Electronic device and method for transmitting and receiving signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021194515-A1
Application number	US-201716080482-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 7, 2017
Priority date	Mar 7, 2016
Publication date	Jun 24, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic device and, more particularly, to an electronic device and a method for transmitting and receiving signals. To this end, the electronic device according to the present invention may comprise: a transceiving unit comprising a first group of power amplifiers (PAs) including at least one PA and a second group of PAs including at least one PA; an antenna unit comprising a first antenna selectively coupled to a PA supporting a first frequency range or a second frequency range of the first group of PAs and the second group of the PAs, and a second antenna selectively coupled to a PA supporting the second frequency range or a third frequency range of the first group of PAs and the second group of the PAs; a power supply unit comprising a first power supply modulator connected to the first group of PAs and a second power supply modulator connected to the second group of PAs; and a communication processor for changing an output voltage at least in part on the basis of transmit power of the PA coupled to at least one of the first power supply modulator and the second power supply modulator, wherein at least one of the first group of PAs and at least one of the second group of PAs are capable of transmitting signals simultaneously.

First claim

1 . An electronic device, comprising:
a transceiver including a first PA group including at least one power amplifier (PA) and a second PA group including at least one PA; an antenna unit including a first antenna selectively connected with a PA configured to support a first frequency band or a second frequency band among PAs in the first PA group and PAs in the second PA group, and a second antenna selectively connected with a PA configured to support the second frequency band or a third frequency band among the PAs in the first PA group and the PAs in the second PA group; a power unit including a first power modulator connected to the first PA group and a second power modulator connected to the second PA group; and a communication processor configured to change an output voltage based on at least part of transmit power of a PA connected to at least one of the first power modulator and the second power modulator, wherein at least one of the PAs in the first PA group and at least one of the PAs in the second PA group are configured to simultaneously transmit a signal.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communication processor is configured to simultaneously transmit the signal through one PA of the first PA group and one PA of the second PA group, and wherein the PA has any one band among a low band (LB), a middle band (MB), or a high band (HB).

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communication processor is configured to:
activate the second power modulator corresponding to an uplink carrier aggregation (CA) request while performing communication by using a PA in the first PA group based on power output from the first power modulator, and operate the second PA group to perform an uplink CA operation and communication.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein each of the PA groups includes an LB PA, an MB PA, and an HB PA, and wherein the LB PA has a frequency ranging from 600 MHz to 1 GHz, the MB PA has a frequency ranging from 1.5 GHz to 2.2 GHz, and the HB PA has a frequency ranging from 1.8 GHz to 5 GHz.

5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communication processor is configured to control power output from at least one of the first power modulator or the second power modulator based on any one of an envelope tracking mode in which a voltage is adjusted depending on an envelope of the signal and supplied to the PA, an average power tracking mode in which the voltage is adjusted corresponding to an average of the respective output power levels of the PAs and supplied to the PA, and a bypass mode in which a constant voltage is supplied to the PA.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver includes:
a radio frequency (RF) unit including at least one low pass filter (LPF) configured to change a cutoff frequency of a signal output from the communication processor, at least one transmit (Tx) mixer configured to upconvert an in phase/quadrature (I/Q) signal of a base band and the signal, at least one switch configured to switch a signal output from the Tx mixer to a Tx programmable gain amplifier, and at least one Tx programmable gain amplifier configured to adjust a gain according to the controlled power and provide to the PA; and a path selector including a PA configured to modulate output power of the signal according to the adjusted gain, at least one duplexer configured to separate a transmitted signal and a received signal, and at least one diplexer configured to separate an LB and an MB.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna is configured to support an LB corresponding to the first frequency band and an MB corresponding to the second frequency band, and the second antenna is configured to support the MB corresponding to the second frequency band and an HB corresponding to the third frequency band.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein an LB PA, an MB PA, and an HB PA in the first PA group are configured to transmit or receive a communication control signal to/from an external device, and an LB PA, an MB PA, and an HB PA in the second PA group are configured to transmit or receive data to/from the external device.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communication processor is configured to:
receive an I/Q signal to produce a first transmit I/Q signal and a second transmit I/Q signal, and produce a first control signal to control the transceiver and a second control signal to control at least one power modulator of the power unit.

10 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the communication processor is configured to:
connect the first antenna to any one of PAs supporting an LB, an MB, or an HB in the first PA group by using the produced first control signal, set a power mode of the first power modulator to any one of an envelope tracking mode, an average power tracking mode, or a power modulator, selectively connect the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB to any one of a band pass filter (BPF), a duplexer, or a quadplexer, set a power mode of the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB, a bias voltage, and an enable/disable of the first power modulator, and set a transmit/receive path as per the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB to the enable.

11 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the communication processor is configured to:
connect the second antenna to any one of PAs supporting an LB, an MB, or an HB in the second PA group by using the produced second control signal, set a power mode of the second power modulator to any one of an envelope tracking mode, an average power tracking mode, or a power modulator, selectively connect the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB to any one of a band pass filter (BPF), a duplexer, or a quadplexer, set a power mode of the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB, a bias voltage, and an enable/disable of the first power modulator, and set a transmit path as per the connected PA supporting the LB, the MB, or the HB to the enable.

12 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the antenna unit includes a third antenna configured to support an LB PA and at least one MB PA, a fourth antenna configured to support at least one MB PA and an HB PA, a first switch configured to switch a signal received through the third antenna to the LB PA or the MB PA, and a second switch configured to switch a signal received through the fourth antenna to the MB PA or the HB PA.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the first antenna is disposed in a lower area of the electronic device, the second antenna is disposed on a left side or right side of the first antenna, the third antenna is disposed in an upper area of the electronic device, and the fourth antenna is disposed on a left side or right side of the third antenna.

14 . A method for transmitting or receiving a signal by an electronic device, the method comprising:
performing communication through a PA in a first PA group by using power output from a first power modulator configured in a power unit; detecting an uplink CA request; operating a second PA group by activating a second power modulator configured in the power unit corresponding to the detected request; and controlling transmission or reception of a signal through a PA in the second PA group while performing the communication.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
selectively connecting a PA configured to support a first frequency band or a second frequency band among PAs in the first PA group and PAs in the second PA group wit

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Go Yong-Lim
• Yun Tae-Sik
• Park Sung-Chul

Classifications

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04B7/0817

  with multiple receivers and antenna path selection · CPC title

• H04B7/0608 Primary

  Antenna selection according to transmission parameters · CPC title

• H04B2001/0416

  having gain or transmission power control · CPC title

• H04B1/401

  for selecting or indicating operating mode · CPC title