KR20120038275A - High speed ook modulator and ook signal transmitter using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A high speed OOK modulator and an OOK signal transmitter using the same are provided to have a low signal transmission gain of a millimeter wave band to be large even using low power. CONSTITUTION: A first amplifier stage(300) and a second amplifier stage(310) use the same DC current path. A gate terminal of the first amplifier stage is connected to an input matching circuit(320). The input matching circuit is composed of first, second, and third microstrip lines and a capacitor of a DC block device. An interception circuit(330) is connected between a drain terminal of the first amplifier stage and a source terminal of the second amplifier stage. The second amplifier stage re-amplifies a signal, which is amplified and inputted to the gate terminal, through a mid-stage matching circuit(340). The amplified signal is outputted to an output terminal through an output matching circuit(350).

Description

HIGH SPEED OOK MODULATOR AND OOK SIGNAL TRANSMITTER USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a OOK signal modulation device of the millimeter wave band, and more particularly, it can be mounted on a portable communication device such as a mobile terminal with low power consumption, and is based on a semiconductor process having a large signal loss and signal leakage. A high-speed OOK modulation device suitable for high-speed data wireless transmission using a circuit and a transmitter using the same.

The present invention is derived from the research conducted as part of the ACE training project (Task Management No .: 2008-0057355, Task name: Variable RF SoCSoP).

Recently, millimeter wave demand is increasing, and according to such demand, international standardization bodies IEEE 802.15.3c and ECMA international TC 48 have completed the standardization of large-capacity short-range wireless communication using the frequency of 60 GHz band which is one of the millimeter wave bands. In particular, each standardization organization proposes a high-speed data short-range communication of several Gbps using a mobile terminal as one of the largest application technologies. However, in such an application technology using a mobile terminal, lowering power of the system due to limited power in the mobile terminal becomes an important issue.

Various methods have been proposed for lowering the power of a communication system, and a self-heterodyne structure using the dual OOK modulation scheme is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a local oscillator such as a PLL is fixed with a simplified system structure. Since there is no need to include high power consumption components such as circuits, the power consumption of the entire system can be dramatically reduced, which is suitable for mounting a mobile terminal requiring low power.

1 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter to which a Gbps high-speed OOK signal modulator of a millimeter wave band that can be mounted in a general mobile terminal is applied, and a modulator 100 and an antenna for receiving and modulating and outputting a Gbps OOK data signal through an input terminal ( ANT) to transmit a signal output from the modulator 100. In other words, the transmitter shown in FIG. 1 is a device for transmitting a signal using a OOK modulation method of a self-heterodyne structure.

The transmitting device to which the self-heterodyne OOK modulation method is applied simultaneously transmits a local carrier signal together with the OOK data signal in order to demodulate the OOK signal in the receiving device, and the modulator 100 of the transmitting device If the OOK data signal is "1" instead of the general power amplifier, the large output signal is transmitted through the antenna at the same time as the power consumption. If the OOK data signal is "0", no current flows and no signal is generated as the output. Will not.

The power amplifier used in the general system consumes the most power in the system and consumes a lot of power regardless of the data signal received at the input of the power amplifier. However, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the OOK data signal is "1", power is consumed, and when the OOK data signal is "0", the current is cut off, thereby reducing the average power consumption according to the input data. As a result, a transmission apparatus having a low power structure can be implemented.

The signal transmitted by OOK modulated by such a transmitter is received by a receiver as shown in FIG. 2, which receives a modulated OOK data signal and a local carrier signal through an antenna ANT that receives the signal. 200, a square detector 210, a buffer amplifier 220, and the like. Here, the receiver 200 may include a low noise amplifier (LNA).

The square detector 210 generates a OOK data signal by demodulating the modulated OOK data signal and the local carrier signal received through the receiver 200 in a square detection method, and the generated OOK data signal through the buffer amplifier 220. Is output.

Since the receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 2 uses the local carrier signal transmitted from the transmitting apparatus again in demodulation, an additional local signal generator is not needed.

When designing a OOK modulator in such a transmitter, the most important item is the magnitude difference of the modulated signal seen at the output of the modulator according to the on-state and off-state of the OOK control signal, namely on / off isolation size and on The gain value and the data rate at which the signal is delivered in the state.

