Abstract:
A filtering apparatus and method for dual-band sensing circuit are disclosed. The invention features a dual-band sensing unit disposed in a filtering device that receives the signals from a sub-system with variable frequency spectrum. The signals are split up into several bands. After that, one or more frequency detecting units are used to detect the power of high-band and low-band signals, and convert the power into a voltage signal. Users can externally adjust the gain of a tunable gain amplifier for the voltage signal. Further, a comparison operation is processed by a comparator, and a signal resulted from the comparison operation is used to control the switch timing for an RF switching unit. Consequently, this like adaptive notch filter is achieved to determine the intensity of noise and thereby to turn on the high-band or low-band notch filters, so as to reduce the in-band loss.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a filtering apparatus and a method for a dual-band sensing circuit, more particularly, a gain of a tunable gain amplifier is externally controlled to determine a switch timing for the notch filters for reducing the interference. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In general, a high frequency communication module will be designed in accordance with the requirement of the operating frequency spectrum. An RF filter is usually used for filtering the required frequencies. If the required filtered frequency spectrum or energy is higher, the operation order of the filters is higher. Moreover, different requirements of the order are applied to different design variants. The loss of signal strength inside the communication module increases with increasing order of the filters. The larger area of the circuit layout will lengthen the signaling path for the RF element, causing a larger loss in signal strength even though the required energy is supplied. 
         [0005]    Moreover, when the conventional high-frequency communication module is designed to be co-existed with variable-frequency subsystems, such as the wireless local area network WiMAX, GSM or 3G communication module cooperates with the subsystems in the frequencies 1.8 GHz and 5 GHz, whereby a filter with extra transmission zero is usually employed to prevent interference. However, the added transmission zero will increase the circuitry in the communication module, and thus increase the in-band loss. 
         [0006]    While the simultaneous operation of the variant-frequency subsystems will cause interference, this interference won&#39;t have too much effect on the whole system. The variable-frequency subsystems don&#39;t operate at the same time as above mentioned, but operate alternately. Thus, the general RF filter does not require too much flexibility to handle filtering of the subsystem signals. 
         [0007]    In particular, an adaptive notch filter is used for this wireless communication technology. Since the adaptive notch filter is disposed on an RF signaling path, the bandwidth of the filter is simply controlled to filter a specific frequency band and to respond to a required signal, so as to implement an object rather than a common filter. 
         [0008]    A common filter operates by either low-pass filtering or high-pass filtering, that is, the filter filters out the higher frequency segment or the lower frequency segment respectively. Nevertheless, the mentioned adaptive notch filter is a special type of filter that can separate the signals into two parts, wherein the lower frequency segment of one part and the higher frequency segment of the other part are filtered out and mixed afterwards. 
         [0009]    The technology of the adaptive notch filter used to eliminate the narrowband interference in wideband communication is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,378. The adaptive notch filter selectively filters a received wideband communication signal to eliminate narrowband interference. For determining the presence of narrowband interference, the adaptive notch filter scans various known narrowband channels that lie within the wideband frequency spectrum, thereby finding the interference source by determining the signal strength. 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a wireless communication device including an antenna  10  and a low-noise amplifier  12  connected with the antenna  10 . Further, the received signals are transmitted to a splitter  14  that is used to split the signals into different signaling paths. Some split signals are transmitted to the adaptive notch filter module  16 , and some are transmitted to one narrowband receiver  18 . The signals outputted from the adaptive notch filter module  16  are further transmitted to a wideband receiver  19 . 
         [0011]    The above-mentioned narrowband and wideband indicate two different channels with different frequency spectrums. The signals outputted from every channel are simultaneously transmitted to another system. In this example, the adaptive notch filter  16  can scan every channel to filter the narrowband interference, and couples to another controlling device or other systems such as a network system and telephony system. Moreover, the narrowband receiver  18  can couple with a switch. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    According to the illustration of the conventional art having the applications on different wireless communication bands or the applications among those bands, the filters therein will produce the mentioned drawbacks. Thus, the present invention provides a filtering apparatus and method for dual-band sensing circuit that can enhance the flexibility of the filters and improve performance for each band. Therefore, the switch timing of the high-band notch filters and low-band notch filters can be controlled precisely, so that one of the tunable voltage amplifiers can be tuned to a suitable gain which is used to switch the RF switch of the communication module. 
         [0013]    Besides, the adaptive notch filter of the present invention is applied to eliminate the communication signaling interference effectively, the filters can also be used to activate the high-frequency notch or low-frequency notch for switching the RF switch by determining the interference strength. Therefore the provided filters can reduce the in-band loss. 
