Patent Application
20200106473
Wireless communication devices are increasingly popular and increasingly complex, and continuing to evolve. For example, mobile telecommunication devices have progressed from simple phones, to smart phones with multiple communication capabilities (e.g., multiple cellular communication protocols, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH® and other short-range communication protocols), supercomputing processors, cameras, etc. The protocols and frequencies of communications used by mobile telecommunication devices have also changed. Higher frequencies are now used than before to provide more and/or different capabilities. To support the use of these frequencies for wireless communication, a telecommunication device typically has one or more antennas disposed near one or more edges of the telecommunication device. The antenna is connected to a processor, typically disposed near a middle of the telecommunication device, to receive signals from the processor and to convey the signals to other devices, and to receive signals from other devices and to convey these signals to the processor. Further, different polarization signals may be received, converted to electronic signals, and the electronic signals sent to the processor via separate transmission lines.
An example of a wireless communication device includes: a housing configured to retain components of the wireless communication device; an antenna unit configured to receive first free-space millimeter-wave signals and convert the first free-space millimeter-wave signals to first electronic millimeter-wave signals; a processor disposed in the housing; and front-end circuitry communicatively coupled to the antenna unit, the front-end circuitry coupled to the processor by at least one transmission line; where the front-end circuitry is configured to: receive the first electronic millimeter-wave signals from the antenna unit; convert the first electronic millimeter-wave signals to first reduced-frequency signals each having a lower frequency than the first electronic millimeter-wave signals; and convey the first reduced-frequency signals over a same transmission line of the at least one transmission line in a multiplexed manner with different ones of the first reduced-frequency signals having different conveyance characteristics such that the different ones of the first reduced-frequency signals can be separately processed.
Another example of wireless communication device includes: retaining means for retaining components of the wireless communication device; processing means; receiving means for receiving first free-space millimeter-wave signals and converting the first free-space millimeter-wave signals to first electronic millimeter-wave signals; and converting means, coupled to the receiving means, for converting the first electronic millimeter-wave signals to first reduced-frequency signals each having a lower frequency than the first electronic millimeter-wave signals, and for providing the first reduced-frequency signals in a multiplexed manner over a same first transmission line to the processing means with different ones of the first reduced-frequency signals having different conveyance characteristics such that the different ones of the first reduced-frequency signals can be separately processed.
An example of a method of providing information from free-space millimeter-wave signals to a processor of a wireless communication device includes: receiving free-space millimeter-wave signals and converting the free-space millimeter-wave signals to a plurality of electronic millimeter-wave signals; converting a plurality of the electronic millimeter-wave signals to a plurality of reduced-frequency signals each having a lower frequency than the plurality of electronic millimeter-wave signals; and providing the plurality of reduced-frequency signals in a multiplexed manner over a same transmission line for conveyance to the processor with different ones of the plurality of reduced-frequency signals having different conveyance characteristics such that the different ones of the plurality of reduced-frequency signals can be separately processed.
Another example of a wireless communication device includes: an antenna unit configured to receive multiple free-space composite signals having different inbound millimeter-wave carrier frequencies and each comprising multiple free-space component signals of different polarizations, the antenna unit configured to convert the multiple free-space component signals into electronic component signals; radio-frequency circuitry, coupled to the antenna unit, configured to convert the electronic component signals to intermediate signals each having a lower frequency than the inbound millimeter-wave carrier frequencies and to convey the intermediate signals over multiple coaxial lines such that each coaxial line concurrently conveys multiple intermediate signals of different intermediate carrier frequencies; and intermediate-frequency circuitry, coupled to the radio-frequency circuitry, configured to convert each of the intermediate signals to a respective baseband signal and to provide each respective baseband signal to a processor of the wireless communication device.
Techniques are discussed herein for coupling millimeter-wave antennas and processors of mobile wireless communication devices. For example, a processor in a mobile wireless communication device may be disposed centrally in the device, e.g., to facilitate quick processing of data for various components of the device. One or more antennas may be disposed near a perimeter of the device, e.g., to help improve reception and/or transmission of wireless signals. At millimeter-wave frequencies, losses may be too high for transmission of signals between the antenna(s) and the processor. Signals may be transferred between the processor and the antenna(s) at one or more intermediate frequencies over one or more transmission lines. The number of transmission lines used may be reduced by multiplexing signals and conveying multiple multiplexed signals over a single transmission line. For example, signals may be frequency division multiplexed and/or time division multiplexed. Multiple transmission lines may be provided, and multiple multiplexed signals may be conveyed over each of the multiple transmission lines. These techniques are not exhaustive, and other techniques may be used.
