A radiotelephone operating in a time-divided radiotelephone system

Abstract: The radiotelephone of a time-divided radiotelephone system, i.e. TDMA, has a first mode and a second mode, whereby in the first mode the transmitter (TX) is active and in the second mode the receiver (RX) is active. In this way the isolation between the transmitter and the receiver is improved. The switching means can comprise, for example, a transistor (V2), or a diode, by means of which the collector of the transistor (V1) of the RX amplifier is connected substantially to the earth potential. When the transmitter is on, the TX signal controls some switching means in the RX path to shorten to earth the possible leakage of the TX signal from the duplex filter (or T/R swich). When the receiver is on, the switching means are inhibited.

Description: The present invention relates to a radiotelephone operating in a time-divided radiotelephone system, which telephone has at least a first mode and a second mode, whereby in the first mode the transmitter is active and in the second mode the receiver is active. In TDMA, i.e. time-divided radiotelephone systems, the transmitter and receiver are on at different times. Accordingly, connecting the transmitter and receiver to the antenna can be done either with synchronized switches (PIN diode, GaAs-fet switch, or the like) or with a duplex filter that is familiar from analog telephone applications. A typical block diagram using a duplex filter is shown in Figure 1. To reduce power consumption and block leakage of the TX-frequency signal to the RX branch, the receiver's electric power (VRX) is switched off when the transmitter (TX) is on. In this case, at the antenna port of the duplex filter there is a signal level that is of the order of +30 dBm at its greatest, in other words, when the transmitter is using the highest power level. The isolation from the transmitter to the input of the receiver may be less than 20 dB at its poorest (1800 MHz, i.e. in the PCN range), in which case during transmission a still quite strong signal (> 10 dBm) is connected to the receiver (RXamp). Although the receiver stage does not carry a supply voltage during transmission, the transmitter signal leaks through it. In addition, the signal is not attenuated very much in the RX filter (RXfil), because the highest transmission frequency is only 20 MHz away from the lowest reception frequency and the reception band is all of 75 MHz wide. When the transmission signal reaches the RX mixer with a sufficient intensity, it causes a frequency pulling of the local oscillator (VCO), which shows up in the transmitted signal as a phase error because the same oscillator is used to form the transmission frequency. To minimize this effect, buffering can be added in between the oscillator and the RX mixer or the isolation from the transmitter to the receiver can be improved. Improving the isolation by tightening the duplex filter nevertheless increases the price of the filter and the attenuation on the upper channels of the transmitter. The above-described leakage problem also hampers systems operating in a lower frequency than PCN range, though it is somewhat less pronounced. A well known means of remedying the problem discussed is thus to use a better duplex filter whose RX branch attenuates the TX frequency signal more. This nevertheless complicates the structure of the filter, and makes it bigger and more costly. Another problem is that now attenuation of the duplex filter for TX frequency signals increases, in this case on the upper channels. Thus, the transmitter power going to the antenna tends to diminish on the upper channels, and it has to be compensated by increasing the power obtainable from the transmitter, which on the other hand increases the current consumption. Another well known way is to add a buffer amplifier in between the RX mixer and the VCO. This reduces the leakage from the RX mixer to the VCO. In order for the buffer amplifier to work in the desired manner, it must of course be active, and this increases current consumption. Some telephone manufacturers use in place of a duplex filter a changeover switch which serves to select the signal path TX-amp...>ANT during transmission and ANT...>RX-amp during reception. These switches too cause signal leakage at high frequencies. The leakage of a quite strong transmission signal into the telephone's other blocks causes problems similar to those in a VCO. A problem point is, for example, at least the integrated circuits, where it is attempted to integrate both the receiver and transmitter blocks on the same circuit. Of known prior art documents, a patent publication EP-A-0 625 831 discloses a radio transceiver in which a number of switching FETs are utilised for implementing both a changeover switch arrangement and a grounding switch arrangement, which serves to add isolation between transmission and reception paths. Another patent publication JP 05 199094 A, the relevant content of which is also available as Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 017, no.629 (E-1462), 19 November 1993, discloses a similar arrangement with simplified structure of the switching FETs. A scientific publication "High-Performance GaAs Switch Ics Fabricated Using MESFETs with Two Kinds of Pinch-off Voltage ", Proceedings of the Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuits Symposium (GaAs IC) San Jose, Oct 10-13, 1993, New York, IEEE US, vol. SYMP. 15, 10 October 1993, pp 247-250, discloses certain switching IC structures. The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the above-discussed problems in a very simple manner, and to accomplish this the invention is characterized by the features recited in the characterising part of the independent claim. The preferred embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims. In accordance with the invention, greater isolation is thus obtained by connecting a series switch to the signal path or by shorting the signal to the earth potential at a suitable point. It should be noted at the outset that a series switch involves certain drawbacks. It increases the loss also in the receiving mode, and accordingly its use on the input of the receiver leads to a poorer noise figure. On the output side, it can be used. Accordingly, a parallel switch, i.e. shorting a point of the signal path to the earth potential, appears to be a better solution. Certain embodiments of the invention as well as their advantages and some drawbacks are discussed in greater detail in the following with reference to the accompanying diagrams in which Figure 1 shows the already discussed prior art, Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 3-7 show some alternative embodiments of the invention. In the circuit arrangement in Figure 2, transistor V2 is connected to the earth potential from collector V1 of the RX amplifier. During reception, VRX is on and VTX is off. Accordingly, a voltage is applied to the collector of V2, but the base carries no current, so that the transistor does not affect the operation of V1 and does not change the amplification of the stage. During transmission, on the other hand, VRX is off and VTX is on, so that the collector voltage of V2 is 0 V, but a base current flows in the transistor. Transistor V2 is thus in the saturated state. This means that the transistor has a very small ohmic resistance between its collector and emitter, whereby the signal path (V1's collector) is efficiently shorted to the earth potential. The advantage of the circuit arrangement is that the required base current is small (of the order of 0.5 mA) and is applied only during transmission. In addition, the circuit arrangement takes up only a small surface area. The isolation can be improved a bit more by adding a suitable capacitor from the base of V2 to the earth potential. Here, then, V2 and R3 belong to the switch that handles the short circuiting of the RX signal path to the earth potential when TX is on, and the other components belong to the RX amplifier (RX-amp). During reception, a DC voltage is applied to the collector of V2, and this is an essential point for the operation of the switch. During reception, the base-collector diode of transistor V2 is reverse-biased, and the switch circuit does not distort the signal even at high RX signal levels. During transmission, however, a voltage is not applied to the collector of V2, voltage not being needed for operation of the switch, and at the same time current is saved because DC current does not flow between the collector and emitter of V2. No kind of own biasing is needed for the switching transistor V2. In the circuit arrangement in Figure 3, choke L3 (a transmission line or coil) has a high impedance at the frequency to be short circuited which means that it does not attenuate the signal during reception. When current is run through the diode during transmission, the impedance of the diode is small and any RF signal at the collector of V1 is short-circuited via C5 and D1. C5 can be dimensioned in such a way that its resistance cancels out the inductive reactance of the diode, whereby the reactance of the diode determines the improvement that can be obtained in the isolation. When using a PIN diode, the diode current must be set to a fairly high value to make the resistance small enough. Accordingly, the standby time of the telephone is shortened. In addition, biasing the diode calls for matching strips or chokes, as is shown in the figure. On the other hand, use of, say, a GaAs fet switch would lead to considerable expense. Figure 4 shows an alternative location for the diode. The operation is in other respects the same as in Figure 3. Figure 5 shows a simple series connection of a diode to an RF signal path. The improvement in isolation depends on the capacitance of the diode, which should be very small when the diode does not carry a current. Reducing the amplification of the RF stage in turn depends on the resistance of the diode when it is in the conducting state (VRX is on). The resistance of the diode must be small. In general, with a PIN diode whose resistance goes low, the capacitance is greater, which means that in selecting a diode a compromise must be sought between resistance and capacitance. This circuit arrangement is still usable at GSM (less than 1 GHz) frequencies. In Figure 6 a PIN diode is connected to a point where the effect of the diode's resistance on the amplification is smaller (the diode is in series with a transmission line of about 50 ohms). The number of components needed for the circuit arrangement is nevertheless large, thus imposing a larger space requirement. Similarly, the isolation depends on the diode's capacitance as in the previous circuit arrangement. The current requirement of the circuit arrangement is also larger than in the above. Finally, Figure 7 shows the same circuit arrangement as above, but the diode's current is lead through the amplifier, whereby the circuit arrangement does not increase the current consumption. The isolation and effect on the amplification are the same as in the above. It should be noted, that the switching means according to the invention are separate from any prior art antenna changeover switching means such as described previously, if such antenna changeover switching means are included in a system utilizing the invention. One advantage of the present invention is, that it is easier and more economical to use additional switching means according to the invention than to improve the characteristics of an antenna changeover switch, to reach a certain desired attenuation level.

