Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204135 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER (LNA) GAIN ADJUSTMENT THROUGH NARROWBAND RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH INDICATOR (NRSSI) - A method for processing a plurality of signals may include amplifying an input signal and generating a wideband signal from the amplified input signal. The method may further include bandpass filtering the generated wideband signal to generate a narrowband signal, and adjusting amplification of the input signal based on a narrowband received signal strength indication of the generated narrowband signal, and/or a wideband received signal strength indication of the generated wideband signal. The amplified input signal may be downconverted to generate the wideband signal. The amplified input signal may be downconverted to an intermediate frequency (IF) and/or to a baseband signal to generate the wideband signal. At least one blocker signal may be bandpass filtered from the amplified input signal. | 08-28-2008 |
20080267270 | BIAS FILTERING MODULE INCLUDING MOS CAPACITORS - A bias filtering module with at least two capacitive levels satisfies both a settle time requirement and a filtering requirement using a voltage dependent filter module whose capacitance is a function of a voltage potential on the filtering circuitry output terminal. The final capacitance level is approximately three times larger than the initial capacitance level. MOS capacitors having a voltage dependent charge capacity within the bias filtering module are coupled between a plurality of bias lines and circuit common. In an alternate embodiment, a selectable first group of capacitors are switched into connection within the bias filtering module as a second group of capacitors approximately reach a fully charged state within a specified settle time to provide improved filtering. | 10-30-2008 |
20080280585 | RF receiver front-end and applications thereof - A radio frequency (RF) receiver front-end includes an low noise amplifier (LNA) module, a current domain mixing module, and a buffer module. The LNA module is coupled to amplify an inbound RF signal to produce an amplified inbound RF current signal. The current domain mixing module is coupled to mix the amplified inbound RF current signal with a local oscillation to produce a mixed current signal. The buffer module is coupled to provide a baseband or near baseband voltage signal from the mixed current signal. | 11-13-2008 |
20080284629 | DAC MODULE AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF - A digital to analog conversion (DAC) module includes a digital to analog converter, a sample and hold circuit, and a switch module. The digital to analog converter is coupled to convert a digital signal into an analog signal. The sample and hold circuit is coupled to sample the analog signal to produce a sampled analog signal. The switch module is coupled to provide the analog signal as an output of the DAC module when the DAC module in a first mode and to output the analog signal to the sample and hold circuit when the DAC module in a second mode, wherein the sampled analog signal provides the output of the DAC module in the second mode. | 11-20-2008 |
20080287087 | Merged high pass filtering and down-converting mixer circuit - According to one exemplary embodiment, a mixer circuit comprises first and second switching branches driven by a local oscillator and an input radio frequency (RF) signal. The mixer circuit further comprises at least one capacitor coupled between the first and second switching branches for high-pass filtering of a down-converted output signal of the mixer circuit. In one embodiment, each switching branch comprises a respective mixer transistor, for example, a field effect transistor (FET). In one embodiment, the mixer circuit includes an inductor to reduce or eliminate the effects of parasitic capacitors at a resonance frequency selected to approximately match a desired RF signal frequency. In one embodiment, an inductor at resonance with parasitic capacitors produces a band pass filter for an input RF signal. | 11-20-2008 |
20080290966 | ADAPTIVE RADIO TRANSCEIVER WITH FILTERING - An exemplary embodiment of the present invention described and shown in the specification and drawings is a transceiver with a receiver, a transmitter, a local oscillator (LO) generator, a controller, and a self-testing unit. All of these components can be packaged for integration into a single IC including components such as filters and inductors. The controller for adaptive programming and calibration of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. The self-testing unit generates is used to determine the gain, frequency characteristics, selectivity, noise floor, and distortion behavior of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or the meaning of the claims. | 11-27-2008 |
20080298481 | IC with mixed mode RF-to-baseband interface - An integrated circuit (IC) includes at least one baseband section, at least one radio frequency (RF) section, and an interface module. The interface module is operable to couple the at least one baseband section to the at least one RF section, wherein the interface module includes an analog interface module and a digital interface module. | 12-04-2008 |
20080299935 | IC with saw-less RF front-end - An IC includes an RF front end, a down conversion module, an up conversion module, and a local oscillation generating module. The RF front end includes a receive section, a transmit section, and an interference reduction module. The receive section receives an inbound RF signal within a receive frequency band and the transmit section transmits an outbound RF signal within a transmit frequency band. The interference reduction module is coupled to at least one of the receive section and the transmit section and facilitates at least one of: attenuating energy of the outbound RF signal within the receive frequency band based on a transmit local oscillation or a receive local oscillation; and attenuating energy of the inbound RF signal within the transmit frequency band based on the transmit local oscillation or the receive local oscillation. | 12-04-2008 |
20080300006 | Multi-mode IC with multiple processing cores - An integrated circuit (IC) includes an RF section, a DSP, and a plurality of processors. The RF section and the DSP process an inbound RF signal to produce inbound data and process outbound data to produce an outbound RF signal. In addition, the DSP converts an outbound analog audio signal into an outbound digital audio signal and converts an inbound digital audio signal into an inbound analog audio signal. A first processor converts the inbound data into the inbound digital audio signal and converts the outbound digital audio signal into the outbound data. A second processor performs a user application that includes at least one of generation of the inbound analog audio signal and generation of the outbound analog audio signal and performs an operating system algorithm to coordinate operation of the user application. | 12-04-2008 |
