Amplitude Modulation Patents (Class 455/108)
  • Publication number: 20100311329
    Abstract: A RF transmitter is operable to transmit a signal at a frequency specified by the Bluetooth protocol. A passive upconversion mixer, which comprises a pair of MOSFET switches, is utilized inside the RF transmitter. The passive upconversion mixer is operable to receive analog local oscillator (LO) signals to be utilized for controlling operation of each of the pair of MOSFET switches to transmit signals with maximum gain. A MOS threshold voltage VTH and a DC component of a received baseband signal, VBB—DC, are determined for each of the pair of MOSFET switches. The determined VTH and the determined VBB—DC of the received baseband signal are combined such as VTH+VBB—DC and compared with a DC component of the received LO signals, VLO—DC. The VLO—DC is set equal to VTH+VBB—DC, accordingly, to provide maximum gain from the passive upconversion mixer for signal transmission.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2009
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Inventor: Meng-An (Michael) Pan
  • Publication number: 20100297965
    Abstract: Apparatus for generating a modulation signal for use in modulating the power supply of a power amplifier uses coarse and fine control for controlling the amplitude of the modulation signal, and thereby controlling the output power of the power amplifier. The modulation signal may be generated in the digital domain and converted to the analog domain by a digital-to-analog converter, with the digital-to-analog converter providing the fine control and a variable gain amplifier providing the coarse control of the analog signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2010
    Publication date: November 25, 2010
    Applicant: ST-ERICSSON SA
    Inventor: Roland Ryter
  • Patent number: 7839231
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for improving the performance of a modulator, typically in an I/Q modulation system, are described. Input I and Q current modulation signals may be processed to generate a sign signal and a magnitude signal, with the magnitude signal selectively applied to the inputs of a mixer based on the sign signal so as to generate respective I and Q modulation signal components. These may then be combined to generate a composite modulation signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Quintic Holdings
    Inventors: John B. Groe, Michael Naone Farias, Reza Kaznavi
  • Patent number: 7826865
    Abstract: An integrated circuit (IC) includes a baseband processing module and a radio frequency (RF) section. The baseband processing module is coupled to convert outbound data into amplitude modulation information and phase modulation information when the IC is in a cellular data mode and to convert an outbound radio frequency identification (RFID) signal into RFID amplitude modulation information when the IC is in an RFID mode. The RF section is coupled to generate an outbound RF data signal in accordance with the amplitude modulation information and the phase modulation information when the IC is in the cellular data mode and to generate an outbound RF RFID signal in accordance with the RFID amplitude information when the IC is in the RFID mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventor: Ahmadreza (Reza) Rofougaran
  • Patent number: 7822393
    Abstract: The transmission apparatus according to the present invention can reduce transmission output noise leaking into the receiving apparatus even when the transmission apparatus is applied to wireless equipment using the W-CDMA scheme. Transmission apparatus (100) has bypass circuit (101) and bypass control circuit (103) that inputs an RF phase signal to power amplifier (14) via amplitude adjustment circuit (16) when bypass circuit (101) and power amplifier (14) are operated in non-saturation mode, and that inputs the RF phase signal to power amplifier (14) via bypass circuit (101) when power amplifier (14) is operated in saturation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Shunsuke Hirano, Takahito Miyazaki
  • Publication number: 20100248657
    Abstract: A power correction module for use with an amplifier driving a load impedance is configured to sample the supply current and to cause a change in a control voltage, which corrects the supply voltage in response to a change in the load impedance. The supply voltage is corrected to cause the power amplifier to have a substantially constant output power. The power correction module is further configured to output a corrected peak voltage determined by an average value of the supply current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2010
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Inventors: Kerry B. Phillips, Michael L. Hageman, Robert M. Fisher, Paul R. Andrys
  • Patent number: 7805115
    Abstract: A radio frequency output power control system is disclosed for use in communication systems that use a modulation scheme having a non-constant amplitude envelope. The system includes a power amplifier having a radio frequency input node for receiving a radio frequency input signal, a power control node for receiving a filtered power control signal, and an output for providing an amplified output signal. The system also includes a variable filter that receives a power control signal at a power control input and a receives a trigger signal at a trigger input, and provides a filtered power control signal to the power control node of the power amplifier responsive to the power control signal and the trigger signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. McMorrow, Roxann Blanchard
  • Publication number: 20100184390
    Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for extending dynamic range of an RF signal are provided. In this regard, an amplitude signal that is representative of an amplitude of a pair of baseband signals may be generated, an amplitude of the generated amplitude signal may be modified according to a function; and an amplitude of the baseband signals may be modified according to an inverse of the function. The modifications may adjust the peak-amplitude-to-average-amplitude ratio of one or more signals. An intermediate signal may be generated from the modified baseband signals and the amplitude of the intermediate signal may be amplitude modulated by the intermediate signal. The intermediate signal may be amplitude modulated by controlling a gain of a power amplifier. The intermediate signal may be amplitude modulated by controlling a current source and/or voltage source supplying power to a power amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Inventor: Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  • Publication number: 20100184389
    Abstract: A wireless communication unit (100) comprises a transmitter (120) arranged to transmit an envelope modulated signal. The transmitter (120) comprises a radio frequency power amplifier (124) operably coupled to a logarithmic detector (210, 310) and a bias control circuit (126) arranged to set a direct current bias level of the radio frequency power amplifier (124) via a bias signal. The logarithmic detector (210, 310) is arranged to detect the envelope modulated signal and provide the detected envelope modulated signal to the bias control circuit such that the bias signal applied to the radio frequency power amplifier (124) comprises both a direct current and a low frequency component based on the detected envelope modulated signal. In this manner, the present invention supports a tradeoff of linearity for additional efficiency, as well as providing more margin on adjacent channel power levels, whilst maintaining a good overall power added efficiency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2005
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Applicant: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: Frederic Fraysse, Gilles Montoriol, Didier Salle
  • Publication number: 20100167668
    Abstract: In a method and device for monitoring a radio-frequency transmit device of a magnetic resonance tomography system, having a transmitter antenna system that has a number of transmit channels, during a magnetic resonance measurement of an examination subject, a reference scattering parameter matrix of the transmitter antenna system is determined in the unloaded state, and a subject-specific scattering parameter matrix of the transmitter antenna system is determined in a state loaded with the subject of examination. Moreover, transmitter amplitude vectors are determined in time-dependent fashion that represent the radio-frequency voltage amplitudes on the individual transmit channels. On the basis of the subject-specific scattering parameter matrix, the reference scattering parameter matrix, and the transmit amplitude vectors, radio-frequency power values absorbed at particular transmit times in the subject are determined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2009
    Publication date: July 1, 2010
    Inventors: Juergen Nistler, Markus Vester
  • Patent number: 7747274
    Abstract: Amplitude modulation of multiple carriers provides a pulse width modulated train resulting in a novel and effective communication mechanism to overcome difficulties in certain RF applications, particularly in the area of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). A novel conceptual pulse is formed and developed using a set of RF frequencies, such as ultra wideband frequencies, amplitude modulated to form a pulse width modulated binary coded signal. The concept is to wirelessly convey information only to a receiver at a specified distance or range. The RF energy may continue on in space, but receivers of the same design would only receive information from a transmitter if the receivers are located at a specified distance. Equivalent receivers at all other distances would see noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: University of Pittsburgh - Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education
    Inventors: Marlin H. Mickle, Joshua Y. Maina, Michael R. Lovell, Laura A. Schaefer
  • Publication number: 20100151802
    Abstract: An amplitude modulation circuit in a polar transmitter and a method for calibrating amplitude offset in the polar transmitter are provided. The amplitude modulation circuit includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a low pass filter (LPF), a gm stage, and a calibration module. The DAC is coupled to an amplitude modulation signal input. The LPF is coupled to the DAC, and the gm stage is coupled to the LPF. The calibration module has an input coupled to the gm stage, and an output coupled to a node on a path between the DAC and the gm stage. The method includes: generating an amplitude offset calibration signal according to an amplitude modulation signal generated from the gm stage; and transmitting the amplitude offset calibration signal via the output of the calibration module to a node on a path between the DAC and the gm stage so as to calibrate the amplitude offset.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Publication date: June 17, 2010
    Inventors: Hsin-Hung Chen, Hsiang-Hui Chang, Chun-Pang Wu, Yung-Yu Lin, Jong-Woei Chen
  • Patent number: 7734263
    Abstract: A transmission circuit operates with high efficiency and low distortion. An amplitude and phase extraction section extracts amplitude data and phase data from input data. A phase modulation section phase-modulates the phase data to output a resultant signal as a phase-modulated signal. An amplifier section amplifies the phase-modulated signal to output a resultant signal as a transmission signal. An amplitude control section supplies, to the amplifier section, a voltage controlled in accordance with an AC component represented by a fluctuation component of the amplitude data and a DC component represented by an average value level of the fluctuation component of the amplitude data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Masakatsu Maeda, Taichi Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20100136931
    Abstract: A method for transmitting/receiving an additional control signal without any loss of bandwidth and power in an original Tx signal is disclosed. If the additional control signal is transmitted via the Tx signal composed of at least one of data and control signals, at least one of the amplitude and phase of the Tx signal of the time- and frequency-resource domain is modulated according to the additional control signal to be transmitted. The modulated Tx signal is transmitted to the receiver, so that the additional control signal can be transmitted irrespective of the original Tx signal. According to a modulation status of at least one of an amplitude and a phase of the Rx signal contained in the time- and frequency-resource domain, the additional control signal can be acquired.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Inventors: Jin Sam Kwak, Seung Hee Han, Min seok Noh, Yeong Hueon Kwon, Hyun Woo Lee, Dong Hyun Kim
  • Publication number: 20100124889
    Abstract: A polar transmitter includes a power amplifier (PA), an amplitude modulation (AM) path including an AM path adjustable delay, an AM path delay measurement circuit, a phase modulation (PM) path including a PM path adjustable delay, and a PM path delay measurement circuit. The AM path delay measurement circuit is configured to measure an AM path delay using waveform correlation, e.g., using peak magnitude events (PMEs) in signals transmitted along the AM path to a power supply port of the PA. The PM path delay measurement circuit is configured to measure a PM path delay using waveform correlation, e.g., using PMEs in signals transmitted along the PM path to a phase-modulated input of the PA. The measured AM and PM path delays are used to adjust the AM and PM path adjustable delays, to reduce the delay mismatch between signals appearing at the power supply and phase-modulated input ports of the polar transmitter's PA.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Publication date: May 20, 2010
    Inventors: Saleh Osman, Earl W. McCune, JR.
  • Patent number: 7715808
    Abstract: This invention intends to provide a polar modulating circuit, a polar modulating method, an integrated circuit and a radio transmission device capable of compensating for a delay difference between paths of a phase signal and an amplitude signal while suppressing an increase in the circuit scale in a polar modulating system. In a delay quantity determining unit 102, delay quantity information relative to the amplitude value of the amplitude signal or transmission level information S1, based on the step response characteristic of a power amplifying unit 105 are previously stored as table data. Thus, by executing delay adjustment using, as a reference signal, the amplitude signal or transmission level information S1, the delay difference between paths of a phase signal and an amplitude signal can be compensated for while suppressing an increase in the circuit scale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshito Shimizu, Noriaki Saito
  • Patent number: 7711332
    Abstract: An antenna for suppressing harmonics of a signal transmitted from the antenna, the signal having a carrier with an imposed modulated data signal, the antenna including a modulator associated with a controlled variable impedance in series, the modulator being operable to modulate in accordance with the data signal, and being configured to produce a voltage across the antenna corresponding to a voltage provided by the controlled variable impedance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Magellan Technology Pty Limited
    Inventor: Graham Alexander Munro Murdoch
  • Patent number: 7702299
    Abstract: The amplitude modulator comprises: an angle modulator for angle-modulating a phase signal to be inputted; a waveform shaping means in which, (1) when the magnitude of an amplitude signal to be inputted becomes smaller than a first prescribed value, a waveform of the amplitude signal is shaped so that the magnitude of the amplitude signal of the portion which becomes small becomes the first prescribed value; and/or (2) the waveform shaping means in which, when the magnitude of the amplitude signal to be inputted becomes larger than the second prescribed value which is larger than the first prescribed value, the waveform of the amplitude signal is shaped so that the magnitude of the amplitude signal of the portion which becomes larger becomes the second prescribed value; and an amplitude modulator for amplitude modulating the signal of the output of the angle modulator by the signal of the output of the waveform shaping means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Matsuura, Hisashi Adachi, Masaharu Udagawa
  • Patent number: 7702300
    Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, a system provides for efficient polar and linear signal modulation. The system has a controller coupled to a voltage converter and a modulator. The system also has an amplifier coupled to the voltage converter and the phase modulator. The controller is for receiving an input and providing a polar signal. The voltage converter is for receiving the polar signal, receiving a voltage input, and providing a power signal. The amplifier is for amplifying the modulated signal based on the power signal. The voltage converter provides a feedback signal to the controller, and the controller adjusts a scale of modulation, such as a peak of the modulation signal, based on the feedback signal, such that the output power and the amplification by the amplifier are based on the feedback signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Earl W. McCune
  • Patent number: 7693496
    Abstract: A transmitter arrangement, a polar modulator arrangement, a polar modulation method and a polar transmitter arrangement are disclosed. A polar modulator arrangement includes a polar generator to provide a phase component and an amplitude component of a complex signal, a filtering block to filter the phase component, and a combiner to combine the amplitude component and the filtered phase component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Michael Lewis
  • Publication number: 20100081397
    Abstract: A polar modulation transmitter includes an amplitude modulation (AM) path with an amplitude modulation to amplitude modulation (AM/AM?) correction circuit and a phase modulation (PM) path with a delay element and an amplitude modulation to phase modulation (AM?/PM) correction circuit. The AM/AM? correction circuit receives and predistorts a digital amplitude component signal depending on amplitudes of samples in the digital amplitude component signal, thereby generating a predistorted digital amplitude component signal. The delay element receives and delays a digital phase component signal, to generate a delayed digital phase component signal having a delay corresponding to the latency introduced by the AM/AM? correction circuit. The AM?/PM correction circuit predistorts the delayed digital phase component signal depending on amplitudes of samples in the predistorted amplitude component signal, thereby generating a predistorted digital phase component signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Publication date: April 1, 2010
    Inventors: Wayne S. Lee, Tony L. Wong
  • Patent number: 7688156
    Abstract: A transmission circuit for outputting transmission signals with a low distortion and a high efficiency over a wide range of output power is provided. A signal generation section (11) generates an amplitude signal and a phase signal. An angle modulation section (12) performs angle modulation on the phase signal and outputs an angle-modulated signal. A regulator (14) receives the amplitude signal via a variable gain amplification section (18) and supplies a voltage controlled based on the magnitude of the amplitude signal to the amplitude modulation section (15). The amplitude modulation section (15) performs amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal and outputs a modulated signal to the variable attenuation section (16). When the value of power information is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the control section (19) increases the gain of the variable gain amplification section (18) and the attenuation of the variable attenuation section (16).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Matsuura, Hisashi Adachi
  • Publication number: 20100068998
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless interface is provided for supplying all signals and power exclusively wirelessly from a transmitting section to a receiving section. The transmitting section includes a transmitter arranged to modulate a carrier with signals, such as data, control and timing signals. The transmitter is connected to a transmit antenna which comprises a parallel resonant circuit in series with a series resonant circuit. The parallel and series resonant circuits include inductors which are inductively coupled to an inductor of a receive antenna in the receiving section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventors: Emmanuel Zyambo, Lloyd Lukama, Christopher James Brown, Michael James Brownlow, Kazuhiko Miyata
  • Publication number: 20100056080
    Abstract: Provided is a transmission circuit that can broaden a controlled bandwidth of a voltage controller while ensuring voltage withstanding ability of the voltage controller. The transmission circuit includes: a phase modulator that outputs a phase modulation signal; a power amplifier that includes a transistor; a collector controller that controls a collector voltage; a base controller that controls a base bias voltage; and a switching controller, which switches, when a level indicated by the power level signal is lower than a predefined value, only a control of the collector controller into a control that is in accordance with an amplitude signal and a power level signal, and which switches, when the level indicated by the power level signal is equal to or more than the predefined value, only a control of the base controller into a control that is in accordance with the amplitude signal and the power level signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Inventor: Yuji SATO
  • Patent number: 7668249
    Abstract: The present invention includes a digital quadrature rate converter and an oversampling interpolator, which are used to receive digital quadrature modulation data at one clock rate and to provide oversampled digital quadrature modulation data at a higher clock rate. Rate conversion and oversampled interpolation are used to accommodate systems with multiple clock frequencies and to generate modulation signals with low distortion. Some embodiments of the present invention add timing control to the oversampled interpolation. Some embodiments of the present invention may combine the rate conversion, oversampled interpolation, and timing control operations into a single digital circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2010
