) can be mounted on other component (s).

  In some implementations, devices and / or circuits having one or more features described herein may be included in an RF electronic device such as a wireless device. Such devices and / or circuits may be implemented directly on the wireless device, in modular form as described herein, or some combination thereof. In some embodiments, such wireless devices may include, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, handheld wireless devices with or without telephony, wireless tablets, and the like.

  FIG. 14 depicts an exemplary wireless device 1400 having one or more advantageous features as described herein. In the context of one or more modules having one or more of the features described herein, such modules generally may include dashed box 1401 (eg, implementable as a front end module), diversity RF module 1411 (eg, implementable as a downstream module) And diversity receiver (DRx) module 1300 (eg, implementable as a front end module).

  Referring to FIG. 14, power amplifier (PA) 1420 receives its respective RF signal from transceiver 1410, which is configured and operable to generate the RF signal to be amplified and transmitted in a known manner, and receives the received signal. It can be processed. The transceiver 1410 is shown to interact with a baseband subsystem 1408 configured to provide conversion between data and / or voice signals suitable for the user and RF signals suitable for the transceiver 1410. The transceiver 1410 may also communicate with a power management component 1406 configured to manage power for operation of the wireless device 1400. Such power management may also control the operation of the baseband subsystem 1408 and modules 1401, 1411 and 1300.

  Baseband subsystem 1408 is shown connected to user interface 1402 to facilitate various input and output of voice and / or data provided to and received from the user. The baseband subsystem 1408 can also be coupled to memory 1404 configured to store data and / or instructions that facilitate wireless device operation and / or provide information storage for a user.

  In the exemplary wireless device 1400, the output of PA 1420 is shown to be matched and routed to a corresponding duplexer 1424 (via corresponding matching circuit 1422). Such amplified and filtered signals may be routed through antenna switch 1414 to primary antenna 1416 for transmission purposes. In some embodiments, duplexer 1424 can simultaneously perform transmit and receive operations using a common antenna (eg, primary antenna 1416). In FIG. 14, the received signal is shown routed to an "Rx" path, which may include, for example, a low noise amplifier (LNA).

  The wireless device also includes a diversity antenna 1426 and a diversity receiver module 1300 that receives signals from the diversity antenna 1426. Diversity receiver module 1300 processes the received signal and transmits the processed signal to diversity RF module 1411 via transmission line 1435. The diversity RF module 1411 supplies the signal to the transceiver 1410 after further processing.

One or more features of the present disclosure may implement the various cellular frequency bands described herein. Examples of such bands are listed in Table 1. It will be appreciated that at least some of the bands can be divided into sub-bands. It will also be appreciated that one or more features of the present disclosure may also implement frequency ranges that do not have an indication as in the example of Table 1.

  Throughout the specification and claims, unless the context makes clear otherwise, terms such as "comprise" and the like have the inclusive meaning opposite to their exclusive or exhaustive meaning, ie It should be interpreted in the sense that “is not limited to”. The term "coupled" as generally used herein refers to two or more elements which may be either directly connected or connected via one or more intermediate elements. In addition, the terms "here", "upper", "lower" and like terms are used throughout this application to refer to the entire application and not to any particular part of the application. Where the context allows, terms in the above detailed description using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number, respectively. For the terms "or" and "or" referring to a list of two or more items, the term covers all of the following interpretations. That is, any item of the list, all items of the list, and any combination of items of the list.

  The above detailed description of embodiments of the present invention is not intended to be exclusive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed above. While specific embodiments of the invention and examples thereof have been described above for the purpose of illustration, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will recognize. For example, although processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may use routines having steps in a different order or a system having blocks, and some processes or blocks may be deleted. , Move, add, subdivide, combine, and / or modify. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks may be shown to be performed serially, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel or at different times.

  The teachings of the present invention provided herein are not necessarily limited to the systems described above, and may be applied to other systems. The various embodiment elements and acts described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In fact, the novel methods and systems described herein can be embodied in various other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The appended claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims (19)

