The present invention relates to a multiplier circuit.
Analog multiplier circuits are used, for example in mass products of mobile radio, such as mobile telephones. They usually contain, both in the transmitting and in the receiving direction, an analog circuit which comprises all required circuit components for coupling the digital signal processing circuits to a radio interface. Depending on the modulation method, a carrier signal is modulated in the transmitting direction, and in the receiving direction, a received radio-frequency signal is combined with a heterodyne signal and translated into a low-frequency signal.
For the frequency conversion both in the transmitting direction and in the receiving direction, analog multiplier circuits are used in a so-called mixer mode. Further examples of applications for analog multiplier circuits are found in the splitting of the signals into a complex-valued signal with an in-phase component and a quadrature component normally used in modern mobile radio transmitters and receivers. This requires heterodyne or carrier signals which can be supplied to the multipliers, with a signal pair which has a precise phase displacement of 90° with respect to one another. Multiplier circuits, particularly those with similar signal inputs such as, for example, passive ring mixers, allow the phase displacement of 90° to be monitored in a particularly precise manner.
In the document Gray, Meyer: Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits, John Wiley & Sons, Third Edition 1993, ISBN 0-471-57495-3, a Gilbert multiplier cell constructed in bipolar circuit technology is specified in FIG. 10.9. This multiplier of the Gilbert type is an active multiplier which, however, has the disadvantage that the two signal inputs for supplying the signals to be multiplied are not electrically equivalent.
Such electrically non-equivalent signal inputs are shown, for example, in the document DE 236 50 59, compare there, for example, the interconnection of the signal sources V1, V2 with the differential amplifiers in
Analog multiplier circuits in the fields of application supplied are subject to demands for ever lower supply voltage, little space requirement and producibility in inexpensive monolithic integration.
When the analog multipliers are used as frequency converters, that is to say as radio-frequency mixers, good linearity, little noise and high mixer gain is additionally required apart from the above-mentioned characteristics.
It is the object of the present invention to specify a multiplier circuit which, with high accuracy, can be used for monitoring the 90° phase difference of radio frequency signals.
According to the invention, the object is achieved by a multiplier circuit having
According to the present principle, a wide-band analog multiplier with two electrically equivalent inputs is provided.
The four-quadrant multiplier circuit specified has two inputs for supplying in each case one signal to be multiplied which have equal electrical characteristics due to the equal source impedances of the signal sources.
The control inputs of the multiplier core are preferably the control inputs of the transistors which form the two cross-coupled transistor pairs.
Due to the equivalence of the two signal inputs of the present multiplier circuit, which form the basis of the present principle, this multiplier circuit can be used, in particular for precise analog multiplier functions and for a wide-band phase/frequency modulator and demodulator circuits. In addition, the present multiplier circuit enables the 90° phase displacement of local oscillator signals in mobile radio transceivers to be precisely monitored.
Since the present multiplier circuit can be built up with a low number of transistor levels, it can be used for operating voltages of <2.5 V.
In the present principle, the voltage/current control used in the conventional Gilbert multiplier circuits is replaced by a controlling both input gates with super-imposed voltage sources. Each signal source is controlled here with in each case one current source, both sources having the same source impedance and thus being electrically equivalent.
In this arrangement, the superimposition of the signal sources at the control inputs of the multiplier core, as summation of two currents at a source impedance, is equivalent to the summation of two voltage sources with an effective source impedance.
Driving the multiplier core with the two cross-coupled transistor pairs which are advantageously interconnected as differential amplifiers which are cross-coupled, is effected via the common-mode input signal of the respective transistor pair for a first input signal and via the in each case differential drive to the two transistor pairs for a second input signal.
Accordingly, the common-mode drive of the transistor pairs is not effected via the common emitter junction and its common-mode drive as in the Gilbert cell, but the drive with the two input signals is applied to the control inputs of the transistors so that equal source impedances and thus equal electrical characteristics of the two inputs can be achieved.
The present multiplier circuit thus combines the advantages of an active Gilbert multiplier cell, namely the capability for monolithic integration, with the advantages of the passive ring mixer circuit, namely the high electrical symmetry of the two inputs.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, the multiplier core comprises a first and a second transistor pair which are interconnected with one another in a cross coupling. The transistor pairs in each case comprise a first and a second transistor having in each case one control input. Furthermore, the signal sources drivet the multiplier core at the control inputs of the transistors in such a manner that a diversion between the first and the second transistor pair is effected with the first signal to be multiplied and a diversion between the first and the second transistor is in each case effected in both transistor pairs with the second signal to be multiplied.