    Assignee: RF Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Nadim Khlat
  • Patent number: 7656960
    Abstract: In a radio communication system, transmitter and receiver stations share information on a maximum number of bits communicated per symbol. The transmitter station encodes a signal with sufficient error correcting capabilities to create a codeword. The transmitter station allocates the bits from the codeword to each symbol, modulates the symbols using a modulation type which processes symbols each having a number of bits equal to or smaller than the maximum number of bits per symbol, and transmits the modulated symbols. The receiver station demodulates the symbols using a modulation type which processes a larger number of bits per symbol as the transmission path quality is higher from among modulation types which process symbols having a number of bits equal to or smaller than the maximum number of bits per symbol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Tamaki, Takashi Yano, Seishi Hanaoka, Toshiyuki Saito
  • Patent number: 7653363
    Abstract: Described is a communication system including mobile communication devices. In the described system, the mobile devices may be wrist-worn watches such as are in common use today, except that the watches are specially configured to receive data in a “broadcast” mode and transmit and/or receive data in a “localcast” mode. The localcast mode includes the ability to transmit and receive data in a peer-to-peer fashion, allowing mobile devices to communicate directly with each other. The ability to combine two of these communication modes in a small, integrated and hence inexpensive and low-power package provides many advantages over existing personal communication device solutions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence J. Karr, William H. Mitchell
  • Patent number: 7649958
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for amplitude modulation of an RF transmit signal using pulse width modulation to control an amount of energy within each period. The apparatus includes a signal processing circuit with an input port for receiving of information indicative of a carrier frequency and modulation data. The signal processing circuit has a first output port and a second output port for providing of output signals having a phase relationship therebetween. A power amplifier is provided for receiving the output signals and for generating a pulse width modulated signal in dependence thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2010
    Assignee: SiGe Semiconductor (Europe) Limited
    Inventors: Philip Macphail, Jeremy Loraine
  • Patent number: 7647028
    Abstract: An internal calibration system for a radio frequency (RF) transmitter comprises a digital processing element to generate within a radio frequency (RF) transmitter test points at which an output of the RF transmitter is measured, an RF detector to measure the radio frequency output of the RF transmitter at the test points, the digital processing element also determining transmitter impairments by analyzing the measured radio frequency output, and compensation circuitry to compensate the RF transmitter for the measured impairments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Norman J. Beamish, Morten Damgaard, William J. Domino
  • Publication number: 20100003933
    Abstract: A signal transmission apparatus of the invention comprises: a correlator 12 for shaping a spectrum of a signal; and a precoder 12 disposed on a previous stage of the correlator and including an adder which subtracts an output signal of a feedback filter from an input signal, a modulo arithmetic unit which inputs an output signal of the adder and executes modulo arithmetic operation, and the feedback filter which inputs an output signal of the modulo arithmetic unit and is provided with a transfer function obtained by subtracting 1 from a transfer function of the correlator. The correlator may be IIR filter means having a desired notch characteristic. By disposing a correlator which can freely shape a transmission signal spectrum containing a deep notch and suppress only a specified band on a receiving side, the suppression of an external noise can also be realized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2006
    Publication date: January 7, 2010
    Applicant: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Yoichi Sato, Tetsuya Higuchi
  • Patent number: 7620378
    Abstract: A method and system is described wherein an information signals is gated at a frequency that is a sub-harmonic of the frequency of the desired output signal. In the modulation embodiments, the information signal is modulated as part of the up-conversion process. In a first modulation embodiment, one information signal is phase modulated onto the carrier signal as part of the up-conversion process. In a second modulation embodiment, two information signals are multiplied, and, as part of the up-conversion process, one signal is phase modulated onto the carrier and the other signal is amplitude modulated onto the carrier. In a third modulation embodiment, one information signal is phase modulated onto the “I” phase of the carrier signal as part of the up-conversion process and a second information signal is phase modulated onto the “Q” phase of the carrier as part of the up-conversion process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2009
    Assignee: ParkerVision, Inc.
