Rf front end architecture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016119003-A1
Application number	US-201514611850-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 2, 2015
Priority date	Oct 24, 2014
Publication date	Apr 28, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

RF front end circuitry includes mid/high-band switching circuitry and a carrier-aggregation diplexer. The mid/high-band switching circuitry is configured to receive and selectively route mid-band and high-band signals between a mid/high-band output port and a number of mid/high-band transceiver ports. The carrier-aggregation diplexer is coupled to a first one of the mid/high-band transceiver ports. Further, the carrier-aggregation diplexer is configured to pass mid-band signals between a mid-band diplexer port and the first one of the mid/high-band transceiver ports while attenuating other signals, and pass high-band signals between a high-band diplexer port and the first one of the mid/high-band transceiver ports while attenuating other signals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . Radio frequency (RF) front end circuitry comprising:
mid/high-band switching circuitry configured to receive and selectively route mid-band and high-band signals between a mid/high-band output port and a plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports; and a carrier-aggregation diplexer coupled to a first one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports and configured to pass mid-band signals between a mid-band diplexer port and the first one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports while attenuating other signals and pass high-band signals between a high-band diplexer port and the first one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports while attenuating other signals.

2 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 1 further comprising:
a single-feed antenna port;
low-band switching circuitry configured to receive and selectively route low-band signals between a low-band output port and a plurality of low-band transceiver ports; and
an antenna-side diplexer coupled between the single-feed antenna port, the low-band output port, and the mid/high-band output port and configured to pass low-band signals between the single-feed antenna port and the low-band output port while attenuating other signals and pass mid-band and high-band signals between the single-feed antenna port and the mid/high-band output port while attenuating other signals.

3 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 1 further comprising:
mid-band transceiver circuitry coupled to the mid-band diplexer port; and
high-band transceiver circuitry coupled to the high-band diplexer port.

4 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 3 wherein:
the mid-band transceiver circuitry is further coupled to a second one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports; and
the high-band transceiver circuitry is further coupled to a third one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports.

5 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 3 wherein the mid-band transceiver circuitry comprises:
mid-band receive port;
a mid-band power amplifier; and
a mid-band duplexer coupled between the mid-band diplexer port, the mid-band receive port, and an output of the mid-band power amplifier, wherein the mid-band duplexer is configured to route mid-band receive signals between the mid-band diplexer port and the mid-band receive port while attenuating other signals and route mid-band transmit signals between the output of the mid-band power amplifier and the mid-band diplexer port while attenuating other signals.

6 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 5 wherein the high-band transceiver circuitry comprises:
a high-band receive port;
a high-band power amplifier; and
a high-band duplexer coupled between the high-band diplexer port, the high-band receive port, and an output of the high-band power amplifier and configured to route high-band receive signals between the high-band diplexer port and the high-band receive port while attenuating other signals and route high-band transmit signals between the output of the high-band power amplifier and the high-band diplexer port while attenuating other signals.

7 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 3 wherein in a carrier aggregation mode of operation of the RF front end circuitry:
the mid-band transceiver circuitry is configured to provide transmit signals about a mid-band operating band to the mid-band diplexer port and receive signals about the mid-band operating band from the mid-band diplexer port; and
the high-band transceiver circuitry is configured to provide transmit signals about a high-band operating band to the high-band diplexer port and receive signals about the high-band operating band from the high-band diplexer port.

8 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 7 wherein the mid-band operating band is band 3 and the high-band operating band is band 7 .

9 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 3 further comprising:
a mid-band diplexer switch coupled between the carrier-aggregation diplexer and the mid-band transceiver circuitry and configured to selectively couple the mid-band transceiver circuitry to the mid-band diplexer port; and
a high-band diplexer switch coupled between the carrier-aggregation diplexer and the high-band transceiver circuitry and configured to selectively couple the high-band transceiver circuitry to the high-band diplexer port.

10 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 9 wherein:
the mid-band transceiver circuitry is further coupled to a second one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports; and
the high-band transceiver circuitry is further coupled to a third one of the plurality of mid/high-band transceiver ports.

11 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 10 wherein:
in a carrier aggregation mode of operation of the RF front end circuitry, the mid-band diplexer switch and the high-band diplexer switch are closed such that the mid-band transceiver circuitry is coupled to the mid-band diplexer port and the high-band transceiver circuitry is coupled to the high-band diplexer port; and
in a non-carrier aggregation mode of operation of the RF front end circuitry, the mid-band diplexer switch and the high-band diplexer switch are opened such that the mid-band transceiver circuitry is not coupled to the mid-band diplexer port and the high-band transceiver circuitry is not coupled to the high-band diplexer port.

12 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 9 wherein the mid-band transceiver circuitry comprises:
a mid-band receive port;
a mid-band power amplifier; and
a mid-band duplexer coupled between the mid-band diplexer port, the mid-band receive port, and an output of the mid-band power amplifier, wherein the mid-band duplexer is configured to route mid-band receive signals between the mid-band diplexer port and the mid-band receive port while attenuating other signals and route mid-band transmit signals between the output of the mid-band power amplifier and the mid-band diplexer port while attenuating other signals.

13 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 12 wherein the high-band transceiver circuitry comprises:
a high-band receive port;
a high-band power amplifier; and
a high-band duplexer coupled between the high-band diplexer port, the high-band receive port, and an output of the high-band power amplifier and configured to route high-band receive signals between the high-band diplexer port and the high-band receive port while attenuating other signals and route high-band transmit signals between the output of the high-band power amplifier and the high-band diplexer port while attenuating other signals.

14 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 9 wherein in a carrier aggregation mode of operation of the RF front end circuitry:
the mid-band transceiver circuitry is configured to provide transmit signals about a mid-band operating band to the mid-band diplexer port and receive signals about the mid-band operating band from the mid-band diplexer port; and
the high-band transceiver circuitry is configured to provide transmit signals about a high-band operating band to the high-band diplexer port and receive signals about the high-band operating band from the high-band diplexer port.

15 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 14 wherein the mid-band operating band is band 3 and the high-band operating band is band 7 .

16 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 1 wherein the carrier-aggregation diplexer is tunable.

17 . The RF front end circuitry of claim 16 further comprising:
a mid-band diplexer switch configured to selectively route mid-ban

Assignees

• Rf Micro Devices Inc

Inventors

• Granger-Jones Marcus
• Khlat Nadim

Classifications

• H04L5/0023

  Time-frequency-space · CPC title

• H04L5/001

  the frequencies being arranged in component carriers · CPC title

• H04B1/006

  using switches for selecting the desired band (H04B1/0057 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B1/0057 Primary

  using diplexing or multiplexing filters for selecting the desired band · CPC title

• H04L5/14

  Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex · CPC title