Compared with the conventional Gilbert cell in which the diversion also takes place differentially via the control inputs of the transistors with the second signal to be multiplied, this diversion is also achieved with the common-mode level of the transistor pairs between the first and second transistor pair by driving the control inputs of the transistors in the present multiplier circuit whereas, in the conventional Gilbert cell this control is achieved via voltage/current conversion and the feed currents for the differential amplifiers. With the present principle, however, the desired electrical equivalence of the signal sources is possible due to the similarity of their source impedances.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first signal source is coupled to the multiplier core for supplying the signal in such a manner that the control inputs of the first and second transistor of the first transistor pair are supplied with the first signal to be multiplied unchanged and the control inputs of the first and second transistor of the second transistor pair are supplied with the first signal to be multiplied inverted, and in that the control inputs of the first transistors of the first and second transistor pair are supplied with the second signal to be multiplied unchanged and the control inputs of the second transistors of the first and second transistor pair are supplied with the second signal to be multiplied inverted.
With the connection to their control inputs as described, the transistor pairs of the multiplier core, which are constructed as differential amplifiers, can be driven differentially in a simple manner by means of the signals to be multiplied, which are usually present as balanced signals in any case, the input signals supplied by the first and second signal sources becoming superimposed in accordance with the present principle.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the control terminals of the transistors of the transistor pairs of the multiplier core are their base or gate terminals.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the emitter or source terminals of the first and second transistors are in each case connected to one another for forming one transistor pair each.
To form a differential amplifier, emitter and source terminals of two transistors are coupled to one another and to a supply or reference potential connection via a current source. In the present multiplier circuit, this coupling is done preferably via a constant-current source. Furthermore, this coupling is done either directly or via feedback resistors depending on the desired linearity characteristics and the application of the electrical multiplication.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first and second signal source in each case comprise a differential amplifier having two inputs each for supplying the signals to be multiplied and four outputs for connection to the control inputs of the transistors.
The two inputs of the differential amplifiers in each case form a balanced signal input for supplying the signal to be multiplied as a differential signal.
For providing the heterodyne signals required for driving the multiplier core, the outputs of the differential amplifiers are constructed with in each case four outputs, that is to say with two balanced output terminal pairs, with in each case two inverting terminals and two non-inverting terminals.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the differential amplifier of the first signal source is coupled to a supply potential connection and the differential amplifier of the second signal source is coupled to a reference potential connection. To feed the differential amplifiers, they can either be both coupled to one reference potential connection, for example, ground, or both coupled to a supply potential connection or, as described, and preferably provided in the radio-frequency application of the multiplier as mixer, in each case one of the differential amplifiers for providing the first and second signal source can be coupled to the supply or to the reference potential connection. The outputs, for example, the collector terminals of the signal source differential amplifiers are connected to the control inputs of the multiplier core.
The division into equal signal currents for the first signal source and into equal signal currents for the second signal source can be achieved preferably in transistors with equal area or additionally with feedback resistors between the emitter terminals of the paired transistors of the signal source differential amplifiers and a connected current source.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first and second signal source are constructed as voltage/current converters.
The signals to be multiplied are usually present as voltage signals whereas the actual multiplier core can be advantageously driven via current signals. For this reason, the construction of the signal sources as voltage/current converters described is advantageous.
As described in the text which follows, the invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments which are shown in the drawings, in which:
a shows the known equivalence of current and voltage sources, taking into consideration the source impedance,
b shows a further development of the principle of
The reference symbols in the drawings are:
The multiplier core of the present multiplier circuit which is provided with the reference symbol 1 comprises two bipolar transistor pairs interconnected as differential amplifiers, a first transistor pair comprising a first transistor 2 and a second transistor 3 and a second transistor pair comprising a first transistor 4 and a second transistor 5. The first transistor pair 2, 3 and second transistor pair 4, 5 are interconnected with one another in a cross coupling. For this purpose, the two collector terminals of the first transistors 2, 4 and the collector terminals of the second transistors 3, 5 are in each case connected directly to one another. Furthermore, the emitter terminals of the transistors 2, 3 and the transistors 4, 5 which form the first and second transistor pair, respectively, are directly connected to one another for forming the differential amplifiers. A first and a second signal to be multiplied are coupled to the control terminals, constructed as base terminals, of the transistors 2 to 5. The common emitter junctions of the transistor pairs 2, 3; 4, 5 are connected to a reference potential connection 8 via one current source 6, 7 in each case. Furthermore, a feedback resistor 9 is provided which connects the two emitter junctions of the transistor pairs 2, 3; 4, 5 to one another. This feedback resistor 9 can be omitted in alternative embodiments.