20080304435 | LOCAL OSCILLATION ROUTING PLAN APPLICABLE TO A MULTIPLE RF BAND RF MIMO TRANSCEIVER - Local oscillation circuitry for use in an RF transceiver Integrated Circuit (IC) includes local oscillation generation circuitry operable to produce a local oscillation and local oscillation distribution circuitry. The local oscillation distribution circuitry includes a splitting circuit, a first distribution portion, and a second distribution portion. The splitting circuit receives the local oscillation and produces multiple copies of the local oscillation. The first distribution portion produces a first local oscillation corresponding to a first RF band and a second local oscillation corresponding to a second RF band based and to provide the first local oscillation and the second local oscillation to a first RF transceiver group. The second distribution portion produces a first local oscillation and a second local oscillation and provides the first local oscillation and the second local oscillation to the second RF transceiver group. | 12-11-2008 |
20090002065 | Buffer circuit for reducing differential-mode phase noise and quadrature phase error - According to one exemplary embodiment, a buffer circuit for reducing differential-mode phase noise and quadrature phase error comprises first and second switching branches driven by an in-phase (I) signal, third and fourth switching branches driven by a quadrature-phase (Q) signal, the first and second switching branches and third and fourth switching branches being coupled to a common bias current source to reduce the differential-mode phase noise and quadrature phase error at an output of the buffer circuit. In one embodiment, the switching branches may be loaded by first, second, third, and fourth resonators formed, for example, by L-C circuits tuned to a local oscillator frequency. In one embodiment, the buffer circuit may comprise switching branches formed by FETs, and be used in conjunction with a local oscillator and mixer circuits to down-convert a radio frequency (RF) signal, in a receiving system, for example. | 01-01-2009 |
20090004983 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A SECOND ORDER INPUT INTERCEPT POINT (IIP2) CORRECTION - In RF transceivers, a method and system for a second order input intercept point (IIP2) correction are provided. A DC offset sensor may detect DC offset voltages produced by blocker signals in “I” and “Q” signal component paths in an RF receiver. The DC offset sensor may generate control signals which may be utilized by a first and second injection circuits to generate DC offset currents that compensate for the DC offset voltages in the signal component paths. An injection circuit may utilize current drivers to generate binary weighted currents which may be added together to produce a DC offset current. The polarity of the DC offset current and the selection of which current drivers to use may be determined by the control signals. A calibration voltage may also be utilized to correct or adjust the gain in the injection circuit. | 01-01-2009 |
20090010317 | Nullification of transmitter noise at receive signal frequency - According to one exemplary embodiment, a transceiver for nullification of a noise component in a transmitter comprises a noise nullification module loading a selected node in the transmitter. The noise nullification module comprises a mixer that receives inputs from the selected node and a local oscillator, where the mixer is also coupled to a filter such that the noise nullification module presents a low impedance at an approximate frequency of a noise component so as to nullify the noise component. In one embodiment, the noise nullification module results in band-pass filtering of an approximate receive signal frequency so as to nullify a noise component at the receive frequency. In another embodiment, the noise nullification module results in notch filtering of an approximate transmit signal frequency so as to nullify a noise component at a receive signal frequency. | 01-08-2009 |
20090011735 | RF transmitter with stable on-chip PLL - A phase locked loop (PLL) a phase detector, a charge pump, a loop filter, a controlled oscillator, and a feedback divider. The phase detector is coupled to produce a difference signal based on a difference between phase of a reference oscillation and phase of a feedback oscillation. The charge pump is coupled to convert the difference signal into an up-signal or a down signal. The loop filter coupled to filter the up signal or the down signal to produce a control signal. The controlled oscillator is coupled to generate an output oscillation based on the control signal. The feedback divider is coupled to generate the feedback oscillation from the output oscillation based on a divider value. The loop filter includes a first resistor-capacitor circuit and a second resistor-capacitor circuit. The first resistor-capacitor circuit is calibrated using a first calibration technique and the second resistor-capacitor circuit is calibrated using a second calibration technique. | 01-08-2009 |
20090017770 | Noise cancellation system for transceivers - According to one exemplary embodiment, a transceiver providing noise cancellation has a transmitter and a receiver, and comprises a noise cancellation system receiving input from the transmitter. The noise cancellation system generates a noise cancellation signal injected into the receiver such that the noise cancellation signal has an amplitude substantially matching an amplitude of a noise signal in the receiver, and a phase substantially opposite to a phase of the noise signal in the receiver. In one exemplary embodiment, a noise cancellation system comprises a forward injection circuit including a scaling and rotation block, and first and second phase shift and attenuation controllers providing feedback from outputs of the receiver. In one exemplary embodiment, the scaling and rotation block includes first, second, third, and fourth amplifiers to receive a down-converted noise signal and provide a noise cancellation signal. | 01-15-2009 |
20090036070 | Multiple die integrated circuit assembly - An integrated circuit (IC) includes a first die, a second die, a packaging substrate, and coupling circuit. The first die includes first circuitry and the second die includes second circuitry. The packaging substrate supports the first and second dies, wherein the first and second dies are stacked with respect to the packaging substrate. The coupling circuit couples the first die to the second die, wherein the first and second circuitry communicate via the coupling circuit. | 02-05-2009 |
