Patent ID: 7639728

Claim:
A frequency hopping communications device for transmitting signals on a plurality of M subcarrier signals in parallel, each of said M subcarrier signals corresponding to a different one of M subcarrier signal frequencies, said M subcarrier signal frequencies being a subset of N subcarrier frequencies on which said communications device may transmit signals over time, where M and N are positive integers and where M<N, said frequency hopping communications device including: a frequency control circuit for controlling which of the N subcarrier frequencies are generated and used by said device for the transmission of signals; a plurality of M separate subcarrier signals paths operating in parallel, each of the M subcarrier signal paths including a programmable signal generator coupled to said frequency control circuit, a power amplification circuit and a filter circuit, said programmable signal generator for generating a subcarrier signal determined by said frequency control circuit and having a subcarrier frequency corresponding to said subcarrier signal path to which said signal generator corresponds, wherein each of the M signal filter circuits, that each correspond to a different one of said M separate subcarrier signal paths, is a fixed filter, at least one of the M fixed filters having a passband bandwidth at least equal to Y times the average frequency spacing between the N frequencies that said device can use as the N subcarrier frequencies, where Y is a positive number greater than 1; and a combining circuit for combining analog subcarrier signals corresponding to different subcarrier signal paths prior to transmission.