Items and/or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Multiple signals may be transferred between a processor and one or more antennas of a mobile wireless communication device over a single transmission line. The signals may be frequency division multiplexed and transferred over the transmission line concurrently. The signals may be time division multiplexed and transferred over the transmission line at different times. A quantity of transmission lines disposed between a processor and one or more antennas of a mobile wireless communication device may be reduced or even minimized. Other capabilities may be provided and not every implementation according to the disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of the capabilities discussed. Further, it may be possible for an effect noted above to be achieved by means other than that noted, and a noted item/technique may not necessarily yield the noted effect.
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The processor 38, the IF circuitry 36, and the front-end circuitry 34 may provide multiple signal chains that may be used, for example, to communicate in different networks and/or for different purposes (e.g., Wi-Fi communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of cellular communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobiles), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), 5G, etc.). The processor 38 may be configured to send communication signals to, and to receive communication signals from, the IF circuitry 36 and the front-end circuitry 34. The processor 38 is configured to produce and send baseband signals to the IF circuitry 36 to induce transmission of the millimeter-wave wireless signals 40, e.g., to relay voice information from the user to another device, etc. The processor 38 may be configured to produce an outbound communication signal, for example in a baseband, and to send this signal to the IF circuitry 36. The communication signal provides appropriate information, e.g., outgoing voice, data for upload, etc. for transmission by the antenna unit 32, e.g., to a cellular tower, an access point. The processor 38 is further configured to process baseband signals from the IF circuitry 36 to interpret information in the IF signals and to take appropriate action (e.g., cause a display to show information to a user, cause a speaker to play sound, etc.). The processor 38 may be configured to receive an inbound communication signal received via the antenna unit 32. The processor 38 may include memory that stores instructions that may be executed by the processor 38, e.g., the memory being a non-transitory processor-readable medium storing software instructions that are executable by the processor 38.
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For signal reception, the transceiver 50 is configured to receive millimeter-wave wireless signals of different polarities and provide corresponding baseband signals to the processor 38. The radiating elements 51, 52 are configured to receive free-space millimeter-wave signals of respective polarizations, here horizontal and vertical polarizations, respectively. The radiating elements 51, 52 are configured to transduce the received signals into corresponding electronic signals and to provide the electronic signals to mixers 61, 62. The mixers 61, 62 are configured to downconvert the electronic signals to intermediate frequencies (i.e., to signals with intermediate carrier frequencies) using reference frequency signals from frequency synthesizers 63, 64, respectively. The frequency synthesizers 63, 64 include respective phase-locked loops (PLLs) for use in producing signals of different (intermediate) frequencies and vice versa, e.g., producing single-carrier-frequency signals from signals of different (intermediate) frequencies. The frequency synthesizers 63, 64 are shown as separate frequency synthesizers (with separate PLLs), but a single frequency synthesizer may be used. The intermediate frequencies are intermediate in that the intermediate frequencies are lower than the millimeter-wave frequencies of the received free-space signals and higher than a baseband frequency of signals provided to the processor 38. In this example, the frequency of the received horizontal polarization signal and the frequency of the received vertical polarization signal are the same. While the polarizations of the signals are lost when transduced by the radiating elements 51, 52, the corresponding signals are labeled and referred to as H and V for ease of understanding. The H and V electronic signals are converted to different intermediate frequencies IF1, IF2 by the mixers 61, 62 using the H and V signals from the radiating elements 51, 52 and signals from the frequency synthesizers 63, 64 as inputs, respectively. The IF frequencies may be any of a variety of frequencies, but typically are less than about half of the carrier frequency of signals received by the radiating elements 51, 52. For example, the radiating elements 51, 52 may receive signals with carrier frequencies in mm-wave bands such as the 26 GHz band, the 28 GHz band, the 39 GHz band, and/or the 43 GHz band, etc., and the intermediate frequencies may be less than half of each respective band. For example, IF1 may be between 6.0 GHz and 7.1 GHz and IF2 may be between 10.5 GHz and 11.6 GHz. The different intermediate frequencies may be separated enough, and such that neither is a harmonic of the other, to help avoid interference between the IF signals.