20090036087 | Highly Linear and Very Low-Noise Down-Conversion Mixer for Extracting Weak Signals in the Presence of Very Strong Unwanted Signals - A highly linear and very low-noise down-conversion mixer for extracting weak signals in the presence of very strong unwanted signals is disclosed. Aspects of an embodiment may include a source follower circuit in a transmitter front end of a mobile terminal. The source follower circuit may receive RF signals prior to the RF signals being amplified by a power amplifier for transmission. The RF signals may comprise in-phase and quadrature components. The source follower circuit may generate output RF voltage signals, and communicate the output RF voltage signals to a switching circuit via a coupling capacitor. The switching circuit may down-convert the communicated output RF voltage signals to generate differential baseband signals. The capacitance of the coupling capacitor may be changed to change gain and/or linearity of the differential baseband signals. Each of the differential baseband signals may be low-pass filtered to attenuate higher frequencies. | 02-05-2009 |
20090036088 | MULTI-MODE CELLULAR IC MEMORY MANAGEMENT - An RFIC includes first and second RF sections, first and second PHY processing modules, first and second upper layer processing modules, and memory. When the RFIC is in a first receive mode, the first RF section, the first PHY processing module, and the first upper layers processing module convert a first inbound RF signal into a first inbound audio signal in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol. When the RFIC is in a second receive mode, the second RF section, the second PHY processing module, and the second upper layers processing module convert a second inbound RF signal into a second inbound audio signal in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol. The memory stores the first and second inbound audio signals. The first PHY processing module retrieves, based on the receive mode, the first or second inbound audio signal from the memory and converts the first or second inbound audio signal into a first or second inbound analog audio signal. | 02-05-2009 |
20090036173 | WIRELESS CONNECTION INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) HAVING POWER ISLAND(S) - A radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) operable to support wireless communications is provided. In one embodiment, the RF IC includes an advanced high-performance (AHB) bus matrix, a microprocessor core coupled to the AHB bus matrix, a plurality of processing modules wherein each processing module is operable to support one or more functions of the RF IC, and a plurality of power islands. Each power island is associated with one or more functions of the RF IC. This arrangement allows power islands coupled to the processing modules associated with the one or more functions associated with the power island to supply power for the processing modules associated with the one or more functions associated with the power island. Power from the power island(s) to the processing module(s) may be reduced or secured when the one or more functions associated with the power island is not required. | 02-05-2009 |
20090037629 | MASTER SLAVE CORE ARCHITECTURE WITH DIRECT BUSES - A radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC) operable to support wireless communications is provided. This RF IC includes a number of master components, a number of slave components, and a direct master slave bus. The master components may include a number of processing modules where each processing module is operable to support one or more functions of the RF IC. The direct master slave bus may couple at least one master component to at least one slave component based on mode of operation of the RF IC. | 02-05-2009 |
20090066548 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPENSATION OF DC OFFSET IN AN RF RECEIVER - System and method for processing signals are disclosed. The method may include converting, in an RF receiver, one or more analog samples, which are selected from one of a plurality of output paths of the RF receiver, to one or more digital samples. A digital feedback value may be generated based on an average of the one or more converted digital samples. A scaled version of the generated digital feedback value may be converted to an analog value. The converted analog value may be fed back to one or more of a plurality of input paths of the RF receiver. The one or more analog samples may be selected from among a plurality of output analog samples from the plurality of output paths of the RF receiver. | 03-12-2009 |
20090102562 | CROSS-COUPLED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER FOR CELLULAR APPLICATIONS - Cross-coupled low noise amplifier for cellular applications. A circuitry implementation that includes two pairs of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) (either N-type of P-type) operates as an LNA, which can be used within any of a wide variety of communication devices. In one embodiment, this design is particularly adaptable to cellular telephone applications. A majority of the elements are integrated within the design and need not be implemented off-chip, and this can provide for a reduction in area required by the circuitry. A very high output impedance is provided by using two transistors (implemented in a triple well configuration) with resistive source degeneration. A higher than typical power supply voltage can be employed (if desired) to accommodate the voltage drops of the resistors and transistors. | 04-23-2009 |
20090104873 | FULLY INTEGRATED COMPACT CROSS-COUPLED LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER - Fully integrated compact cross-coupled low noise amplifier. A circuitry implementation that includes two pairs of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) (either N-type of P-type) operates as an LNA, which can be used within any of a wide variety of communication devices. A majority of the elements are integrated within the design and need not be implemented off-chip, and this can provide for a reduction in area required by the circuitry. A differential 100Ω input impedance is provided by this design. A higher than typical power supply voltage can be employed (if desired) to accommodate one possible implementation that includes two parallel implemented resistors to ground. | 04-23-2009 |
20090111418 | RADIO FREQUENCY FILTERING TECHNIQUE WITH AUTO CALIBRATED STOP-BAND REJECTION - Methods, systems, and apparatuses for filtering received radio frequency signals are provided. A first RF communication signal is received that includes a desired information signal portion and an undesired blocker signal portion that is offset in frequency from the desired portion. The first RF communication signal is amplified in a first signal path and is filtered in a second signal path. The filtering of the first RF communication signal in the second signal path includes: down-converting the first RF communication signal to a down-converted signal, high pass filtering the down-converted signal, and up-converting the high pass filtered down-converted signal to a second RF communication signal. The filtering of the first RF communication signal filters out the desired information signal portion from the second signal path. A signal phase is adjusted in the second signal path to match phase shifts between the first and second signal paths. The second RF communication signal is subtracted from the amplified first RF communication signal to generate a third RF communication signal. Third RF communication signal includes the desired information signal portion but does not include the blocker signal, which is canceled during the subtraction. | 04-30-2009 |
20090128213 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CLOCK STRUCTURE - An integrated circuit includes first and second circuits, and a clock structure. The clock structure consists of a crystal oscillation circuit, a plurality of buffers, and a plurality of clock generating modules. An input of each of the plurality of buffers is coupled to receive a reference clock signal from the crystal oscillation circuit. Each of the plurality of clock generating modules is coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of buffers and, when enabled, generates a clock signal. | 05-21-2009 |
20090130993 | RF FRONT-END AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF - An RF front-end includes a receiver frequency band filter module, a low noise amplifier, a first power amplifier module, a second power amplifier module, and a transmit frequency band filter module. The receiver frequency band filter module filters a received RF signal and the low noise amplifier amplifies the signal in accordance with the first or the second RF front-end configuration signal. The first power amplifier module is enabled in accordance with the first RF front-end configuration signal to amplify the first outbound RF signal and the second power amplifier module is enabled in accordance with the second RF front-end configuration signal to amplify the second outbound RF signal. The transmitter frequency band filter module is enabled in accordance with the second RF front-end configuration signal to filter the second transmit RF signal. | 05-21-2009 |
20090134932 | LOW FLICKER NOISE MIXER AND BUFFER - Low flicker noise mixer and buffer. This design employs some native metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) (e.g., having no threshold voltage) within a passive mixer whose gates are driven using clock signals. These native MOSFETs maybe biased at one half of the power supply voltage to provide a lower noise figure. A cooperatively operating buffer employs appropriately places MOSFETs and resistors to ensure the desired gain. Relatively larger valued resistors can be employed to provide for higher voltage gain, and this can sometimes be accompanied with using a higher than typical power supply voltage. Source followers serve as output buffers and also ensure the required output DC voltage level as well. It is also noted that this design can be implemented using n-channel metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (N-MOSFETs) of p-channel metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (P-MOSFETs). | 05-28-2009 |
20090143027 | GAIN-CONTROL METHODS OF TRANSMITTER MODULATORS - An apparatus comprising a plurality of switchable full step mixer unit cells, wherein each switchable full step unit cell is configured to, when the full step transceiver mixer unit cell is turned on, increase the gain experienced by an electronic signal by a full step increment, and wherein the step increment is substantially constant regardless of temperature; and at least one switchable partial step mixer unit cell configured to, when the partial step transceiver mixer unit is turned on, increase the gain experienced by the electronic signal by a predetermined step increment less than that of a full step, and wherein the partial step increment is substantially constant regardless of temperature | 06-04-2009 |
20090143033 | GAIN CONTROL USING A DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURABLE TRANSFORMER - An apparatus comprising: a baseband filter configured to produce a baseband signal utilizing an input signal; a mixer unit configured to produce an intermediate signal utilizing the baseband signal and a local oscillator signal; and a dynamically configurable transformer configured to provide a gain to the intermediate signal, wherein the gain is dynamically configurable. | 06-04-2009 |
20090168863 | POLAR TRANSMITTER WITH DIGITAL AND ANALOG FILTERING OF ENVELOPE - A calibration circuit measures the variation in a filter resistor within the analog domain of the envelope path of a polar transmitter and produces a digital value representative of that variation. A digital processor determines a digital control signal from the digital value that is used to compensate, in the digital domain of the envelope path, for the variation in the filter resistor in the analog domain. | 07-02-2009 |
20090181631 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A SYNTHESIZER/LOCAL OSCILLATOR GENERATOR (LOGEN) ARCHITECTURE FOR A QUAD-BAND GSM/GPRS RADIO - A method for processing signals is disclosed and may include performing using one or more circuits in a multiband radio, functions including receiving an input signal from an oscillator that generates signals for each of a plurality of bands handled by the multiband radio. The received input signal may be divided. A feedback loop reference signal may be generated from the input signal. A coarse calibration signal and/or a fine calibration signal may be generated from the generated feedback loop reference signal. The oscillator may be calibrated utilizing the coarse calibration signal and/or the fine calibration signal. The input signal generated by the oscillator may be between about 3.4 GHz and 4 GHz. The receive input signal may be buffered. The generated feedback loop reference signal may also be buffered. | 07-16-2009 |
20090189687 | MULTI-MODE RECONSTRUCTION FILTER - A circuit (e.g., a reconstruction filtering circuit) may include a single operational amplifier (op-amp) that is arranged to receive a voltage input and that is arranged to have a biasing of constant g | 07-30-2009 |
20090189699 | FIXED BANDWIDTH LO-GEN - A local oscillation generator (LO-GEN) maintains a fixed bandwidth using a gain calibration module that compensates for variations in the voltage controlled oscillation (VCO) gain based on the oscillation frequency. During an open loop calibration of the LO-GEN, the gain calibration module adjusts the charge pump current to compensate for the VCO gain changes. | 07-30-2009 |
20090203338 | SELECTIVE FAST IMAGE REJECTION - Selective fast image rejection. Selective down conversion processing is performed on a received signal based on the signal strength of that received signal. As few as two possible down conversion frequencies can be employed so that the received signal is down converted either to a first down converted signal having a first intermediate frequency or to a second down converted signal having a second intermediate frequency. If desired, the received signal can either be down converted using low side injection or high side injection down conversion processing. Alternatively, a larger number of possible down conversion frequencies so that the received signal is down converted to one of the possible down conversion frequencies based on the signal strength of the received signal. | 08-13-2009 |