    Inventors: David F. Sorrells, Michael J. Bultman, Robert W. Cook, Richard C. Looke, Charley D. Moses, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7620377
    Abstract: Systems and methods for increasing bandwidth capability of an envelope elimination and restoration (EER) transmitter. A frequency response of a power supply modulator of the transmitter is approximated. An inverse response is applied to the envelope signal prior to digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) and before the signal reaches the power supply modulator to pre-emphasize the signal thereby counteracting distorting affects of the modulator. The filter is implemented using any of a variety of different digital techniques including programmable logic, DSP, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2009
    Assignee: General Dynamics C4 Systems
    Inventor: Richard James Dwyer
  • Publication number: 20090258611
    Abstract: The polar modulation apparatus of the present invention can control the output power of a transmission signal over a wide range and compensate characteristic degradation reliably upon temperature change. Polar modulation transmission apparatus 100 is provided with: temperature sensor 120; temperature compensation section 1601 that corrects an amplitude signal and performs temperature compensation for transmission power amplification section 190; temperature compensation section 160-2 that corrects a power amplification signal and performs temperature compensation for power adjustment section 180; and correction value setting section 130 that sets correction values for temperature compensation section 160-1 and temperature compensation section 160-2, and, while only the amplitude signal is corrected according to a measurement result in temperature sensor 120 in the first mode, the amplitude signal and the power adjustment signal are corrected according to a measurement result in the second mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2009
    Publication date: October 15, 2009
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Maki NAKAMURA, Kaoru ISHIDA
  • Patent number: 7593697
    Abstract: The present invention provides a unique feedback system in a wireless communication system wherein the transmission channel is always overloaded with data, which is configured and modulated at a select order of modulation. Based on the channel conditions, only a portion of the data can be successfully received. As such, the receiver will attempt to receive the data using demodulation techniques corresponding to the different levels of modulation used to encode the data transmitted. The receiver will determine the data that is recovered, or the highest order of modulation at which the data is recovered, and provide feedback to the transmitter. The transmitter will then retransmit the data that was not properly received. By overloading the channel at all times, the maximum amount of data capable of being transmitted over the channel is optimized without requiring or heavily relying on the receiver feeding back channel condition information to the transmitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2009
    Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited
    Inventors: Peiying Zhu, Wen Tong, Claude C. Royer
  • Patent number: 7593698
    Abstract: Polar modulation input signals to a polar modulated power amplifier include a phase modulated (PM) input signal, which feeds a power amplifier input, and an amplitude modulated (AM) input signal, which provides an envelope supply voltage for the power amplifier. The present invention is a large signal polar modulated power amplifier that extends the effective amplitude range of AM input signals that can be handled by the power amplifier by amplitude modulating the PM input signal using the AM input signal. Amplitude modulating the PM input signal effectively lowers the amplitude of the PM input signal when the amplitude of the AM input signal is lowered, which maintains adequate headroom between the power amplifier's signal input and envelope supply voltage input in the presence of large amplitude AM input signals. As a result, the power amplifier can amplify larger amplitude AM input signals than traditional power amplifier designs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2009
    Assignee: RF Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Jackie Johnson, Ryan Bosley, Michael F. Zybura
  • Patent number: 7587179
    Abstract: A direct synthesis transmitter. A very efficient and highly linear direct synthesis transmitter is provided that can be used to directly synthesize and transmit any type of modulated signal. The direct synthesis transmitter includes a phase-locked loop (PLL) with controls phase modulation plus an accompanying variable gain amplifier for amplitude modulation. Also included is a system to align the phase and amplitude modulation signals. A transmitter constructed in accordance with the present invention is very efficient and suitable for use in portable radio equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2009
    Assignee: Sequoia Communications
    Inventors: John B. Groe, Joseph Austin, Naone Farias, Carrie Lo
  • Patent number: 7586995
    Abstract: In order to reduce the crest factor of a signal for power amplification, a windowing function is applied. The windowing function that is applied is a triangular windowing function. The use of this function produces good results when those results are measured in terms of their effect on a transmitted signal in a WCDMA communications system. The filter for performing the triangular windowing function receives the signal, and applies it to a first delay element. The output from the first delay element is applied to a second delay element. An adder forms a weighted sum of the received signal and the signals at the outputs of the first delay element and the second delay element. A first accumulator is connected to receive an input from the adder and provides a first accumulator output, while a second accumulator is connected to receive an input from the first accumulator output and provides a second accumulator output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2009