         [0014]    The preferred embodiment of the filtering apparatus for a dual-band sensing circuit of the present invention at least includes a connect port that connects to a communication module with coexisted variable-frequency subsystems. The apparatus further includes a dual-band sensing unit that splits the received signals into high-band, main-band and low-band signals to several sensing paths. The apparatus further includes a frequency detecting unit for detecting the power of the received signals and converting the power to a voltage. The apparatus further includes a tunable gain amplifier for producing a suitable gain by considering the interference and tuning the mentioned voltage. The apparatus includes a comparing unit for processing a comparison operation between the gain-amplified voltage and a reference voltage. So that, the apparatus can precisely control the timing to turn on the notch filters, and effectively filter and suppress the interference. 
         [0015]    The preferred embodiment of the filtering method for a dual-band sensing circuit of the present invention includes a first step of receiving signals, especially the signals generated from a variable-frequency subsystem. Then the received signals are split into respective high-band and low-band signals by filtering. Next, the energy of high-band and low-band signals are calculated respectively, and converted to voltage signals. Next, the controlling signals are generated by manual external control, and the tunable gain amplifier is tuned to obtain a suitable gain for gain-amplifying. After that, the method goes to perform a comparison operation by a comparing unit for controlling the timing to turn on or off the switches. The activation timing for the high-band or low-band notch filter is controlled to filter the signals, and the in-band can be prevented consequently. The outputted signals are sent out through antenna at last. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic diagram of a conventional wireless communication device; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of the embodiment of the filtering apparatus in a dual-band sensing circuit of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram of the embodiment of the claimed filtering apparatus; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a schematic diagram of the embodiment of the dual-band sensing unit of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  shows the curves of frequency response of the filtering apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of the filtering method of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    The present invention is illustrated with a preferred embodiment and attached drawings. However, the invention is not intended to be limited thereby. 
         [0024]    A notch filter is a filter that filters out the signals in a specific frequency spectrum. An object of the filtering apparatus and method for dual-band sensing circuit of the present invention is to provide an adaptive notch filter that is disposed on an RF signaling path. The high-band or low-band notch filter is activated by determining the current interference strength by the filtering apparatus. After that, the bandwidth of the filter can be simply controlled to filter out a specific band so as to decrease an in-band loss and respond a required signal. 
         [0025]    Reference is made to  FIG. 2 , which shows an embodiment of the filtering apparatus for dual-band sensing circuit of the present invention. The filtering apparatus connects to an external signal source through a connect port  201 . In the preferred embodiment, the external signal source is implemented as a communication module coexisted with a variable-frequency subsystem. Further, when the signals are transmitted into the filtering apparatus through the connect port  201 . Meanwhile, the signals are through a dual-band sensing unit  21  and being split into high and low frequency segments such as high-band, main-band and low-band sensing paths. Since impedance is incorporated, the bandwidth of frequency spectrum can be filtered effectively and controlled easily for eliminating interference. 
         [0026]    After split frequency, the high-band signals will pass through a high-band detecting unit  22  capable of high-band detection. The high-band detecting unit  22  couples with the dual-band sensing unit  21 , and detects the signaling energy. After that, the detected energy is converted to a voltage and then being transmitted to a tunable gain amplifier  24  coupling to a detecting unit. In the present invention, the tunable gain amplifiers  24  and  25  are disposed in the high-band filtering circuit and low-band filtering circuit respectively. Thus, the way to tune the gain won&#39;t amplify the signals of whole system, so that, the main-band signals won&#39;t be affected. 
         [0027]    The tunable gain amplifier  24  can receive the control signals outside the filtering apparatus. That is, users can enter the control signals via a terminal  203  to adjust the tunable gain amplifier  24  responsive to the interference caused in the apparatus. Next, a suitable amplified voltage is provided in response to a reference voltage. Since every switch has its own characteristics with an activation voltage, the switches in the filtering apparatus can be turned on and turned off by users&#39; configuration. Further, the notch filters  281 ,  282  can be turned on or turned off correspondingly, and then the required signals are sent out via the connect port  202 . Therefore the adaptive notch filters provided by the present invention achieves a customized filtering requirement. 
         [0028]    After that, the gain-amplified voltage will be transmitted to a first comparing unit  26 . The first comparing unit  26  couples to the tunable gain amplifier  24  and introduces a reference voltage. This comparing unit  26  performs a comparison operation between the voltage and the reference voltage, thereby to determine the switches being turned on or off in the RF switching unit  28 . The reference voltage is inputted via a terminal  204  which is configured by the designs of the switches (not shown) in the RF switching unit  28  that couples with the first comparing unit  28 . The reference voltage will influence the result from the comparison operation between the reference voltage and the gain-amplified voltage. For example, a signal  1  (on) or  0  (off) is generated by the comparison operation, thereby to control the operation of the switches for precisely controlling the switch timing of activating the high-band or low-band notch filters. 
