Patent Application
20060030275
The present invention relates to communication devices, and in particular, to communication devices including a plurality of transceivers, transmitters and/or block-up converters.
Communication devices employing transceivers, transmitters and/or block-up converters (BUCs) often send and/or receive communication signals from, for example, satellites, communication towers and the like. Communication signals are often required to travel a long distance between a sending communication device and a receiving communication device. To traverse these long distances without signal degradation, communication signals are many times converted to frequencies more conducive to efficient transmittal. For example, radio frequency (RF) signals are much easier to transmit over long distances than intermediate frequency (IF) signals. Thus, IF signals are often converted to RF signals prior to transmittal, transmitted and then converted back to IF signals once the signal reaches its destination. In addition, when transmitting signals over long distances, the signals are often amplified. However, amplifying signals generally involves significant amounts of power and is expensive. Thus, to efficiently and accurately transmit communication signals, communication devices generally convert signals from one frequency to another, and transmitting communication devices often amplify signals prior to transmission.
Existing communication devices are generally capable of converting signals from one frequency to another and have power amplification capabilities. However, existing devices employ expensive power amplification means. For example, existing communication devices utilize expensive high-power BUCs, transceivers or transmitters, or lower-power BUCs transceivers or transmitters used in conjunction with an expensive power amplifier to sufficiently amplify communication signals. In addition, these communication devices are often specially designed and/or manufactured to accomplish their objectives.
Thus, a need exists for a less expensive alternative to existing communication devices without the need for special designs and/or manufacturing.
A communication device according to various aspects of the present invention comprises a first transceiver and a second transceiver that is connected in parallel to the first transceiver. The first transceiver and the second transceiver are configured to amplify communication signals that will be communicated to an external communication device. The communication device may also include a waveguide combiner configured to combine the amplified communication signals from the first and second transceivers to form a single, higher power communication signal. In addition, the communication device may include an orthogonal mode transducer (OMT) connected to the first transceiver, second transceiver and/or waveguide combiner. The OMT may be configured to transfer higher power communication signals received from the waveguide combiner to a transmission port to be communicated to an external communication device via an antenna. Furthermore, the OMT may be configured to receive communication signals from a receiving port and send received signals to one or more transceivers.
In addition, the present invention includes a communication device comprising a first block-up converter (BUC) and a second BUC connected in parallel to each other such that the first BUC and the second BUC amplify communication signals to be communicated to an external communication device. The communication device may also include a waveguide combiner configured to combine the amplified communication signals from the first and second BUCs to form a single, higher power communication signal. In addition, the communication device may include an OMT connected to the first BUC, second BUC and/or waveguide combiner. The OMT may be configured to receive communication signals from a receiving port and send received signals to one or receivers. Furthermore, the OMT may be configured to receive communication signals from a receiving port and send received signals to one or more BUCs.
Likewise, the present invention includes a communication device comprising a first transmitter and a second transmitter connected in parallel to each other such that the first transmitter and the second transmitter amplify communication signals to be communicated to an external communication device. The communication device may also include a waveguide combiner configured to combine the amplified communication signals from the first and second transmitters to form a single, higher power communication signal. In addition, the communication device may include an OMT connected to the first transmitter, second transmitter and/or waveguide combiner. The OMT may be configured to transfer higher power communication signals received from the waveguide combiner to a transmission port to be communicated to an external communication device via an antenna. Furthermore, the OMT may be configured to receive communication signals from a receiving port and send received signals to one or more receivers.
In addition, a method for amplifying communication signals, according to various aspects of the present invention, includes splitting a first communication signal, the split first communication signal forming a second communication signal and a third communication signal. The second communication signal is communicated to a first transceiver, BUC or transmitter and the third communication signal is communicated to a second transceiver, BUC or transmitter. The second communication signal is amplified using the first transceiver, BUC or transmitter to form a first amplified communication signal and the third communication signal is amplified using the second transceiver, BUC or transmitter to form a second amplified communication signal. The first and second amplified communication signals are combined to form a single, more amplified communication signal.
