Claims
- 1. A radio frequency receiver circuit, comprising:
a first circuit adapted to a receiver of an radio frequency input signal, the circuit having a bias level; a detector circuit configured to produce a bias control signal according to a signal strength of the receiver; and a bias generator circuit configured to produce the bias level according to the bias control signal, wherein a higher level of the signal strength results in a generally higher level of the bias level.
- 2. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first circuit comprises a circuit selected from an amplifier, a low noise amplifier, a linear amplifier, a mixer, an radio frequency to intermediate frequency converter, and a buffer.
- 3. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the detector circuit comprises a circuit configured to rectify a signal selected from the input signal, a signal derived from the input signal and an output signal of a front end of the receiver.
- 4. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the bias generator circuit comprises a variable resistance circuit.
- 5. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the input signal is selected from a pager signal, a wireless Internet signal, a wireless telephone signal, a cellular telephone signal, and a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal.
- 6. The circuit of claim 1, further comprising a circuit selected from a pager receiver, a wireless Internet receiver, a wireless telephone receiver, a cellular telephone receiver, and a code division multiple access (CDMA) receiver.
- 7. The circuit of claim 1, further comprising:
a bias adjustment circuit configured to receive the bias control signal from the detector and to adjust the bias control signal prior to use by the bias generator.
- 8. The circuit of claim 7, wherein the bias adjustment circuit comprises a circuit selected from an operational amplifier circuit and a sample and hold circuit.
- 9. The circuit of claim 7, wherein the configuration of the bias adjustment circuit is selected from a configuration that conditions the bias control signal, a configuration that scales the bias control signal, a configuration that responds to the bias level as regulating feedback, a configuration that holds the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition, and a configuration that holds the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition and that generally increases the bias level as the signal strength increases.
- 10. A radio frequency receiver, comprising:
a circuit means for receiving a radio frequency input, the circuit means having a bias; a detector means for producing a bias control in response to the input signal; and a bias generator means for producing the bias in response to the bias control, wherein the bias generally increases as a level of the radio frequency input increases.
- 11. The receiver of claim 10, further comprising a receiver selected from a pager receiver, a wireless Internet receiver, and a wireless telephone receiver.
- 12. The receiver of claim 10, further comprising:
a bias adjustment means for receiving the bias control from the detector and for adjusting the bias control prior to use by the bias generator means.
- 13. The receiver of claim 12, wherein the bias adjustment means comprises a means selected from an operational amplifier means and a sample and hold means.
- 14. The receiver of claim 12, wherein the bias adjustment means is selected from a means for conditioning the bias control signal, a means for scaling the bias control signal, a means for responding to the bias level as regulating feedback, a means for holding the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition, and a means for holding the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition and for generally increasing the bias level as the signal strength increases.
- 15. A method of amplifying a radio frequency signal comprising:
amplifying, using a bias level, a radio frequency input signal into an output signal; detecting a signal strength corresponding to the input signal; and generating the bias level based on the the signal strength.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the detecting comprises rectifying a signal selected from the input signal, a signal derived from the input signal, and the output signal.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the generating comprises varying the resistance of a circuit.
- 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
generating a bias control signal based on the signal strength; and adjusting the bias control signal; wherein the generating of the bias level is based on the adjusted bias control signal.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the adjusting comprises a step selected from conditioning the bias control signal, scaling the bias control signal, responding to the bias level as regulating feedback, holding the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition, and holding the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition and that generally increases the bias level as the signal strength increases.
- 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the amplifying occurs in multiple steps, each amplifying step having a corresponding bias level generated from the same detecting step.
- 21. The method of claim 15, wherein the amplifying occurs in a plurality of amplifying steps, each amplifying step having a corresponding bias level generated from a corresponding detecting step.
- 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the input signal is selected from a pager signal, a wireless Internet connection signal, a wireless telephone signal, a cellular telephone signal, and a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal.
- 23. An apparatus for a radio frequency receiver, comprising:
an buffer configured to buffer a signal, the buffer having a bias level and being adapted for use in a radio frequency receiver; a detector configured to receive a signal strength corresponding to an input signal of the receiver and to produce according thereto a bias control signal; and a bias generator configured to produce the bias level according to the bias control signal, such that the bias level generally increases as the signal strength increases.