         [0029]    The mentioned RF switching unit  28  at least includes the notch filters  281 ,  282  applied to high-band or low-band signaling. Each notch filter  281  or  282  can filter out a specific frequency spectrum. Particularly, the switch timing of the notch filters can be controlled by operating with the switches. Thus, the determination of the strength of interference in the apparatus can be used to activate the notch filters for decreasing the in-band loss of whole system. 
         [0030]    The low-band filtering circuit is similar to the mentioned high-band filtering circuit. After split frequency by the dual-band sensing unit  21 , the low-band signals will be transmitted to a low-band detecting unit  23  capable of detecting low-band signals. The energy of the signals are detected firstly, and being converted to voltage signals. Next, the voltage signals are transmitted to another tunable gain amplifier  25 . The tunable gain amplifier  25  can receive a control signal outside the filtering apparatus. The users can also enter the control signal for low frequency filtering via the terminal  205 . By means of gain amplifying, the control voltage can be tuned and entered responsive to the interference caused on the apparatus. Since each switch has its own characteristics of activation voltage, a suitable amplified voltage can be provided to compare with the reference voltage. 
         [0031]    Moreover, a second comparing unit  27  incorporates a reference voltage via a terminal  206 . The reference voltage is configured in response to the characteristics of the switches (not shown) in the RF switching unit  28 . The users use the control signal to configure the gain for amplifying. Next, the comparison operation between the reference voltage and gain-amplified voltage is referred to control the switch timing for each switch in the filtering apparatus. Therefore, a customized filtering requirement is achieved by using the adaptive notch filters, and thereby to control the loss of the apparatus. 
         [0032]    Reference is made to  FIG. 3  showing a schematic diagram of the embodiment of the filtering apparatus. In the preferred embodiment, a module coexisted with the variable-frequency subsystems generates signals involving the frequency spectrum 1.8 GHz, 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz in a communication device. The signals can be filtered to generate the signals in variable bands. Meanwhile, the interference among the subsystems with different band should be eliminated. The signals are inputted from an external module via a connect port  201 , and being split into variable frequencies through the dual-band sensing unit  21 —including high-band, main-band and low-band signals. The useless signals will be filter out by the dual-band sensing unit  21 . 
         [0033]    In the diagram, the dual-band sensing unit  21  has a plurality of connect terminals  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6  which correspond to the connect terminals of the sensing circuit shown in  FIG. 4 . Particularly, a stepped impedance open stub is used to generate a characteristic with transmission zero which is clarified in the description of  FIG. 4 . 
         [0034]    The signals split by the dual-band sensing unit  21  are transmitted out via the connect terminals  4 ,  5  and  6 . The high-band detecting unit  22  receives the high-band signals via the connect terminal  4 , and converts the detected signals into voltage signals. Next, the users can enter control signal via the terminal  203  to the tunable gain amplifier  24 . In this exemplary embodiment, a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA) embodies this tunable gain amplifier  24  and the amplifier is a frequency-controlled circuit which controls the voltage for adjusting the gain. Particularly, the users can control the voltage externally for controlling the gain of the amplifier, thereby to adjust the signal with tiny voltage. Next, by means of the first comparing unit  26 , a comparison operation is operated with a reference voltage that is inputted via the terminal  204  and being adjusted based on the switches. After the comparison operation by the first comparing unit  26 , a control signal  1  as high voltage or  0  as low voltage is generated. 
         [0035]    Likewise, a low-band detecting unit  23  converts the low-band signals into the voltage signals via connect terminal  6 . The users can send the control signal to the tunable gain amplifier  25  via the terminal  205  for tuning the gain. The amplifier in a preferred embodiment is implemented as a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA). After gain amplifying, the inputted low-band signals is compared with the reference voltage by the second comparing unit  27 , so as to generate the control signal with level high or level low voltage for controlling the switches. 
         [0036]    After the control signal is generated through high-band signaling circuit and the low-band signaling circuit, the signals will be filtered by the notch filters capable of high-band or low-band filtering. According to the embodiment shown in the diagram, the RF switching unit connected with an antenna is a switching circuit which is implemented as a plurality of switches. The switches have different operating characteristics. For example, a first switch  301  and a second switch  302  coupled with the first comparing unit  26 , and a fifth switch  305  and a sixth switch  306  coupled with the second comparing unit  27  are the positive logic RF switches. This kind of positive logic RF switch is turned on as in level high or signal  1 , and turned off as in level low or signal  0 . Otherwise, a third switch  303  coupled to the first comparing unit  26  and a fourth switch  304  couple to the second comparing unit  27  are the negative logic RF switches. This negative logic RF switch is turned on as in level low or signal  0 , and turned off as in level high or signal  1 . 
