Method of using control loops in a broadband cable tuner
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling power consumption of a tuner circuit comprising the steps of:
- providing an input port for receiving an RF signal including information modulated therein upon a plurality of channels and being within a predetermined frequency band;
providing a tuner signal conditioning circuit for conditioning the RF signal comprising;
a first filter for providing a passband;
said passband being characterized by a bandwidth being sufficiently broad to admit signals in at least one of the plurality of channels with lesser attenuation than other signals;
an output port for conducting any signals having been admitted by the first filter;
superheterodyne circuitry including the tuner signal conditioning circuits for processing any signals coupled thereto via the output port and discriminating the received information signals within a selected channel;
determining from the received RF signal an approximate linearity requirement and an approximate gain requirement; and
,performing one of increasing the gain of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and decreasing the linearity of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and decreasing the gain of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and increasing the linearity of the tuner signal conditioning circuits; and
,controlling power supplied to different circuit portions of the superheterodyne circuitry and tuner signal conditioning circuits, the power supplied being one of enabling and disabling of power provided.
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Abstract
Currently tuner circuits maintain normal power consumption while they are receiving RF signals and do not have provisions therein for disabling portions of their circuitry for reducing of power consumption. For example, during changing of channels, portions of the tuner are not used while the tuner is waiting for channel data. Thus, disabling portions of the circuit while the tuner is waiting for data serves to reduce power consumption of the tuner. Furthermore, tuner power consumption is reduced by determining whether a signal input to the tuner circuit requires amplification or not, or whether linearity in the amplifier can be sacrificed by a reduction in amplifier gain. Thus, a tuner circuit is provided that has control loop circuitry to execute control loops for controlling the gain and linearity of the tuner, as well as power consumption of circuitry therein.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of controlling power consumption of a tuner circuit comprising the steps of:
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providing an input port for receiving an RF signal including information modulated therein upon a plurality of channels and being within a predetermined frequency band; providing a tuner signal conditioning circuit for conditioning the RF signal comprising; a first filter for providing a passband;
said passband being characterized by a bandwidth being sufficiently broad to admit signals in at least one of the plurality of channels with lesser attenuation than other signals;an output port for conducting any signals having been admitted by the first filter; superheterodyne circuitry including the tuner signal conditioning circuits for processing any signals coupled thereto via the output port and discriminating the received information signals within a selected channel; determining from the received RF signal an approximate linearity requirement and an approximate gain requirement; and
,performing one of increasing the gain of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and decreasing the linearity of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and decreasing the gain of the tuner signal conditioning circuits and increasing the linearity of the tuner signal conditioning circuits; and
,controlling power supplied to different circuit portions of the superheterodyne circuitry and tuner signal conditioning circuits, the power supplied being one of enabling and disabling of power provided. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A tuner for receiving information signals within a channel selected from within a plurality of channels and being within a predetermined frequency band, the tuner comprising:
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a first filter for providing a passband, said passband being characterized by a bandwidth being sufficiently broad to admit signals in at least one of the plurality of channels with lesser attenuation than other signals; an input port for receiving information signals and conducting the received information signals to the filter; an output port for conducting any signals having been admitted by the first filter; superheterodyne circuitry including tuner signal conditioning circuits for processing any signals coupled thereto via the output port and discriminating the received information signals within the selected channel; and
,a control loop circuit for performing at least one of controlling power provision to different circuit portions of the tuner superheterodyne circuitry and controlling gain and linearity of the tuner signal conditioning circuits, the control loop circuit other than a power switch for enabling and disabling of power provided to the entire tuner. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeIntellectual Ventures Holding 75 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
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Original AssigneeSIGE Semiconductor Incorporated (Skyworks Solutions Incorporated)
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InventorsFulga, Stefan, Rahn, David, Toner, Michael, Rogers, John, Robar, Brian, Zhou, Zhan Feng
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Primary Examiner(s)Kostak, Victor R.
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Application NumberUS10/349,941Time in Patent Office1,523 DaysField of Search348/730, 348/731, 348/725, 348/553, 725/14, 725/151, 725/152, 725/131, 725/132, 725/139, 725/140, 455/343.1, 713/320, 713/324, 713/323, 334/5, 334/11US Class Current348/730CPC Class CodesH03F 2200/372 Noise reduction and elimina...H03J 1/0008 using a central processing ...
