Radio receiver and radio signal processing method

• US 20050009489A1
• Filed: 04/07/2004
• Published: 01/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tohiba
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Seto, Ichiro, Yoshida, Hiroshi, Sekiguchi, Takahiro, Toyoda, Takehiko
• Granted Patent: US 7,245,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/232.100
• CPC Class Codes: H03D 3/008 Compensating DC offsets
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/3068 Circuits generating control signals for both R.F. and I.F. stages
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/30 for homodyne or synchrodyne receivers demodulator circuits H03D1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/3809 Amplitude regulation arrangements

Abstract

A radio receiver comprises a first amplifier to amplify a received radio signal; a quadrature demodulator to demodulate the radio signal amplified by said first amplifier and thereby generate a baseband signal; a second amplifier to amplify the baseband signal; a demodulator to demodulate the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier; and a gain controller to control timing of a change in a gain of said second amplifier, in case that changing the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier, on the basis of a gain of said first amplifier before and after the change.

Claims

1. A radio receiver comprising:

a first amplifier to amplify a received radio signal;

a demodulation circuit line comprising a quadrature demodulator to demodulate the radio signal amplified by said first amplifier and to generate a baseband signal, a second amplifier to amplify the baseband signal, and a demodulator to demodulate the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier; and

a gain controller to control timing of a change in a gain of said second amplifier, in case that the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier are changed, on the basis of a gain of said first amplifier before and after the change.

2. The radio receiver according to claim 1, further comprising:

a detector to detect a signal strength of the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier;

a filter to shape a waveform of the baseband signal demodulated by said quadrature demodulator; and

an offset removal circuit to remove a DC offset component in the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier.

3. The radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein in case that the gain of said first amplifier is changed from a high gain to a low gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from a low gain to a high gain, said gain controller delays timing of the change in the gain of said second amplifier as compared with timing of the change in the gain of said first amplifier.

4. The radio receiver according to claim 3, wherein in case that the gain of said first amplifier is changed from the low gain to the high gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from the high gain to the low gain, said gain controller changes the gain of said second amplifier nearly simultaneously with a change in the gain of said first amplifier.

5. The radio receiver according to claim 3, wherein a delay time is shorter than a repetition period of the changes in the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier, said delay time being a period from the change in the gain of said first amplifier till the change in the gain of said second amplifier.

6. The radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein said gain controller comprises:

a signal detector to detect a strength of the baseband signal;

a gain selector to select the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier on the basis of the strength of the baseband signal;

a timing determination section to compare actual gains of said first amplifier and said second amplifier with the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier selected by said gain selector, and to determine timing of a change in the gain of said second amplifier on the basis of a result of the comparison;

a control signal generator to generate a control signal to change the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier; and

a control signal transmitter to transmit the control signal to said second amplifier in accordance with the timing determined by said timing determination section.

7. The radio receiver according to claim 6, wherein

in case that said gain controller changes the gain of said first amplifier from the high gain to the low gain and changes the gain of said second amplifier from the low gain to the high gain,

said timing determination section determines to delay the change timing in the gain of said second amplifier as compared with the change timing in the gain of said first amplifier, and

said control signal transmitter serves as a delay circuit to transmit the control signal to said second amplifier a delay after transmission of the control signal to said first amplifier.

8. The radio receiver according to claim 1, further comprising one or more demodulation circuit lines, each of the demodulation circuit lines are connected to said first amplifier,

wherein said gain controller controls the second amplifiers included in the each demodulation circuit lines.

9. The radio receiver according to claim 8, wherein said gain controller controls the second amplifiers included in the each demodulation circuit lines nearly simultaneously.

10. The radio receiver according to claim 8, wherein said gain controller changes gains of the second amplifiers included in the each demodulation circuit lines, by the same quantity.

11. The radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein the radio receiver employs a direct conversion scheme.

12. The radio receiver according to claim 1, wherein the gain of said second amplifier comprises a larger number of steps than the gain of said first amplifier.

13. A radio receiver comprising:

a first amplifier to amplify a received radio signal;

a quadrature demodulator to demodulate the radio signal amplified by said first amplifier and to generate a baseband signal;

a second amplifier to amplify, after changing a gain of said first amplifier, the baseband signal with a gain based on a gain of said first amplifier obtained before and after the change; and

a demodulator to demodulate the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier.

14. The radio receiver according to claim 13, wherein in case that the gain of said first amplifier is changed from a high gain to a low gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from a low gain to a high gain, timing of the change in the gain of said second amplifier is delayed as compared with timing of the change in the gain of said first amplifier.

15. The radio receiver according to claim 14, wherein a delay time is shorter than a repetition period of the changes in the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier, said delay time being a period from the change in the gain of said first amplifier till the change in the gain of said second amplifier.

16. A radio receiver comprising:

a first amplifier to amplify a received radio signal;

a quadrature demodulator to demodulate the radio signal amplified by said first amplifier and to generate a baseband signal;

a second amplifier to amplify the baseband signal;

a demodulator to demodulate the baseband signal amplified by said second amplifier; and

a gain controller to delay timing of a change in a gain of said second amplifier as compared with timing of a change in a gain of said first amplifier, in case that the gain of said first amplifier is changed from a high gain to a low gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from a low gain to a high gain.

17. The radio receiver according to claim 16, wherein a delay time is shorter than a repetition period of the changes in the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier, said delay time being a period from the change in the gain of said first amplifier till the change in the gain of said second amplifier.

18. A radio signal processing method comprising:

receiving a radio signal;

amplifying the radio signal;

demodulating the amplified radio signal to a baseband signal;

amplifying the baseband signal;

demodulating the amplified baseband signal;

determining timing of a change in a gain of said first amplifier and a gain of said second amplifier, in case that the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier are changed, on the basis of the gain of said first amplifier obtained before and after the change; and

changing the gain of said first amplifier and the gain of said second amplifier in accordance with the determined timing.

19. A radio signal processing method according to claim 18, wherein:

in a case where the gain of said first amplifier is changed from a high gain to a low gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from a low gain to a high gain, in case that the timing of the change in the gain is determined, the gain of said second amplifier is changed with a delay to the change in the gain of said first amplifier.

20. A radio signal processing method according to claim 19, wherein:

in a case where the gain of said first amplifier is changed from a low gain to a high gain and the gain of said second amplifier is changed from a high gain to a low gain, in case that the timing of the change in the gain is determined, the gain of said second amplifier is changed nearly simultaneously with a change in the gain of said first amplifier.