20090203342 | FAST IMAGE REJECTION - Fast image rejection. Dual down conversion processing of a received signal by performing both low side injection and high side injection thereby generating a first down converted signal and a second down converted signal. Analysis of one or both of the first and second down converted signals, including the signal and image components thereof, is performed to determine which of the first down converted signal and the second down converted signal is appropriate to be selected for subsequent baseband processing. For example, if a signal strength of an image within the first down converted signal is less than a signal strength of a signal component within the first down converted signal, then the first down converted signal is most likely the appropriate signal to undergo baseband processing. Alternatively, if the converse is true, then the second down converted signal may be the appropriate signal to undergo baseband processing. | 08-13-2009 |
20090221260 | Blocker Performance in a Radio Receiver - A multiple stage band pass filter of a Radio Frequency (RF) Integrated Circuit is provided with a low pass mixer output filter coupled to receive a down sampled analog information signal, a buffer coupled to an output of the low pass mixer output filter, a low pass buffer output filter coupled to an output of the buffer and a plurality of band pass filters coupled to an output of the low pass buffer output filter. | 09-03-2009 |
20090237165 | Cross-coupled low noise amplifier for cellular applications - Cross-coupled low noise amplifier for cellular applications. A circuitry implementation that includes two pairs of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) (either N-type of P-type) operates as an LNA, which can be used within any of a wide variety of communication devices. In one embodiment, this design is particularly adaptable to cellular telephone applications. A majority of the elements are integrated within the design and need not be implemented off-chip, and this can provide for a reduction in area required by the circuitry. A very high output impedance is provided by using two transistors (implemented in a triple well configuration) with resistive source degeneration. A higher than typical power supply voltage can be employed (if desired) to accommodate the voltage drops of the resistors and transistors. | 09-24-2009 |
20090262475 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MITIGATING RISK OF ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE FOR A SYSTEM ON CHIP (SOC) - Aspects of a method and system for mitigating risk of electrostatic discharge in a system on chip are provided. In this regard, for an IC comprising a plurality of portions electrically isolated from one another within the IC, ESD current may be routed via one or more paths within and/or on a package to which the IC is bonded. The one or more paths may electrically couple two or more of the portions of the IC. The one or more paths may have low impedance at DC and high impedance at one or more frequencies utilized in the integrated circuit. One of the portions of the IC may be a ground plane for RF circuitry. One of the portions of the IC may be a ground plane for digital circuitry. The one or more paths may be fabricated in one or more metal layers of said package. | 10-22-2009 |
20090264074 | Integrated Multimode Radio and Components Thereof - An integrated multimode radio includes a multimode receiver and a multimode transmitter. The multimode receiver includes a shared receiver front-end, a receiver multiplexor, and a plurality of receiver IF stages. The multimode transmitter includes a shared transmitter front-end, a transmitter multiplexor, and a plurality of transmitter IF stages. | 10-22-2009 |
20090264091 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CLOSED LOOP POWER CONTROL IN WIRELESS SYSTEMS - Aspects of a method and system for closed loop power control in wireless systems are provided. In this regard, an output power of an amplifier may be measured and an indication of the measured power may be compared to a reference signal. The results of the comparison are utilized to generate an error correction factor. The gain of a preamplifier may be adjusted utilizing the error correction factor, where the output of the preamplifier may be input to the amplifier. The error correction factor may be generated via a proportional integral derivative controller. The gain of the preamplifier may be adjusted via at least one control signal, where the at least one control signal may be generated based on a reference control word and the error correction factor. The indication of the measured power and the reference signal may be time aligned. | 10-22-2009 |
20090286487 | ADAPTIVE RADIO TRANSCEIVER - An exemplary embodiment of the present invention described and shown in the specification and drawings is a transceiver with a receiver, a transmitter, a local oscillator (LO) generator, a controller, and a self-testing unit. All of these components can be packaged for integration into a single IC including components such as filters and inductors. The controller for adaptive programming and calibration of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. The self-testing unit generates is used to determine the gain, frequency characteristics, selectivity, noise floor, and distortion behavior of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or the meaning of the claims. | 11-19-2009 |
20100026402 | Low phase noise differential crystal oscillator circuit - A differential crystal oscillator circuit uses a bias transistor to generate a bias voltage from a bias current. The bias voltage is supplied to the control terminals of a differential pair of transistors. The differential transistors operate to produce a differential output between corresponding end terminals thereof, which is provided to a reference crystal oscillator to establish an oscillation frequency at the differential output. | 02-04-2010 |
20100035563 | RF TRANSCEIVER FRONT-END WITH RX/TX ISOLATION - A radio frequency (RF) transceiver front-end includes an antenna, an RF receiver section, an RF transmitter section, a balancing circuit, and a multiple node isolation and coupling circuit. The multiple node isolation and coupling circuit is coupled to the antenna, the RF receiver section, the RF transmitter section, and the balancing circuit. The multiple node isolation and coupling circuit provides an inbound RF signal from the antenna to the RF receiver section and provides an outbound RF signal from the RF transmitter section to the antenna, wherein, by providing an isolating signal to the balancing circuit, the multiple node isolation and coupling circuit substantially isolates the outbound RF signal from the inbound RF signal. | 02-11-2010 |
