Patent Application
20170294947
The present disclosure relates to front-end architectures in wireless applications.
In wireless applications, a front-end typically facilitates transmission of a power-amplified signal through an antenna. The same front-end typically facilitates low-noise amplification of a received signal, either from the same antenna or another antenna.
In some wireless applications, transmit and receive operations can be achieved simultaneously through, for example, a duplexer. Such a duplexer typically includes a transmit filter and a receive filter.
According to a number of implementations, the present disclosure relates to a front-end architecture that includes a first receive signal path including a first receive filter coupled to a first antenna, a second receive signal path including a second receive filter coupled to a second antenna, and a transmit signal path including a transmit filter. The front-end architecture further includes a signal routing assembly configured to couple the transmit filter to the first antenna in a first mode, and to couple the transmit filter to the second antenna in a second mode.
In some embodiments, the first antenna can include a main antenna, and the second antenna can include a diversity antenna. Each of the first receive signal path and the second receive signal path can further include a low-noise amplifier implemented on an output side of the corresponding receive filter. In some embodiments, at least one of the first receive signal path and the second receive signal path can further include a phase shifter implemented on an input side of the corresponding receive filter.
In some embodiments, at least one of the first receive signal path and the second receive signal path can be one of a plurality of receive signal paths arranged in parallel and configured to allow a selected receive signal path to be operational. The plurality of parallel receive signal paths can share the corresponding low-noise amplifier as a common low-noise amplifier and also can have a common output node. Each of the plurality of parallel receive signal paths can include a first band-selection switch implemented on an input side of the corresponding receive filter, and a second band-selection switch implemented on an output side of the corresponding receive filter.
In some embodiments, the transmit signal path can further include a power amplifier implemented on an input side of the transmit filter. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path can be one of a plurality of transmit signal paths arranged in parallel and configured to allow a selected transmit signal path to be operational. The plurality of parallel transmit signal paths can share the power amplifier as a common power amplifier and also can have a common output node. Each of the plurality of parallel transmit signal paths can include a first band-selection switch implemented on an input side of the corresponding transmit filter, and a second band-selection switch implemented on an output side of the corresponding transmit filter.
In some embodiments, the signal routing assembly can include a plurality of switches implemented between the first antenna and the second antenna. The plurality of switches of the signal routing assembly can be configured to allow pairing of the transmit signal path with the first receive signal path for a first duplex operation when in the first mode, and pairing of the transmit signal path with the second receive signal path for a second duplex operation when in the second mode. The plurality of switches can include a first assembly of one or more switches configured to pair the transmit signal path with the first receive signal path when in the first mode, and to allow pairing of the transmit signal path with the second receive signal path when in the second mode. The first assembly of one or more switches can be configured to provide a switching functionality that includes a single-pole-double-throw functionality. The single pole can be coupled to the transmit signal path, a first of the double throw can be coupled to the first antenna, and a second of the double throw can be coupled to a first end of a routing line.
In some embodiments, the first assembly of one or more switches can include a first single-pole-single-throw switch implemented between the transmit filter and the first antenna, and a second single-pole-single-throw switch implemented between the transmit filter and a first end of a routing line. In some embodiments, the first assembly of one or more switches can include a multiplexed switch configured to couple the transmit filter and the first antenna when in the first mode, and to couple the transmit filter and a first end of a routing line when in the second mode.
In some embodiments, the plurality of switches can further include a second switch implemented to switchably couple a second end of a routing line with the second antenna, such that the transmit signal path is coupled to the second antenna through the routing line when in the second mode, and the transmit signal path is uncoupled from the second antenna when in the first mode. In some embodiments, the routing line can include a lossy cable.
In some embodiments, the first receive filter can be always connected to the first antenna, and the second receive filter can be always connected to the second antenna. The transmit filter and the first receive filter can form a first switched duplexer operational with the first antenna when in the first mode. The transmit filter and the second receive filter can form a second switched duplexer operational with the second antenna when in the second mode.
