Common transmit module for a programmable digital radio

• US 5,867,535 A
• Filed: 08/31/1995
• Issued: 02/02/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Incorporated (BAE Systems Plc), Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
• Inventors: Minarik, Ronald W., Schmidt, Kenneth M., Weigand, Benjamin F., Dirndorfer, Walter M., Prill, Robert S., Siegel, Arnold B., Pascale, Michael V., Phillips, William C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Corrielus, Jean B.
• Application Number:
  US08/522,058
• Time in Patent Office: 1,251 Days
• Field of Search: 375/219, 375/222, 375/239, 375/261, 375/269, 375/279, 375/262, 375/295, 375/300, 375/302, 375/303, 375/308, 375/298, 370/204, 370/206, 455/93, 455/102, 455/103, 455/117, 455/118, 455/120, 342/14, 342/21, 342/175, 342/194
• US Class Current: 375/295
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/04 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/045 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/74 Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/282 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H03D 7/163 the local oscillations of at least two of the frequency changers being derived from a single oscillator
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/0491 with frequency synthesizers, frequency converters or modulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service

Abstract

A common transmit module of a programmable digital radio has a digital submodule which receives a bit stream and produces a modulated IF signal, and an analog submodule which receives the modulated IF signal and converts the modulated IF signal to a frequency corresponding to a specific type of radio function. The digital submodule includes (a) a sequential/parallel instruction set processor for signal processing and control, (b) a reconfigurable format unit, and (c) a modulator which receives the output signals of the reconfigurable format unit and produces the modulated oscillation signal. The analog submodule includes (a) a tunable local oscillator that produces a tunable local oscillation signal, (b) fixed local oscillators that produce fixed local oscillation signals, and (c) a mixing unit that receives the modulated IF signal, the tunable local oscillation signal and the fixed local oscillation signals, selectively mixes the fixed local oscillation signals with the modulated oscillation signal to produce non-final IF signals, and mixes a non-final IF signal with the tunable local oscillation signal to produce a final converted signal for transmission at the frequency corresponding to the specific type of radio function.

Claims

1. A transmit module which is programmed for a specific type of radio function having a corresponding frequency and which is reprogrammable to transmit radio signals for different types of radio functions, the transmit module comprising:

a self-contained digital submodule for receiving a bit stream representing information to be transmitted and for producing a modulated analog intermediate frequency signal; and

a self-contained analog submodule, connected to said self-contained digital submodule, for receiving the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal and converting the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal into the frequency corresponding to the specific type of radio function,

said self-contained digital submodule including;

a reconfigurable format unit reconfigurable for receiving the information to be transmitted and producing output signals for different types of radio functions,

a modulator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit, for receiving the output signals of said reconfigurable format unit and for producing a modulated digital intermediate frequency signal, the modulated digital intermediate frequency signal being converted into the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal,

a sequential/parallel instruction processor for receiving the information to be transmitted and producing an in-phase signal, a quadrature signal, a phase signal and a frequency signal in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed in the transmit module,

said reconfigurable format unit being coupled to said sequential/parallel instruction processor for receiving the information to be transmitted from said sequential/parallel instruction processor in the form of the in-phase, quadrature, phase and frequency signals and for respectively producing corresponding formatted in-phase, quadrature phase, and frequency signals; and

wherein said modulator includes

a numerically controlled oscillator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted frequency signal and the formatted phase signal produced by said reconfigurable format unit, for producing a digital oscillation signal, and a quadrature mixer, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted in-phase signal and the formatted quadrature signal and coupled to said numerically controlled oscillator and responsive to the digital oscillation signal, for producing the modulated digital intermediate frequency signal.

2. The transmit module as in claim 1, wherein said self-contained digital submodule further comprises a programmable digital filter unit for filtering digital signals produced by said sequential/parallel instruction processor and said reconfigurable format unit.

3. The transmit module as in claim 1, wherein said self-contained digital submodule further comprises a memory for storing a plurality of application programs which respectively correspond to different types of radio functions,

said sequential/parallel instruction processor running a respective program of the plurality of application programs stored in said memory for causing the transmit module to transmit signals in accordance with the type of radio function corresponding to the respective program.

4. The transmit module as in claim 3, wherein said memory comprises at least one of a RAM memory and a flash memory.

5. The transmit module as in claim 1, wherein said self-contained analog submodule comprises a tunable local oscillator, frequency tuning being proportioned between said numerically controlled oscillator of said self-contained digital submodule and said tunable local oscillator of said self-contained analog submodule.

6. The transmit module as in claim 5, wherein said self-contained digital submodule sends control signals to said self-contained analog submodule to control frequency tuning in said self-contained analog submodule.

