Patent Application: US-77639201-A

Abstract:
a differential two - or - more stage oscillator with precision phase tuning is presented . the phase difference between the stages can be varied by differentially adjusting the propagation delays of each stage . in addition , an injection - locked differential two - or - more stage oscillator with precision phase tuning is presented . the phase relationship between the stages can be altered without altering the frequency of the oscillator by differentially altering input bias voltages coupled to each stage . additionally , a mechanism for the realization of a self - calibrating image - reject mixer architecture within a radio transceiver utilizing the new oscillator circuits is introduced . the mechanism provides a practical means for allowing a portable wireless device , for example , a cellular telephone , to calibrate its internal receive and transmit image - reject - mixer &# 39 ; s phase and amplitude errors without the use of an externally applied test signal .

Description:
[ 0006 ] fig1 shows a differential 2 stage ring oscillator 20 with quadrature output phases . oscillator 20 includes a ring oscillator 21 and two current sources 28 , 30 . ring oscillator 21 includes a pair of differential amplifiers 22 and 24 which are connected together as a ring oscillator . the propagation delay τ a of amplifier 22 is controlled by varying the current of controllable current source 28 and the propagation delay τ b of amplifier 24 is controlled by varying the current of controllable current source 30 . the oscillation frequency of ring oscillator 21 is inversely related to the total propagation delay ( τ a + τ b ) of amplifiers 22 and 24 . signal v 1 is measured across nodes v 1 + and v 1 − . signal v 2 is measured across nodes v 2 + and v 2 − . if the propagation delays , τ a and τ b , of amplifiers 22 and 24 are equal , then signal v 2 will lag 90 ° behind signal v 1 ( i . e . signals v 1 and v 2 will be quadrature signals ). propagation delay τ a of amplifier 22 can be changed by adjusting the current of current source 28 . similarly , propagation delay τ b of amplifier 24 can be changed by adjusting the current of current source 30 . the frequency of ring oscillator 21 may be varied , without affecting the phase difference between signals v 1 and v 2 , by adjusting the currents of current sources 28 and 30 proportionally . the phase difference between signals v 1 and v 2 may be varied by differentially adjusting the propagation delays , τ a and τ b , of amplifiers 22 and 24 . this is done by differentially adjusting the currents of current sources 28 and 30 . [ 0009 ] fig2 is a schematic diagram of circuit 10 . amplifier 22 comprises a pair of emitter coupled amplifiers q 1 and q 2 . amplifier 24 comprises a pair of emitter coupled transistors q 3 and q 4 . the collectors and bases of transistors q 1 - q 4 are connected to form differential ring 21 . the collectors of q 1 and q 2 are coupled to a voltage source v cc1 through resistors r 1 and r 2 . the collectors of q 3 and q 4 are coupled to voltage source v cc2 through resistors r 3 and r 4 . current source 28 comprises a transistor q 5 . the base of transistor q 5 is coupled to at input voltage v bias1 , which controls the current of current source 28 . similarly , current source 30 comprises a transistor q 6 . the current of current source 30 is controlled by voltage signal v bias2 . voltage signals v bias1 and v bias2 must have a as the level of voltage signal v bias1 is increased , the current of current source 28 will increase . this will increase the switching speed and decrease the propagation delay of differential amplifier 22 . similarly , the switching speed and propagation delay of differential amplifier 24 are controlled by varying the level of voltage signal v bias2 . although the propagation delays of amplifiers 22 and 24 are described here as being controlled by varying the bias currents of the amplifiers ( i . e . the currents of current sources 28 and 30 ), the same results may be attained by creating any imbalance in the electrical symmetry between amplifiers 22 and 24 . for example : a bias voltage or current may be altered at any node of ring oscillator 21 . alternatively , a controllable capacitor , inductor or resistor may be coupled to any node to differentially alter the internal impedances in amplifiers 22 and 24 . ring oscillator 21 may also be implemented as a pair of quadrature coupled differential oscillators . [ 0014 ] fig3 shows a differential regenerative ( i . e . dynamic ) divider 50 with quadrature output . this circuit is identical to circuit 20 , except that the bases of transistors q 5 and q 6 are additionally coupled to an input signal v in at nodes 52 and 54 through coupling capacitors c c1 and c c2 . signal v in is received at nodes 52 , 54 and has a frequency f in . transistors q 5 and q 6 convert input signal v in into an alternating current signal i in which is injected into emitter coupled nodes 56 and 58 of amplifiers 22 and 24 . the frequency of current signal i in is the same as the frequency f in of input signal v in . this injection locks ring oscillator 21 such that the oscillation frequency f osc of the ring oscillator is half the input frequency f in of input signal v in . if the propagation delays τ a and τ b of amplifiers 22 and 24 are configured to be the same , then signals v 1 and v 2 will be quadrature phased signals ( i . e . they will be separated in phase by 90 °). the phase relationship between v 1 and v 2 can be altered , without altering the frequency of ring oscillator 21 by differentially altering input voltages v bias1 and v bias2 . since ring oscillator 21 is injection locked to frequency f in / 2 , it is only necessary to vary one of the input voltages v bias1 or v bias2 , with respect to the other , to vary the phase relationship between v 1 and v 2 . in radio system architectures , image reject mixing requires accurate quadrature local oscillator signal generators to attain high image rejection performance . this is required for both up ( transmitter ) and down ( receiver ) conversions . known designs attempt to design the quadrature signal generator ( frequency divider ) to produce as accurately as possible a pair of signals ( generally referred to as the inphase ( i ) and quadrature ( q ) signals ) which are separated by precisely 90 °. it is impossible