Delta modulated low-power EHF communication link

• US 9,515,859 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2014
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Molex LLC (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Keyssa, Inc.
• Inventors: McCormack, Gary D., Kyles, Ian A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garcia, Santiago
• Application Number:
  US14/462,560
• Publication Number:
  US 20140355700A1
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 375/295
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/05554 being square
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/05599 Material
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/32225 the item being non-metallic, e.g. insulating substrate with or without metallisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/45099 Material
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48227 connecting the wire to a bond pad of the item
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49 of a plurality of wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49111 the connectors connecting two common bonding areas, e.g. Litz or braid wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49171 Fan-out arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73265 Layer and wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/3128 the substrate having spherical bumps for external connection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/49816 Spherical bumps on the substrate for external connection, e.g. ball grid arrays [BGA]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/49861 Lead-frames fixed on or encapsulated in insulating substrates H01L23/4985, H01L23/49805 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/66 High-frequency adaptations
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/48 of an individual wire connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/49 of a plurality of wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/09701 Low temperature co-fired ceramic [LTCC]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/10253 Silicon [Si]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15311 being a ball array, e.g. BGA
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/181 : Encapsulation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3011 : Impedance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/30111 : matching
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2283 : mounted in or on the surface of a semiconductor substrate as a chip-type antenna or integrated with other components into an IC package
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 : Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/26 : with folded element or elements, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of operating wavelength resonant loop antennas H01Q7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/40 : Transmitting circuits; Receiving circuits repeater circuits, relay circuits H04L25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0087 : Preprocessing of received signal for synchronisation, e.g. by code conversion, pulse generation or edge detection

Abstract

A system for communicating modulated EHF signals may include a modulation circuit responsive to a bi-level transmit information signal for generating a transmit output signal. The transmit output signal may have an EHF frequency when the transmit information signal is at a first information state and may be suppressed when the transmit information signal is at a second information state. A transmit transducer operatively coupled to the modulation circuit may be responsive to the transmit output signal for converting the transmit output signal into an electromagnetic signal.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an edge detector having an input coupled to receive an input signal and having an output that generates a transmit information signal, the transmit information signal including an edge-indicating pulse generated when the input signal transitions from a first state to a second state, the edge-indicating pulse having a duration less than a bit period time of the input signal;

a modulator having an input to receive the transmit information signal from the edge detector and having an output that generates a transmit output signal having a first output level when the transmit information signal is in a first state, and having a second output level when the transmit information signal is in a second state; and

a transmit transducer coupled to receive the output of the modulator and having an output to generate a modulated electromagnetic signal including a first pulse when the input signal transitions from the second state to the first state, and to generate a second pulse when the input signal transitions from the first state to the second state;

wherein the transmit information signal has a first edge-indicating pulse corresponding to a logic-low to a logic-high transition in the input signal and a second edge-indicating pulse corresponding to a logic-high to a logic-low transition in the input signal, the first edge-indicating pulse having a different duration than the second edge-indicating pulse.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal operates in the extremely high frequency (EHF) spectrum.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the first and second pulses of the modulated electromagnetic signal have a first signal strength, the modulated electromagnetic signal has a second signal strength otherwise, and the second signal strength is less than the first signal strength.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal is suppressed when neither the first or second pulse is occurring.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the system is configured as an IC package.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the IC package includes an antenna positioned adjacent to a die, the antenna including the transmit transducer and the die including the edge detector and modulator.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the die has a length of between 1.0 and 2.0 mm and a width of between 1.0 and 2.0 mm.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein an edge of the antenna is less than 1.0 mm from an edge of the die.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the IC package further comprises a ground plane.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the IC package further comprises a transformer for impedance matching between the antenna and circuitry on the die.

14. The system of claim 2, wherein the input signal is a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signal.

15. The system of claim 2, wherein the first edge-indicating pulse has a longer duration than the second edge-indicating pulse.

3. A system comprising:

an edge detector having an input coupled to receive an input signal and having an output that generates a transmit information signal, the transmit information signal including an edge-indicating pulse generated when the input signal transitions from a first state to a second state, the edge-indicating pulse having a duration less than a bit period time of the input signal;

a modulator having an input to receive the transmit information signal from the edge detector and having an output that generates a transmit output signal having a first output level when the transmit information signal is in a first state, and having a second output level when the transmit information signal is in a second state; and

a transmit transducer coupled to receive the output of the modulator and having an output to generate a modulated electromagnetic signal including a first pulse when the input signal transitions from the second state to the first state, and to generate a second pulse when the input signal transitions from the first state to the second state;

a receive transducer that receives the electromagnetic signal and converts the electromagnetic signal into a receive input signal corresponding to the transmit output signal, the receive input signal having a first signal strength at intermittent periods and a second signal strength less than the first signal strength otherwise; and

a demodulator operatively coupled to the receive transducer and generates a receive information signal having a third information state when the receive input signal has the first signal strength and having a fourth information state when the receive input signal has the second signal strength.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

a sample circuit coupled to the demodulator, the sample circuit receives the receive information signal and generates a data output signal having a third binary state for a bit period of time when the receive information signal is in a first state and a fourth binary state for the bit period of time when the receive information signal is in a second state, the sample circuit generates a transition in the data output signal between the third and fourth binary states when the receive information signal is in the third information state.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the demodulator uses a switching device to regulate an output state of the demodulator circuit.

16. The system of claim 3, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal operates in the extremely high frequency (EHF) spectrum.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first and second pulses of the modulated electromagnetic signal have a first signal strength, the modulated electromagnetic signal has a second signal strength otherwise, and the second signal strength is less than the first signal strength.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal is suppressed when neither the first or second pulse is occurring.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the edge detector, modulator and transmit transducer and configured as a first IC package;

and the receive transducer and demodulator are configured as a second IC package.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the first pulse has a different duration than the second pulse.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the transmit transducer and the receive transducer are in a near-field of each other.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the transmit transducer and the receive transducer are within 5 mm of each other.

23. A method comprising:

receiving an input signal;

generating a transmit information signal from the input signal, the transmit information signal including an edge-indicating pulse generated when the input signal transitions from a first state to a second state, the edge-indicating pulse having a duration less than a bit period time of the input signal;

generating a transmit output signal modulated by the transmit information signal, the transmit output signal having a first output level when the transmit information signal is in a first state, and having a second output level when the transmit information signal is in a second state; and

generating a modulated electromagnetic signal from the transmit output signal, the modulated electromagnetic signal including a first pulse when the input signal transitions from the second state to the first state and a second pulse when the input signal transitions from the first state to the second state;

wherein the transmit information signal has a first edge-indicating pulse corresponding to a logic-low to a logic-high transition in the input signal and a second edge-indicating pulse corresponding to a logic-high to a logic-low transition in the input signal, the first edge-indicating pulse having a different duration than the second edge-indicating pulse.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal operates in the extremely high frequency (EHF) spectrum.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first and second pulses of the modulated electromagnetic signal have a first signal strength, the modulated electromagnetic signal has a second signal strength otherwise, and the second signal strength is less than the first signal strength.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the modulated electromagnetic signal is suppressed when neither the first or second pulse is occurring.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the input signal is a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signal.