A receiving system,
An input configured to receive a signal from a diversity antenna separate from the primary antenna;
An input multiplexer having an input multiplexer input coupled to the input, and a plurality of input multiplexer outputs;
An output portion configured to transmit signals to a transceiver via a transmission line coupled to the output portion;
An output multiplexer having a plurality of output multiplexer inputs and an output multiplexer output coupled to the output;
A controller configured to selectively activate one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system, and to provide an impedance tuning signal and an output tuning signal. When,
With multiple amplifiers,
Multiple tunable impedance matching components,
A tunable output matching circuit disposed between the output multiplexer output and the output of the receiving system;
The transmission line provides impedance to a signal transmitted between an output of the receiving system and the transceiver.
Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is arranged along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between one input multiplexer output and a corresponding output multiplexer input to amplify the signal received at the amplifier Configured to
Each one of the plurality of tunable impedance matching components is disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between the one input multiplexer output and the corresponding output multiplexer input, and is in-band. Configured to provide an impedance based on the impedance tuning signal that reduces in-band noise figure for frequency and reduces out-of-band noise figure for out-of-band frequency,
The tunable output matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on the output tuning signal,
A receiving system, wherein the output tuning signal is configured to tune the tunable output matching circuit to match the impedance of the transmission line coupled to the output of the receiving system. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on a band select signal received by the controller. 3. The receiving system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to generate the output tuning signal based on the band select signal. 4. The receiving system of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to generate the output tuning signal based on a look-up table associating a frequency band or set of frequency bands with tuning parameters. 4. The receiving system of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to generate the output tuning signal based on a plurality of frequency bands indicated by the band selection signal. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the tunable output matching circuit comprises at least one of a variable capacitor, a variable resistor or a variable inductor. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the tunable output matching circuit comprises at least one of a tunable T circuit or a tunable π circuit. Further including a plurality of band pass filters,
Each one of the plurality of band pass filters is provided along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and configured to filter signals received at the band pass filter into respective frequency bands. 1 receiving system. One of the plurality of amplifiers includes a variable gain amplifier (VGA),
The VGA amplifies the signal received at the VGA with a gain controlled by an amplifier control signal received from the controller;
The receiving system of claim 1, wherein said output tuning signal is based on said amplifier control signal. The output multiplexer includes a signal combiner disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and the tunable output matching circuit,
The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the signal combiner is configured to combine signals propagating along the plurality of paths. Further comprising a tunable input matching circuit disposed between the input multiplexer input and the receiving system;
The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the tunable input matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on an input tuning signal. The input multiplexer includes a signal divider disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and the tunable input matching circuit,
The signal divider is configured to divide an input signal received at an input of the receiving system into a plurality of signals in each of a plurality of frequency bands propagating along the plurality of paths. Reception system. A radio frequency (RF) module,
A packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components;
A receiver system mounted on the packaging substrate,
The receiving system is
An input configured to receive a signal from a diversity antenna separate from the primary antenna;
An input multiplexer having an input multiplexer input coupled to the input, and a plurality of input multiplexer outputs;
An output portion configured to transmit signals to a transceiver via a transmission line coupled to the output portion;
An output multiplexer having a plurality of output multiplexer inputs and an output multiplexer output coupled to the output;
A controller configured to selectively activate one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system, and to provide an impedance tuning signal and an output tuning signal. When,
With multiple amplifiers,
Multiple tunable impedance matching components,
A tunable output matching circuit disposed between the output multiplexer output and the output of the receiving system;
The transmission line provides impedance to a signal transmitted between an output of the receiving system and the transceiver.
Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is arranged along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between one input multiplexer output and a corresponding output multiplexer input to amplify the signal received at the amplifier Configured to
Each one of the plurality of tunable impedance matching components is disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between the one input multiplexer output and the corresponding output multiplexer input, and is in-band. Configured to provide an impedance based on the impedance tuning signal that reduces in-band noise figure for frequency and reduces out-of-band noise figure for out-of-band frequency,
The tunable output matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on the output tuning signal,
The RF module, wherein the output tuning signal is configured to tune the tunable output matching circuit to match the impedance of the transmission line coupled to the output of the receiving system. 14. The RF module of claim 13, wherein the RF module is a diversity receiver front end module (FEM). The output multiplexer includes a signal combiner disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and the tunable output matching circuit,
14. The RF module of claim 13, wherein the signal combiner is configured to combine signals propagating along the plurality of paths. The receiving system further includes a tunable input matching circuit disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and an input of the receiving system.
14. The RF module of claim 13, wherein the tunable input matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on an input tuning signal. A wireless device,
A primary antenna configured to receive a primary radio frequency (RF) signal;
A diversity antenna configured to receive a diversity radio frequency (RF) signal;
Configured to receive a processed version of the primary RF signal, receive a processed version of the diversity RF signal, and generate data bits based on the processed version of the primary RF signal or the diversity RF signal Transmitter and receiver, and
A primary front end module (FEM) in communication with the primary antenna and the transceiver, the primary FEM being located near the transceiver;
A diversity front end module (FEM) in communication with the diversity antenna and the transceiver, the diversity FEM being located further from the transceiver than the primary FEM,
The diversity FEM includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components,
The diversity FEM further includes a receiving system mounted on the packaging substrate,
The receiving system is
An input configured to receive a signal from the diversity antenna;
An input multiplexer having an input multiplexer input coupled to the input, and a plurality of input multiplexer outputs;
An output configured to transmit signals to the transceiver via a transmission line coupled to the output;
An output multiplexer having a plurality of output multiplexer inputs and an output multiplexer output coupled to the output;
A controller configured to selectively activate one or more of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system, and to provide an impedance tuning signal and an output tuning signal. When,
With multiple amplifiers,
Multiple tunable impedance matching components,
A tunable output matching circuit disposed between the output multiplexer output and the output of the receiving system;
The transmission line provides impedance to a signal transmitted between an output of the receiving system and the transceiver.
Each one of the plurality of amplifiers is arranged along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between one input multiplexer output and a corresponding output multiplexer input to amplify the signal received at the amplifier Configured to
Each one of the plurality of tunable impedance matching components is disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths between the one input multiplexer output and the corresponding output multiplexer input, and is in-band. Configured to provide an impedance based on the impedance tuning signal that reduces in-band noise figure for frequency and reduces out-of-band noise figure for out-of-band frequency,
The tunable output matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on the output tuning signal,
The wireless device, wherein the output tuning signal is configured to tune the tunable output matching circuit to match the impedance of the transmission line coupled to the output of the diversity FEM. The receiving system further includes a tunable input matching circuit disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and an input of the receiving system.
18. The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the tunable input matching circuit is configured to provide an impedance based on an input tuning signal. The output multiplexer includes a signal combiner disposed between the plurality of amplifiers and the tunable output matching circuit,
The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the signal combiner is configured to combine signals propagating along the plurality of paths.

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