The structure of the OOK modulation apparatus can be broadly divided into a modulation method by a switching operation of a manual switch, a modulation method by a switching of an amplifier, and a modulation method by directly switching a local oscillator. In particular, the millimeter wave band is not only difficult to have a sufficient signal transmission gain in the MMIC due to its frequency characteristics, but also greatly affected by parasitic components. For this reason, the 8 Gbps CMOS ASK modulator for 60 GHz radios, one of the millimeter-wave OOK modulators presented at the ASSCC in 2008, is a case of applying a technique for switching several passive switches to control signals. The propagation loss in the state is very high at 6.6dB, with on / off isolation of 26.6dB.

In addition, the OOK modulator, published in the IEEE MWCL International Journal in 2007, switches local oscillators directly, resulting in 50dB of isolation with no signal generated off-state, but with a possible data throughput of less than 1Gbps. Power consumption is very large, 50mW. In addition, a large switching control signal of 1Vp-p is required for this performance.

In the case of the OOK modulator presented at the ASSCC in 2009, the control signal is directly applied to the gate DC bias of the common gate amplifier in a cascade structure amplifier, and then the signal is a common source. Switching the voltage between the drain and the source of the amplifier stage results in OOK modulation.

However, the OOK modulator, presented to the ASSCC in 2009, has a low 10dB on / off isolation characteristic because it is virtually impossible to turn off the common source heavy-duty by lowering the voltage between off-state and drain-source. see.

In addition, the ASK modulator for the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), using the 5.8 GHz band published in the 2003 U.S. Patent, controls OOK modulation by directly controlling the gate bias to two series-connected common source amplifiers. In addition, the combination of the low pass filter type of the gate bias portion, which is the input portion of the OOK baseband signal, has a disadvantage in that high-speed data processing of more than Gbps is impossible.

As can be seen from the conventional OOK modulator, it has disadvantages such as low signal gain and signal leakage of the circuit due to its frequency characteristics, and it is a disadvantage when designing a modulator using a CMOS process used for low cost and low power. Becomes even bigger. In particular, CMOS-based OOK transceivers, recently developed in the millimeter wave band, also have very low gain, low on / off isolation, lack of high-speed data processing at Gbps, the need for large control signals, and still high power consumption. Is showing.

For this reason, there is an urgent need for the development of a OOK modulation device having a low power structure capable of high on / off isolation characteristics and high-speed data processing of Gbps in the millimeter band with high signal loss and high signal leakage.

The object of the present invention can be mounted in a portable communication device such as a mobile terminal with a low power consumption, using a millimeter band circuit based on a semiconductor process with a large signal loss and signal leakage. The present invention provides a high-speed OOK modulation device suitable for high-speed data wireless transmission and a transmitter using the same.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the switching operation receives the OOK control signal to the gate bias input stage, and amplifying and outputting the millimeter wave signal through the switching operation The first amplifier and the OOK control signal are received through a gate bias input stage to perform a switching operation, and during the on-state operation, the source terminal is grounded by the OOK control signal and the signal output from the first amplifier stage is input to the gate stage. And a second amplifier stage for receiving and amplifying and outputting the signal, and an output matching circuit unit for receiving and outputting a signal amplified by the second amplifier stage.

The high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a blocking circuit unit for grounding the second amplifier stage by blocking the amplified millimeter wave signal of the first amplifier stage from being input to the source terminal of the second amplifier stage. have.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the blocking circuit unit may include a micro strip line and a capacitor.

The high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one micro strip line and a DC block element, and may include an input matching circuit unit configured to receive the millimeter wave signal and provide it to the first amplifier stage.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the input matching circuit unit may include: a first micro strip line receiving the OOK control signal at one end; and the DC block element connected to an input terminal to which the millimeter wave signal is input. A second micro strip line connected in parallel and connected to the other end of the first micro strip line, and a third micro strip line connected between an input end of the first amplifying stage and the other end of the first micro strip line. have.

The high-speed OOK modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a capacitor connected in parallel with the gate bias input terminal and connected to the first micro strip line.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first micro strip line has a λ / 4 wavelength at a specific frequency.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the DC block element is a capacitor.

