Shared receive path for simultaneous received signals

• US 7,260,416 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2003
• Issued: 08/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Shippee, Geoffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Lee
• Application Number:
  US10/349,270
• Publication Number:
  US 20040142723A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,673 Days
• Field of Search: 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 455/324, 455/132, 455/137, 455/133
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/406 with more than one transmission mode, e.g. analog and digital modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for a wireless communication device to simultaneously receive at least two signals. Two receiver portions are provided in the wireless communication device. A first receiver portion is configured to receive a first communication signal. A second receiver portion is configured to receive a second communication signal. The two receiver portions are configured to convert the first and second communication signals to a common frequency band. The common frequency band may be an intermediate frequency band or baseband frequency band. The converted first and second communication signals are combined in the common frequency band using an adder or other signal combiner. The combined signal is processed in a single signal processor. The communication device is able to resolve each of the received signals when the first communication signal is a narrowband signal and the second communication signal is a wideband signal, such as a spread spectrum signal.

Claims

1. A wireless device comprising:

a first receiver portion configured, during a handoff condition, to convert a first signal in a first receive frequency band to a first converted signal in a first frequency band;

a second receiver portion configured, during the handoff condition, to convert a second signal in a second receive frequency band distinct from the first receive frequency band to a second converted signal in a second frequency band, wherein the first and second frequency bands at least partially overlap, and wherein the second receiver portion converts the second signal during at least a portion of the time that the first receiver portion converts the first signal;

a combiner configured to combine the first converted signal with the second converted signal into a combined signal; and

a signal processor configured to process the combined first and second converted signals to extract information from the first converted signal, wherein the signal processor is configured to process the combined signal according to a first mode and simultaneously process the combined signal according to a second mode, distinct from the first mode.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first converted signal and the second converted signal are baseband signals.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first converted signal and the second converted signal are intermediate frequency signals.

4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the signal processor comprises an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC).

5. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the signal processor further comprises a baseband processor coupled to an output of the ADC, the baseband processor configured to extract information from a first converted signal component of the combined signal.

6. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first signal has a bandwidth of less than 250 KHz.

7. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein the second signal has a bandwidth of greater than 1 MHz.

8. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein the second signal has a bandwidth of greater than 3.8 MHz.

9. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first signal is a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal.

10. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the second signal is a spread spectrum signal.

11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the second signal is a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) signal.

12. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the first signal is a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) signal.

13. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the second signal is a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal.

14. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the combiner sums the first converted signal with the second converted signal.

15. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the wireless device is a phone.

16. A method of processing received signals, the method comprising:

determining a handoff condition between base stations operating in different communication modes;

converting a first receive signal from a first base station supporting the handoff condition to a to a first converted signal in a first frequency band;

converting a second signal from a second base station supporting the handoff condition to a second converted signal in a second frequency band, at least a portion of the first frequency band overlapping a portion of the second frequency band, and wherein converting the second signal to the second converted signal occurs during at least a portion of time that the first receive signal is converted to the first converted signal;

combining the first converted signal with the second converted signal;

processing the combined first and second converted signal according to a first mode; and

simultaneously processing the combined first and second converted signal according to a second mode to extract information contained in at least one of the first and second signal.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein converting the first receive signal comprises downconverting a received Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) signal to a first baseband signal.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein converting the first receive signal comprises downconverting a received Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) signal to a first Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein converting the second receive signal comprises downconverting a received Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal to a second baseband signal.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein converting the second receive signal comprises downconverting a received Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) signal to a second Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein combining the first converted signal with the second converted signal comprises summing the first converted signal with the second converted signal.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein processing the combined first and second converted signal comprises:

converting the combined first and second converted signal to a combined digital signal.

23. A wireless device comprising:

means for converting, during a handoff condition, a received first signal in a first receive frequency band to a first converted signal in a first frequency band;

means for converting, during the handoff condition, a second signal in a second receive frequency band distinct from the first receive frequency band to a second converted signal in a second frequency band, at least a portion of the first frequency band overlapping a portion of the second frequency band, and wherein converting the second signal occurs during at least a portion of time that the first receive signal is converted to the first converted signal;

means for combining the first converted signal with the second converted signal; and

means for processing the combined first and second converted signal by processing the combined signal according to a first mode and simultaneously processing the combined signal according to a second mode, distinct from the first mode.

24. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied thereon, the processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method of processing received signals, the method comprising:

programming a first oscillator to convert, during a handoff condition, a received first signal in a first receive frequency band to a first converted signal in a first frequency band;

programming a second oscillator, distinct from the first oscillator, to simultaneously convert, during the handoff condition, a second signal to a second converted signal in a second frequency band, at least a portion of the first frequency band overlapping a portion of the second frequency band; and

processing a combined signal comprising the first converted signal combined with the second converted signal by processing the combined signal according to a first mode and simultaneously processing the combined signal according to a second mode, distinct from the first mode.

25. A method of processing received signals, the method comprising:

simultaneously frequency converting a first receive signal in a first receive frequency band and a second receive signal in a second receive frequency band distinct from the first receive frequency band to a converted first signal and a converted second signal in a common frequency band;

combining the converted first signal with the converted second signal to generate a combined signal; and

processing the combined signal to extract information from the converted first signal and the converted second signal, wherein processing the combined signal includes processing the combined signal according to a first mode, and simultaneously processing the combined signal according to a second mode.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein simultaneously frequency converting the first receive signal and the second receive signals comprises simultaneously frequency converting the first receive signal and the second receive signals during a handoff condition.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the common frequency band comprises an Intermediate Frequency (IF) band.