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Volker Mauer, Kulwinder Dhanoa, Paul Metzgen
  • Patent number: 7583940
    Abstract: A transmission circuit is provided which can output a stable transmission signal independently of the temperature characteristics of an amplitude modulating section. A signal generating section generates an amplitude signal and a phase signal. A regulator supplies a voltage which is controlled, depending on the amplitude signal, to the amplitude modulating section. An angle modulating section subjects the phase signal to angle modulation to output an angle-modulated signal. A temperature detecting section outputs temperature information of the amplitude modulating section. A gain control section controls a gain of a variable gain amplifier based on the temperature information of the amplitude modulating section. The variable gain amplifier amplifies the angle-modulated signal using the gain controlled by the gain control section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Matsuura, Shigeru Morimoto
  • Patent number: 7577407
    Abstract: Described is a communication system including mobile communication devices. In the described system, the mobile devices may be wrist-worn watches such as are in common use today, except that the watches are specially configured to receive data in a “broadcast” mode and transmit and/or receive data in a “localcast” mode. The localcast mode includes the ability to transmit and receive data in a peer-to-peer fashion, allowing mobile devices to communicate directly with each other. The ability to combine two of these communication modes in a small, integrated and hence inexpensive and low-power package provides many advantages over existing personal communication device solutions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence J. Karr, William H. Mitchell
  • Patent number: 7570711
    Abstract: A quadrature LINC transmission system processes a baseband input signal for transmission as a linearly amplified RF signal. An in-phase LINC element processes an in-phase baseband signal into an in-phase RF signal. A quadrature LINC element processes a quadrature baseband signal into a quadrature RF signal. An output combiner combines the in-phase RF signal with the quadrature RF signal to provide the linearly amplified RF signal. The in-phase LINC element has a constant envelope decomposition block for decomposing the in-phase baseband signal into in-phase baseband constant envelope components. Two up-converters convert the in-phase baseband constant envelope components to in-phase RF constant envelope components. Two non-linear amplifiers amplify the in-phase RF constant envelope components. A combiner combines the amplified in-phase RF constant envelope components to yield the in-phase RF signal. The quadrature LINC element is similar to the in-phase LINC element and provides the quadrature RF signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2009
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Carlos J. Chavez, Gunther B. Frank, Dennis L. Hoffman
  • Patent number: 7570920
    Abstract: An AM-FM hybrid signal is created which may be used to communicate simultaneously with both RFID tags that receive AM signals and wireless devices that receive FM or PM signals. The AM-FM hybrid signal may be fed back into the system's receiver at the local oscillator in order to recover the RFID tag's FM response, thus enabling simultaneous reception and decoding of both RFID tag FM response and FM wireless device response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2009
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Joshua Posamentier
  • Publication number: 20090184761
    Abstract: One embodiment relates to a power amplifier that includes a switched mode power amplification stage. The power amplification stage has an output configured to provide an amplified output voltage as a function of a drive signal, where the drive signal fluctuates during a first time and is inactive during a second time. The power amplifier also includes impedance compensation circuitry coupled to the output of the power amplification stage. The impedance compensation circuitry can selectively alter an output impedance of the power amplification stage as a function of a control signal that is continuously de-asserted during the first time and continuously asserted during the second time. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2008
    Publication date: July 23, 2009
    Applicant: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Patrick Reynaert, Andreas Wiesbauer, Thomas Potscher, Koen Mertens
  • Patent number: 7564922
    Abstract: An RF transmitter includes a modulating circuit adapted to modulating an RF signal, an output amplifier adapted to amplify the modulated RF signal; an auto tuner generating a tuning voltage that varies in accordance with operating temperature fluctuations and/or manufacturing process variances, and a reference current generating circuit adapted to generate a reference current in response to the tuning voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2009
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae-Wan Kim, Jong-Dae Bae
  • Patent number: 7565118
