DYNAMICALLY ADJUSTABLE Q-FACTORS

• US 20090322445A1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Inventors: Thomann, Wolfgang, Schmits, Christoph, Raidl, Alfred
• Granted Patent: US 7,884,680 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 333/174
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 11/1291 Current or voltage controlled filters
• CPC Class Codes: H03J 7/02 Automatic frequency control H03J7/18 takes precedence

Abstract

One embodiment relates to a circuit for active loss compensation. The circuit includes a parallel inductor-capacitive (LC) tank circuit having a first single-ended output. A first adjustable capacitor, which includes a first terminal and a second terminal, is coupled to the first single-ended output. The circuit also includes a first pair of transistors having sources coupled to a first common node. One transistor of the first pair of transistors has a drain coupled to the first single-ended output and the other transistor of the first pair of transistors has a gate coupled to the second terminal of the first adjustable capacitor. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device, comprising:

a resonant circuit having an adjustable q-factor, wherein the resonant circuit is adapted to pass a resonant frequency component and attenuate a non-resonant frequency component; and

a non-resonant frequency component detector adapted to compare the non-resonant frequency component to a threshold, and further adapted to provide feedback to the resonant circuit to dynamically adjust the q-factor based on the threshold comparison.

2. The mobile communication device of claim 1, where the adjustable q-factor is adjusted by adjusting a capacitance of at least one adjustable capacitor associated with the resonant circuit.

3. The mobile communication device of claim 1, where the resonant circuit comprises a parallel-inductive tank circuit associated with a reception path of the mobile communication device.

4. The mobile communication device of claim 3, further comprising:

a demodulator that is downstream of the filter, where the demodulator is adapted to de-modulate the resonant frequency component; and

a signal analyzer that is downstream of the demodulator, where the signal analyzer is adapted to analyze the demodulated resonant frequency component.

5. The mobile communication device of claim 3, where the resonant circuit comprises a parallel-inductive tank circuit associated with a transmission path of the mobile communication device, further comprising:

a signal generator adapted to generate an outgoing signal; and

a modulator adapted to modulate the outgoing signal, thereby providing the resonant frequency component and the non-resonant frequency component.

6. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the resonant circuit is adapted to amplify a resonant frequency component.

7. A circuit with an adjustable Q-factor, comprising:

a parallel inductor-capacitive (LC) tank circuit having a first single-ended output;

a first adjustable capacitor having a first terminal and a second terminal, where the first terminal is coupled to the first single-ended output; and

a first pair of transistors having sources coupled to a first common node, wherein one transistor M1 of the first pair of transistors has a drain coupled to the first single-ended output and another transistor M2 of the first pair of transistors has a gate coupled to the second terminal of the first adjustable capacitor.

8. The circuit of claim 7, where the other transistor M2 has a drain that is coupled to an approximately constant voltage supply VDD.

9. The circuit of claim 7, where the parallel LC tank circuit has a second single-ended output, further comprising:

a second adjustable capacitor having a first terminal and a second terminal, where the first terminal of the second adjustable capacitor is coupled to the second single-ended output; and

a second pair of transistors having sources coupled to a second common node, wherein one transistor M3 of the second pair of transistors has a drain coupled to the second single-ended output and an other transistor M4 of the second pair of transistors has a gate coupled to the second terminal of the second adjustable capacitor.

10. The circuit of claim 9, where the other transistor M2 of the first pair of transistors has a drain that is coupled to an approximately constant voltage supply VDD.

11. The circuit of claim 9, where the other transistor M2 of the first pair of transistors has a drain that is coupled to the second single-ended output 406.

12. The circuit of claim 7, where the one transistor M1 and the other transistor M2 have different length-to-width ratios.

13. A method for Q-factor adjustment, comprising:

providing a radio frequency (RF) signal to a resonant circuit having an adjustable Q-factor, where the RF signal includes a wanted frequency component and an unwanted frequency component;

processing the RF signal to attenuate the unwanted frequency component, thereby generating a processed RF signal;

comparing the unwanted frequency component in the processed RF signal to a threshold; and

adjusting the Q-factor of the resonant circuit based on the comparison to alter the unwanted frequency component in the processed RF signal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein adjusting the Q-factor comprises:

adjusting a capacitance of an adjustable capacitor associated with the resonant circuit.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein adjusting the Q-factor comprises:

adjusting an effective width-to-length ratio of at least one transistor in the resonant circuit.

16. The method of claim 13, where processing the RF signal comprises:

providing a parallel inductor-capacitive (LC) tank circuit having a first single-ended output, where the parallel LC circuit is tuned to the wanted frequency.

17. The method of claim 13, where providing the RF signal comprises:

generating an outgoing signal over one of several transmission frequency channels; and

providing the wanted frequency component and the unwanted frequency component by modulating the outgoing signal.

18. The method of claim 13, where providing the RF signal comprises:

receiving the RF signal over an antenna associated with a mobile communication device.

19. A mobile communication device, comprising:

a resonant circuit having an dynamically adjustable q-factor, wherein the resonant circuit is adapted to pass a wanted frequency component and attenuate a unwanted frequency component; and

means for adjusting the Q-factor of the resonant circuit based on a comparison of the unwanted frequency component to a threshold.

20. The mobile communication device of claim 19, where the means for adjusting the Q-factor comprises:

means for comparing the unwanted frequency component to the threshold; and

means for providing feedback to the resonant circuit to dynamically adjust the q-factor based on the threshold comparison.