Furthermore, the present invention also includes a method to amplify communication signals including splitting a first intermediate frequency (IF) signal, the split IF signal forming a second IF signal and a third IF signal. The second IF signal is communicated to a first transceiver, BUC or transmitter to be converted into a first radio frequency (RF) signal and to be amplified by the first transceiver, BUC or transmitter to form a first amplified RF signal. The third IF signal is likewise communicated to a second transceiver, BUC or transmitter to be converted into a second RF signal and to be amplified by the second transceiver, BUC or transmitter to form a second amplified RF signal. The first and second amplified RF signals are combined to form a single, more amplified RF signal.
In accordance with one aspect the present invention, a communication device, methods and systems facilitate increased power transmission signals at reduced cost. The transmissions, in one exemplary embodiment, may be wireless transmissions. In other examples, the transmissions may be a non-wireless type of transmissions. For example, the transmissions may occur over a cable based transmission system. In accordance with yet other aspects, the communication device, methods and systems facilitate improved reliability, and/or faster time-to-market of transmission devices.
Thus, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, two or more block up-converters (BUCs) are combined in parallel, wherein the total output power of the combination is approximately equal to the combined power of the two or more BUCs. In another example, two or more transceivers are combined in parallel, wherein the total output power of the combination is approximately equal to the combined power of the two or more transceivers. The BUCs and/or transceivers may be “off the shelf” items, thus greatly reducing design costs. Furthermore, the combined total cost of the BUCs and/or transceivers may be less than the cost of a single BUC or transceiver configured to achieve the same output power as the combination.
In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, communication device 100 may include a first transceiver 130, a second transceiver 135, an orthogonal mode transducer (OMT) 120 and a waveguide combiner 210 (shown in
In one exemplary embodiment, feed horn 110 is manufactured by Raven Manufacturing of Blackborne UK. In other embodiments, feed horn 110 may be any feed horn device or antenna known in the art.
Connected to feed horn 110, in an exemplary embodiment, is orthogonal mode transducer (OMT) 120. In one embodiment, OMT 120 is a transducer configured to transfer radio frequency (RF) signals to individual ports (e.g., a transmission port and/or a receiving port) and to provide an isolation between at least two orthogonal planes (e.g. vertical plane and horizontal plane). For example, OMT 120 may be an OMT manufactured by Raven
Manufacturing of Blackborne UK. In other embodiments, OMT 120 may be any OMT device known in the art.
Communication device 100, in one embodiment, may also include transceiver 130 and transceiver 135. Transceivers 130 and 135 may be, directly or indirectly, connected to OMT 120. In one embodiment, with reference to
In one exemplary embodiment, transceivers 130 and 135 are each S to Ka-band transceiver devices. In other embodiments, transceivers 130 and 135 are Ku-band, S-Band, K-band, C-band, X-band, or any other frequency band or signal type transceiver devices.
Transceivers 130 and 135, in an exemplary embodiment, are two watt transceiver devices. In other embodiments, transceivers 130 and 135 are in the range of about 0.25 watts to about 10 watts each. Therefore, connecting two or more transceivers of two watt power may result in a less expensive communication device than a communication device employing a single four watt transceiver. In addition, it will be appreciated that the complexity, cost and/or design difficulty for transceivers may vary depending on many factors. For example, as operating frequencies increase, often the complexity, cost and/or design difficulty may increase unless the power is reduced. Thus, the transceivers of the present invention may be of any power level where it is advantageous to couple two transceivers in parallel. By way of example, combining two or more transceivers in parallel may be advantageous for high power, high frequency transceiver devices. For example, coupling two transceivers in parallel may provide a cost and/or design time advantage for relatively high power transceivers.
In one embodiment, transceivers 130 and 135 are of equal size. For example, transceivers 130 and 135 may each be two watt transceiver devices. In other embodiments, transceiver 130 may have a different power level than transceiver 135. For example, transceiver 130 may be a one watt transceiver, while transceiver 135 may be a two watt transceiver.
As described above, communication device 100 may include two transceivers. In addition, communication device 100 may include more than two transceiver devices. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of N transceivers may be the same size.