    Abstract: A polar modulation transmission apparatus for realizing a wide control range for transmission power, maintaining the modulation precision and the distortion characteristic at a superb level even at a low output, and providing a high power efficiency is provided. An adder 102 adds a logarithm-represented transmission power control signal S13 to a logarithm-represented amplitude signal S14, and outputs the resultant signal as a transmission power-controlled amplitude signal S5. A phase modulation section 104 outputs a high frequency phase-modulated signal S8 based on a phase signal S3. An amplitude signal amplifier 103 supplies a supply voltage to a high frequency power amplifier 106 based on an amplitude signal S5. The high frequency power amplifier 106 performs amplitude modulation on the high frequency phase-modulated signal S8 based on the supply voltage supplied thereto, and outputs the resultant signal as a high frequency transmission signal S10.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshihiro Hara
  • Publication number: 20090181626
    Abstract: An apparatus comprising a first circuit configured to receive a signal and output a first output signal, a second circuit configured to receive the same signal and output a second output signal with a phase delay compared to the first signal, and a combiner configured to combine said first and second output signals to provide a combined signal, wherein said phase delay is controlled such that an amplitude of said combined signal is controlled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2008
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Applicant: NOKIA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Juha Hallivuori
  • Patent number: 7560984
    Abstract: A transmitter according to the present invention is a transmitter conforming to the EER method, wherein a modulated signal is separated into phase and amplitude components, and the components are input to the high-frequency input terminal and the power supply voltage terminals of a high-frequency power amplifier. This transmitter comprises an amplitude delay corrector and a phase delay corrector capable of correcting delay time so that the phase and amplitude components are optimally synthesized using two or more stages of saturation-type amplifiers constituting the high-frequency power amplifier. With this configuration, a synthesis error can be reduced in each stage of the saturation-type amplifier, and distortion components in the output waveform can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Taiji Akizuki, Mitsuru Tanabe
  • Publication number: 20090175380
    Abstract: A signal scaling device (D), for a transmission path of a wireless communication equipment, comprises a processing means (PM) adapted to receive a phase and/or amplitude modulated signal (I/Q) to transmit, and arranged to multiply said phase and/or amplitude modulated signal with a chosen complex gain in order to output said phase and/or amplitude modulated signal with a chosen scaled amplitude and a chosen phase offset.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2005
    Publication date: July 9, 2009
    Applicant: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.
    Inventors: Peter Bode, Alexander Lampe, Markus Helfenstein
  • Patent number: 7548133
    Abstract: To modulate the frequency of a signal to be transmitted, the biasing voltage applied to a terminal of a transistor is dynamically modulated. To achieve this, the pulse width or a pulse amplitude of a control signal is modulated. Alternatively, a multi-bit control signal may be used to perform the modulation. The frequency of the transmitted signal is optionally modulated by varying the temperature of a oscillator. To vary this temperature, the current flowing through one or more resistive elements positioned in proximity of the oscillator is varied in response to the pulse width or amplitude of a second control signal. The temperature may also be changed by varying a multi-bit control signal. As the level of this current flow varies, the amount of heat emitted by the resistors vary, thereby changing the temperature of the oscillator which has a non-zero temperature coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2009
    Assignee: Preco Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Douglas Todd Hayden
  • Patent number: 7546100
    Abstract: A system for generating amplitude matched 45 degree phase separated signals is disclosed. Embodiments of the system for generating amplitude matched 45 degree phase separated signals include a filter arrangement including a plurality of nodes, an adjustable element associated with each node, the adjustable element configured to substantially equalize an amplitude of each vector associated with each node. The adjustable element may be an adjustable resistance or an adjustable capacitance associated with each node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2009
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey M. Zachan, Geoffrey Hatcher, Paul C. Mudge
  • Publication number: 20090117863
    Abstract: An RF transmitter with improved efficiency and good linearity decomposes an input AM signal into two signal envelopes with phased modulation at a phase angle ?. The transmitter has three principal embodiments. A first solution uses at least one added RF amplifier for each decomposed signal envelope with one or more amplifiers having a low gain compared to that of a high gain amplifier in another branch for the same signal envelope. A phase angle ?i is determined that corresponds to a switching on two of the 2n+2 total branches, n=0, 1, 2, . . . . A second solution uses the same general schematic architecture as the classic LINC system that requires only two RF amplifiers, but uses a different decomposition because the two RF amplifiers are used in their nonlinear zone. The decomposed signal envelopes can be variable. The amplified output signal allows the combiner to be used at 100% efficiency in major part of signal. The third solution combines the first and second solutions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2006
    Publication date: May 7, 2009
    Inventor: Ahmed Birafane