A combiner/splitter 65 of the FEC 60 is configured to receive the H and V IF signals and multiplex the IF signals onto the transmission line 80. Here, the combiner/splitter 65 is configured to combine the IF signals and convey the IF signals over the transmission line 80 concurrently. For example, the combiner/splitters 65, 75 may be power combiner/splitters such as Wilkinson combiners/splitters.
A combiner/splitter 75 of the IFC 70 is configured to receive the H and V IF signals from the transmission line 80 and de-multiplex the IF signals. Here, the combiner/splitter 75 is configured to separate the IF signals, to convey the H IF signal to a mixer 71, and to convey the V IF signal to a mixer 72.
The mixers 71, 72 are configured to downconvert the IF signals to baseband signals and to provide the baseband signals to the processor 38. The mixers 71, 72 use reference signals from frequency synthesizers 73, 74, respectively, to downconvert the IF signals to baseband signals at baseband frequency(ies). The frequency synthesizers 73, 74 include respective PLLs for use in receiving and producing signals with various carrier frequencies to support carrier aggregation. The frequency synthesizers 73, 74 are shown as separate frequency synthesizers (with separate PLLs), but a single frequency synthesizer may be used. The mixers 71, 72 and the frequency synthesizers 73, 74 are configured to convert the IF signals such that the H and V baseband signals have the same frequency. The mixers 71, 72 are communicatively coupled to the processor 38 such that the H and V baseband signals are provided to the processor 38.
For signal transmission, the transceiver 50 is configured to receive baseband signals from the processor 38 and to provide corresponding millimeter-wave signals to the radiating elements 51, 52 to radiate corresponding signals with different polarizations. The processor 38 is configured to provide H and V baseband signals to the mixers 71, 72, respectively. The mixers 71, 72 are configured to use the reference signals from the frequency synthesizers 73, 74, respectively to upconvert the H and V baseband signals to H and V IF signals at the IF frequencies IF1, IF2, respectively, and to provide the IF signals to the combiner/splitter 75. The combiner/splitter 75 is configured to combine the IF signals from the mixers 71, 72 and multiplex the IF signals over the transmission line 80 to the FEC 60. The combiner/splitter 65 of the FEC 60 is configured to separate the IF signals, to provide the H IF signal to the mixer 61, and to provide the V IF signal to the mixer 62. The mixers 61, 62 are configured to use the reference signals from the frequency synthesizers 63, 64, respectively to upconvert the H and V IF signals to H and V electronic signals at a millimeter-wave frequency, and to provide the electronic signals to the radiating elements 51, 52, respectively. The radiating elements 51, 52 are configured to radiate the respective H and V electronic signals as free-space millimeter-wave signals with respective, different, polarizations (here horizontal and vertical polarizations, respectively).
