Aspects of the present disclosure relate to communications solutions. More specifically, certain implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to methods and systems for utilizing randomized array offsets in phased arrays.
Various issues may exist with conventional approaches for implementing phased arrays based systems. In this regard, conventional solutions, if any existed, for handling potential noise and distortion associated with particular processing functions can be costly, inefficient, and/or ineffective.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosure as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
System and methods are provided for a methods and systems for integrated force touch solutions, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present disclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.
As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer to physical electronic components (e.g., hardware), and any software and/or firmware (“code”) that may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As used herein, for example, a particular processor and memory (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory device, a general computer-readable medium, etc.) may comprise a first “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and may comprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines of code. Additionally, a circuit may comprise analog and/or digital circuitry. Such circuitry may, for example, operate on analog and/or digital signals. It should be understood that a circuit may be in a single device or chip, on a single motherboard, in a single chassis, in a plurality of enclosures at a single geographical location, in a plurality of enclosures distributed over a plurality of geographical locations, etc. Similarly, the term “module” may, for example, refer to a physical electronic components (e.g., hardware) and any software and/or firmware (“code”) that may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware.
As utilized herein, circuitry or module is “operable” to perform a function whenever the circuitry or module comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled or not enabled (e.g., by a user-configurable setting, factory trim, etc.).
As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. In other words, “x and/or y” means “one or both of x and y.” As another example, “x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. In other words, “x, y and/or z” means “one or more of x, y, and z.” As utilized herein, the term “exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein, the terms “for example” and “e.g.” set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations.
An example system in accordance with the present disclosure may comprise a plurality of antenna elements arranged in two-dimensional array, and a plurality of transceiver circuits, with each transceiver circuit configured for handling transmission and reception of radio frequency (RF) signals via the plurality of antenna elements. One or more transceiver circuits in the system may be configured for applying one or more randomized adjustments to one or more particular signal processing related functions applied during the transmission and reception of RF signals.
In an example implementation, each of the one or more transceiver circuits may be configured for generating the one or more randomized adjustments based on corresponding one or more antenna elements in the plurality of antenna elements. In this regard, each of the one or more transceiver circuits may be configured for generating the one or more randomized adjustments as a function of indexes identifying the corresponding one or more antenna elements in the plurality of antenna elements.
In an example implementation, at least one of the one or more transceiver circuits may be configured for applying a particular randomized adjustment corresponding to a particular signal processing related function, prior to application of the particular signal processing related function; and applying a corresponding complementary adjustment after application of the particular signal processing related function.
In an example implementation, the signal processing related functions may comprise conversions applied during the transmission and reception of RF signals, such as one or both of digital-to-analog conversions and analog-to-digital conversions. In such implementation, the one or more transceiver circuits may be configured for apply randomized offsets to the conversions applied during the transmission and reception of RF signals.
In an example implementation, where the particular signal processing related function may comprise a data conversion, at least one of the one or more transceiver circuits may be configured for adding a randomized offset prior to application of the data conversion; and subtracting a same offset after application of the data conversion.
In an example implementation, at least one of the one or more randomized adjustments may be determined dynamically, such as via a controller circuit.
In an example implementation, at least one of the one or more randomized adjustments may be pre-determined and pre-programmed, such as by being stored via a storage circuit.
In an example implementation, the system may comprise one or more connectors configuring for enabling communications among the plurality of transceiver circuits, and communications within the system, to and/or from each of the plurality of transceiver circuits. The one or more connectors may comprise on-circuit based Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) connectors
In an example implementation, at least one transceiver circuit from the plurality of transceiver circuits may be configured for controlling and/or handling two or more antenna elements from the plurality of antenna elements.
In an example implementation, the plurality of transceiver circuits may be configured for controlling operation of the plurality of antenna elements such that digital or hybrid beamforming may be enabled during the transmission and reception of RF signals via the two-dimensional array.
An example transceiver chip in accordance with the present disclosure may be configured for handling transmission and reception of radio frequency (RF) signals via one or more antenna elements from a plurality of antenna elements in a phased array based system. The transceiver chip may comprise a plurality of signal processing circuits, arranged into one or more sets of circuits, with each corresponding to one of the one or more antenna elements, and with each set of circuits being configured for handling signals transmitted and received via a corresponding antenna element of the one or more antenna elements. Each set of circuits is configured for applying one or more randomized adjustments to one or more particular signal processing related functions applied during the transmission and reception of RF signals.