The fast OOK modulation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may include an intermediate stage matching circuit unit for applying the millimeter wave signal amplified by the first amplifier stage to the gate terminal of the second amplifier stage.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate stage matching circuit unit is connected in parallel with the output terminal of the first amplifier stage, the first capacitor receiving the millimeter wave signal amplified by the first amplifier stage, and A first micro strip line connected in parallel with a first capacitor, a second micro strip line receiving the OOK control signal at one end, a gate end of the second amplifying stage, and connected in parallel with the first micro strip line And a third micro strip line to be formed.

The high-speed OOK modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a second capacitor connected to the gate bias input terminal and connected in parallel with the second micro strip line.

In the high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the second micro strip line has a λ / 4 wavelength at a specific frequency.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention may be a transmitter for transmitting a OOK data signal and a local carrier signal modulated by the fast OOK modulation device.

According to the present invention, the two amplification stages act as a common source amplifier by the signal amplified by the first amplification stage, thereby amplifying and outputting the signal amplified by the first amplifying stage from the second amplifying stage, thereby reducing the signal transmission gain of the millimeter wave band. There is an advantage that can be made large by using power.

In addition, the present invention implements a modulation device using the first and second amplification stages, and microstrip lines, thereby providing excellent on / off isolation characteristics and Gbps in a millimeter wave band having a high signal loss and a high signal leakage due to frequency characteristics. It is possible to provide a OOK modulation device having a low power structure capable of high-speed data processing.

1 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter to which a Gbps high-speed OOK signal modulator of a millimeter wave band that can be mounted in a general mobile terminal is applied;
2 is a view showing a receiving device for receiving a signal modulated by a millimeter wave band Gbps high-speed OOK signal modulation device that can be mounted in a general mobile terminal;
3 is a circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of a OOK modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a view illustrating a 2 Gbps OOK data baseband input signal and a OOK modulated 60 GHz output signal waveform of an output portion of a OOK modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating gain curves in an on-state state and an off-state state of a modulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a graph illustrating on / off isolation characteristic curves in a modulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The objects and effects of the present invention and the technical configurations for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intentions or customs of the user, the operator, and the like.

The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The present embodiments are merely provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to fully inform the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined by the scope of the claims. It will be. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

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

3 is a circuit diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a high-speed OOK modulation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and more specifically, the inside of the OOK modulator that minimizes overall power consumption by using a current reuse structure as a basic amplifying structure. The circuit configuration is shown.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the OOK modulator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention uses the same DC current path for the first amplifier stage 300 and the second amplifier stage 310. Here, the first and second amplifier stages 300 and 310 may be implemented by transistors.

In the first amplifier 300, an input matching circuit 320 is connected to a gate terminal, and a source terminal of the second amplifier 310 is connected to a drain terminal. Here, the input matching circuit unit 320 may include first, second and third micro strip lines MS1, MS2 and MS3, and a capacitor C1, which is a device for a DC block.

The first amplifying stage 300 receives a signal, that is, a millimeter wave signal, is amplified and output to the drain stage through the input matching circuit 320 connected to the gate stage, and the amplified signal output to the drain stage is a blocking circuit unit 330. Rather than being applied to the source terminal of the second amplifying stage 310, it is applied to the gate terminal of the second amplifying stage 310 through the intermediate stage matching circuit 340.

Meanwhile, the first and second amplifying stages 300 and 310 receive a OOK baseband data signal, that is, a OOK control signal, through the gate DC bias input portions Vmod1 and Vmod2 to perform a switching operation. That is, the OOK control signal input to Vmod1 switches the first amplifier stage 300, and the OOK control signal input to Vmod2 switches the second amplifier stage 310.

The input matching circuit 320 connected to the first amplifying stage 300 has a capacitor C1 connected to the input terminal IN to which the millimeter wave signal is input, and a second micro strip line MS2 connected in parallel with the capacitor C1. The first micro strip line MS1 connected in parallel with the second micro strip line MS2 and the third micro signal connected in parallel with the gate terminal of the first amplifying stage 300 and connected in parallel with the first micro strip line MS1. It may include a strip line MS3. Here, the capacitor C1 is a device for DC blocks.

The capacitor C2 connected in parallel to the gate DC bias input portion Vmod1 is connected in parallel with the first micro strip line MS1 and is grounded.