The FEC 60 and the IFC 70 optionally include bandpass filters 81, 82, 83, 84. The filters 81, 83 are configured to pass signals at the intermediate frequency IF1 and the filters 82, 84 are configured to pass signals at the intermediate frequency IF2. The filters 81-84 may help the integrity of the H and V signals and/or may help to isolate the intermediate-frequency signals while conveyed on the same transmission line, here the transmission line 80. Other transceivers, including the transceivers discussed below with respect to
Referring to
Still other transceiver configurations may be used. Referring to
Still other configurations may be used. For example, referring to
Still other configurations may be used. For example, referring to
The disclosure is not limited to the various configurations shown. For example, components may be mixed and matched to form configurations other than those shown. For example, a single radiating element configured to send and receive multiple polarizations of signals may be used in configurations other than those shown in
Referring to
At stage 212, the method 210 includes receiving free-space millimeter-wave signals and converting the free-space millimeter-wave signals to electronic millimeter-wave signals. For example, signals with different polarizations and the same carrier frequency may be received by the antenna unit 32. As another example, signals with different polarizations and with each of different carrier frequencies may be received by the antenna unit 32. As another example, signals with the same polarization but different carrier frequencies may be received by the antenna unit 32. The antenna unit 32, e.g., the radiating elements 51, 52, converts the received free-space signals into corresponding electronic signals, e.g., by transducing the received free-space signals. For example, as shown in
At stage 214, the method 210 includes converting a plurality of the electronic millimeter-wave signals to a plurality of reduced-frequency signals each having a lower frequency than the plurality of electronic millimeter-wave signals. For example, the front-end circuitry 34 downconverts multiple electronic millimeter-wave signals to IF signals for indirect conveyance to the processor 38 via the IFC 36. Also or alternatively, the front-end circuitry 34 downconverts multiple electronic millimeter-wave signals to baseband signals for direct conveyance to the processor 38. The front-end circuitry 34 may produce the IF signals with different IF carrier frequencies and/or the baseband signals with different carrier frequencies for frequency-division multiplexed conveyance, or with the same or similar carrier frequencies for time-division multiplexed conveyance. The reduced-frequency signals may correspond to free-space millimeter-wave signals that have a same carrier frequency and different polarizations (see
At stage 216, the method 210 includes providing the plurality of reduced-frequency signals in a multiplexed manner over a same transmission line for conveyance to the processor. For example, different ones of the reduced-frequency signals may have different conveyance characteristics (e.g., frequency of signal, time of conveyance, etc.) such that the different ones of the reduced-frequency signals can be separately processed. In one embodiment, the front-end circuitry 34 provides reduced-frequency signals, as IF signals, to the processor 38 indirectly, e.g., to the IFC 36 that provides baseband signals to the processor 38. Also or alternatively, the front-end circuitry 34 provides reduced-frequency signals, as baseband signals, directly to the processor 38. For example, the front-end circuitry 34 may convey IF and/or baseband signals with different carrier frequencies concurrently over a single transmission line (e.g., coaxial cable) in a frequency division multiplexed (e.g., duplexed) manner, e.g., as shown in
The method 210 may be modified, e.g., to include other stages. For example, the method 210 may include receiving the plurality of reduced-frequency signals from the transmission line, converting the plurality of reduced-frequency signals to first baseband signals, and providing the first baseband signals to the processor. For example, the IFC 70, or the IFC 118, or another IFC, may convert received IF signals to baseband signals of the same carrier frequency, or no carrier frequency, and provide the baseband signals to the processor 38.
The method 210 may include one or more further features. For example, the method 210 may include converting further electronic millimeter-wave signals (e.g., by the FEC 34), corresponding to further free-space millimeter-wave signals of a different carrier signal than the other free-space signals, to further reduced-frequency signals and providing the further reduced-frequency signals (e.g., by the FEC 34) in a multiplexed manner over a same transmission line to a processor (e.g., the processor 38). As another example, the method 210 may include receiving the reduced-frequency signals from the transmission line (e.g., by the IFC 36), converting the received signals (e.g., by the IFC 36) from IF signals to baseband signals, and providing the baseband signals (e.g., by the IFC 36) to a processor (e.g., the processor 38). As another example, the method 210 may further include bandpass filtering (e.g., by the filters 81, 82) the reduced-frequency signals before providing the reduced-frequency signals to a processor (e.g., the processor 38).
Also, as used herein, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “at least one of” or prefaced by “one or more of” indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.).
As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based on one or more items and/or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.
Further, an indication that information is sent or transmitted or conveyed, or a statement of sending or transmitting or conveying information, “to” an entity does not require completion of the communication. Such indications or statements include situations where the information is conveyed from a sending entity but does not reach an intended recipient of the information. The intended recipient, even if not actually receiving the information, may still be referred to as a receiving entity, e.g., a receiving execution environment. Further, an entity that is configured to send or transmit or convey information “to” an intended recipient is not required to be configured to complete the delivery of the information to the intended recipient. For example, the entity may provide the information, with an indication of the intended recipient, to another entity that is capable of forwarding the information along with an indication of the intended recipient.
Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.
The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, in alternative configurations, the methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and that various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.
Specific details are given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides example configurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.
Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted as a flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process may have additional stages or functions not included in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the tasks may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium. Processors may perform the described tasks.
Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and/or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.
Having described several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not bound the scope of the claims.
Further, more than one invention may be disclosed.