         [0037]    Referring to the circuit shown in the figure, the first comparing unit  26  couples to the first switch  301 , second switch  302  and third switch  303 , and the second comparing unit  27  couples to the fourth switch  304 , fifth switch  305  and the sixth switch  306 . One object of the present invention is to control the switch timing of the notch filters by means of controlling the switch timing of those switches, and to achieve the adaptive notch filter. 
         [0038]    In the beginning of the operation of the filtering apparatus, the users are required to determine a gain in view of requirements of filtering and interference elimination. A control signal responsive to the gain requirement is inputted via the terminals  203  and  205 . The switch timing for each switch is controlled according to the comparison operation. After that, the high-band and low-band notch filters are used to filter the frequency spectrum accordingly. 
         [0039]    In the current embodiment, when a high-band signal passes through the high-band detecting unit  22 , the tunable gain amplifier  24  and the first comparing unit  26 , a level high signal or signal  1  is generated to turn on the positive logic RF switches including the first switch  301  and the second switch  302 , but to turn off the negative logic RF switch such as the third switch  303 . In the meantime, the related circuit in charge of dealing with the low-band signals generates a level low signal or signal  0 , that is, the second comparing unit  27  generates the level low signal to turn off the positive logic RF switches including the fifth switch  305  and the sixth switch  306 , and turn on the negative logic RF switch such as the fourth switch  304 . 
         [0040]    Correspondingly, if the inputted control signal is a low-band signal which is a variable frequency of the high-band signal, the upper high-band filtering circuit generates the level low signal or signal  0  that will turn off the positive logic RF switch and turn on the negative logic RF switch. Otherwise, the under low-band filtering circuit generates a level-high signal or signal  1  to turn on the positive logic RF switch and turn off the negative logic RF switch. 
         [0041]    According to the above operation, when the input signal is a high-band signal, the generated voltage signal will be used to control the switches. So that, since the signal is transmitted to the high-band notch filter  31  through the first switch  301 , the useless frequency spectrum will be filtered out, and the higher frequency spectrum will be kept. Since the second switch  302  is turned on, the high-band signal can be transmitted to the connect port  202 , and sent out via an antenna. In particular, since the third switch  303  and the fifth switch  305  are turned off, the signal won&#39;t be influenced by other inner circuit. 
         [0042]    On the other hand, when the input signal is a low-band signal, the generated voltage signal will turn on the positive logic RF switches including the fifth switch  305  and the sixth switch  306 . After that, the useless frequency spectrum will be filtered out as the signal passes through the low-band notch filter  32 . In the meantime, the negative logic RF switch such as the third switch  303  connecting to the antenna is turned on and the fourth switch  304  is turned off, so the signal can be sent out via the antenna without any inner interference. 
         [0043]    Reference is made to  FIG. 4  showing the embodiment of the dual-band sensing unit. There are three paths indicating three mutual coupled circuits with different frequency spectrums other than the conventional two coupled circuits with respective high-band and low-band spectrums. A plurality of connect terminals  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6  shown in the drawing corresponds to the connect terminals  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6  of the dual-band sensing unit  21  shown in  FIG. 3 . The mentioned three sensing paths has the connect terminals  1  and  4  forming the high-band sensing path, and an open stub  41  (the stepped impedance open stub is for another embodiment) is disposed on the path for filtering some specific spectrums. This high-band sensing path is used to filter out the lower frequency spectrum including the low-band and the main-band parts. The component A indicates a transmission line effect caused on the path. 
         [0044]    Furthermore, the circuit between the connect terminals  2  and  5  forms a main-band sensing path. The interference caused by the coupling effect between the circuits should be considered besides considering the transmission line effect indicated as the components B and D. 
         [0045]    Still further, the circuit between the connect terminals  3  and  6  forms a low-band sensing path. Besides the transmission line effect shown as components C and E, a stepped impedance open stub is disposed on this path for easily controlling two or more frequencies of two or more transmission zeros, and effectively filtering out the useless frequencies such as main-band and high-band spectrums. Consequently, a tunable transmission zero will be generated; therefore, the filtering apparatus can effectively prevent some unnecessary coupled frequencies by well-controlled position of the transmission zero as designing the apparatus. 