7. The transmit module as in claim 1, wherein said self-contained digital submodule further comprises means for interpolating the received bit stream.

8. The transmit module as in claim 7, wherein said sequential/parallel instruction processor includes said means for interpolating.

9. A transmit module which is programmed for a specific type of radio function having a corresponding frequency and which is reprogrammable to transmit radio signals for different types of radio functions, the transmit module comprising:

a digital submodule for receiving a bit stream representing information to be transmitted and for producing a modulated analog intermediate frequency signal; and

an analog submodule, connected to said digital submodule, for receiving the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal and converting the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal into the frequency corresponding to the specific type of radio function,

said analog submodule including;

tunable local oscillator for producing a tunable local oscillation signal,

fixed local oscillators for respectively producing corresponding fixed local oscillation signals, and

a mixing unit coupled to said digital submodule for receiving the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal, coupled to said tunable local oscillator for receiving the tunable local oscillation signal, and coupled to said fixed local oscillators for receiving the fixed local oscillation signals, selectively mixing the fixed local oscillation signals with the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal to produce a non-final intermediate frequency signal, and mixing the non-final intermediate frequency signal with the tunable local oscillation signal to produce a final converted signal for transmission at the frequency corresponding to the specific type of radio function.

10. The transmit module as in claim 9, wherein said digital submodule is electrically isolated from said analog submodule.

11. The transmit module as in claim 9, wherein said tunable local oscillator and said fixed local oscillators comprise a synthesizer for producing the tunable local oscillation signal and the fixed local oscillation signals.

12. The transmit module as in claim 11, wherein said synthesizer comprises a double phase-locked loop synthesizer.

13. The transmit module as in claim 9, wherein the modulated intermediate frequency signal represents a first intermediate frequency signal and said mixing unit of said analog submodule comprises:

a first mixer for mixing the first intermediate frequency signal with a first fixed local oscillation signal, to produce a second intermediate frequency signal;

a second mixer, selectively receiving one of a second local oscillation signal and a third local oscillation signal, for mixing the second intermediate frequency signal with the received one of the second local oscillation signal and the third local oscillation signal, to produce a third intermediate frequency signal; and

a third mixer for mixing the third intermediate frequency signal with the tunable local oscillation signal to produce the final converted signal.

14. The transmit module as in claim 13, wherein said analog submodule further comprises a filtering mechanism for filtering the third intermediate frequency signal before the third intermediate frequency signal is received by said third mixer, said filtering mechanism comprising:

a first filter having a first bandpass range;

a second filter having a second bandpass range; and

a switch mechanism, connected to said first filter, said second filter and said third mixer, for switching the third intermediate frequency signal to one of said first filter and said second filter and for providing the filtered third intermediate frequency signal to said third mixer.

15. The transmit module as in claim 9, wherein said analog submodule further comprises a filtering mechanism for filtering the final converted signal before the final converted signal is transmitted, said filtering mechanism comprising:

a first filter having a first bandpass range;

a second filter having a second bandpass range; and

a switching mechanism, connected to said first filter and said second filter, for switching the final converted signal to one of said first filter and said second filter before the final converted signal is transmitted.

16. A transmit module which is programmed for a specific type of radio function having a corresponding frequency and which is reprogrammable to transmit radio signals for different types of radio functions, the transmit module comprising:

a digital submodule for receiving a bit stream representing information to be transmitted and for producing a modulated analog intermediate frequency signal, the digital submodule including;

a sequential/parallel instruction processor for receiving the information to be transmitted and for producing an in-phase signal, a quadrature signal, a phase signal and a frequency signal in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed in the transmit modules;

a reconfigurable format unit, reconfigurable to produce output signals for different types of radio functions and being coupled to said sequential/parallel instruction processor, for receiving the information to be transmitted from said sequential/parallel instruction processor in the form of the in-phase, quadrature, phase and frequency signals and for respectively producing corresponding formatted in-phase, quadrature, phase and frequency signals;

a numerically controlled oscillator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted frequency signal and the formatted phase signal, for producing a digital oscillation signal; and

a quadrature mixer, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted in-phase signal and the formatted quadrature signal and coupled to said numerically controlled oscillator and responsive to the digital oscillation signal, for producing the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal; and

an analog submodule, coupled to said digital submodule, for receiving the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal and for converting the modulated analog intermediate frequency signal to the frequency corresponding to the specific type of radio function.

