A phased array antenna includes an antenna beam former to form a phased array antenna beam. The antenna beam former includes radio frequency (RF) signal processing elements coupled to an array of antenna elements (i.e., an antenna array). A multi-beam system may include multiple separate antenna beam formers to form multiple antenna beams, concurrently. Conventionally, separate antenna beam formers include separate antenna arrays. In other words, the multi-beam system divides a given set of antenna elements available in the system among separate antenna beam formers such that each beam former uses a different antenna array. The division of antenna elements reduces the number of antenna elements available to each beam former, and thereby disadvantageously reduces an antenna gain for each formed beam. Conventionally, an increase in antenna gain requires a costly increase in the number of antenna elements allocated to each beam former, which results in a corresponding increase in the size of the system.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.
Embodiments described herein are directed to: multiple transmit antenna beam formers that include/share a same set of power amplifiers and antenna elements to form multiple concurrent transmit antenna beams; multiple receive antenna beam formers that include/share a same set of antenna elements and low noise amplifiers to form multiple concurrent receive antenna beams; and a transceiver including the multiple transmit antenna beam formers and the multiple receive antenna beam formers, where the multiple transmit and receive beam formers include/share the same set of antenna elements. In various embodiments, the transmit antenna beam formers and the receive antenna beam formers are configured to transmit, receive, and operate in an RF frequency range of 30 to 300 Gigahertz, referred to as a millimeter wave (MMW) frequency band. In other embodiments, the transmit and receive antenna beam formers transmit, receive, and operate at RF frequencies below the MMW frequency band. Because the multiple transmit and receive antenna beam formers operate at MMW frequencies and transmit and receive multiple concurrent antenna beams, respectively, they fully support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) communication protocols in MMW communication systems. Embodiments described herein may be incorporated in one or more devices of a wireless local area network (WLAN) that operates in accordance with any number of wireless standards. Such standards include, but are not limited to, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ad, Wireless Gigabit Alliance “WiGig,” standard, in which the devices may transceive RF energy in the 2.4, 5 and 60 Gigahertz bands, to deliver data transfer rates of up to 10 Gigabits per second. Alternatively, embodiments described herein may be incorporated in stand-alone point-to-point communication systems that are not part of a network.
RF Transmitter
BB processor 102 provides concurrent BB signals 104a and 104b to a phased array transmit antenna beam former 106 to processes the BB signals concurrently and thereby generate concurrent transmit antenna beam patterns TB1 and TB2, through which the information in the BB signals is communicated. In another embodiment, BB signals 104a, 104b may be generated in sequence, in which case transmit antenna beam former 106 generates antenna beam patterns TB1 and TB2 sequentially.
Transmit antenna beam former 106 includes the following elements listed in an order of transmit signal processing flow: RF up-converters RF1 and RF2; RF power splitters 108a and 108b; programmable phase shifters TPhi11-TPhi24 (indicated as circles in
With respect to the first sub-antenna transmit beam former, BB processor 102 provides BB signal 104a to RF up-converter RF1. RF up-converter RF1 includes frequency mixers and local oscillators configured to frequency up-convert or mix BB signal 104a to an input signal 112a at an RF frequency. RF power splitter 108a power splits or divides signal 112a into four signal components, and provides each of the four signal components to a corresponding one of transmit phase shifters TPhi11-PPhi14. Transmit phase shifters TPhi11-PPhi14 receive corresponding programmed phase shift values TPS11-TPS14 (each indicated in
With respect to the second sub-antenna transmit beam former, RF up-converter RF2, RF power splitter 108b, and phase shifters TPhi21-24 are configured to operate similarly to their corresponding components/elements in the first transmit beam former, to produce phase-shifted transmit signal components 120b from BB signal 104b, based on programmed phase shift values TPS21-TPS24.
Phase-shifters TPhi11-14 in the first sub-antenna transmit beam former and phase shifters TPhi21-24 in the second sub-antenna transmit beam former provide their corresponding phase-shifted transmit signal components to power combiners or summers Σ1-Σ4. Specifically, as depicted in
Combiners Σ1-Σ4 provide combined signal components 124 to corresponding ones of antenna elements T1-T4 through corresponding ones of power amplifiers PA1-PA4. Antenna elements T1-T4 radiate RF energy responsive to the amplified combined signal components from power amplifiers PA1-PA4. Specifically, antenna elements T1-T4 radiate RF energy in antenna beam patterns TB1 and TB2 formed responsive to transmit phase shifts TPS11-TPS14 and TPS21-TPS24, respectively. Transmit phase shifts TP11-TPS14 and TPS21-TPS24, together with the number and relative positions of antenna elements T1-T4, determine beam gains and corresponding pointing angles Alpha T1 and Alpha T2 of antenna beam patterns TB1 and TB2, respectively.
RF Receiver
A first sub-antenna receive beam former includes antenna elements R1-R4, phase shifters RPhi11-RPhi14, RF combiner 210a, and RF down-converter 212a configured to operate collectively to form antenna receive beam pattern RB1. A second sub-antenna receive beam former includes antenna elements R1-R4, phase shifters RPhi21-RPhi24, RF combiner 210b, and RF down-converter 212b configured to operate collectively to form antenna receive beam pattern RB2. In an embodiment, the elements of receive antenna beam former 204 are all MMW elements that each operate at MMW frequencies, to receive radiation in antenna beam patterns RB1 and RB2 at MMW frequencies, and process the received radiation at MMW frequencies.
Antenna elements R1-R2 generate corresponding receive signals, indicated collectively at 214, responsive to RF energy received through antenna receive beam patterns RB1 and RB2. LNA1-LNA4 amplify corresponding ones of receive signal 214 and provide the amplified receive signals to corresponding inputs of power splitters S1-S4. Power splitters S1-S4 each divide the corresponding (amplified) receive signal into a first signal component and a second signal component, to produce first signal components 220a and second signal components 220b.
With reference to the first sub-antenna receive beam former, receive phase shifters RPhi11-RPhi14 receive corresponding programmed phase shift values RPS11-RPS14 from BB processor 206 or another controller (not shown in
With reference to the second sub-antenna receive beam former, receive phase shifters RPhi21-24, RF combiner 210b, and RF down-converter 212b are configured to operate similarly to their corresponding components/elements in the first sub-antenna receive beam former, to phase-shift, combine and down-convert second signal components 220b to a BB signal 232b. The second sub-antenna receive beam former forms receive antenna beam pattern RB2 responsive to receive phase shifts RPS21-RPS24.
Receive phase shifts RP11-RPS14 and RPS21-RPS24, together with the number and relative positions of antenna elements R1-R2, determine beam gains and corresponding pointing angles Alpha R1 and Alpha R2 of antenna beam patterns RB1 and RB2, respectively.
RF energy received concurrently in receive beams RB1 and RB2, and translated to signals 214, 220a, 220b, and so on, is processed concurrently in the components/elements of receive beam former 204, to produce baseband signals 232a, 232b as concurrent signals.
RF Transceiver
Responsive to a switch signal 312 from e.g., a BB processor, T/R switch 308 selectively connects antenna elements 310 to either transmit beam former elements 304 in a transmit configuration T, or receive beam former elements 306 in a receive configuration R. In the transmit configuration T, T/R switch 308 switches combined signal components 320 (corresponding to combined signals 124, or their amplified versions, in
In a receive direction, antenna elements 310 also generate receive signals responsive to received RF radiation. In the receive configuration, T/R switch 308 switches the receive signals to receive beam former elements 306 (as switched receive signals 322). Antenna receive beam patterns RB1 and RB2, in which the RF radiation is received, are formed responsive to receive phase shifts RPS11-24 as used in receive beam former elements 306.
Integrated Circuit Chip
Method Flow Chart
MMW transmit antenna beam forming includes the following:
MMW receive antenna beam forming, includes:
Methods and systems disclosed herein may be implemented in circuitry and/or a machine, such as a computer system, and combinations thereof, including discrete and integrated circuitry, application specific integrated circuitry (ASIC), a processor and memory, and/or a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor, and may be implemented as part of a domain-specific integrated circuit package, a system-on-a-chip (SOC), and/or a combination of integrated circuit packages.
