Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
  • H01F27/00—Details of transformers or inductances, in general
  • H01F27/004—Arrangements for interchanging inductances, transformers or coils thereof
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
  • H01F21/00—Variable inductances or transformers of the signal type
  • H01F21/12—Variable inductances or transformers of the signal type discontinuously variable, e.g. tapped
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
  • H01F27/00—Details of transformers or inductances, in general
  • H01F27/28—Coils; Windings; Conductive connections
  • H01F27/2804—Printed windings
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L23/00—Details of semiconductor or other solid state devices
  • H01L23/52—Arrangements for conducting electric current within the device in operation from one component to another, i.e. interconnections, e.g. wires, lead frames
  • H01L23/522—Arrangements for conducting electric current within the device in operation from one component to another, i.e. interconnections, e.g. wires, lead frames including external interconnections consisting of a multilayer structure of conductive and insulating layers inseparably formed on the semiconductor body
  • H01L23/5227—Inductive arrangements or effects of, or between, wiring layers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/06—Receivers
  • H04B1/16—Circuits
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
  • H04B1/40—Circuits
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
  • H10D1/00—Resistors, capacitors or inductors
  • H10D1/20—Inductors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
  • H01F21/00—Variable inductances or transformers of the signal type
  • H01F21/12—Variable inductances or transformers of the signal type discontinuously variable, e.g. tapped
  • H01F2021/125—Printed variable inductor with taps, e.g. for VCO
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L23/00—Details of semiconductor or other solid state devices
  • H01L23/52—Arrangements for conducting electric current within the device in operation from one component to another, i.e. interconnections, e.g. wires, lead frames
  • H01L23/522—Arrangements for conducting electric current within the device in operation from one component to another, i.e. interconnections, e.g. wires, lead frames including external interconnections consisting of a multilayer structure of conductive and insulating layers inseparably formed on the semiconductor body
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L2924/00—Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
  • H01L2924/0001—Technical content checked by a classifier
  • H01L2924/0002—Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03J—TUNING RESONANT CIRCUITS; SELECTING RESONANT CIRCUITS
  • H03J5/00—Discontinuous tuning; Selecting predetermined frequencies; Selecting frequency bands with or without continuous tuning in one or more of the bands, e.g. push-button tuning, turret tuner
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to a tunable inductor arrangement, a radio frequency transceiver or receiver with a resonator having such an arrangement, a communication device, a method of tuning the arrangement and a computer program for tuning.
• LC resonators consume chip space, when implemented on-chip, and are fairly costly when implemented off-chip. It is therefore a desire to provide more flexible resonators.
• An object of the invention is to at least alleviate the above stated problem.
• the present invention is based on the understanding that both capacitance and inductance of an LC resonator need to be tuned to achieve the desired flexibility.
• a tunable inductor arrangement is provided accordingly.
• the inventor has also realized the demands that the self-resonant frequency need to be set high enough for high-frequency modes, the Q-value has to be high enough, particularly in low-inductance state, not to degrade gain or increase current consumption in a usable implementation, and that the ratio of the inductances need to be high enough to also cover the low bands. This is achieved by a switch arrangement in the tunable inductor arrangement which performs signal routing such that insertion loss is decreased, particularly in unused circuitry.
• a tunable inductor arrangement arrangable on a chip or substrate, the tunable inductor comprising a first winding part connected at a first end to a first input of the tunable inductor arrangement; a second winding part connected at a first end to a second end of the first winding part; a third winding part connected at a first end to a second input of the tunable inductor arrangement; a fourth winding part connected at a first end end to a second end of the third winding part and at a second end connected towards a second end of the second winding part; and a switch arrangement arranged to tune the tunable inductor arrangement by selectively provide at least: a circuit comprising the first and third winding parts in series between the first and second inputs; and a circuit comprising the first, second, fourth and third winding parts in series between the first and second inputs.
• the first and third winding parts are arranged on the chip or substrate such that magnetic fields of the first and
• the fourth winding part may be connected at the second end to the second end of the second winding part.
• the tunable inductor arrangement may comprise further winding parts connected between the second end of the fourth winding part and the second end of the second winding part.
• the switch arrangement may comprise a first switch connected between the second end of the first winding part and the second end of the third winding part.
• the switch arrangement may comprise a first switch connected between the second end of the first winding part and a virtual ground connected to the second end of the second winding part; and a second switch connected between the second end of the third winding part and the virtual ground.
• the second and fourth winding parts may form a pattern on the chip or substrate having a first part directing the magnetic field in a first direction and a second part directing the magnetic field in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
• the pattern of the second and fourth winding parts and the pattern of the first and third winding parts may be symmetrically arranged on the chip or substrate.
• the first and third winding parts may form a pattern encircling the second and fourth winding parts in a plane of the chip or substrate.
• the pattern of the second and fourth winding parts may be eight-shaped, four- clover-shaped, or 2n-clover-shaped, where n is a positive integer.
• the virtual ground may be a DC power supply, which at AC, such as radio frequency, acts as a ground for AC signals, or be a ground or DC reference voltage node.
• a radio frequency transceiver comprising a resonator, wherein the resonator comprises a tunable inductor arrangement according to the first aspect, wherein the tunable inductor arrangement is tunable to enable the resonator to selectably work at one of a plurality of resonating frequencies.
• a multiband radio frequency receiver comprising a first receiver path arranged to receive a radio signal in a first frequency band; a second receiver path arranged to receive a radio signal in a second frequency band, wherein the first frequency band operates at a higher frequency than the second frequency band, and each of the first and second receiver paths is arranged to selectively operate at a selected frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands; and comprises a resonator comprising a tunable inductor arrangement according to the first aspect, which resonator is arranged to be tuned for the selected frequency band.
• a communication device comprising a radio frequency transceiver according to the second aspect or a multiband radio frequency receiver according to the third aspect, and a processor arranged to interact with the radio frequency transceiver or the multiband radio frequency receiver, wherein the processor is arranged to control to the switch arrangement to select a tuning mode of the tunable inductor arrangement.
• a method of a tunable inductor arrangement including winding parts and switches for tuning according to the first aspect.
• the method comprises determining a tuning setting for the tunable inductor arrangement; assigning switch states for the switch or respective switches for the tuning setting; and controlling the switch or switches according to the assigned switch states.
• a computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when executed by a programmable controller of a radio frequency transceiver or multiband radio frequency receiver comprising a resonator which comprises a tunable inductor arrangement causes the controller to perform the method of the fifth aspect.
• An advantage is achieved for embodiments when Q- value increases with frequency, with a layout that provides higher Q-value in low inductance state than in high inductance state, and absolute resonator bandwidth becomes more constant over frequency.
• An advantage according to embodiments is that a tunable resonator allows a more flexible configuration of a multi-band receiver/transmitter/transceiver. For example, different receiver paths no longer need to be dedicated to either low band or high band, but can be allocated depending on current reception situation.
• Fig 1 schematically illustrates a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• Fig 2 schematically illustrates a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• Fig. 3 illustrates a layout of windings of a tunable inductor arrangement together with a schematic indication on the switch arrangement according to
• Fig. 4 illustrates a detail of a layout of windings of a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a radio front end where the tunable inductor arrangements according to embodiments are applicable.
• Fig. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a communication device according to an embodiment.
• Fig. 7 is a flow chart schematically illustrating a method of a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• Fig. 8 schematically illustrates a computer program and a processor for implementing the method.
• Fig 1 schematically illustrates a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• the inductor arrangement is preferably arranged on a chip or substrate, as will be demonstrated below.
• the inductor arrangement comprises a first winding part Wl connected at one end to a first input INP of the tunable inductor arrangement, a second winding part W2 connected at one end to the other end of the first winding part Wl , a third winding part W3 connected at one end to a second input INN of the tunable inductor arrangement, and a fourth winding part W4 connected at one end to the other end of the third winding part W3 and at another end connected to the other end of the second winding part W2.
• the tunable inductor arrangement further comprises a switch arrangement arranged to tune the tunable inductor arrangement by selectively provide either the series connection or a circuit comprising the first and third winding parts Wl, W3 in series between the first and second inputs INP, INN.
• the winding parts are arranged on a chip or substrate, i.e. essentially in one plane, but the windings may be formed in two or more metal layers, wherein the windings can be stacked on the chip or substrate or arranged side-by-side in a metal layer, or a combination thereof.
• the arrangement comprises a switch S12 connected between the other end of the first winding part Wl and the other end of the third winding part W3.
• the switch S12 When the switch S12 is open, the series connection of the winding parts Wl, W2, W4, W3 is operable, while when the switch S12 is closed, the circuit comprising the first and third winding parts Wl , W3 in series is operable between the first and second inputs INP, INN.
• the switch S12 When in the state where only the first and third winding parts Wl, W3 are operable, it is desirable that the inoperable second and fourth windings W2, W4 do not influence, e.g. to keep insertion loss low.