In an example implementation, each set of circuits may comprise two separate sub-sets arranged for separately handling each of transmitted signals and received signals via the corresponding antenna element.
In an example implementation, each set of circuits may be configured for applying the one or more randomized adjustments based on corresponding one or more antenna elements in the plurality of antenna elements. In this regard, the randomized adjustments may be applied as a function of indexes identifying the corresponding one or more antenna elements in the plurality of antenna elements.
In an example implementation, each set of circuits may be configured for applying a particular randomized adjustment corresponding to a particular signal processing related function, prior to application of the particular signal processing related function, and applying a corresponding complementary adjustment after application of the particular signal processing related function.
In an example implementation, the signal processing related functions may comprise conversions, including one or both of digital-to-analog conversions and analog-to-digital conversions, and each set of circuits may be configured for applying randomized offsets to the conversions applied during the transmission and reception of RF signals.
In an example implementation, each set of circuits may comprise a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit for applying a digital-to-analog conversion during transmission related processing, and one or more adjustment circuits for handling applying randomized offsets to the digital-to-analog conversion. The one or more adjustment circuits may comprise an offset circuit for generating a randomized offset, a combiner circuit for adding the randomized offset after the digital-to-analog conversion, and a combiner for applying a complementary adjustment based on the randomized offset before the digital-to-analog conversion.
In an example implementation, each set of circuits may comprise an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit for applying an analog-to-digital conversion during reception related processing, and one or more adjustment circuits for handling applying randomized offsets to the analog-to-digital conversion. The one or more adjustment circuits may comprise: an offset circuit for generating a randomized offset, a combiner circuit for adding the randomized offset before the analog-to-digital conversion, and a combiner for applying a complementary adjustment based on the randomized offset after the analog-to-digital conversion.
In an example implementation, wherein the transceiver chip may comprise an interface circuit configured for handling communications to and/or from the transceiver chip, within the phased array based system. The interface circuit may be configured for handling Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) based communications.
The dish-based system 100 may comprise one or more dishes 101 (each being, e.g., a parabolic reflector) and corresponding boxes 102 each associated with one dish 101. The box 102 may house circuitry for facilitating transmission and reception of signals via the dish 101. For example, the box 102 may comprise circuitry for generating the radio frequency (RF) signals, for emission via the dish 102, during transmission operations, and circuitry for handling the reception of RF signals captured via the dish during reception operations. Further, the box 102 may incorporate additional component, such as a frequency duplexer (for isolating transmission and reception of signal via the common dish), a large power amplifier, etc. The boxes 102 are typically attached or coupled to the back (or base) of the dishes 101.
Because of bulkiness and weight, dish based systems are installed in limited manner—e.g., to a post 103, as shown in
The phased array system 200 may be designed and/or implemented based on use of beamforming via an array of antenna elements. In this regard, rather than using a single dish, a number of antenna elements, arranged in a 2-dimensional array, are used to transmit and receive signals. The transmission and reception of signals may be done using beamforming, which may be particularly configured for addressing possible issues (interference, etc.) and/or to provide added features, as described below. The phased array system 200 may be configured to utilize digital signals, which may allow for use of minimal circuitry. For example, the phased array system 200 may be configured for supporting digital or hybrid beamforming, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/005,295, filed on Jun. 11, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
As shown in
Phased array based systems, such as the phased array system 200, offer various advantages and/or improvements over conventional antenna systems, such as dish-based designs. In this regard, because of their light weight, small form factor, and use of beam steering (e.g., beamforming), phased array based systems are preferable over traditional dish-based designs. The elimination of dish and related components (e.g., the frequency duplexer, large power amplifier (“PA”), etc.) allows for installation at a wider range of sites, with lower cost of installation and operation (e.g., automatic alignment). Accordingly, phased array based systems may be installed in a more flexible manner compared to dish-based designs, allowing installation options not possible or practical with traditional designs—e.g., mounting to sides of buildings, etc. This is shown in
Phased array based systems generally may also have lower costs (e.g., fewer, smaller, and less expensive circuits, etc.) compared to conventional antenna systems, such as dish-based designs. Further, the use of software-defined multiband array operation adds more flexibility. For example, the elimination of certain components (e.g., duplexers) allows the array-based systems to operate across a wide frequency range. Greater link reach may be achieved for the same dish size, due to, e.g., greater transmitter power, interference suppression, etc. In addition, operations may be improved, e.g., lower operating expenditures, greater frequency reuse, lower weight, etc. Further, phased array based systems may have superior thermal dissipation characteristics. Additionally, the same core technology may be utilized for different interfaces and/or frequencies bands, allowing for common software and hardware development.