In some implementations, the present disclosure relates to a method for operating a wireless device. The method includes providing a first receive signal path including a first receive filter coupled to a first antenna, a second receive signal path including a second receive filter coupled to a second antenna, and a transmit signal path including a transmit filter. The method further includes generating a control signal representative of a first mode or a second mode. The method further includes performing one or more switching operations based on the control signal to couple the transmit filter to the first antenna when in the first mode, and to couple the transmit filter to the second antenna when in the second mode.
In a number of implementations, the present disclosure relates to a radio-frequency module that includes a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components, and a signal routing circuit implemented on the packaging substrate. The signal routing circuit includes a first antenna node configured to be connected to a first antenna and a first receive signal path, a transmit input node configured to be connected to a transmit signal path, and a swap node configured to be connected to a routing line. The signal routing circuit is further configured to couple the transmit input node and the first antenna node when in a first mode, and to couple the transmit input node and the swap node when in a second mode.
In some teachings, the present disclosure relates to a signal routing circuit for a wireless device. The signal routing circuit includes a first antenna node configured to be connected to a first antenna and a first receive signal path, a transmit input node configured to be connected to a transmit signal path, and a swap node configured to be connected to a routing line. The signal routing circuit further includes an assembly of switches configured to couple the transmit input node and the first antenna node when in a first mode, and to couple the transmit input node and the swap node when in a second mode.
In some embodiments, the signal routing circuit can further include the routing line connected to the swap node. In some embodiments, the signal routing circuit can further include a second antenna node configured to be connected to a second antenna and a second receive signal path. The second antenna node can be further configured to be switchably connected to the routing line. The assembly of switches can be further configured to disconnect the second antenna node from the routing line when in the first mode, and to connect the second antenna node to the routing line when in the second mode.
In accordance with a number of implementations, the present disclosure relates to a wireless device that includes a transceiver configured to process signals, a first antenna and a second antenna, each in communication with the transceiver, and a front-end architecture implemented to route the signals between the transceiver and either or both of the first and second antennas. The front-end architecture includes a first receive signal path having a first receive filter coupled to the first antenna, a second receive signal path having a second receive filter coupled to the second antenna, and a transmit signal path having a transmit filter. The front-end architecture further includes a signal routing assembly configured to couple the transmit filter to the first antenna in a first mode, and to couple the transmit filter to the second antenna in a second mode.
In some embodiments, the first antenna can include a main antenna, and the second antenna can include a diversity antenna. In some embodiments, the wireless device can include a cellular phone. In some embodiments, the cellular phone can be configured to include a frequency-division duplexing mode of operation.
For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the inventions have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
The headings provided herein, if any, are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.
In the example of
Referring to the example of
Referring to the example of
In
Referring to
For the purpose of description, the example operating mode of
As further shown in
The foregoing swap mode of operation can address situations where antenna efficiencies may be degraded in various ways by changes in external environment (e.g., presence of hands, head, etc.). For example, the capability to swap transmit path from one antenna to the other can allow selection of an antenna depending on which one has a greater antenna efficiency at a given time.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the Tx_A amplification path can be swapped between the first and second antennas 101, 102, and each of the Rx_A and Rx_B amplification paths can remain coupled the its corresponding antenna in a dedicated manner. For example, the Rx_A amplification path can be coupled to the first antenna 101 in a dedicated manner to provide a signal path 122, and the Rx_B amplification path can be coupled to the second antenna 102 in a dedicated manner to provide a signal path 124.
To swap the connection of the Tx_A amplification path between the first and second antennas, a first switch S1, a routing line 120, and a second switch S2 can be implemented as shown between the first and second antennas 101, 102. The first switch S1 can also be coupled to the Tx_A amplification path. Accordingly, the Tx_A amplification path can be coupled to the first antenna 101 through the first switch S1. The Tx_A amplification path can also be coupled to the second antenna 102 through the first switch S1, the routing line 120, and the second switch S2.