Moreover, it is contemplated that communication device 100 may include different sized transceivers such that each transceiver device has a different wattage or at least two of the plurality of N transceivers have different wattages.
Communication device 100, in another exemplary embodiment, includes two or more transceiver devices to take advantage of the economies of scale of producing a transceiver of a single size (e.g., one power level) to accomplish a desired increase in power without using a specially manufactured power amplifier for each desired, different possible configuration of communication device 100. For example, it may be more cost efficient to produce five one-watt transceivers and include, for example, three one-watt transceivers for communication device A and two one-watt transceivers on communication device B rather than designing and manufacturing a single three-watt transceiver for communication device A and a single two-watt transceiver for communication device B. Furthermore, it may be advantageous to use five one-watt transceivers rather than using a one-watt transceiver in conjunction with a specially designed power amplifier (a five times power amplifier in this example).
Although described herein in connection with transceivers connected in parallel, the same technique can be applied to create systems, methods and devices with BUCs that are connected in parallel. Transceivers and/or BUCs of higher power and/or frequency tend to cost significantly more and/or disproportionately more than transceivers and/or BUCs of relatively lower power and/or frequency. For example, three one-watt BUC devices may be cheaper to manufacture and/or purchase than one three-watt BUC device and/or a one-watt BUC device used in conjunction with a power amplifier (a three times power amplifier in this example).
Furthermore, design costs may also contribute to the typically greater cost of producing higher power devices. Also, economies of scale may help absorb the design costs of devices that are sold in relatively greater quantities, such as, for example, lower power devices. Therefore, it may be more cost effective to use several lower power transceiver and/or BUC devices connected in parallel than it is to use one large transceiver and/or BUC device. It may also be more cost effective to use several lower power transceivers and/or BUC devices connected in parallel than it is to use a small transceiver and/or BUC device in conjunction with a power amplifier.
Also, communication device 100 may be configured to enhance reliability. For example, having two or more transceiver/BUC devices may enhance the reliability to communication device 100. Reliability may be increased due to redundancy of components, whereby instead of a complete loss of a transmitted signal, the transceiver and/or BUC device may continue to transmit with a signal that may be slightly degraded. For example, the signal may be degraded by just a few dB. Thus, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the transceivers and/or BUCs connected in parallel are redundant.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, communication device 100 may be a transceiver manufactured by U.S. Monolithics of Gilbert, Ariz., such as Model # USM-TXR-Kal-3W-f-01-120. Furthermore, communication device 100 may be a BUC device manufactured by NJRC of Japan, such as Model #'s NJT5018F, NJT5017F, and/or NJT5656F. In addition, communication device 100 may include any BUC and/or transceiver known in the art, such as, for example, devices operating in accordance with the 802.11 “WiFi” or “WiMax” standards. Furthermore, communication device 100 may include similar components for non-wireless communication. For example, communication device 100 may include a CATV network, a telephone network and/or any other cable transmission that may require frequency conversion and higher power due to long distance transmission.
In one embodiment, communication device 100 includes boom arm 140 and boom arm 145. Boom arms 140, 145 may be configured to couple communication device 100 to any suitable support structure. Boom arms 140, 145 may be configured, for example, to orient communication device 100 in a manner to allow an antenna (e.g., feed horn 110) to receive and/or send a communication signal to and/or from an external communication device. In one embodiment, boom arms 140, 145 are made of steel. In other embodiments, boom arms 140, 145 may be made of any material suitable for supporting communication device 100. Although, in the embodiment shown in
Waveguide combiner 210, in an exemplary embodiment, may comprise any signal combining device or other junction capable of combining two or more amplified RF signals from two or more transceivers into a single, amplified RF signal. In an exemplary embodiment, waveguide combiner 210 is a magic-T type waveguide combiner. In the embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, transceivers 130 and 135 each receive an intermediate frequency (IF) signal from a signal splitter (not shown, but discussed below with respect to
Communication device 100, in an exemplary embodiment, includes receiving junction 230 connected to an antenna and at least one transceiver device. In the embodiment shown in
Receiving junction 230, in the embodiment shown in
Signal splitter 510, in one embodiment, splits an incoming IF signal into two or more IF signals and then sends one of the IF signals to each of two or more BUC devices (e.g., BUCs 530 and 535) that are connected to signal splitter 510. Likewise, in one embodiment, signal splitter 510 may perform the function of splitting an incoming reference signal into two or more reference output signals. Also, signal splitter 510 may be configured to split an incoming DC signal into two or more DC signals. These split signals may be communicated to the plurality of BUC devices connected, directly or indirectly, to signal splitter 510. In one exemplary embodiment, splitter 510 performs all three of the splitting functions; namely: DC, reference, and IF signal splitting. In this regard, the signals are multiplexed onto a single cable connection (e.g., per BUC) for simplicity of installation and reduced cable costs. In addition, in other embodiments, the DC power and/or the reference signal may be separately provided to BUCs 530 and 535, for example, through another connector.