to account for all process tolerances which can impair the image rejection performance of an image reject architecture . approximately 1 ° of phase error is common . this translates to a maximum image rejection of about 46 db . including other sources of phase and amplitude error in the quadrature down conversion path a typical specification for image rejection is approximately 35 db . in order to improve image rejection beyond this level , a system is required for controlling the phase relation between the i and q local oscillator signals with a high degree of precision . this system may be used to provide i and q signals which have a phase relation which compensates for the other sources of phase error . in a particular case , the phase relation between the i and q signals may be greater or less than 90 °. [ 0019 ] fig4 is a block diagram of an image reject mixer 100 using the hartley topology . signal rf in comprises a rf signal having a frequency f rf and an image signal having a frequency f im . signal generator 101 provides a pair of local oscillator signals v 1 ( which takes the place of the i signal ) and v 2 ( which takes the place of the q signal ), both having the same frequency f lo . signals v 1 and v 2 have phase angles φ v1 and φ v2 . φ v1 is arbitrarily chosen as a reference for 0 ° phase . signals v 1 and v 2 are mixed with the received signal rf in in mixers 102 and 104 to provide a pair of signals if 1 and if 2 . when high side injection is used ( f lo is greater than f rf ), the if 1 signal comprises the rf signal converted to frequency ( f lo − f rf ) and the image signal ( sideband ) converted to frequency ( f im − f lo ). signal if 2 comprises the rf signal converted to frequency ( f lo − f rf ) and shifted in phase by φ v2 ° and the image signal converted to frequency ( f im − f lo ) and shifted in phase by − φ v2 °. the amplified signals if 1 and if 2 are combined by a quadrature combiner 110 . quadrature combiner 110 is designed to complete the image rejection by providing a phase shift φ qc1 to signal if 1 and a phase shift φ qc2 to signal if 2 . ideally , to maximize suppression of the image signal , φ qc1 − φ v1 = 0 ° and φ qc2 + φ v2 =− 180 ° ( assuming high side injection ). ideally , φ v2 − φ v1 = 90 °, φ qc2 − φ qc1 = 90 °. in known quadrature combiners , φ qc2 − φ qc1 is generally not 90 °. typically a phase error exists , and the image is not maximally suppressed . in addition , known quadrature combiners also introduce amplitude errors in the if 1 and / or if 2 signal paths . for example , both signal if 1 may be reduced in amplitude by n db . current state of the art systems attempt to maintain the 90 ° phase separations between φ v1 and φ v2 and between φ qc1 and φ qc2 . it has been found that image rejection performance can be substantially increased by adjusting the phase difference to compensate for the phase error in the quadrature combiner 110 . in addition , amplitude errors in the if 1 and if 2 signal paths can be compensated for . [ 0022 ] fig5 shows an improved image reject mixer 200 . components of image reject mixer 200 which correspond to components of image reject 100 are identified by the same reference numerals . signal generator 101 of image reject mixer has been replaced with circuit 50 ( fig3 ). nodes 52 and 54 of circuit 50 are coupled to a signal generator 202 . output signal if out is received by a carrier level detector 203 . carrier level detector provides a signal to feedback controller 204 . feedback controller provides control signals to switches sw 1 and sw 2 , calibration signal transmitter 206 , signal generator 202 , amplifiers 210 , 212 and provides voltage signal v bias1 and v bias2 . image reject mixer has a calibration mode and operation mode . initially , in the calibration mode the following configuration is set by controller 204 : ( a ) switches sw 1 and sw 2 are configured to connect calibration signal transmitter 206 to input node rf in ; ( b ) signal generator 202 is configured to produce a signal with a frequency twice that required for the local oscillator signals v 1 and v 2 ; and ( c ) voltage signals v bias1 and v bias2 are configured to initiate the operation of circuit 50 with the phase delays of amplifiers 22 and 24 being approximately equal ; and ( d ) calibration signal transmitter 206 is configured to generate a signal at the frequency of the image ; ( e ) the gains of amplifiers 210 and 212 are set equal . controller 204 then runs a calibration algorithm . signal if out is generated as in image reject mixer 100 . signal if out will contain the image signal generated by calibration signal generator 206 . the level of signal if out will correspond to phase and amplitude errors introduced in quadrature combiner 110 and other components of image reject mixer 200 . carrier level detector provides a signal corresponding to the level of signal if out to controller 204 . controller 204 then adjusts the relative propagation delays of amplifier 22 and 24 ( within circuit 50 ) to control the relative phase difference between v 1 and v 2 to reduce the signal level of if out as much as possible . controller 204 than adjusts the relative gains of amplifiers 210 and 212 to reduce the signal level of if out as much as possible . controller 204 then alternately attempts to reduce the signal level of if out by adjusting the phase difference between v 1 and v 2 and by adjusting the relative gains of amplifiers 210 and 212 . when no further reduction of if out is attained for several iterations , the calibration mode is terminated by configuring switches sw 1 and sw 2 to disconnect the calibration signal transmitter 206 from node rf in and to connect the antenna to node rf in . image reject mixer 200 then enters the operation mode . the setting for the phase difference between v 1 and v 2 and the relative gains of amplifiers 210 and 212 determined during the calibration mode are retained during the operation mode to maintain the improved image reject performance of image reject mixer 200 attained during calibration mode . image reject mixer 200 may be integrated . the functionality of the elements of image reject mixer 200 contained within dashed boundary 216 may wholly or partially implemented using analog or digital technology . in addition , image reject mixer 200 may be used with a transmitter . 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