17. A digital module which is self-contained and programmed for a specific type of radio function having a corresponding frequency, the digital module receiving a bit stream representing information to be transmitted and producing a modulated oscillation signal, the digital module comprising:

a sequential/parallel instruction processor for receiving the information to be transmitted and for producing an in-phase signal, a quadrature signal, a phase signal and a frequency signal in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed in the digital module;

a reconfigurable format unit, reconfigurable to produce output signals for different types of radio functions and being coupled to said sequential/parallel instruction processor, for receiving the information to be transmitted from the sequential/parallel instruction processor in the form of the in-phase, quadrature, phase and frequency signals and for producing output signals in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed in the transmit module; and

a modulator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit, for receiving the output signals of said reconfigurable format unit and producing the modulated oscillation signal.

18. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is reprogrammable to produce modulated oscillation signals at different oscillation frequencies modulated with combinations of amplitude, phase and frequency signals.

19. The digital module as in claim 17, further comprising a programmable digital filter unit for filtering digital signals produced by at least one of said sequential/parallel instruction processor, said reconfigurable format unit and said modulator.

20. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is reprogrammable to transmit radio signals for communication, navigation and identification radio functions.

21. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is reprogrammable to transmit different waveforms corresponding to different communication functions.

22. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is reprogrammable to transmit different waveforms corresponding to different navigation functions.

23. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is reprogrammable to transmit different waveforms corresponding to different identification functions.

24. The digital module as in claim 17, further comprising a memory for storing a plurality of application programs which respectively correspond to different types of radio functions, the digital module being reprogrammable to transmit radio signals for a respective type of radio function by running the corresponding application program.

25. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein the digital module is programmable to transmit radio signals for different types of radio functions by downloading application programs into the digital module from an external memory.

26. The digital module as in claim 24, wherein said memory comprises at least one of a RAM memory and a flash memory.

27. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein said reconfigurable format unit produces a formatted in-phase signal, a formatted quadrature signal, a formatted phase signal and a formatted frequency signal in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed therein, said modulator comprising:

a numerically controlled oscillator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted frequency signal and the formatted phase signal produced by said reconfigurable format unit, for producing a digital oscillation signal; and

a quadrature mixer, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted in-phase signal and the formatted quadrature signal and coupled to said numerically controlled oscillator and responsive to the digital oscillation signal, for producing the modulated oscillation signal.

28. The digital module as in claim 27, wherein the modulated oscillation signal produced by said quadrature mixer is in digital form, the digital module further comprising a digital to analog converter for receiving the modulated oscillation signal and for converting the modulated oscillation signal to an analog signal.

29. The digital module as in claim 17, wherein said reconfigurable format unit is a field programmable gate array.

30. The digital module as in claim 17, further comprising at least one of:

a system bus for connecting the digital module to an external controller which is operable to reprogram the digital module,

a transmit bus for connecting the digital module to an antenna interface unit,

a transpond bus for connecting the digital module to a receive module, and

an applique bus for connecting the digital module to an applique module.

31. A digital module which receives a serial bit stream representing information to be transmitted and which produces a modulated oscillation signal, the digital module comprising:

a reconfigurable format unit reprogrammable for transmitting radio signals of different types of radio functions, said reconfigurable format unit producing an in-phase signal, a quadrature signal, a phase signal and a frequency signal in accordance with the specific type of radio function programmed in the digital module;

a numerically controlled oscillator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the frequency signal and the phase signal produced by said reconfigurable format unit, for producing a digital oscillation signal;

a quadrature mixer, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the in-phase signal and the quadrature signal and coupled to said numerically controlled oscillator and responsive to the digital oscillation signal, for producing the modulated oscillation signal, the modulated oscillation signal being a digital signal; and

a digital to analog converter, coupled to said quadrature mixer, for receiving the modulated oscillation signal and for converting the modulated oscillation signal to an analog signal.

32. An analog module which receives a modulated oscillation signal and which produces a final converted radio frequency signal for a radio function having a corresponding frequency, comprising:

a tunable local oscillator for producing a tunable local oscillation signal;

fixed local oscillators for respectively producing corresponding fixed local oscillation signals; and

a mixing unit for receiving the modulated oscillation signal, said mixing unit being coupled to said tunable local oscillator for receiving the tunable local oscillation signal and being coupled to said fixed local oscillators for receiving the fixed local oscillation signals, selectively mixing the fixed local oscillation signals with the modulated oscillation signal to produce a non-final intermediate frequency signal, and mixing the non-final intermediate frequency signal with the tunable local oscillation signal to produce the final converted radio frequency signal for transmission at the frequency corresponding to the type of radio function.