BUCs 530 and 535, in an exemplary embodiment, each receive a single IF signal, a single reference signal and a single DC signal from signal splitter 510. Furthermore, BUCs 530 and 535 may be configured to convert their received IF signal to an RF signal and amplify their respective signal. In one exemplary embodiment, a local oscillator signal in each of BUCs 530 and 535 is produced by a digital phase-lock loop (not shown) which is locked to the same reference signal such that the local oscillator signals inside each of BUCs 530 and 535 have the same phase and/or each of the transceivers have the same phase.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, the same local oscillator is fed directly to BUCs 530 and 535 and/or each transceiver. Furthermore, other systems for synchronizing the phase of the local oscillators may also be used. For example, an analog phase lock loop may be configured to synchronize the phase in BUCs 530 and 535. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, synchronization of the local oscillator phase may facilitate power savings. For example, if the up-convert function is performed without a phase locked or synchronized local oscillator, then the output of BUCs 530 and 535 may be combined with different phases and thus power may be lost.
In one embodiment, once the IF signal has been converted to an RF signal and the RF signal is amplified in each of BUCs 530 and 535, each amplified RF signal is communicated from BUCs 530 and 535 to power combiner 520. Power combiner 520 may include, for example, an in-phase waveguide combiner. Power combiner 520, in one embodiment, is a magic-T similar to the embodiments discussed above with respect to
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
With reference to
Output 830 and output 840 of signal splitter 700 may be connected to a variable attenuator 850 for amplitude adjustment and/or a variable phase shifter 855 for phase adjustment. Outputs 830 and 840 may also each be connected to a capacitor 860 and a capacitor 870, respectively, and/or an inductor 885, and/or a DC reference path 880. The DC reference path 880 may include one or more inductors on it.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
Thus, in one exemplary embodiment, transceivers may be designed to achieve X watts by dividing X watts by an even integer Y and using Y transceivers of X/Y watts to achieve X watts of transmission power. Although power amps have been designed in parallel to achieve higher power, these designs generally involve significant changes to the transceiver circuitry. In contrast, in accordance with the present invention, existing and/or simple transmitters/BUC's may be combined in parallel to achieve a desired output power without redesigning the transmitters/BUC's themselves.
With reference now to
Various embodiments employing BUC devices and transceivers have been disclosed herein. In addition, in other exemplary embodiments, similar techniques may be used where transmitters are used in place of the BUCs and/or the transceivers described herein and similar results may be obtained. Moreover, although described herein as a digital transceivers, BUCs and transmitters, the methods, techniques and systems may also be used for analog transceivers, BUCs and/or transmitters. Likewise, a method of building a transmitting device may comprise the steps of connecting two or more transmitters/BUCs in parallel, connecting a signal splitter to the input of the two or more transmitters/BUCs, and connecting a signal combiner to the two or more transmitters/BUCs.
Benefits, advantages and solutions to problems have been described herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of the invention. All structural, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference. As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, no element described herein is required for the practice of the invention unless expressly described as “essential” or “critical”.
This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/598,937, filed Aug. 5, 2004 and entitled “High Power Parallel Block-Up Converter”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60598937 | Aug 2004 | US |