• the first and third winding parts are arranged on the chip or substrate such that magnetic fields of the first and third windings are essentially common, and the second and fourth winding parts are arranged to cancel electromagnetic coupling with the first and third winding parts.
• This can be arranged by a winding structure that cancels magnetic coupling between the first/third and the second/fourth windings, as will be demonstrated by example with reference to Fig. 3 below.
• the principle can be accomplished by the second and fourth winding parts form a pattern on the chip or substrate having a first part directing the magnetic field in a first direction and a second part directing the magnetic field in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction. The magnetic coupling is thereby cancelled.
• the centre tap is connected to the supply node in the low-impedance mode, and when the switch S12 is closed there are paths from the first and third windings parts Wl, W3 to the centre tap node via the short-circuited second and fourth winding parts W2, W4.
• the impedance or resistance is reasonably increased, but is providing a working solution for many applications.
• Fig 2 schematically illustrates a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• the inductor arrangement is preferably arranged on a chip or substrate, as will be demonstrated below.
• the inductor arrangement comprises a first winding part Wl connected at one end to a first input INP of the tunable inductor arrangement, a second winding part W2 connected at one end to the other end of the first winding part Wl, a third winding part W3 connected at one end to a second input INN of the tunable inductor arrangement, and a fourth winding part W4 connected at one end to the other end of the third winding part W3 and at another end connected to the other end of the second winding part W2.
• the tunable inductor arrangement further comprises a switch arrangement arranged to tune the tunable inductor arrangement by selectively provide either the series connection or a circuit comprising the first and third winding parts Wl, W3 in series between the first and second inputs INP, INN.
• the winding parts are arranged on a chip or substrate, i.e.
• the switch arrangement comprises a first switch SI connected between the other end of the first winding part Wl and the AC ground, i.e. to the centre tap.
• a second switch S2 is connected between the centre tap and the other end of the third winding part W3.
• the dual switch arrangement provides a lower impedance path to the centre tap compared to the embodiment demonstrated with reference to Fig. 1, but may be to a cost of higher parasitic capacitances.
• the first and third winding parts are arranged on the chip or substrate such that magnetic fields of the first and third windings are essentially common, and the second and fourth winding parts are arranged to cancel electromagnetic coupling with the first and third winding parts.
• This can be arranged by a winding structure that cancels magnetic coupling between the first/third and the second/fourth windings, as will be demonstrated by example with reference to Fig. 3 below.
• the principle can be accomplished by the second and fourth winding parts form a pattern on the chip or substrate having a first part directing the magnetic field in a first direction and a second part directing the magnetic field in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
• the magnetic coupling is thereby cancelled.
• Fig. 3 illustrates an example of layout of windings of a tunable inductor arrangement together with a schematic indication on the switch arrangement according to embodiments, where the respective switch arrangements demonstrated with reference to Figs 1 and 2 are schematically illustrated in Fig. 3.
• the first and third winding parts form a pattern encircling the second winding in a plane of the chip or substrate.
• the pattern of the second and fourth winding parts and the pattern of the first and third winding parts are symmetrically arranged on the chip or substrate, as emphasized by symmetry lines provided in Fig. 3.
• the pattern of the second and fourth winding parts is eight-shaped in Fig.
• Fig. 4 illustrates a detail of an example of layout of windings of a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• Crossings of conductive lanes forming the windings can thus be achieved.
• Two or more of the winding parts can be arranged in a plurality of conductive layers on the chip or substrate.
• the lanes are provided side by side on the substrate and the crossings using layered conductors.
• the lanes can also use layered conductors and be placed on top of each other, or a combination of be provided in different layers and side by side.
• the shape of the windings have also been illustrated as octagons, but other shapes are as feasible, such as circular, square, or other n-sided shape, where n is 3 or higher, or combinations thereof, which form windings enclosing a magnetic field which is the purpose of the windings to form an inductance.
• the inductance can be adapted for differential purposes or single-ended purposes in conventional way.
• Further winding parts can be connected between the second and fourth winding parts W2, W4, which can be included in forming a circuit of the tunable inductor arrangement.
• Such further winding parts are preferably also arranged on the chip or substrate such that magnetic fields for cancelling electro-magnetic coupling with the first to fourth winding parts W1-W4 similar to the relation between the second and fourth winding parts W2, W4 to the first and third winding parts Wl , W3.
• This can be enabled by applying further metal layers for implementing the winding parts on the chip or substrate, and further switches of the switch arrangement for selectively provide circuits including a desired amount of winding parts.
• Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a radio front end where the tunable inductor arrangements according to embodiments are applicable.
• a radio front end circuit used for example in a 3 GPP LTE radio, a multitude of bands may be used.
