IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,873,339
Granted Patent B2
US 8,873,339 · App. 13/572,519 · Granted Oct 28, 2014

Method and apparatus for a clock and signal distribution network for a 60 GHz transmitter system

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,873,339
App. No.
13/572,519
Filed
Aug 10, 2012
Granted
Oct 28, 2014
Kind
B2
Examiner
TAN, RICHARD
Art Unit
2842
USPC
367/137
Abstract

Herein is presented, a low power on-die 60 GHz distribution network for a beamforming system that can be scaled as the number of transmitters increases. The transmission line based power splitters and quadrature hybrids whose size would be proportional to a quarter wavelength (˜600 μm) if formed using transmission lines are instead constructed by inductors/capacitors and reduce the area by more than 80%. An input in-phase I clock and an input quadrature Q clock are combined into a single composite clock waveform locking the phase relation between the in-phase I clock and quadrature Q clock. The composite clock is transferred over a single transmission line formed using a Co-planar Waveguide (CPW) coupling the source and destination locations over the surface of a die. Once the individuals the in-phase I and quadrature Q clocks are required, they can be generated at the destination from the composite clock waveform.

Claims (64)

1. An apparatus comprising:

an in-phase clock and a quadrature clock of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) coupled to an input of a sinusoidal combiner;

a first composite clock of an output of said sinusoidal combiner coupled to an input of power divider;

a second and a third composite clock coupled to outputs of said power divider;

a plurality of transmission lines to transport all said composite clocks;

a quadrature hybrid to recover a first in-phase and a first quadrature clock from said second composite clock;

said first in-phase clock is used to generate a first inverse in-phase clock;

a first mixer clocked by said first in-phase and said first inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a first signal;

said first quadrature clock is used to generate a first inverse quadrature clock;

a second mixer clocked by said first quadrature and said first inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said first signal;

a summer to combine outputs of said first and second mixers;

an output of said summer coupled to a first transmitter;

said first transmitter coupled to a first antenna;

said first antenna transmits into free space said first signal after being up-converted;

a second quadrature hybrid to recover a second in-phase and a second quadrature clock from said third composite clock;

said second in-phase clock is used to generate a second inverse in-phase clock;

a third mixer clocked by said second in-phase and said second inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a second signal;

said second quadrature clock is used to generate a second inverse quadrature clock;

a fourth mixer clocked by said second quadrature and said second inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said second signal;

a second summer to combine outputs of said third and fourth mixers;

an output of said second summer coupled to a second transmitter;

said second transmitter coupled to a second antenna; and

said second antenna transmits into free space said second signal up-converted.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

each transmission line transport uses a single co-planar waveguide.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

said power divider and said quadrature hybrid are formed from lumped reactive components.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a first phase rotator controlled by a first digital control to generate said first signal; and

a second phase rotator controlled by a second digital control to generate said second signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein

said first signal after being up-converted and transmitted causes a constructive or a destructive interference between said second signal after being up-converted and transmitted such that a beam with greater intensity or less intensity, respectively, can be formed at a particular location in free space dependent on said first and second digital control values.

6. A method of transmitting signals into free space comprising the steps of:

coupling an in-phase clock and a quadrature clock of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) to an input of a sinusoidal combiner;

coupling a first composite clock of an output of said sinusoidal combiner to an input of a power divider;

coupling a second and a third composite clock to outputs of said power divider;

transporting all said composite clocks over a plurality of transmission lines;

recovering a first in-phase and a first quadrature clock from said second composite clock with a quadrature hybrid;

using said first in-phase clock to generate a first inverse in-phase clock;

clocking a first mixer by said first in-phase and said first inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a first signal;

using said first quadrature clock to generate a first inverse quadrature clock;

clocking a second mixer by said first quadrature and said first inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said first signal;

combining outputs of said first and second mixers with a summer;

coupling an output of said summer to a first transmitter;

coupling said first transmitter to a first antenna;

transmitting said first signal after being up-converted into free space with said first antenna;

recovering a second in-phase and a second quadrature clock from said third composite clock with a second quadrature hybrid;

using said second in-phase clock to generate a second inverse in-phase clock;

clocking a third mixer by said second in-phase and said second inverse in-phase clock to up-convert a second signal;

using said second quadrature clock to generate a second inverse quadrature clock;

clocking a fourth mixer by said second quadrature and said second inverse quadrature clock to up-convert said second signal;

combining outputs of said third and fourth mixers with a second summer;

coupling an output of said second summer to a second transmitter;

coupling said second transmitter to a second antenna; and

transmitting said second signal after being up-convened into free space with said second antenna.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein

each transmission line transport uses a single co-planar waveguide.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein

said power divider and said quadrature hybrid are formed from lumped reactive components.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising the steps of:

controlling a first phase rotator by a first digital control to generate said first signal; and

controlling a second phase rotator by a second digital control to generate said second signal.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein

said first signal after being up-converted and transmitted causes a constructive or a destructive interference between said second signal after being up-converted and transmitted such that a beam with greater intensity or less intensity, respectively, can be formed at a particular location in free space dependent on said first and second digital control values.