The millimeter wave signal amplified by the first amplifying stage 300 blocks the input of the second amplifying stage 310 to the source terminal, and passes through the fifth to seventh micro strip lines MS5 to MS7 and the capacitor C3. The input terminal is input to the gate terminal of the second amplifier stage 310 through the intermediate stage matching circuit 340.

A blocking circuit unit 330 is connected between the drain terminal of the first amplifier stage 300 and the source terminal of the second amplifier stage 310, and the blocking circuit unit 330 is the source terminal of the second amplifier stage 310 and the first amplifier stage 300. The fourth micro strip line MS4 and the capacitor C4 connected in parallel with the fourth micro strip line MS4 may be configured to be connected between the drain terminals of the plurality of capacitors.

The blocking circuit unit 330 blocks the amplified signal output from the first amplifier stage 300 from being input to the source terminal of the second amplifier stage 310. Accordingly, the second amplifier stage 310 operates as a common source amplifier. can do.

The second amplifying stage 310 amplifies the amplified signal inputted to the gate terminal through the middle stage matching circuit unit 340 again and is output to the output terminal OUT through the output matching circuit unit 350 connected to the drain stage.

In addition, the second amplifier 310 may receive a OOK baseband data signal through Vmod2, which is a gate DC bias input, and perform a switching operation by the OOK control signal input to Vmod2.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the signal of the millimeter wave band is amplified in the first amplifier stage 300 and provided to the second amplifier stage 310, and the signal amplified by the second amplifier stage 310 is amplified again. The low signal transmission gain of the millimeter wave band can be made large with low power consumption.

The output matching circuit 350 may include eighth and ninth micro strip lines MS8 and MS9 and a capacitor C7.

The capacitor C6 may be connected in parallel to an input terminal through which the applied voltage Vd is input to the output matching circuit unit 350.

Referring to the operation of the OOK modulator having the configuration described above as follows.

First, the first amplification stage 300 performs a switching operation by a OOK control signal input to Vmod1, which is a gate DC bias input portion. This is because the first amplification stage 300 is applied to a gate stage in a general amplifier structure. Given that it acts like a signal generator, even a small signal input to Vmod1 can prevent millimeter waves from being generated in the off-state state.

On the other hand, when the OOK control signal is input to Vmod1, the gate DC bias input portion of the first amplifier 300, the OOK control signal is also input to Vmod2, the gate DC bias input portion of the second amplifier 310. The voltage level at is combined with the inverse phase of the signal applied to Vmod1 and the original phase of the signal applied to Vmod2, resulting in an AC ground with little change in voltage level. Accordingly, the second amplifier 310 may not only act as a common source AC but also switch again by the OOK control signal applied to Vmod2, and thus modulate once by the switching operation of the first amplifier 300. The error of the received signal may be corrected and corrected by the switching operation of the second amplifier 310. That is, according to the switching operation of the first and second amplifying stages 300 and 310, the OOK modulated signal having a small error rate may be confirmed at the output stage.

In addition, since the switching operation of the first and second amplifying stages 300 and 310 and the second amplifying stage 310 operate as a common source, the connection between the first amplifying stage 300 and the second amplifying stage 310 is completed in the on-state. Since two common source amplifiers appear to be cascaded, the input millimeter wave signal can be amplified and output with a certain gain, and in the off-state state, the first amplifier stage 300 and the second amplifier stage 310 are simultaneously turned off. As a result, no signal is output at the output.

Also, the millimeter wave signal input to the input terminal IN has a wavelength of λ / 4 at a specific frequency (e.g. a 60 GHz signal) instead of the large resistance typically used to prevent signal leakage to the gate DC bias. By configuring one microstrip line MS1 and sixth microstrip line MS6, a specific millimeter wave is caused to have infinite impedance by the first and sixth microstrip lines MS1 and MS6 and capacitors C2 and C5. This prevents millimeter-wave signal leakage to the gate DC bias without significant resistance.

As such, the use of a device having no resistance value can minimize the time constant in the OOK data input circuit and minimize the signal distortion of the high-speed OOK data of Gbps or more input by maximizing the cutoff frequency. This makes it possible to realize a OOK modulator capable of high-speed data processing of Gbps.