- 24. An apparatus for a radio frequency receiver, comprising:
an radio frequency to intermediate frequency converter adapted for use in a receiver, the converter having a bias level; a detector configured to receive a signal strength corresponding to an input signal of the receiver and to produce according thereto a bias control signal; and a bias generator configured to produce the bias level according to the bias control signal, such that the bias level generally increases as the signal strength increases.
- 25. A multi-stage receiver for a radio frequency signal:
a first amplifier, having a first bias level, configured to receive a radio frequency input signal and amplify the same into a first internal signal; a second amplifier, having a second bias level, configured to receive the first internal signal and amplify the same into an output signal; a detector configured to receive a signal indicating a signal strength of the input signal and produce according thereto a bias control signal; a first bias generator configured to receive the bias control signal and generate according thereto the first bias level; and a second bias generator configured to receive the bias control signal and generate according thereto the second bias level.
- 26. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, further comprising:
a local oscillator and buffer, having a third bias level, configured to generate an intermediate frequency signal; a third bias generator configured to receive the bias control signal and generate according thereto the third bias level.
- 27. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, further comprising:
an radio frequency to intermediate frequency converter that receives the first internal signal from the first amplifier and converts it to an intermediate frequency signal prior to its use by the second amplifier; wherein the input signal is a radio-frequency signal and the output signal is an intermediate frequency signal.
- 28. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, further comprising:
a bias adjustment circuit configured to receive the bias control signal from the detector and condition the bias control signal prior to use by at least one of the bias generators.
- 29. The multi-stage receiver of claim 28, wherein the bias adjustment circuit comprises a circuit selected from an operational amplifier circuit and a sample and hold circuit.
- 30. The multi-stage receiver of claim 28, wherein the bias adjustment circuit is selected from a circuit configured to condition the bias control signal, a circuit configured to scale the bias control signal, a circuit configured to respond to the bias level as regulating feedback, a circuit configured to hold the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition, and a circuit configured to hold the bias level at a particular level when the receiver is operating under an idle condition and to generally increase the bias level as the signal strength increases.
- 31. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, wherein the detector comprises a circuit that rectifies the signal indicating the signal strength.
- 32. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, wherein at least one of the bias generators comprise a variable resistance circuit.
- 33. The multi-stage receiver of claim 25, wherein the first bias level and the second bias level generally increase as the signal strength increases.
- 34. A multi-stage receiver for receiving a radio frequency input signal and producing an intermediate frequency signal, comprising:
an radio frequency amplifying means, using a first bias level, for amplifying a radio frequency input signal into an internal radio frequency signal; a converting means, using a second bias level, for converting the internal radio frequency signal to a n intermediate frequency signal; a detecting means for producing a bias control signal that indicates a signal level corresponding to the radio frequency input signal; and a bias generating means for generating the first bias level and the second bias level according to the bias control signal.
- 35. The multi-stage receiver of claim 34, further comprising:
a bias adjusting means for adjusting the bias control signal from the detecting means prior to use by at least one of the bias generating means.
- 36. A multi-stage receiver, comprising:
a first amplifier configured to receive a radio frequency input signal and to produces a first internal signal, the first amplifier using a first bias level; a first detector configured to receive a first signal indicating a signal strength within the first amplifier and produce according thereto a first bias control signal; a first bias generator configured to receive the first bias control signal and produce according thereto the first bias level; and a second amplifier configured to amplify the first internal signal into an output signal, the second amplifier using a second bias level; a second detector configured to receive a second signal indicating a signal strength within the second amplifier and produce according thereto a second bias control signal; a second bias generator configured to receive the second bias control signal and to produce according thereto the second bias level.
- 37. A multi-stage radio frequency receiver that amplifies an input signal into an output signal, comprising:
a first amplification means, having a self-adjusting bias level, for amplifying a radio frequency input signal into an internal signal; and a second amplification means, having a self-adjusting bias level, for amplifying the internal signal into the output signal.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/539,165, filed Mar. 29, 2000, entitled “Low Power and High Linearity Receivers with Reactively Biased Front Ends” by the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee.
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09539165 |
Mar 2000 |
US |
Child |
09753123 |
Dec 2000 |
US |