Ultra low-power integrated circuit for pseudo-baseband down-conversion of GPS RF signals
First Claim
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1. A radio frequency down-conversion integrated circuit (IC) for use in a satellite navigation receiver to amplify L-band microwave radio transmissions received from orbiting satellites and to downconvert such signals to a pseudo-baseband signal for sampling, comprising:
- a low-voltage bipolar-process emitter-coupled-logic (ECL) single semiconductor chip (10);
a radio frequency (RF) pre-amplifier (11) disposed in the IC 10 and connected to amplify signals from an L-band microwave signal input (74);
a first mixer (12) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to a first output (32) from a local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54) and the RF preamplifier (11) for down-conversion of signals from said L-band microwave signal input (74) to approximately 175 MHz;
an intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier (14) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the first mixer (12) and having an external off-chip bandpass filter connection (16);
an IF amplifier (18) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to said external off-chip bandpass filter connection (16);
an in-phase (I) quadrature mixer (20) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the IF amplifier (18) and a second output (40) from said local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54);
a pseudo-baseband amplifier (22) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to amplify signals from the in-phase (I) quadrature mixer (20) to an external off-chip baseband filter connection (24);
a pseudo-baseband amplifier (26) connected to an I-sample/amplifier stage (28) and a quantizer (30) and all disposed in the IC (10) and connected to a control line (68) that provides for an external selection of whether said I-sample/amplifier stage (28) is to operate as a sampler or as an amplifier, wherein when operated as a sampler, the overall power consumption of the IC (10) is reduced, as the high-frequency, power-consuming signals driven out by quantizer (30) is eliminated and can change only at a sample clock rate;
a quadrature-phase (Q) quadrature mixer (56) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the IF amplifier (18) and a third output (42) from said local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54);
a pseudo-baseband amplifier (58) connected to an external off-chip baseband filter connection (60); and
a pseudo-baseband amplifier (62) connected to a Q-sample/amplifier stage (64) and a quantizer (66) and all disposed in the IC (10) and connected to said control line (68) that further provides for an external selection of whether said Q-sample/amplifier stage (64) is to operate as a sampler or as an amplifier, wherein when operated as a sampler, the overall power consumption of the IC (10) is reduced, as the high-frequency, power-consuming signals driven out by quantizer (66) is eliminated and can change only at said sample clock rate.
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Abstract
A GPS receiver downconverter combines on a single integrated circuit, a first super-heterodyne mixer, a voltage controlled oscillator, a phase locked loop, a pair of quadrature mixers and a pair of quantizers with in-phase and quadrature-phase sampler outputs operable at twenty-five MHz and 2.5 MHz. Emitter-coupled logic and special low-voltage bipolar semiconductor technology are combined for 3.3 volt operation at under one hundred milliwatts.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A radio frequency down-conversion integrated circuit (IC) for use in a satellite navigation receiver to amplify L-band microwave radio transmissions received from orbiting satellites and to downconvert such signals to a pseudo-baseband signal for sampling, comprising:
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a low-voltage bipolar-process emitter-coupled-logic (ECL) single semiconductor chip (10); a radio frequency (RF) pre-amplifier (11) disposed in the IC 10 and connected to amplify signals from an L-band microwave signal input (74); a first mixer (12) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to a first output (32) from a local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54) and the RF preamplifier (11) for down-conversion of signals from said L-band microwave signal input (74) to approximately 175 MHz; an intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier (14) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the first mixer (12) and having an external off-chip bandpass filter connection (16); an IF amplifier (18) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to said external off-chip bandpass filter connection (16); an in-phase (I) quadrature mixer (20) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the IF amplifier (18) and a second output (40) from said local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54); a pseudo-baseband amplifier (22) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to amplify signals from the in-phase (I) quadrature mixer (20) to an external off-chip baseband filter connection (24); a pseudo-baseband amplifier (26) connected to an I-sample/amplifier stage (28) and a quantizer (30) and all disposed in the IC (10) and connected to a control line (68) that provides for an external selection of whether said I-sample/amplifier stage (28) is to operate as a sampler or as an amplifier, wherein when operated as a sampler, the overall power consumption of the IC (10) is reduced, as the high-frequency, power-consuming signals driven out by quantizer (30) is eliminated and can change only at a sample clock rate; a quadrature-phase (Q) quadrature mixer (56) disposed in the IC (10) and connected to the IF amplifier (18) and a third output (42) from said local oscillator frequency synthesizer section (32-54); a pseudo-baseband amplifier (58) connected to an external off-chip baseband filter connection (60); and a pseudo-baseband amplifier (62) connected to a Q-sample/amplifier stage (64) and a quantizer (66) and all disposed in the IC (10) and connected to said control line (68) that further provides for an external selection of whether said Q-sample/amplifier stage (64) is to operate as a sampler or as an amplifier, wherein when operated as a sampler, the overall power consumption of the IC (10) is reduced, as the high-frequency, power-consuming signals driven out by quantizer (66) is eliminated and can change only at said sample clock rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification