Weakly coupled tunable RF receiver architecture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9705478-B2
Application number	US-201414450199-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2014
Priority date	Aug 1, 2013
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

RF communications circuitry, which includes a first tunable RF filter and a first RF low noise amplifier (LNA) is disclosed. The first tunable RF filter includes a pair of weakly coupled resonators, and receives and filters a first upstream RF signal to provide a first filtered RF signal. The first RF LNA is coupled to the first tunable RF filter, and receives and amplifies an RF input signal to provide an RF output signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a first tunable RF filter comprising at least a pair of weakly coupled resonators and configured to receive and filter a first upstream RF signal to provide a first filtered RF signal; and
a first RF low noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the first tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a first RF input signal to provide a first RF output signal, wherein the first tunable RF filter comprises a first resonator and a second resonator, such that the first resonator and the second resonator are magnetically coupled to one another; the first resonator is a single-ended resonator, which is configured to receive the first upstream RF signal; and the second resonator is a differential resonator, which is configured to provide the first filtered RF signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first tunable RF filter is configured to transform an input impedance to the first tunable RF filter to an output impedance from the first tunable RF filter.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first tunable RF filter is further configured to provide at least a partial impedance match to the first RF LNA.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first tunable RF filter is further configured to provide at least a partial noise impedance match to the first RF LNA.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first tunable RF filter is further configured to simultaneously provide at least a partial impedance match to the first RF LNA and at least a partial noise impedance match to the first RF LNA.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a first RF filter structure comprising the first tunable RF filter and a second tunable RF filter, wherein the second tunable RF filter is configured to receive and filter a second upstream RF signal to provide a second filtered RF signal; and
a second RF LNA coupled to the second tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a second RF input signal to provide a second RF output signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein an input to the first tunable RF filter is coupled to an input to the second tunable RF filter, the first filtered RF signal is the first RF input signal, the second filtered RF signal is the second RF input signal, and the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter provide direct input de-multiplexing.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter are configured to simultaneously receive and filter the first upstream RF signal and the second upstream RF signal, respectively, thereby providing receive carrier aggregation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the first filtered RF signal is the first RF input signal and the second filtered RF signal is the second RF input signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first resonator and the second resonator are electrically coupled to one another.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first resonator and the second resonator are not electrically coupled to one another.

12. An apparatus comprising:
a first tunable RF filter comprising at least a pair of weakly coupled resonators and configured to receive and filter a first upstream RF signal to provide a first filtered RF signal;
a first RF low noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the first tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a first RF input signal to provide a first RF output signal;
a first RF filter structure comprising the first tunable RF filter and a second tunable RF filter, wherein the second tunable RF filter is configured to receive and filter a second upstream RF signal to provide a second filtered RF signal; and
a second RF LNA coupled to the second tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a second RF input signal to provide a second RF output signal, wherein the first RF filter structure comprises a first resonator, a second resonator, and a common input resonator, such that the first tunable RF filter comprises the first resonator; the second tunable RF filter comprises the second resonator; the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter share the common input resonator; the first resonator is coupled between the common input resonator and the first RF LNA; and the second resonator is coupled between the common input resonator and the second RF LNA.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a multiplexer configured to receive the first RF output signal and the second RF output signal, and further configured to provide a first receive signal based on a selected one of the first RF output signal and the second RF output signal, wherein the selected one of the first RF output signal and the second RF output signal is based on a selected one of the first filtered RF signal and the second filtered RF signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the first RF LNA and the second RF LNA are further configured to provide a selected one of the first RF output signal and the second RF output signal, wherein the selected one of the first RF output signal and the second RF output signal is based on a selected one of the first filtered RF signal and the second filtered RF signal.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein a left side notch filter response is associated with the first RF output signal and a right side notch filter response is associated with the second RF output signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the first resonator is magnetically coupled to the common input resonator, the second resonator is magnetically coupled to the common input resonator, and the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter are configured to provide direct input de-multiplexing.

17. An apparatus comprising:
a first tunable RF filter comprising at least a pair of weakly coupled resonators and configured to receive and filter a first upstream RF signal to provide a first filtered RF signal;
a first RF low noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the first tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a first RF input signal to provide a first RF output signal;
a first RF filter structure comprising the first tunable RF filter and a second tunable RF filter, wherein the second tunable RF filter is configured to receive and filter a second upstream RF signal to provide a second filtered RF signal; and
a second RF LNA coupled to the second tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a second RF input signal to provide a second RF output signal, wherein the first RF filter structure comprises a first resonator, a second resonator, and a common output resonator; such that the first tunable RF filter comprises the first resonator, the second tunable RF filter comprises the second resonator, and the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter share the common output resonator; such that the first resonator is magnetically coupled to the common output resonator, the second resonator is magnetically coupled to the common output resonator, and the first tunable RF filter and the second tunable RF filter are configured to provide direct output multiplexing.

18. An apparatus comprising:
a first tunable RF filter comprising at least a pair of weakly coupled resonators and configured to receive and filter a first upstream RF signal to provide a first filtered RF signal; and
a first RF low noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the first tunable RF filter and configured to receive and amplify a first RF input signal to provide a first RF output signal, wherein the first tunable RF filter comprises a first

Assignees

• Rf Micro Devices Inc
• Qorvo Us Inc

Inventors

• Maxim George
• Leipold Dirk Robert Walter
• Scott Baker

Classifications

• H03F2203/7209

  the gated amplifier being switched from a first band to a second band · CPC title

• H03F2200/267

  A capacitor based passive circuit, e.g. filter, being used in an amplifying circuit · CPC title

• H03F3/245

  with semiconductor devices only · CPC title

• H03H7/38

  Impedance-matching networks · CPC title

• H03F3/193 Primary

  with field-effect devices (H03F3/195 takes precedence) · CPC title