20100035573 | RF RECEIVER WITH OSCILLATION BASED BLOCKER - A radio frequency (RF) receiver includes an amplifier stage, a blocking module, and a down conversion module. The amplifier stage amplifies an inbound RF signal (includes a desired component and a blocking component) to produce an amplified inbound RF signal. The blocking module generates an oscillation corresponding to a frequency of the blocking component and filters the amplified inbound RF signal based on the oscillation to substantially attenuate the blocking component and to pass, substantially unattenuated, the desired component. The down conversion module converts the desired RF signal component into a baseband or near baseband inbound signal. | 02-11-2010 |
20100039194 | Monotonic frequency tuning technique for DCXO in cellular applications - A frequency tuning device for use in a crystal oscillator circuit includes a first fine tuning array of capacitors, a second fine tuning array of capacitors and a coarse tuning array of capacitors coupled in parallel to produce a tuning capacitance for tuning the crystal oscillator. The first fine tuning array of capacitors includes a binary weighted switched capacitor network, the second fine tuning array of capacitors includes a thermometer coded switched capacitor network and the coarse tuning array of capacitors includes a binary weighted switched capacitor network with a different unit capacitance value than the first and second fine tuning arrays. | 02-18-2010 |
20100135434 | RF TRANSMITTER WITH STABLE ON-CHIP PLL - A phase locked loop (PLL) a phase detector, a charge pump, a loop filter, a controlled oscillator, and a feedback divider. The phase detector is coupled to produce a difference signal based on a difference between phase of a reference oscillation and phase of a feedback oscillation. The charge pump is coupled to convert the difference signal into an up-signal or a down signal. The loop filter coupled to filter the up signal or the down signal to produce a control signal. The controlled oscillator is coupled to generate an output oscillation based on the control signal. The feedback divider is coupled to generate the feedback oscillation from the output oscillation based on a divider value. The loop filter includes a first resistor-capacitor circuit and a second resistor-capacitor circuit. The first resistor-capacitor circuit is calibrated using a first calibration technique and the second resistor-capacitor circuit is calibrated using a second calibration technique. | 06-03-2010 |
20100190453 | CONFIGURABLE CONVERSION MODULE OF AN RF FRONT-END - A configurable conversion module includes a down conversion module and an up conversion module. The down conversion module is operable to convert, when in a first mode, a first amplified inbound RF signal into a first inbound symbol stream in accordance with a first protocol and convert, when in a second mode, a second amplified inbound RF signal into a second inbound symbol stream in accordance with a second protocol. The up conversion module is operable to convert, when in the first mode, a first outbound symbol stream into a first outbound RF signal in accordance with the first protocol and convert, when in the second mode, a second outbound symbol stream into a second outbound RF signal in accordance with the second protocol. | 07-29-2010 |
20100267354 | Frequency Translated Filter - Embodiments of a frequency translated filter (FTF) are presented. An FTF includes a passive mixer and a baseband impedance. The baseband impedance includes a network of one or more passive components (e.g., resistors, inductors, and capacitors) that form a low-Q filter. The passive mixer is configured to translate the baseband impedance to a higher frequency. The translated baseband impedance forms a high-Q filter and is presented at the input of the FTF. The FTF can be fully integrated in CMOS IC technology (or others, e.g., Bipolar, BiCMOS, and SiGe) and applied in wireless receiver systems including GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, and wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11). | 10-21-2010 |
20100295598 | ADAPTIVE RADIO TRANSCEIVER WITH A LOCAL OSCILLATOR - An exemplary embodiment of the present invention described and shown in the specification and drawings is a transceiver with a receiver, a transmitter, a local oscillator (LO) generator, a controller, and a self-testing unit. All of these components can be packaged for integration into a single IC including components such as filters and inductors. The controller for adaptive programming and calibration of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. The self-testing unit generates is used to determine the gain, frequency characteristics, selectivity, noise floor, and distortion behavior of the receiver, transmitter and LO generator. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or the meaning of the claims. | 11-25-2010 |
20100303172 | METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR 3G CELLULAR TRANSMITTERS - A transmitter operates in different modulation modes to support both GSM/EDGE and WCDMA cellular telephony applications. The transmitter modulates an outgoing signal to produce a complex modulated signal in a first modulation mode and a constant or variable envelope modulated signal in a second modulation mode. A local oscillation generator and mixer operate to up-convert the complex modulated signal to produce a modulated RF signal in the first modulation mode and to up-convert the phase component of the constant or variable envelope modulated signal to an RF phase signal and mix the RF phase signal with the envelope component thereof to produce the modulated RF signal in the second modulation mode. | 12-02-2010 |
20100317308 | Area Reduction Techniques for Saw-Less Receivers - Embodiments of a SAW-less RF receiver front-end that includes a frequency translated notch filter (FTNF) are presented. An FTNF includes a passive mixer and a baseband impedance. The baseband impedance includes capacitors that form a low-Q band-stop filter. The passive mixer is configured to translate the baseband impedance to a higher frequency. The translated baseband impedance forms a high-Q notch filter and is presented at the input of the FTNF. The FTNF can be fully integrated in CMOS IC technology (or others, e.g., Bipolar, BiCMOS, and SiGe) and applied in wireless receiver systems including EDGE/GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, and wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11). In addition, embodiments of a multi-band SAW-less RF receiver front-end and techniques to share components of FTNFs included within the multi-band SAW-less RF receiver front-end are presented. | 12-16-2010 |
20100317311 | Protection for SAW-Less Receivers - Embodiments of a SAW-less RF receiver front-end that includes a frequency translated notch filter (FTNF) are presented. An FTNF includes a passive mixer and a baseband impedance. The baseband impedance includes capacitors that form a low-Q band-stop filter. The passive mixer is configured to translate the baseband impedance to a higher frequency. The translated baseband impedance forms a high-Q notch filter and is presented at the input of the FTNF. The FTNF can be fully integrated in CMOS IC technology (or others, e.g., Bipolar, BiCMOS, and SiGe) and applied in wireless receiver systems including GSM, EDGE, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, and wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11). In addition, embodiments of an apparatus to protect SAW-less RF receiver front-ends are presented. | 12-16-2010 |
20100327974 | Operational amplifiers having low-power unconditionally-stable common-mode feedback - An operational amplifier is provided. The operational amplifier includes a first transistor configured to receive a first input voltage, a second transistor configured to receive a second input voltage, and a current steering module coupled to first and second transistors and configured to receive a reference voltage. The first and second transistors form a differential pair. The first transistor, second transistor, and current steering module are configured such that a current is steered from the current steering module or to the current steering module based on common-mode voltages of the first and second input voltages and the reference voltage to set a common-mode output voltage of the operational amplifier. | 12-30-2010 |
20100329392 | Apparatus and Method for IQ Imbalance Calibration in a Receiver - A method and apparatus is disclosed to compensate for an in-phase/quadrature phase (I/Q) imbalance in a communications receiver. The communications receiver may utilize information gained from observing one or more observational interferers to adjust one or more sequence parameters, such as gain and/or phase to provide some examples. The one or more observational interferers including one or more images outside of a desired frequency band of interest. The communications receiver provides one or more sequence parameter values to allow for real-time adjustment of the sequence parameters to compensate for the I/Q imbalances. | 12-30-2010 |
20110003569 | Frequency Translated Filters For Wideband Applications - Embodiments of a SAW-less RF receiver front-end that includes a frequency translated notch filter (FTNF) are presented. An FTNF includes a passive mixer and a baseband impedance. The baseband impedance includes capacitors that form a low-Q band-stop filter. The passive mixer is configured to translate the baseband impedance to a higher frequency. The translated baseband impedance forms a high-Q notch filter and is presented at the input of the FTNF. The FTNF can be fully integrated in CMOS IC technology (or others, e.g., Bipolar, BiCMOS, and SiGe) and applied in wireless receiver systems including EDGE/GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, and wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11). In addition, embodiments of a generalized FTNF for wideband applications are presented. | 01-06-2011 |
20110003572 | Layout Techniques For Frequency Translated Filters - Embodiments of a SAW-less RF receiver front-end that includes a frequency translated notch filter (FTNF) are presented. An FTNF includes a passive mixer and a baseband impedance. The baseband impedance includes capacitors that form a low-Q band-stop filter. The passive mixer is configured to translate the baseband impedance to a higher frequency. The translated baseband impedance forms a high-Q notch filter and is presented at the input of the FTNF. In an embodiment, the capacitors are implemented using MOS capacitors. In another embodiment, the capacitors are partially formed from MOS capacitors and fringe capacitors. The FTNF can be fully integrated in CMOS IC technology (or others, e.g., Bipolar, BiCMOS, and SiGe) and applied in wireless receiver systems including EDGE/GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, and wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11). | 01-06-2011 |
20110003574 | Constant Output DC Bias Circuit Using an Open Loop Scheme - Embodiments of the present invention provide constant output DC biasing circuits. Embodiments employ an open loop scheme, instead of a closed loop scheme as used in conventional circuits. In addition, embodiments generate a DC bias voltage that is independent of temperature, process, and power supply variations. Further, embodiments require low amounts of power and silicon. | 01-06-2011 |
20110012692 | CURRENT-INPUT CURRENT-OUTPUT RECONFIGURABLE PASSIVE RECONSTRUCTION FILTER - Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to reconstruction filtering. In particular, embodiments enable highly linear, highly programmable, and easily reconfigurable reconstruction filters. Further, embodiments provide substantial power consumption, area, and cost savings compared to conventional solutions. For example, embodiments use all-passive filtering and substantially reduce active elements compared to conventional solutions. As a result, significant reductions in required area, noise, and power consumption can be achieved. In addition, embodiments perform filtering solely in the current domain, thereby eliminating the non-linear voltage-to-current conversion used in conventional circuits and enabling highly linear filtering. Furthermore, embodiments are highly programmable and easily reconfigurable without the use of tunable capacitors. As such, embodiments are very suitable solutions for multi-band multi-mode wireless transmitters. | 01-20-2011 |
20110018604 | Configurable Clock Signal Generator - A method to provide a low-power clock signal or a low-noise clock signal is described herein. It is determined whether a low-power mode or a low-noise mode is in use. A voltage reference input of a low-dropout voltage regulator (LDO) is switched to a low-power voltage reference for low-power mode and to a low-noise voltage reference for low-noise mode. The LDO provides a constant voltage output to a crystal oscillator. A clock signal is generated using the crystal oscillator. The clock signal is limited using a low-power limiter to generate a low-power output clock signal and/or is limited using a low-noise limiter to generate a low-noise clock signal. The low-power output clock signal or the low-noise output clock signal is selected using a mux. | 01-27-2011 |
20110025436 | System and Method for Reduced Area Tunable Capacitors - Embodiments of a capacitive tuning system implementing a tunable capacitive array are presented herein. The tunable capacitive array includes both scaled coarse capacitors and one or more fine capacitors. The one or more fine capacitors advantageously reduce a differential nonlinearity associated with the scaled coarse capacitors. The use of fine capacitors limits additional area requirements in an integrated circuit implementation, while improving the accuracy of the capacitive tuning system. | 02-03-2011 |