As a result of fabricating the OOK modulator having the above configuration through a 90 nm CMOS process, when the power supply is 14.4 mW, as shown in FIG. 4, OOK modulation is performed when high-speed OOK digital data of 2GbpS is applied as a control signal. It can be seen that the millimeter wave signal is output to the output terminal.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 5, as a result of comparing the signal transmission gain in each of the on-state and off-state, it has a gain of 10dB at 60GHz on-state, -18.5dB at 60GHz when off-state Has the gain of. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that high on / off isolation characteristics of 30 dB or more in the millimeter wave band up to near the 60 GHz band.

The high-speed OOK modulator having the above configuration may be applied to the modulator 100 as shown in FIG. 1, which simultaneously transmits a local carrier signal together with the modulated OOK data signal through an antenna ANT. Send.

In addition, the OOK data signal and the local carrier signal modulated by the fast OOK modulation device having the above configuration can be received by the receiving device as shown in FIG. In other words, the receiving device may receive a modulated OOK data signal and a local carrier signal through an antenna ANT for receiving the signal, and then demodulate the OOK data signal through a square detection method.

The present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments of the present invention, but this is only illustrative and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can change or modify the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Each of the functional blocks or means described in the present specification may be implemented in a program form, and may be implemented separately, or two or more may be integrated into one. Components such as modules described as separate in the specification and claims may be merely functionally distinct and may be physically implemented by one means, and components such as means described as a single element may be divided into several components. It can be made in combination. In addition, each method step described herein may be changed in order without departing from the scope of the present invention, and other steps may be added. In addition, the various embodiments described herein may be implemented independently as well as each other as appropriate. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents, rather than by the described embodiments.

300: first amplifying stage 310: second amplifying stage
320: input matching circuit unit 330: blocking circuit unit
340: middle matching circuit section 350: output matching circuit section

Claims (13)

A first amplifying stage configured to receive a OOK control signal through a gate bias input stage, perform a switching operation, and amplify and output a millimeter wave signal through the switching operation;
A drain and a source terminal of the first amplifier stage are connected to each other, the OOK control signal is received through a gate bias input stage, and a switching operation is performed. The source terminal is grounded by the OOK control signal to output a signal output from the first amplifier stage. A second amplifying stage which is input to the gate stage and amplified and output;
And an output matching circuit unit configured to receive and output a signal amplified by the second amplifier stage.
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 2,
And a blocking circuit unit which blocks the amplified millimeter wave signal of the first amplifier stage from being input to the source terminal of the second amplifier stage and grounds the second amplifier stage.
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 2,
The blocking circuit unit is composed of a micro strip line and a capacitor
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 1,
Comprising at least one microstrip line and a device for the DC block, and comprises an input matching circuit unit for receiving the millimeter wave signal to provide to the first amplifier stage
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 4, wherein
The input matching circuit unit,
A first micro strip line receiving the OOK control signal at one end;
A second micro strip line connected in parallel with the DC block element connected to an input terminal to which the millimeter wave signal is input, and connected to the other end of the first micro strip line;
A third micro strip line connected between the input end of the first amplifier stage and the other end of the first micro strip line;
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 5, wherein
A capacitor connected in parallel with the gate bias input and connected to the first micro strip line;
High speed OOK modulator.
The method according to claim 6,
The first microstrip line has a wavelength of λ / 4 at a specific frequency.
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 5, wherein
The DC block element is a capacitor, characterized in that
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 1,
And an intermediate stage matching circuit configured to apply the millimeter wave signal amplified by the first amplifier stage to a gate terminal of the second amplifier stage.
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 9,
The intermediate stage matching circuit unit,
A first capacitor connected in parallel with an output terminal of the first amplifier stage and receiving a millimeter wave signal amplified by the first amplifier stage;
A first micro strip line connected in parallel with the first capacitor,
A second micro strip line to receive the OOK control signal at one end;
A third micro strip line connected to the gate terminal of the second amplifier stage and connected in parallel with the first micro strip line;
High speed OOK modulator.
11. The method of claim 10,
A second capacitor connected to the gate bias input terminal, the second capacitor being connected in parallel with the second micro strip line;
High speed OOK modulator.
The method of claim 11,
The second microstrip line has a wavelength of λ / 4 at a specific frequency.
High speed OOK modulator.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
Transmitting a OOK data signal and a local carrier signal modulated by the fast OOK modulator;
transmitter.

Images