Claims
- 1. A method for generating quantized pulses comprising:
obtaining information describing the quantized pulses; turning on a first and a second current sources based on the information to produce a first and a second currents; summing the first and second currents; and creating a voltage drop based on the summed current.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is obtained from a memory.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information is timing data describing the quantized pulses.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the information is positional data describing the quantized pulses.
- 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the information are samples of the quantized pulses.
- 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting the information makes the information conform to a set of desired characteristics for the quantized pulses.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the information is timing data, and wherein the adjusting comprises shortening a duration that the first and second current sources are turned on.
- 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the information is timing data, and wherein the adjusting comprises increasing a duration that the first and second current sources are turned on.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein if the second current source is on, then the first current source is on.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first and second currents are equal in magnitude.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first and second currents are different in magnitude.
- 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
turning on a third and fourth current sources based on the information to produce a third and fourth currents; and summing the third and fourth currents with the first and second currents.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the voltage drop is created via a resistor.
- 14. The method of claim 1, wherein a negative quantized pulse is generated by reversing the voltage drop's polarity.
- 15. A quantized pulse generator comprising:
a plurality of differential amplifiers, each differential amplifier coupled at a first end to a power rail, the differential amplifier to produce a current; a plurality of switches, each switch coupled to a second end of one differential amplifier of the plurality of differential amplifiers, the switch to regulate the flow of the current produced by the differential amplifier; a resistor coupled to the second end of each of the differential amplifiers via the plurality of switches, the resistor to convert a current from each differential amplifier into a voltage drop when the switch is closed; an output coupled to the resistor; a control signal generator coupled to the plurality of switches, the control signal generator containing circuitry to generate a plurality of control signals, one control signal being coupled to each switch in the plurality of switches, wherein the control signals are used to open and close each switch; and a memory coupled to the control signal generator, the memory to store information regarding the plurality of control signals to be generated by the control signal generator.
- 16. The quantized pulse generator of claim 15, wherein each switch in the plurality of switches is controlled by an individual control signal.
- 17. The quantized pulse generator of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of differential amplifiers produces a current of equivalent magnitude.
- 18. The quantized pulse generator of claim 15, wherein when a switch allows the current produced by a differential amplifier to flow, the current is then combined with other currents from other differential amplifiers so enabled by their respective switches.
- 19. The quantized pulse generator of claim 15, wherein the memory contains information used to specify a plurality of different quantized pulses.
- 20. The quantized pulse generator of claim 15 further comprising:
a second plurality of differential amplifiers, each differential amplifier coupled at a first end to a second power rail, the differential amplifier to produce a current; a second plurality of switches, each switch coupled to a second end of one differential amplifier of the second plurality of differential amplifiers, the switch to regulate a flow of the current produced by the differential amplifier; a second resistor coupled to the second end of each of the differential amplifiers in the second plurality of differential amplifiers via the second plurality of switches, the second resistor to convert a current from each differential amplifier into a voltage drop when the switch is closed; and a second output coupled to the second resistor.
- 21. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20, wherein the output of the quantized pulse generator is a differential signal and the voltage drop from the resistor is used as a positive component of the differential signal and the voltage drop from the second resistor is used as a negative component of the differential signal.
- 22. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20, wherein the output of the quantized pulse generator is a differential signal and the voltage drop from the resistor is used as a negative component of the differential signal and the voltage drop from the second resistor is used as a positive component of the differential signal.
- 23. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20, wherein an individual control signal controls one switch in the plurality of switches and one switch in the second plurality of switches.
- 24. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20, wherein the resistor effectively sums the currents allowed to flow in the plurality of differential amplifiers, and wherein the second resistor effectively sums the currents allowed to flow in the second plurality of differential amplifiers
- 25. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20, wherein a number of differential amplifiers in the plurality of differential amplifiers is equal to a number of differential amplifiers in the second plurality of differential amplifiers.
- 26. The quantized pulse generator of claim 20 further comprising:
a first multiplexer having a first input coupled to the output and a second input coupled to the second output; second multiplexer having a first input coupled to the second output and a second input coupled to the output; and a control line coupled to both the first and second multiplexers, the control line dependent upon a polarity bit.
- 27. An ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter comprising:
a data input; a digital signal processing block coupled to the data input, the digital signal processing block containing circuitry to encode and convert a digital data stream provided by the data input; an analog signal processing block coupled to the digital signal processing block, the analog signal processing block comprising
a quantized pulse generator coupled to the digital signal processing block, the quantized pulse generator containing circuitry to generate a quantized pulse in accordance with the encoded and converted digital data stream; a filter coupled to the quantized pulse generator, the filter to ensure that the quantized pulses generated by the quantized pulse generator conform to a specified spectral mask; and the UWB transmitter further comprising an antenna coupled to the analog signal processing block.
- 28. The UWB transmitter of claim 27, wherein the quantized pulse generator generates a quantized pulse per bit of the encoded and converted digital data stream.
- 29. The UWB transmitter of claim 27, wherein the filter ensures that an entire stream of quantized pulses generated by the quantized pulse generator conforms to the specified spectral mask.
- 30. The UWB transmitter of claim 27, wherein the digital signal processing block comprises:
a scrambler coupled to the data input, the scrambler containing circuitry to perturb an digital data stream to help increase the UWB transmitter's tolerance to interference; a convolutional encoder coupled to the scrambler, the convolutional encoder containing circuitry to multiply an output of the scrambler with a convolutional code; a spreading unit coupled to the convolutional encoder, the spreading unit containing circuitry to multiply an output of the convolutional encoder with a spreading code.
- 31. The UWB transmitter of claim 27, wherein the analog signal generator further comprising:
a control signal generator coupled to the quantized pulse generator, the control signal generator containing circuitry to generate a plurality of control signals, wherein the control signals are used to generate the quantized pulse; and a memory coupled to the control signal generator, the memory to store timing information regarding the plurality of control signals to be generated by the control signal generator.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/386821, filed on Jun. 7, 2002, entitled “Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Receiver and Transmitter Architecture,” which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60386821 |
Jun 2002 |
US |