Claims: A radiotelephone for operating in a time-divided radiotelephone system, which radiotelephone has at least a first mode and a second mode, whereby in the first mode a transmitter is active and in the second mode a receiver is active and in which for selection of connections from an antenna (ANT) to the receiver and from the transmitter to the antenna (ANT), a filter of the duplex type or synchronized switching means are used, characterized in that the radiotelephone comprises a switchable reception amplifier (RXamp) followed by further switching means (V2; D1)adapted to be biased by at least one of said switchable reception amplifier (RXamp) in the second mode and by a VTX signal in the first mode, which VTX signal corresponds to the on/off state of the transmitter of the radiotelephone, and to reduce leakage of a transmission signal into the radiotelephone's other blocks said further switching means (V2; D1) are adapted to block at least one signal path in the first mode that is active in the second mode. A radiotelephone according to claim 1, characterized in that said further switching means (V2; D1) comprises switching means adapted to block said signal path by either cutting or shorting to the earth potential. A radiotelephone according to claim 1, characterized in that said further switching means (V2;D1) are further adapted to block the RX branch of the receiver block of the radiotelephone. A radiotelephone according to claim 1, characterized in that the further switching means (V2;D1) are further adapted to block the signal path between the RX branch of the radiotelephone and a local oscillator (VCO). A radiotelephone according to claim 1, characterized in that said further switching means (V2; D1) are integrated in said switchable reception amplifier (RXamp) of the RX branch. A radiotelephone according to claim 5, characterized in that said further switching means (V2, D1) are adapted to connect a high impedance point of the switchable reception amplifier (RXamp) to the earth potential at radiofrequencies. A radiotelephone according to claim 6, characterized in that said further switching means comprise a transistor (V2) or a diode (D1) by means of which the collector of a transistor (V1) of the switchable reception amplifier (RXamp) is connected to the earth potential. A radiotelephone according to any of the above claims, characterized in that said further switching means (V2; D1) are adapted to be controlled by a VTX signal in the radiotelephone, which VTX signal corresponds to the on/off state of the transmitter of the radiotelephone.

Inventors: MURTOJAERVI SIMO, MURTOJAERVI, SIMO, Murtojärvi, Simo
Applicants: NOKIA CORP, NOKIA CORPORATION
Application year: 1996
Main classification: H04B1
IPC codes: H04B1