Concurrent, reconfigurable, low power harmonic wake-up and main radio receiver
First Claim
1. An apparatus for a radio receiver, the apparatus comprising:
- an input configured to receive signals from an antenna;
receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and
a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna;
wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of;
selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, andselectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry,when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration;
wherein in the main radio mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises;
a front end circuit connected to the input to receive the signals from the antenna and output a front end output,a main downconversion mixer circuit to convert the front end output from an RF carrier to baseband frequency to output a downconverted signal;
a main baseband amplifier circuit connected to receive the downconverted signal and output a main baseband output;
wherein in the wake-up mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises;
a second downconversion mixer circuit to convert information from an RF carrier frequency to a wake-up baseband frequency, the second downconversion mixer circuit different from the main downconversion mixer circuit; and
the main baseband amplifier circuit connected to receive the signals from the antenna without passing through the front end circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless receiver includes a receiver front-end where the input of the LNA and the mixer have separate main radio and wake-up modes, where same DC voltage is used at the input of the LNA, and the input of the baseband filter. When the receiver switches between the wake-up and main radio mode, wake-up current usage is reduced due to near zero latency in programming bias voltages from the power management unit. The receiving circuitry can one or both of selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry or selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration. The programming and configurations are dependent on the dynamic range and modulation techniques and requires near zero area overhead compared with the main radio receiver.
7 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An apparatus for a radio receiver, the apparatus comprising:
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an input configured to receive signals from an antenna; receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of; selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry, when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration; wherein in the main radio mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises; a front end circuit connected to the input to receive the signals from the antenna and output a front end output, a main downconversion mixer circuit to convert the front end output from an RF carrier to baseband frequency to output a downconverted signal; a main baseband amplifier circuit connected to receive the downconverted signal and output a main baseband output; wherein in the wake-up mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises; a second downconversion mixer circuit to convert information from an RF carrier frequency to a wake-up baseband frequency, the second downconversion mixer circuit different from the main downconversion mixer circuit; and the main baseband amplifier circuit connected to receive the signals from the antenna without passing through the front end circuit.
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2. An apparatus for a radio receiver, the apparatus comprising:
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an input configured to receive signals from an antenna; receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of; selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry, when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to selectively configure the signal processing circuits by configuring the main baseband amplifier circuit between a main radio mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the main radio mode configuration and a wake-up mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the wake-up mode configuration; wherein when in the wake-up mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration, the main baseband amplifier circuit is configured to use a voltage mode baseband amplifier configuration configured for low voltage and low power. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for a radio receiver, the apparatus comprising:
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an input configured to receive signals from an antenna; receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of; selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry, when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to selectively configure the signal processing circuits by configuring the main baseband amplifier circuit between a main radio mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the main radio mode configuration and a wake-up mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the wake-up mode configuration; wherein the main baseband amplifier circuit comprises a low noise amplifier configured to switch between voltage mode and current mode configurations by opening and closing switches within the low noise amplifier and having biasing voltage values at input and output nodes of the low noise amplifier set to reduce time for switching between the voltage mode and the current mode operations.
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6. An apparatus for a radio receiver, the apparatus comprising:
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an input configured to receive signals from an antenna; receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of; selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry, when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration; wherein in the main radio mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises; a front end circuit connected to the input to receive the signals from the antenna and output a front end output, a main downconversion mixer circuit to convert the front end output from an RF carrier to baseband frequency to output a downconverted signal; a main baseband amplifier circuit connected to receive the downconverted signal and output a baseband output; wherein in the wake-up mode configuration, the signal processing path comprises; a second low power, low dynamic range baseband amplifier circuit different from the main baseband amplifier circuit and connected to receive the signals from the antenna, without passing through the front end circuit. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. A method of operating a radio frequency receiver, the method comprising:
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receiving input signals from an antenna; operating receiving circuitry of the radio frequency receiver in a wake-up mode; while operating in the wake-up mode, detecting with a controller a wakeup signal received by the radio frequency receiver; switching the radio frequency receiver from the wake-up mode to a main radio mode by one or both of; selectively changing a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configuring signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry; and using a same DC bias point for the receiving circuitry in both the wake-up mode and the main radio mode; wherein the selectively configuring signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry comprises switching a low noise amplifier of the receiving circuitry from a voltage mode to a current mode, wherein the low noise amplifier uses biasing voltage values at input and output nodes of the low noise amplifier set to reduce time for switching between the voltage mode and the current mode.
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10. An apparatus comprising:
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an input configured to receive signals from an antenna; receiving circuitry connected to the input, wherein the receiving circuitry has at least a wake-up mode configuration and a main radio mode configuration; and a controller connected to the receiving circuitry and configured to switch the receiving circuitry between from the wake-up mode configuration to the main radio mode configuration based on signals received from the antenna; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to use a same DC bias point in both the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration and to one or both of; selectively change a signal processing path for the receiving circuitry, and selectively configure signal processing circuits of the receiving circuitry, when switching between the wake-up mode configuration and the main radio mode configuration; wherein the receiving circuitry is configured to selectively configure the signal processing circuits by configuring the main baseband amplifier circuit between a main radio mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the main radio mode configuration and a wake-up mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration used when the receiving circuitry is in the wake-up mode configuration; wherein the main baseband amplifier circuit comprises a low noise amplifier configured to switch between voltage mode and current mode configurations by opening and closing switches within the low noise amplifier and having biasing voltage values at input and output nodes of the low noise amplifier set to reduce time for switching between the voltage mode and the current mode operations; wherein when in the wake-up mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration, the main baseband amplifier circuit is configured to use a voltage mode baseband amplifier configuration configured for low voltage and low power by using biasing voltage values at its input and output nodes to reduce switching time between the wakeup and main receiver mode; wherein when in the main radio mode baseband amplifier circuit configuration, the main baseband amplifier circuit is configured to use a current mode baseband amplifier interface. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification