Extracting clock information from a serial communications bus for use in RF communications circuitry
First Claim
1. Circuitry comprising:
- a first radio frequency front-end (RFFE) circuit coupled to an RFFE serial communications bus and adapted to;
during a non-communications operating mode, extract clock information, which is provided on the RFFE serial communications bus by a control system, which is adapted to;
select between a communications operating mode and the non-communications operating mode; and
during the communications operating mode, provide a plurality of commands on the RFFE serial communications bus; and
during the non-communications operating mode, generate a first clock signal based on the clock information; and
at least a second RFFE circuit, such that each of the at least the second RFFE circuit is coupled to the RFFE serial communications bus, and during the communications operating mode, at least the second RFFE circuit is adapted to react to at least one of the plurality of commands.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to RF front-end (RFFE) circuitry that includes multiple RFFE circuits, each of which may be provided by a separate integrated circuit (IC), front-end module, or both. As such, the RFFE circuits may be connected to one another using an RFFE serial communications bus. Further, one or more of the RFFE circuits may need an accurate clock source for analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), digital-to-analog conversion (DAC), calibration, sensor measurements, or the like. Instead of including an integral clock source circuit or receiving a separate external clock signal, an RFFE circuit may extract clock information from the RFFE serial communications bus to provide one or more clock signal. The clock information may be associated with one or more serial communications command via the RFFE serial communications bus, may be associated with alternate functionality of the RFFE serial communications bus, or both.
48 Citations
19 Claims
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1. Circuitry comprising:
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a first radio frequency front-end (RFFE) circuit coupled to an RFFE serial communications bus and adapted to; during a non-communications operating mode, extract clock information, which is provided on the RFFE serial communications bus by a control system, which is adapted to; select between a communications operating mode and the non-communications operating mode; and during the communications operating mode, provide a plurality of commands on the RFFE serial communications bus; and during the non-communications operating mode, generate a first clock signal based on the clock information; and at least a second RFFE circuit, such that each of the at least the second RFFE circuit is coupled to the RFFE serial communications bus, and during the communications operating mode, at least the second RFFE circuit is adapted to react to at least one of the plurality of commands. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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providing a first radio frequency front-end (RFFE) circuit coupled to an RFFE serial communications bus; during a non-communications operating mode, extracting clock information, which is provided on the RFFE serial communications bus by a control system, which is adapted to; select between a communications operating mode and the non-communications operating mode; and during the communications operating mode, provide a plurality of commands on the RFFE serial communications bus; and during the non-communications operating mode, generate a first clock signal based on the clock information; and providing at least a second RFFE circuit, such that each of the at least the second RFFE circuit is coupled to the RFFE serial communications bus, and during the communications operating mode, at least the second RFFE circuit is adapted to react to at least one of the plurality of commands.
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Specification