Computer and System
Computer system 700 includes one or more computer instruction processor units and/or processor cores, illustrated here as a processor 702, to execute instructions of a computer program 706. Processor 702 may include a general purpose instruction processor, a controller, a microcontroller, or other instruction-based processor.
Computer program 706, also referred to as computer program logic or software, may be encoded within a computer readable medium, illustrated here as storage 704, which may include a non-transitory medium. In the example of
Computer system 700 may include communications infrastructure 740 to communicate amongst devices and/or resources of computer system 700.
Computer system 700 may include one or more input/output (I/O) devices and/or controllers 742 to communicate with one or more other systems, such as with an RF transmit system and/or an RF receive system.
Methods and systems disclosed herein may be implemented with respect to one or more of a variety of systems, such as described below with reference to
Storage 804 may be accessible to processor system 802, communication system 806, and/or user interface system 810.
User interface system 810 may include a monitor or display 832 and/or a human interface device (HID) 834. HID 834 may include, without limitation, a key board, a cursor device, a touch-sensitive device, a motion and/or image sensor, a physical device and/or a virtual device, such as a monitor-displayed virtual keyboard. User interface system 810 may include an audio system 836, which may include a microphone and/or a speaker.
System 800 may correspond to, for example, a computer system and/or a communication device and may include a housing such as, without limitation, a rack-mountable housing, a desk-top housing, a lap-top housing, a notebook housing, a net-book housing, a tablet housing, a telephone housing, a set-top box housing, and/or other conventional housing and/or future-developed housing. Processor system 802, storage 804, communication system 806, and user interface system 810, or portions thereof, may be positioned within the housing.
System 800 or portions thereof may be implemented within one or more integrated circuit dies, and may be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SoC).
An apparatus embodiment comprises:
The apparatus further comprises MMW power amplifiers each coupled to a respective one of the combiners and a respective one of the antenna elements, wherein the antenna elements, first and second phase shifters, combiners, and power amplifiers are configured to operate concurrently on their respective signals so as to cause the antenna elements to radiate the first and second transmit antenna beam patterns concurrently.
The apparatus further comprises:
The apparatus further comprises a MMW integrated circuit (IC) chip, wherein the up-converters, the dividers, the first and second transmit phase shifters, and power amplifiers may be all constructed on the MMW integrated circuit (IC) chip.
The antenna elements may be configured to receive MMW energy and generate receive signals responsive to the received MMW energy, and the apparatus may further comprise:
The apparatus may further comprise a transmit-receive (T/R) switch to selectively
The apparatus may further comprise a MMW integrated circuit (IC) chip, wherein the first and second transmit phase shifters, the combiners, the power splitters, and the first and second receive phase shifters are all constructed on the MMW IC chip.
The apparatus may further comprise:
Another apparatus embodiment comprises:
The antenna elements, power splitters, and first and second phase shifters may be configured to operate concurrently on their respective signals so as to cause the antenna elements to form their first and second receive antenna beam patterns concurrently.
The apparatus may further comprise:
The apparatus may further comprise a MMW integrated circuit (IC) chip, wherein the power splitters, the first and second phase shifters, the first and second combiners, and the first and second down-converters are all constructed on the MMW IC chip.
The apparatus may further comprise:
A transceiver apparatus embodiment comprises:
The apparatus may further comprise transmit-receive (T/R) switches to
The apparatus may further comprise a MMW integrated circuit (IC) chip, wherein the transmit and receive phase shifters and the T/R switches are all constructed on the MMW IC chip.
In the apparatus, the transmit and receive phase shifters may be programmable, and the apparatus may further comprise a processor and memory configured to program the transmit and receive phase shifts of the programmable transmit and receive phase shifters.
A method embodiment comprises:
The method may further comprise:
Methods and systems are disclosed herein with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating functions, features, and relationships thereof. At least some of the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. While various embodiments are disclosed herein, it should be understood that they are presented as examples. The scope of the claims should not be limited by any of the example embodiments disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/650,730, filed May 23, 2012.
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