As described herein, filters associated with the Tx_A amplification path and the Rx_A amplification path can effectively function together to provide the duplex functionality with the first antenna 101, as in the example of
It is noted that by having the Tx_A amplification path swap between the first and second antennas 101, 102 while each of the Rx_A and Rx_B amplification paths remains coupled to its respective antenna (101 or 102), a number of desirable features can be realized. For example, and assuming that a routing line is not utilized or needed in the direct connect mode, one routing line (e.g., routing line 120) can be utilized for the swap mode (
It is also noted that in the example of
Accordingly, when in the direct connect mode of
When in the swap mode of
It is noted that in the example of
It is noted that in some embodiments, Tx and Rx filters are implemented in a single 3-port component duplexer. Whether or not such Tx and Rx filters are physically combined into a single duplexer device, it is desirable to implement a design such that both Tx and Rx portions perform well. To accomplish or facilitate such performance of duplexer functionality, a phase shift element or circuit can be implemented for at least one of the Tx and Rx filters. For example, a phase shift element can be introduced in front of an Rx filter.
In the examples of
In the TRx functional block 150, an output of the PA is shown to be connected to one side of an assembly of signal filtering paths. One or more of such signal filtering paths can be selected for operation utilizing, for example, switches 152 before corresponding Tx filters and switches 154 after the Tx filters. For example, a selected signal filtering path indicated as 155 is shown to have the corresponding switches 152 and 154 closed so as to couple the output of the PA to the first switch S1.
Similarly, in the TRx functional block 150, an input of the LNA is shown to be connected to one side of an assembly of signal filtering paths. One or more of such signal filtering paths can be selected for operation utilizing, for example, switches 156 before corresponding Rx filters and switches 158 after the Rx filters. For example, a selected signal filtering path indicated as 159 is shown to have the corresponding switches 156 and 158 closed so as to couple the first antenna (Antenna 1) to the input of the LNA.
Similarly, in the Rx functional block 160, an input of the LNA is shown to be connected to one side of an assembly of signal filtering paths. One or more of such signal filtering paths can be selected for operation utilizing, for example, switches 162 before corresponding Rx filters and switches 164 after the Rx filters. For example, a selected signal filtering path indicated as 165 is shown to have the corresponding switches 162 and 164 closed so as to couple the second antenna (Antenna 2) to the input of the LNA.
In the example of
In the example of
In the examples of
In the TRx functional block 150, an output of the PA is shown to be connected to one side of an assembly of signal filtering paths, similar to the example of
Similarly, in the Rx functional block 160, an input of the LNA is shown to be connected to one side of an assembly of signal filtering paths, similar to the example of
In the example of
In the example of
Referring to
Configured in the foregoing manner, the direct connect mode can be implemented as shown in
For Rx operations, a signal received through the first antenna (Antenna 1) can be routed to the corresponding LNA through the antenna node for the first antenna (Antenna 1) and through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 172 that duplexes with the foregoing Tx signal path 176. For the second antenna (Antenna 2), a signal received through the second antenna can be routed to the corresponding LNA through the antenna node for the second antenna (Antenna 2) and through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 174.
Referring to
For Rx operations, a signal received through the second antenna (Antenna 2) can be routed to the corresponding LNA through the antenna node for the second antenna (Antenna 2) and through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 174 that duplexes with the foregoing Tx signal path 178. For the first antenna (Antenna 1), a signal received through the first antenna can be routed to the corresponding LNA through the antenna node for the first antenna (Antenna 1) and through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 172.
In the example of
In the example configuration of
Referring to the direct connect mode example of
For Rx operations, a signal received through the first antenna (Antenna 1) can be routed to the corresponding LNA through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 182 that duplexes with the foregoing Tx signal path 186. For the second antenna (Antenna 2), a signal received through the second antenna can be routed to the corresponding LNA through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 184.