         [0046]    Reference is made to  FIG. 5  showing the curves of the frequency response of the filtering apparatus of the dual-band sensing unit shown in  FIG. 4 . This modular embodiment of the dual-band sensing unit is disposed on the filtering apparatus of the present invention. 
         [0047]    There are three curves respectively indicating a main-band coupling curve  501 , a high-band coupling curve  502  and a low-band coupling curve  503 . Since the tunable gain amplifier is used to adjust a suitable gain through the high-band and low-band filtering circuits, the main-band signals won&#39;t be influenced as the curve  501  shows. With the frequency becomes higher, the insertion loss varies slightly. Such as the frequencies marked as the points a, b, c, d and e, the point a indicates frequency Xa=2.40 GHz (such as the frequency spectrum of WLAN) and insertion loss Ya=−0.29. 
         [0048]    The curve  502  shows the curve of high-band signals. For filtering the high-band signals, the main-band and low-band signals will be filtered out. The point c shows a transmission zero which is generated by the open stub  41  disposed on the high-band sensing path in  FIG. 4 . Therefore, the low-band interference is eliminated since the low-band part, such as the point b, is filtered out. 
         [0049]    Further, a stepped impedance open stub is disposed on the low-band sensing path, thereby to control two or more frequencies of transmission zeros such as the point d (Xd=2.40 GHz, Yd=−48.84) and point e (Xe=5.40 GHz Ye=−41.23) on the low-band coupling curve  503  in  FIG. 5 . Based on the requirement, the stepped impedance open stub is adjusted to control two or more positions of the transmission zeros. In the present embodiment, the position of point e can be adjusted in response to high-band interference. In order to determine the frequency spectrum to be filtered out, the distance between the point d and the point e can be adjusted. 
         [0050]    Under the analytic result, not only the adaptive notch filter provided by the preset invention can enhance the flexibility of the filtering apparatus, but also to enhance the performance of main-band signaling because the high-band or low-band signals won&#39;t affect the main-band signals. Further, the stepped impedance open stub of the dual-band sensing circuit with transmission zero is arranged to control the two or more frequencies of the transmission zeros for preventing unnecessary frequencies to be coupled. Further, the stepped impedance open stub is also used to control the switch timing of the high-band notch filter and the low-band notch filter precisely. In the meantime, the tunable gain amplifier provides a suitable gain for the voltage comparison by a comparator. After that, the RF switching unit is controlled by controlling the switch timing for each switch. 
         [0051]      FIG. 6  shows a flow chart of the filtering method provided by the mentioned filtering apparatus. In the beginning, the filtering apparatus receives the external signals, especially the signals produced by a variable-frequency subsystem having two or more frequency spectrums (step S 601 ). Next, the dual-band sensing unit performs split frequency to separate the signals into a high-band frequency spectrum and a low-band frequency spectrum. Further, the stepped impedance open stub is arranged with the sensing unit for implementing a tunable filtering (step S 603 ). 
         [0052]    After the process of split frequency, the high-band detecting unit detects the energy of the high-band signals (step S 605 ), and converts the energy into voltage signals (step S 607 ). Similarly, the low-band detecting unit detects the energy of the low-band signals, and converts them into voltage signals. 
         [0053]    Next, the users can control the high-band and low-band parts externally to generate the control signal (step S 611 ). The control signal is inputted to the tunable gain amplifier for adjusting the gain (step S 609 ). Particularly, the control voltage and the suitable gain are arranged based on the interference caused on each system. Next, the comparison operation between the gain amplified voltage and the reference voltage is operated by a comparing unit (step S 613 ). The switch timing for each switch is controlled responsive to the result of comparison operation (step S 615 ). The embodiment of the switches is shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0054]    The switch timing for each switch is determined by the input signal, and further to control the switch timing of the high-band and low-band notch filters precisely. Afterwards, the notch filter goes to process filtering, that is to activate the high-band or low-band filtering by determining the strength of interference, so as to eliminate the in-band loss (step S 617 ). At last, the signals are sent out via antenna (step S 619 ). 
         [0055]    If the modular dual-band sensing unit provided by the present invention is incorporated with a common RF-related product, only the gain of the tunable gain amplifier needs to be arranged according to the requirement of product. Since the switch timing for each switch of the RF switch unit is controlled according to the comparison operation, the switch timing of the notch filter is further controlled. By means of controlling the RF switching unit, the interference is eliminated effectively for the coexisted variable-frequency subsystem. Most important thing is to prevent the in-band interference or in-system redundant interference. 
         [0056]    While the invention has been described by means of a specification with accompanying drawings of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.