33. The analog module as in claim 32, wherein said tunable local oscillator and said fixed local oscillators comprise a synthesizer for producing the tunable local oscillation signal and the fixed local oscillation signals.

34. The analog module as in claim 33, wherein said synthesizer comprises a double phase-locked loop synthesizer which uses preset voltages in each loop to increase tuning speed.

35. The analog module as in claim 33, wherein said synthesizer comprises a double phase-locked loop synthesizer.

36. The analog module as in claim 32, wherein the modulated oscillation signal represents a first intermediate frequency signal and said mixing unit comprises:

a first mixer for mixing the first intermediate frequency signal with a first fixed local oscillation signal to produce a second intermediate frequency signal;

a second mixer for selectively receiving one of a second local oscillation signal and a third local oscillation signal and for mixing the second intermediate frequency signal with the received one of the second local oscillation signal and the third local oscillation signal to produce a third intermediate frequency signal; and

a third mixer, coupled to said tunable local oscillator, for mixing the third intermediate frequency signal with the tunable local oscillation signal to produce the final converted radio frequency signal.

37. The analog module as in claim 36, further comprising a filtering mechanism for filtering the third intermediate frequency signal before the third intermediate frequency signal is received by said third mixer, said filtering mechanism comprising:

a first filter having a first bandpass range;

a second filter having a second bandpass range; and

a switching mechanism, coupled to said first filter and said second filter, for switching the third intermediate frequency signal to one of said first filter and said second filter and for providing the filtered third intermediate frequency signal to said third mixer.

38. The analog module as in claim 36, further comprising a filtering mechanism for filtering the final converted signal before the final converted signal is transmitted, said filtering mechanism comprising:

a first filter having a first bandpass range;

a second filter having a second bandpass range; and

a switching mechanism, coupled to said first filter and said second filter, for switching the final converted radio frequency signal to one of said first filter and said second filter before the final converted radio frequency signal is transmitted.

39. A programmable transmit module comprising:

a self-contained digital submodule, coupled to a bit stream representing information to be transmitted and programmably reconfigurable for operation in each of different radio modes, for selectively digitally processing the bit stream to generate a digital modulated signal for the different radio modes and converting the digital modulated signal into an analog modulated signal;

a self-contained analog submodule, having an intermediate frequency, coupled to said self-contained digital submodule and programmably reconfigurable for operation in each of the different radio modes, for selectively frequency translating the analog modulated signal into an RF transmission signal;

wherein said self-contained analog submodule further comprises,

frequency synthesizing means for selectively generating local oscillation signals for each of the different radio modes in accordance with control signals generated by said self-contained digital submodule, mixing means for mixing the analog modulated signal with the local oscillation signals, a plurality of filter banks each selectively switchable to provide respective filtering for each of the different radio modes in accordance with the control signals generated by said self-contained digital submodule, and

a first of said plurality of filter banks being coupled to an output of said mixing means for selectively providing the RF transmission signal as an output of said self-contained analog submodule; and

wherein said self-contained digital submodule generates control signals for respectively reconfiguring said self-contained analog submodule for operation in each of the different radio modes.

40. The programmable transmit module of claim 39, wherein said frequency synthesizing means comprises a tunable local oscillator and a fixed local oscillator for respectively generating a tunable local oscillation signal and fixed local oscillation signals as the local oscillation signals.

41. The programmable transmit module of claim 40, wherein said tunable local oscillator comprises a double phase-locked loop synthesizer which uses preset voltages in each loop to increase tuning speed.

42. The programmable transmit module of claim 39, wherein said mixing means comprises a plurality of mixers for mixing the analog modulated signal in respective different stages with respective different ones of the local oscillation signals.

43. The programmable transmit module of claim 39, wherein said self-contained digital submodule comprises:

processing means, coupled to the bit stream, for generating an in-phase signal, a quadrature signal, a phase signal and a frequency signal from the bit stream in accordance with the selected one of the different radio modes;

a reconfigurable format unit, coupled to said processing means, for formatting the in-phase signal, the quadrature signal, the phase signal and the frequency signal in accordance with the selected one of the different radio modes;

a numerically controlled oscillator, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and responsive to the formatted phase signal and the formatted frequency signal, for producing a digital oscillation signal;

a quadrature mixer, coupled to said reconfigurable format unit and said numerically controlled oscillator, for mixing the formatted in-phase signal and the formatted quadrature signal with the digital oscillation signal; and

a digital/analog converter for analog converting an output of said quadrature mixer into the analog modulated signal.

44. The programmable transmit module of claim 39, wherein said self-contained digital submodule is programmably reconfigurable to provide the digital modulated signal modulated with combinations of amplitude, phase and frequency signals.