However, some issues may arise with phased arrays and use thereof. For example, one of the issues with phased arrays is the potential noise that may introduced by certain components in the system, and which may particularly be made worse because of unique architecture and features of phased arrays.
For example, phased array systems typically incorporate components that are used in performing data conversions (e.g., digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)). Such components may operate in a correlated manner—e.g., performing the same step at the same time during handling of signals transmitted or received via the phased arrays. These components may exhibit nonlinear behavior, however. This may result in any errors or noise (e.g., caused by the nonlinearity of the components) to add up coherently across all elements in the phased arrays, resulting in significant degradation in overall performance.
Accordingly, in various implementations in accordance with the present disclosure, phased array based systems may be configured to incorporate measures for eliminating and mitigating such errors or noise introduced due to the very nature of the phased arrays and/or characteristics of components used therein. In particular, in various example implementations, phased array systems may be configured to apply adjustments to data conversions performed therein to ensure that errors or noise introduced due to these data conversions are not added coherently, thus improving performance. This may be done, for example, by introducing randomized offsets in each of the elements, with the randomized offsets being configured to ensure eliminating or mitigating potential noise introduced as result of the data conversion. An example implementation incorporating such offset addition is described below, such as with respect to
In the non-limiting example implementation shown in
In the particular non-limiting example implementation illustrated in
As shown in the particular non-limiting example implementation illustrated in
The transceiver 300 may also comprise components for providing timing signals. For example, as shown in
Further, because each of antenna elements 3011-3014 is used for both transmission and reception of signals, corresponding selection components 3161-3164 may be used to connect each antenna element with either the transmit-side or the receive-side of the corresponding transmit/receive section in the transceiver 300. The selection components 3161-3164 may be part of the transceiver 300, or may be separate from and external to the transceiver 300. The components 3161-3164 may be configured as switches, active circulators (as shown in
The transceiver 300 may be configured for utilizing offset randomization to improve performance. For example, the transceiver 300 may be configured for introducing offsets, and doing so in adaptive manner, to randomize possible errors and/or noise that may be introduced as result of data conversions performed therein. In particular, the transceiver 300 comprises circuits configured for performing data conversions, and because such components may exhibit nonlinear behavior, and because these components may operate in correlated manner—e.g., performing the same step at the same time during handling of signals transmitted or received via the phased arrays, errors or noise (e.g., caused by the nonlinearity of the components) may add up coherently across all elements—e.g., across all transmit/receive sections.
In this regard, data conversions may typically include use of (quantization) thresholds—e.g., multiple thresholds may be used during the data conversions, with each conversion step having a correspond threshold that is used to test or measure against). The thresholds, and as such the data conversions and nonlinearities introduced thereby, may be highly correlated—that is, may happen at the same place every time for the same step in each element.
Accordingly, performance may be improved by varying data conversions across the elements, to de-correlated errors or noise introduced thereby. For example, if the thresholds (or the points at which the thresholds are used) are randomize, even slightly, processing of the signals becomes a function of the element (e.g., a function of i, the element index—thus, in the implementation shown in
In the example implementation illustrated in
As a result, the noise power is not added coherently across all of the elements because the errors introduced in the elements are uncorrelated. Further, in each of the receive sections and the transmit sections, the same offset is subtracted on the other side of the element applying data conversions (e.g., ADCs in the receive sections, DACs in the transmit sections), such as via adders. In this regard, because the same offset is added and subtracted in each transmit or receive section, the signal being processed is not effectively altered.
The offsets can be pre-programmed (as long as each element would have unique randomization value). The offsets may also be determined dynamically. Further, in some implementations, applying the offset may be selectively turned on or off. The improvement that may be achieved for use of offset randomization in phased array systems is illustrates in
Shown in
As shown in chart 400, without use of offset randomization techniques (e.g., as described with respect to
Shown in
In this regard, as illustrated in chart 500, with the use of offset randomization techniques, a substantially improvement (e.g., ˜30 dB) may be achieved in array quantization noise relative to the quantization noise of a single element.
Accordingly, various embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computing system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computing systems. Any kind of computing system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computing system with a program or other code that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computing system such that it carries out the methods described herein. Another typical implementation may comprise an application specific integrated circuit or chip.
Various embodiments in accordance with the present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.
While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to and claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/609,742, filed on Dec. 22, 2017. The above identified application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62609742 | Dec 2017 | US |