Power controllable wireless communication device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9680419-B2
Application number	US-201615185685-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 17, 2016
Priority date	Jul 17, 2015
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A power controllable wireless communication device includes a variable gain amplifier having a gain that can be controlled based on a gain control signal, a reference power generation circuit, which generates first reference power and second reference power differing from the first reference power, a sensor circuit supplied with selectively power of a high frequency signal output from the variable gain amplifier, and the first reference power and the second reference power generated by the reference power generation circuit, and a control circuit which generates the gain control signal based on a sensor output from the sensor circuit. When controlling power, the control circuit generates the gain control signal based on ratios among a first sensor output corresponding to the first reference power, a second sensor output corresponding to the second reference power, and a high frequency sensor output corresponding to the power of the high frequency signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power controllable wireless communication device comprising:
a variable gain amplifier having a gain that can be controlled based on a gain control signal;
a reference power generation circuit configured to generate first reference power and second reference power differing from the first reference power;
a sensor circuit supplied with selectively power of a high frequency signal output from the variable gain amplifier, and the first reference power and the second reference power generated by the reference power generation circuit; and
a control circuit configured to generate the gain control signal based on a sensor output from the sensor circuit,
wherein when controlling power, the control circuit generates the gain control signal based on ratios among a first sensor output corresponding to the first reference power, and a second sensor output corresponding to the second reference power, which are output from the sensor circuit, and a high frequency sensor output corresponding to the power of the high frequency signal.

2. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 1 , wherein
the ratio is an internal division ratio between a difference between the first sensor output and the second sensor output and a difference between the first sensor output and the high frequency sensor output.

3. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 2 , wherein
the control circuit comprises a storage circuit configured to store the internal division ratio, and
when controlling power, the gain control signal is generated by the control circuit to provide the power controllable wireless communication device with predetermined power based on a difference between the sensor output corresponding to the first reference power and the sensor output corresponding to the second reference power, which are output from the sensor circuit, and the internal division ratio stored in the storage circuit.

4. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 3 , wherein
the reference power generation circuit comprises a band gap voltage generation circuit, and generates a first voltage and a second voltage having a positive polarity with respect to a predetermined reference voltage and a first voltage and a second voltage having a negative polarity with respect to the predetermined reference voltage based on a consultation voltage generated by the band gap voltage generation circuit, and
the first reference power is formed of the first voltage of the positive polarity and the first voltage of the negative polarity, and the second reference power is formed of the second voltage of the positive polarity and the second voltage of the negative polarity.

5. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 4 , wherein
the sensor circuit comprises a variable offset amplifier having a changeable offset,
the variable offset amplifier is controlled by the control circuit to have an offset when outputting the sensor output corresponding to the first reference power and the sensor output corresponding to the second reference power and have a different offset when outputting the high frequency sensor output corresponding to the power of the high frequency signal.

6. A power controllable wireless communication device including a microprocessor and a semiconductor device power controlled by the microprocessor, wherein
the semiconductor device comprises:
a variable gain amplifier configured to amplify a transmission signal and be changeable in gain by a gain control signal;
a power amplifier configured to amplify a high frequency signal from the variable gain amplifier and transfer the amplified high frequency signal to an antenna;
a power sensor configured to detect power of the high frequency signal transferred from the power amplifier to the antenna; and
an interface circuit coupled to the power sensor, the variable gain amplifier, and the microprocessor,
the power sensor comprises:
a reference power generation circuit configured to generate first reference power and second reference power different from the first reference power; and
a selection circuit configured to select the first reference power, the second reference power, and the power of the high frequency signal from the power amplifier depending upon control from the microprocessor via the interface circuit,
the microprocessor receives a first sensor output, which is output from the power sensor when the first reference power is selected by the selection circuit, a second sensor output, which is output from the power sensor when the second reference power is selected by the selection circuit, and a third sensor output, which is output from the power sensor when the power of the high frequency signal is selected by the selection circuit, via the interface circuit, and
the microprocessor forms a gain control signal and supplies the gain control signal to the variable gain amplifier via the interface circuit, when controlling power of the power controllable wireless communication device based on ratios among the first sensor output, the second sensor output, and the third sensor output.

7. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 6 , wherein
the ratio is an internal division ratio between a difference between the first sensor output and the second sensor output, and a difference between the first sensor output and the third sensor output,
the microprocessor comprises a storage circuit configured to store the internal division ratio, and
when controlling the power of the power controllable wireless communication device, the microprocessor forms a gain control signal based on a difference between a sensor output corresponding to the first reference power output from the power sensor and a sensor output corresponding to the second reference power output from the power sensor, and the internal division ratio stored in the storage circuit.

8. The power controllable wireless communication device according to claim 7 , wherein
the reference power generation circuit comprises:
a band gap voltage generation circuit configured to generate a consultation voltage; and
a selection generation circuit configured to generate a first voltage or a second voltage having a positive polarity with respect to a reference voltage, and a first voltage or a second voltage having a negative polarity with respect to the reference voltage, based on the consultation voltage generated by the band gap voltage generation circuit, depending upon a reference power selection signal supplied from the microprocessor via the interface circuit, and
the first reference power is formed of the first voltage of positive polarity and the first voltage of negative polarity, and the second reference power is formed of the second voltage of positive polarity and the second voltage of negative polarity.

9. The power controllable wireless communication device according to 8 , wherein
the selection circuit comprises:
a first current conversion circuit configured to receive the high frequency signal output from the power amplifier and generate a current signal corresponding to amplitude of the high frequency signal with respect to the reference voltage;
a second current conversion circuit configured to be supplied with the first voltage or the second voltage of positive polarity and the first voltage or the second voltage of negative polarity from the selection generation circuit; and
a selector configured to select a current signal from the first current conversion circuit or a current signal from the second current conversion circuit under control from the microprocessor and output a volt

Assignees

• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• Takada Yusuke
• Kusunoki Mitsugu
• Okazaki Takao
• Matsumoto Takashi
• Mochiduki Kenta

Classifications

• H03F1/304

  and using digital means · CPC title

• H03F1/302

  in bipolar transistor amplifiers (H03F1/303, H03F1/305, H03F1/307 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01S7/03

  Details of HF subsystems specially adapted therefor, e.g. common to transmitter and receiver · CPC title

• H03F2200/465

  Power sensing · CPC title

• H03F2200/393

  A measuring circuit being coupled to the output of an amplifier · CPC title