Method and arrangement for transmitting and receiving RF signals through various radio interfaces of communication systems

• US 8,755,834 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2012
• Issued: 06/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Visnen, Risto, Kaltiokallio, Kim
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Lana N
• Application Number:
  US13/614,272
• Publication Number:
  US 20130012142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 4555521-5531
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0057 using diplexing or multiplexing filters for selecting the desired band
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0078 with a common intermediate frequency amplifier for the different intermediate frequencies, e.g. when using switched intermediate frequency filters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0082 with a common local oscillator for more than one band
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/30 for homodyne or synchrodyne receivers demodulator circuits H03D1/22
• 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 arrangement for transmitting and receiving RF signals, associated with different radio interfaces of communication systems, employ a direct conversion based transceiver which substantially comprises one receive signal branch and one transmit signal branch. Mixing frequencies of the different systems are generated by a single common by use of an output frequency divider in combination with the synthesizer, and by use of filtering corresponding to a system channel bandwidth by means of a controllable low-pass filter operating at baseband frequency.

Claims

1. A direct-conversion transmitter comprising:

a digital signal processor;

a digital-to-analog converter configured to convert a digital baseband quadrature signal to an analog baseband transmission signal;

a transmit synthesizer common to a plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter and configured to generate a mixing signal;

a controllable low-pass filter common to a plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter, the controllable low-pass filter configured to perform filtering of the analog baseband transmission signal with a controllable cut-off frequency determined according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter is selected;

a frequency divider common to the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter and configured to divide a frequency of the mixing signal at least by two, wherein the dividing produces two mixing signal components having a 90-degree phase difference;

a controllable gain transmitter amplifier common to the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter and configured to amplify a carrier-frequency signal from a mixer of the direct-conversion transmitter at a gain controlled according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter is selected; and

an antenna,

wherein at least one of the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter comprises a modulation, a channel spacing, and a channel bit rate that at least one other of the plurality of radio interfaces does not have.

2. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable gain transmitter amplifier is configured to perform automatic gain control.

3. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, further comprising:

a bandpass filter configured to filter the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, and comprising a selectable pass band set according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected.

4. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of the radio interfaces have different transmission frequencies.

5. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein a first radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a time division multiple access method and a second radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a code division multiple access method.

6. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, further comprising a control block circuit configured to generate at least one control signal that indicates which of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected.

7. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 6, wherein the control block circuit comprises a processing unit.

8. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 7, wherein the processing unit is a microprocessor.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the processing unit is a microprocessor.

10. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, further comprising a power amplifier configured to amplify the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier and having a controllable operating frequency band set according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected.

11. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the direct-conversion transmitter is comprised in a common apparatus with a direct-conversion receiver, the direct-conversion receiver comprising:

a bandpass filter configured to filter a received second carrier-frequency signal;

a first receiver amplifier configured to amplify the received second carrier-frequency signal filtered by the bandpass filter;

a receiver synthesizer configured to generate a receiver mixing signal at a receive frequency;

a receiver mixer configured to generate a complex baseband signal by mixing the receiver mixing signal with the received second carrier-frequency signal amplified by the first receiver amplifier;

a receiver low-pass filter configured to filter the complex baseband signal;

a second receiver amplifier configured to amplify the complex baseband signal filtered by the receiver low-pass filter; and

an analog-to-digital converter configured to generate a receiver digital baseband signal by converting the complex baseband signal amplified by the second receiver amplifier to digital form.

12. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein a first radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a WCDMA system and a second radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) system.

13. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the direct-conversion transmitter is accompanied in a common apparatus by a direct-conversion receiver.

14. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the direct-conversion transmitter is part of a transceiver that comprises a direct-conversion receiver.

15. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of radio interfaces comprises at least one multiple access method that at least one other of the plurality of radio interfaces does not have.

16. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 15, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

17. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 16, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

18. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 15, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

19. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least multiple access method.

20. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 19, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

21. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 20, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

22. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 19, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

23. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

24. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 23, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

25. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

26. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have a common transmission frequency.

27. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have a common transmission frequency range.

28. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have at least partially overlapping transmission frequency ranges.

29. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequency ranges that are adjacent to each other.

30. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequency ranges separated by about 41 MHz.

31. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequency ranges separated by about 2 MHz, 20 MHz, 91 MHz, 135 MHz, 419 MHz, 628 MHz, 861 MHz, 964 MHz, 1005 MHz, 1031 MHz, 1046 MHz, 1051 MHz, or 1071 MHz.

32. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein a separation of respective transmission frequency bands of at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces ranges from about 2 MHz to about 1071 MHz.

33. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low-pass filter is configured to filter the analog baseband transmission signal through a signal path that is common for each of the plurality of radio interfaces.

34. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the mixer of the direct-conversion transmitter is common to the plurality of radio interfaces.

35. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 34, wherein the mixer is configured to produce the carrier-frequency signal based on the two mixing signal components and the analog baseband transmission signal filtered by the controllable low-pass filter.

36. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the mixer of the direct-conversion transmitter is configured a mix the two mixing signal components and the analog baseband transmission signal filtered by the controllable low-pass filter through a common signal path for the plurality of radio interfaces.

38. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the digital-to-analog converter, the controllable low pass filter, and the controllable gain transmitter amplifier are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

39. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low pass filter, the mixer, and the controllable gain transmitter amplifier are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

40. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low pass filter, the mixer, a power amplifier, and the controllable gain transmitter amplifier are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

41. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low pass filter and the controllable gain transmitter amplifier are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

42. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low pass filter, the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, and a bandpass filter are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

43. The direct-conversion transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controllable low pass filter, the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, a bandpass filter, and a power amplifier are part of a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

37. A method of using a direct-conversion transmitter comprising:

generating a digital baseband quadrature signal;

converting the digital baseband quadrature signal to an analog baseband transmission signal;

generating a mixing signal using a transmit synthesizer common to a plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter;

low-pass filtering the analog baseband transmission signal with a controllable cut-off frequency determined according to which one of the plurality of the radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter is selected;

dividing a frequency of the mixing signal at least by two with a frequency divider common to the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter, the dividing producing two mixing signal components having a 90-degree phase difference;

and

amplifying a carrier-frequency signal from a mixer of the direct-conversion transmitter using a controllable gain transmitter amplifier common to the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter at a gain controlled according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter is selected; and

transmitting a transmission signal generated from the amplified carrier-frequency signal from an antenna,

wherein at least one of the plurality of radio interfaces of the direct-conversion transmitter comprises a modulation, a channel spacing, and a channel bit rate that at least one other of the plurality of radio interfaces does not have.

44. The method of claim 37, wherein the low pass filtering of the analog baseband transmission signal occurs through a signal path that is common for each of the plurality of radio interfaces.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have different transmission frequencies.

46. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

performing automatic gain control with the controllable gain transmitter amplifier.

47. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

bandpass filtering the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier using a selectable pass band set according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the bandpass-filtered carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier.

48. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

amplifying the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier with a power amplifier having a controllable operating frequency band determined according to which one of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the power amplifier and the controllable gain transmitter amplifier.

49. The method of claim 44, wherein a first radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a time division multiple access method and a second radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a code division multiple access method.

50. The method of claim 44, further comprising generating at least one control signal that indicates which of the plurality of radio interfaces is selected.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising generating the at least one control signal with a processing unit.

52. The method of claim 44, wherein a first radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a WCDMA system and a second radio interface of the plurality of radio interfaces employs a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) system.

53. The method of claim 44, further comprising using the direct-conversion transmitter in a common apparatus accompanied by a direct-conversion receiver.

54. The method of claim 44, further comprising using the direct-conversion transmitter as part of a transceiver that comprises a direct-conversion receiver.

55. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequency ranges separated by about 41 MHz.

56. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequency ranges separated by about 2 MHz, 20 MHz, 91 MHz, 135 MHz, 419 MHz, 628 MHz, 861 MHz, 964 MHz, 1005 MHz, 1031 MHz, 1046 MHz, 1051 MHz, or 1071 MHz.

57. The method of claim 44, wherein a separation of respective transmission frequency bands of at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces ranges from about 2 MHz to about 1071 MHz.

58. The method of claim 44, wherein at least one of the plurality of radio interfaces comprises at least one multiple access method that at least one other of the plurality of radio interfaces does not have.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

62. The method of claim 44, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least multiple access method.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

65. The method of claim 62, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

66. The method of claim 44, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least duplex method.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

68. The method of claim 44, wherein the plurality of radio interfaces further differ from each other by at least RF bandwidth.

69. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have a common transmission frequency.

70. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have a common transmission frequency range.

71. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have at least partially overlapping transmission frequency ranges.

72. The method of claim 44, wherein at least two of the plurality of radio interfaces have transmission frequencies that are adjacent to each other.

73. The method of claim 44, further comprising generating the carrier-frequency signal with the mixer, wherein the mixer of the direct-conversion transmitter is common to the plurality of radio interfaces.

74. The method of claim 73, further comprising generating the carrier-frequency signal with the mixer based on the two mixing signal components and the low-pass filtered analog baseband transmission signal.

75. The method of claim 44 further comprising using the mixer to mix the two mixing signal components and the low-pass filtered analog baseband transmission signal through a common signal path for the plurality of radio interfaces.

76. The method of claim 44, wherein the converting, the low-pass filtering, and the amplifying are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

77. The method of claim 44, wherein the low-pass filtering, a mixing to produce the carrier-frequency signal, and the amplifying are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

78. The method of claim 44, wherein the low-pass filtering, a mixing to produce the carrier-frequency signal, the amplifying of the carrier-frequency signal by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, and an amplifying with a power amplifier of the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

79. The method of claim 44, wherein the low-pass filtering and the amplifying are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

80. The method of claim 44, wherein the low-pass filtering, the amplifying, and a bandpass filtering of the carrier-frequency signal are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.

81. The method of claim 44, wherein the low-pass filtering, the amplifying of the carrier-frequency signal by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, an amplifying with a power amplifier of the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the controllable gain transmitter amplifier, and a bandpass filtering of the carrier-frequency signal amplified by the power amplifier are performed on a transmit path common for the plurality of radio interfaces.