Referring to the swap mode example of
For Rx operations, a signal received through the second antenna (Antenna 2) can be routed to the corresponding LNA through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 184 that duplexes with the foregoing Tx signal path 188. For the first antenna (Antenna 1), a signal received through the first antenna can be routed to the corresponding LNA through a selected filtering path, so as to yield an Rx signal path 182.
In
Similarly, in
Referring to the example of
Referring to the example of
Referring to the example of
Referring to the example simulation results of Table 1, it is noted that insertion loss is significantly reduced for the Rx operations of the swap mode architecture 100 of
As for the Tx operation in the swap mode, it is noted that insertion loss is increased by about 0.3 dB to 0.6 dB. However, it is further noted that in the foregoing simulation, a shunt impedance from the Rx filter in the Rx functional block (160 in
It is noted that in simulations of the direct connect mode of the architecture 100 of
In some implementations, an architecture, device and/or circuit having one or more features described herein can be included in an RF device such as a wireless device. Such an architecture, device and/or circuit can be implemented directly in the wireless device, in one or more modular forms as described herein, or in some combination thereof. In some embodiments, such a wireless device can include, for example, a cellular phone, a smart-phone, a hand-held wireless device with or without phone functionality, a wireless tablet, a wireless router, a wireless modem configured to support machine type communications, a wireless access point, a wireless base station, etc. Although described in the context of wireless devices, it will be understood that one or more features of the present disclosure can also be implemented in other RF systems such as base stations.
As described herein, such an FE architecture can include, for example, an assembly of PAs 512, an antenna switch module (ASM) 514, an assembly of LNAs 513, and a diversity Rx module 300. Such components of the FE architecture 100 can operate as described herein with a main antenna 520 and a diversity antenna 530.
As described herein, the diversity Rx module 300 can be configured so that its LNA is relatively close to the diversity antenna 530 which is preferably positioned relatively far from the main antenna 520. Such a diversity module can be configured to provide, for example, swapping functionalities to allow Tx operations through the diversity antenna 520.
PAs in the PA assembly 512 can receive their respective RF signals from a transceiver 510 that can be configured and operated to generate RF signals to be amplified and transmitted, and to process received signals. The transceiver 510 is shown to interact with a baseband sub-system 508 that is configured to provide conversion between data and/or voice signals suitable for a user and RF signals suitable for the transceiver 510. The transceiver 510 is also shown to be connected to a power management component 506 that is configured to manage power for the operation of the wireless device 500. Such power management can also control operations of the baseband sub-system 508 and other components of the wireless device 500.
The baseband sub-system 508 is shown to be connected to a user interface 502 to facilitate various input and output of voice and/or data provided to and received from the user. The baseband sub-system 508 can also be connected to a memory 504 that is configured to store data and/or instructions to facilitate the operation of the wireless device, and/or to provide storage of information for the user.
A number of other wireless device configurations can utilize one or more features described herein. For example, a wireless device does not need to be a multi-band device. In another example, a wireless device can include additional antennas such as diversity antenna, and additional connectivity features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.
One or more features of the present disclosure can be implemented with various cellular frequency bands as described herein. Examples of such bands are listed in Table 2. It will be understood that at least some of the bands can be divided into sub-bands. It will also be understood that one or more features of the present disclosure can be implemented with frequency ranges that do not have designations such as the examples of Table 2.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” The word “coupled”, as generally used herein, refers to two or more elements that may be either directly connected, or connected by way of one or more intermediate elements. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context permits, words in the above Detailed Description using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.
The above detailed description of embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel, or may be performed at different times.
The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.
While some embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/320,467 filed Apr. 9, 2016, entitled FRONT-END ARCHITECTURE HAVING SWITCHABLE DUPLEXER, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in its respective entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62320467 | Apr 2016 | US |