• versatility is a key to a feasible front end solution.
• the front end should be usable for other radio access technologies as well, such as GSM, UMTS, WLAN, GNSS, etc., the demands on versatility further increases.
• the received signal can thus be in a multitude of frequencies and having wide or narrow bandwidth, and for example a band selection filter, or other circuit that need a resonator, may need to be configurable for this depending on current operating mode.
• Variable capacitance in such band selection filters normally do a lot, e.g. by using capacitor banks where capacitance can be switched in on demand, but by using a tunable inductor as demonstrated above, versatility can be improved, as well as performance of for example the band selection filters.
• the demands on versatility can be met. Flexible band combinations are thereby enabled.
• An example where the front end arrangement as demonstrated above can be used is a multiband radio frequency receiver 500.
• the receiver 500 comprises a first receiver path arranged to receive a radio signal in a first frequency band and a second receiver path arranged to receive a radio signal in a second frequency band, wherein the first frequency band operates at a higher frequency than the second frequency band, i.e. a high-low band arrangement where both the high and the low bands can be received simultaneously.
• Each of the first and second receiver paths can be arranged to selectively operate at a selected frequency band among a plurality of frequency bands, e.g. the first high-band path can select to operate in one of 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2700 MHz frequency bands while the second low-band path can select to operate in one of 750 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz and 1500 MHz frequency bands simultaneously.
• Each receiver path comprises a resonator comprising a tunable inductor arrangement 502, 504 as demonstrated above, wherein the resonators are arranged to be tuned for the selected frequency band in respective receiver path. It is to be noted that both receiver paths are tunable to all frequency bands by the approach of the tunable inductor arrangement, wherein great flexibility is achieved since there is no dedicated path for the higher or lower bands. Arrangements with more than two such receiver paths are also possible. Flexible frequency band combinations are thus enabled, which for example is advantageous in carrier aggregation solutions.
• resonators are illustrated for tuning LNA outputs as an example.
• the resonator with tunable inductor arrangement can of course be used for other purposes as well, such as for filters, impedance matching, etc.
• Fig. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating communication device 600 according to an embodiment.
• the communication device comprises a receiver or transceiver 602, which can be connected to an antenna 604, and other circuits 606 such as a processor arranged interact with the receiver or transceiver 602, input and output interfaces of the communication device 600, etc.
• the receiver or transceiver 602 comprises a resonator 610, wherein the resonator comprises a tunable inductor arrangement according to any one of embodiments demonstrated above, wherein the tunable inductor arrangement is tunable to enable the resonator 610 to work at a plurality of resonating frequencies.
• the receiver or transceiver can also comprise a controller 608 which can be arranged to control the tuning of the resonator 610, i.e. also the tunable inductor arrangement.
• the receiver 602 can for example be the multiband radio frequency receiver 500 demonstrated with reference to Fig. 5.
• Fig. 7 is a flow chart schematically illustrating a method of a tunable inductor arrangement according to an embodiment.
• the method comprises determining 701 a tuning setting for the tunable inductor arrangement. This can be made by receiving frequency allocation from a remote entity or from an entity within a communication apparatus having the tunable inductor arrangement. Based on for example the frequency allocation information switch states are assigned 702 for the switch S12 or respective switches S 1 , S2 for the tuning setting, and controlling 703 the switches according to the assigned switch states. Upon a new allocation, the procedure can be repeated.
• the method according to the present invention is suitable for implementation with aid of processing means, such as computers and/or processors, especially for the case where a digital controller controls the transceiver. Therefore, there is provided computer programs, comprising instructions arranged to cause the processing means, processor, or computer to perform the steps of any of the methods according to any of the embodiments described with reference to Fig. 7.
• the computer programs preferably comprises program code which is stored on a computer readable medium 800, as illustrated in Fig. 8, which can be loaded and executed by a processing means, processor, or computer 802 to cause it to perform the methods, respectively, according to embodiments of the present invention, preferably as any of the embodiments described with reference to Fig. 7.
• the computer 802 and computer program product 800 can be arranged to execute the program code sequentially where actions of the any of the methods are performed stepwise.
• the processing means, processor, or computer 802 is preferably what normally is referred to as an embedded system.
• the depicted computer readable medium 800 and computer 802 in Fig. 8 should be construed to be for illustrative purposes only to provide understanding of the principle, and not to be construed as any direct illustration of the elements.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Coils Or Transformers For Communication (AREA)
• Filters And Equalizers (AREA)
• Near-Field Transmission Systems (AREA)

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• 2013
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