First and second signal sources for driving the multiplier core 1 via the control inputs of the transistors 2 to 5 with the first and second signal to be multiplied are shown as current sources 10, 11, 13, 14 with parallel impedance 12 in the simplified circuit according to
Analogous to the equivalent current source 10, 11, 12, a parallel circuit of two current sources and a source impedance 12 is also connected to each further control input of the transistors 3, 4, 5 of the multiplier core. In this arrangement, the source impedance 12, according to the principle of the present invention, is equal in order to provide balanced input gates for all control inputs of the transistors of the multiplier core 1. The current sources connected to the control input of the second transistor 3 of the first transistor pair 2, 3 again represent on the one hand, the first signal to be multiplied and, on the other hand, the inverted second signal to be multiplied and are accordingly designated by the reference symbol 10 and 13.
The control terminal of the first transistor 4 of the second transistor pair 4, 5 is connected with respect to reference potential 8 with the source impedance 12 and a current source 14 connected in parallel therewith and a current source 13 also connected in parallel. Whereas the current source 14 represents the inverted signal derived from the first signal to be multiplied, the current source 13, as mentioned above, provides an inverted second signal to be multiplied of the multiplier.
Finally, current sources 14, 11 and source impedance 12 are connected in a parallel circuit to the control input of the second transistor 5 of the second transistor pair 4, 5, the current sources 14, 13 providing the signal derived from the first signal to be multiplied in inverted manner and the signal derived from the second signal to be multiplied in non-inverted manner.
Accordingly, the first signal source of the present multiplier comprises the current sources 10, 14 whilst the second signal source comprises the current sources 11, 13.
By means of the first current Is1 derived from the first signal to be multiplied, which is provided non-inverted by the current sources 10 and inverted by the current sources 14, a diversion is achieved between the first differential amplifier 2, 3 and a second differential amplifier 4, 5. In conventional multipliers, this diversion is normally achieved via their common-mode signal present at the emitter junction. In the present principle, in contrast, these common-mode drives of the differential amplifiers 2, 3; 4, 5 are coupled in via their base terminals. As a result, it is possible to provide in each case equal source impedances 12 at the first and second signal source by superimposing the first and second signal to be multiplied on the current drive of the transistors. By means of the current derived from the second signal to be multiplied, which is provided non-inverted by the current sources 11 and inverted by the current sources 13, the differential drive for the two transistor pairs 2, 3; 4, 5 is in each case effected between the first transistor 2, 4 and the second transistor 3, 5 as in conventional multipliers.
Due to the good symmetry characteristics of the first and second input of the multiplier according to
b shows a development of the principle of
Accordingly, applied to the principle of
To feed the current sources 10, 11, 13, 14, which, as described for
As in the multiplier circuit according to
The emitter resistors 28 according to
The structure and operation of the multiplier core 1 of the circuit according to
To divert between first and second transistors 2, 4; 3, 5, in each case within the transistor pairs, transistors 24 to 27 are connected at their collectors to transistor pairs 2, 5 and 3, 4, respectively according to the present principle. At the emitter end, transistors 24 to 27 of the second signal source are connected via in each case one emitter resistor 28 to a common emitter junction and also to the reference potential connection 8 via a current source 29, whereas a second signal input 39, 40 which can be supplied with a second signal to be multiplied, is coupled to in each case one base terminal of transistors 24 to 27.
In the present case, the multiplier is designed as receiving demodulator which can be supplied at its first input terminal pair 37, 38 with a radio-frequency signal RF, coupled in from an antenna and can be supplied at its second input terminal pair 39, 40 with a differential local oscillator signal LO as heterodyne signal. At output 22 of the multiplier core 1, a down-converted or demodulated useful signal can be derived.
Since the two input gates of the multiplier exhibit a high degree of symmetry due to the similar transistors 30, 31, 34, 35 and to similar resistors 32 and thus, overall, an equal source impedance of the first and second signal source, the multiplier described forms a highly linear precise analog mixer which can be used in wide-band phase/frequency demodulator circuits.
If the radio-frequency signal which can be supplied at input 37, 38 according to
The multiplier circuit according to
In the embodiment according to
At a noise figure NF of 20 dB, the multiplier circuit according to
Finally,
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
101 34 754 | Jul 2001 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/DE02/02525 | 7/10/2002 | WO | 00 | 1/15/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO03/009078 | 1/30/2003 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3887886 | Okada et al. | Jun 1975 | A |
5379457 | Nguyen | Jan 1995 | A |
5715532 | Sagawa et al. | Feb 1998 | A |
6456144 | Catala | Sep 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2365059 | Aug 1974 | DE |
3840855 | Jun 1990 | DE |
4420377 | Mar 1995 | DE |
2282288 | Mar 1995 | GB |
2282289 | Mar 1995 | GB |
2283627 | May 1995 | GB |
2310941 | Sep 1997 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20040155694 A1 | Aug 2004 | US |