20110028115 | Receiver apparatus having filters implemented using frequency translation techniques - A method and apparatus is disclosed to effectively frequency translate a filter characterized as a low quality factor (Q) filter corresponding to a baseband frequency of approximately zero Hertz or to an intermediate frequency (IF) to a filter characterized as a high Q filter at frequencies greater than the baseband frequency or the IF. A downconversion mixer is used to frequency translate a communication signal to the baseband frequency or the IF using a first local oscillator signal to provide a downconverted communication signal. A filter characterized as the low Q filter corresponding to the baseband frequency or the IF filters the downconverted communication signal to provide a filtered communication signal. An upconversion mixer is used to frequency translate a communication signal using a second local oscillator signal, the second local oscillator signal being substantially similar in frequency of the first local oscillator signal. The frequency translation by the upconversion mixer, in effect, translates the filter characterization from the low Q filter to the high Q filter at frequencies greater than the baseband frequency or the IF. | 02-03-2011 |
20110032922 | Highly Linear and Very Low-Noise Down-Conversion Mixer for Extracting Weak Signals in the Presence of Very Strong Unwanted Signals - A method and system for wireless communication is provided and may include mitigating blocker signals in transmitted RF signals in a wireless device including a transmitter front end. The mitigation may include up-converting a baseband signal, mixing the up-converted baseband signal with a feedback signal, and amplifying the mixed up-converted baseband signal and the feedback signal to generate an output signal. The feedback signal may be generated by down-converting the output signal, low-pass filtering the down-converted output signal, and up-converting the filtered down-converted signal for the summing. The blocker signals may correspond to receive frequencies for the wireless device and may be converted to DC via the down-converting. The wireless devices may operate in accordance with at least a CDMA standard. The mixed up-converted baseband signal and the feedback signal may be amplified utilizing a source follower amplifier, where the gain and/or linearity may be configured by varying coupling capacitors. | 02-10-2011 |
20120007215 | ON-CHIP CAPACITOR STRUCTURE - At least a first capacitor is formed on a substrate and connected to a first differential node of a differential circuit, and the first capacitor may be variable in capacitance. A second capacitor is formed on the substrate and connected to a second differential node of the differential circuit, and the second capacitor also may be variable. A third capacitor is connected between the first differential node and the second differential node, and is formed at least partially above the first capacitor. In this way, a size of the first capacitor and/or the second capacitor may be reduced on the substrate, and capacitances of the first and/or second capacitor(s) may be adjusted in response to a variable characteristic of one or more circuit components of the differential circuit. | 01-12-2012 |
20120071119 | GAIN-CONTROL METHODS OF TRANSMITTER MODULATORS - An apparatus comprising a plurality of switchable full step mixer unit cells, wherein each switchable full step unit cell is configured to, when the full step transceiver mixer unit cell is turned on, increase the gain experienced by an electronic signal by a full step increment, and wherein the step increment is substantially constant regardless of temperature; and at least one switchable partial step mixer unit cell configured to, when the partial step transceiver mixer unit is turned on, increase the gain experienced by the electronic signal by a predetermined step increment less than that of a full step, and wherein the partial step increment is substantially constant regardless of temperature. | 03-22-2012 |
20120184331 | Voice/data/RF integrated circuit - A Voice-Data-RF IC includes a baseband processing module, an RF section, and an interface module. The baseband processing module converts an outbound voice signal into an outbound voice symbol stream, converts an inbound voice symbol stream into an inbound voice signal, converts outbound data into an outbound data symbol stream, and converts an inbound data symbol stream into inbound data. The RF section converts an inbound RF voice signal into the inbound voice symbol stream, converts the outbound voice symbol stream into an outbound RF voice signal, converts an inbound RF data signal into the inbound data symbol stream, and converts the outbound data symbol stream into an outbound RF data signal. The interface module provides coupling between the baseband processing module, the RF section, and with off-chip circuits. | 07-19-2012 |
20130070878 | RECEIVER APPARATUS HAVING FILTERS IMPLEMENTED USING FREQUENCY TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES - A method and apparatus is disclosed to effectively frequency translate a filter characterized as a low quality factor (Q) filter, corresponding to a baseband frequency of approximately zero Hertz or to an intermediate frequency (IF), to a filter characterized as a high Q filter at frequencies greater than the baseband frequency or the IF. A downconversion mixer frequency translates a communication signal to the baseband frequency or the IF using a first local oscillator signal to provide a downconverted communication signal. A filter corresponding to the baseband frequency or the IF filters the downconverted communication signal to provide a filtered communication signal. An upconversion mixer frequency translates a communication signal using a second local oscillator signal. The frequency translation by the upconversion mixer, in effect, translates the filter characterization from the low Q filter to the high Q filter at frequencies greater than the baseband frequency or the IF. | 03-21-2013 |
20130252564 | POWER CONTROL TECHNIQUES FOR WIRELESS TRANSMITTERS - Various embodiments are disclosed relating to power control techniques for wireless transmitters. In an example embodiment, an apparatus is provided that may include a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) adapted to convert a digital amplitude signal to an analog amplitude signal during a first transmission mode and adapted to convert a digital power level signal to an analog power level signal during a second transmission mode. | 09-26-2013 |
20130303095 | GAIN CONTROL USING A DYNAMICALLY CONFIGURABLE TRANSFORMER - An apparatus includes a dynamically configurable transformer configured to provide a gain to a target signal. The gain is dynamically configurable. The dynamically configurable transformer includes at least one parallel resistive element configured to be dynamically activated in parallel with a load. | 11-14-2013 |