Method and device for radio reception using a plurality of antennas

• US 7,983,645 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2007
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Excem SAS
• Inventors: Clavelier, Evelyne, Broyde, Frédéric
• Primary Examiner(s): Lam; Tuan
• Application Number:
  US12/301,952
• Publication Number:
  US 20100248673A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,505 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/273
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/08 at the receiving station

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for radio reception using a plurality of antennas and to a receiver for radio transmission using a plurality of antennas. In a receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of the invention, 3 antennas are connected to the input ports of a device for transmission which transmits the electrical signals stemming from the 3 antennas to the input terminals of a multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifier having 3 input ports and 3 output ports. Each output port of the multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifier is connected to the input of an analog processing and conversion circuit which outputs digital signals. The output of each analog processing and conversion circuit is connected to an input of a multiple-input signal processing device, whose output is connected to the destination.

Claims

1. A method for radio reception with multiple antennas using N antennas, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the method comprising:

converting electromagnetic signals to electrical signals using the N antennas;

transmitting said electrical signals from the N antennas to the input terminals of one or more multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers, through one or more transmission devices, each of said transmission devices behaving as a passive linear circuit, each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers having at least two input ports and at least two output ports, each of said input ports of each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers receiving the electrical signals from a different antenna among said N antennas;

amplifying using said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers, each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presenting, in a known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating a wanted admittance matrix, said wanted admittance matrix being a non-diagonal and invertible square matrix; and

processing the signals delivered by said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a feedback network producing a negative feedback such that each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presents, in said known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating said wanted admittance matrix.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a feedback network producing a negative feedback such that each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presents, in said known frequency band, a voltage gain matrix approximating a specified gain matrix.

4. A device for proportioning the circuits used in a method for radio reception with multiple antennas using N antennas, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the device comprising:

means for proportioning one or more transmission devices used for transmitting electrical signals from the N antennas to the input terminals of one or more multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers, each of said transmission devices behaving as a passive linear circuit, each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers having at least two input ports and at least two output ports, each of said input ports of each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers receiving the electrical signals from a different antenna among said N antennas; and

means for proportioning one or more said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presenting, in a known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating a wanted admittance matrix, said wanted admittance matrix being a non-diagonal and invertible square matrix.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a feedback network producing a negative feedback such that each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presents, in said known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating said wanted admittance matrix.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the means for proportioning one or more of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprise means for determining the dependence of one or more of the output voltages of one or more said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers upon the direction of arrival of an electromagnetic wave.

7. A receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas, using N antennas, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the receiver comprising:

one or more multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers, each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers having at least two input ports and at least two output ports, each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presenting, in a known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating a wanted admittance matrix, said wanted admittance matrix being a non-diagonal and invertible square matrix;

one or more transmission devices, each transmission device behaving as a passive linear circuit transmitting the electrical signals from at least one of said antennas to the input terminals of one or more of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers, each of said input ports of each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers receiving the electrical signals from a different antenna among said N antennas; and

a signal processing assembly processing the signals delivered by said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers.

8. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein at least one of said transmission devices comprises 2-conductor interconnections, each 2-conductor interconnection linking one of said N antennas to an input port of one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers.

9. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier.

10. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier comprising a feedback network comprising a plurality of windings, the windings of the feedback network being such that, in the known frequency band, the mutual induction between the different windings has a non-negligible influence on the value of the non-diagonal components of the impedance matrix of the feedback network.

11. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier, the p signal input terminals of the multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier being connected to the p signal output terminals of a passive input network having p input ports, the p signal output terminals of the multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier being connected to the p signal input terminals of a passive output network having p output ports, p being a positive integer.

12. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers are such that the voltage gain matrix of each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers approximates a specified gain matrix.

13. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers produce a reduced noise spectral density.

14. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 7, wherein each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a feedback network producing a negative feedback such that each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers presents, in said known frequency band, a loaded input admittance matrix approximating said wanted admittance matrix.

15. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein at least one of said transmission devices comprises 2-conductor interconnections, each 2-conductor interconnection linking one of said N antennas to an input port of one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers.

16. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier.

17. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier comprising a feedback network comprising a plurality of windings, the windings of the feedback network being such that, in the known frequency band, the mutual induction between the different windings has a non-negligible influence on the value of the non-diagonal components of the impedance matrix of the feedback network.

18. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein at least one of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers comprises a multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier, the p signal input terminals of the multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier being connected to the p signal output terminals of a passive input network having p input ports, the p signal output terminals of the multiple-input and multiple-output series-series feedback amplifier being connected to the p signal input terminals of a passive output network having p output ports, p being a positive integer.

19. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers are such that the voltage gain matrix of each of said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers approximates a specified gain matrix.

20. The receiver for radio transmission with multiple antennas of claim 14, wherein said multiple-input-port and multiple-output-port amplifiers produce a reduced noise spectral density.