IP Library Granted Patent US 9,350,298
Granted Patent B2
US 9,350,298 · App. 14/153,295 · Granted May 24, 2016

Circuit and method for image frequency rejection

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,350,298
App. No.
14/153,295
Filed
Jan 13, 2014
Granted
May 24, 2016
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2647
USPC
455/260
Abstract

In certain embodiments, a circuit for image frequency rejection includes an analog adder-amplifier that has a transistor pair. The adder-amplifier is configured to receive a plurality of downmixed or upmixed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals, and to add an in-phase signal and a quadrature-phase signal applied at control inputs of both transistors of the transistor pair. Both transistors of the transistor pair are connectable to a same load resistor for addition of the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors. The adder-amplifier is configured to output, based on adding the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors of the transistor pair, one or more summed signals.

Claims (41)

1. A circuit for image frequency rejection, the circuit comprising:

an analog adder-amplifier device comprising a transistor pair and configured to:

receive a plurality of downmixed or upmixed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals;

add an in-phase signal and a quadrature-phase signal applied at control inputs of both transistors of the transistor pair, both transistors of the transistor pair being connectable to a same load resistor for addition of the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors; and

output, based on adding the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors of the transistor pair, one or more summed signals.

2. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of downmixed or upmixed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals are received from an analog dual-quadrature mixer device.

3. The circuit of claim 2 , wherein:

the analog adder-amplifier device is configured to output the one or more summed signals to a multistage analog polyphase filter; and

one or more of the polyphase filter, the dual-quadrature mixer device, and the adder-amplifier device are formed differentially.

4. The circuit of claim 2 , wherein the dual-quadrature mixer device comprises at least one passive mixer.

5. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein a load is formed by passive components.

6. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein:

the analog adder-amplifier device is configured to output the one or more summed signals to a multistage analog polyphase filter; and

a load is formed by components of the multistage analog polyphase filter.

7. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein a load is formed by active components.

8. The circuit of claim 7 , wherein:

the analog adder-amplifier device comprises a plurality of transistor pairs; and

the load formed by active components is formed by two complementary transistors, a transistor of the transistor pair and a complementary transistor together forming a push-pull stage.

9. A method for image frequency rejection, the method comprising:

receiving, using circuitry, a plurality of downmixed or upmixed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals;

adding and amplifying, by the circuitry, an in-phase and a quadrature-phase signal applied at control inputs of both transistors of a transistor pair of the circuitry, both transistors of the transistor pair being connectable to a same load resistor for addition of the in-phase and

the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors; and

outputting, based on adding the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal applied at the control inputs of both transistors of the transistor pair, one or more summed signals.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising receiving, by the circuitry, the plurality of downmixed or upmixed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals from an analog dual-quadrature mixer device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the circuitry is configured to output the one or more summed signals to a multistage analog polyphase filter; and

one or more of the polyphase filter, the dual-quadrature mixer device, and the circuitry are formed differentially.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the dual-quadrature mixer device comprises at least one passive mixer.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising forming a load by passive components.

14. The method of claim 9 , comprising outputting, by the circuitry, the one or more summed signals to a multistage analog polyphase filter, a load being formed by components of the multistage analog polyphase filter.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising forming a load by active components.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the circuitry comprises a plurality of transistor pairs; and

forming the load by the active components comprises forming the load from two complementary transistors, a transistor of the transistor pair and a complementary transistor together forming a push-pull stage.

17. A circuit for image frequency rejection, the circuit comprising:

an analog adder-amplifier device configured to:

receive a downmixed or upmixed in-phase signal and a downmixed or upmixed quadrature-phase signal;

determine, by operations comprising adding the downmixed or upmixed in-phase signal and the downmixed or upmixed quadrature-phase signal, one or more summed signals; and

output the one or more summed signals to a multistage analog polyphase filter, wherein the analog adder-amplifier device further comprises a plurality of amplifiers, at least two amplifiers being connectable to a same load resistor for addition of an in-phase signal and an quadrature-phase signal applied at control inputs of both of the at least two amplifiers, the control inputs of both of the at least two amplifiers being connectable downstream of outputs of an analog dual-quadrature mixer device.

18. The circuit of claim 17 , wherein a load is formed by components of the multistage analog polyphase filter.

19. The circuit of claim 17 , wherein a load is formed by active components, the load formed by the active components being formed from two complementary amplifiers, a transistor of the at least two amplifiers and a complementary amplifier together forming a push-pull stage.

Assignments (18)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 060894/0437 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 11, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059363/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059863/0400 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 9, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059358/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: ATMEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 059262/0105 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 25, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059333/0222 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 4, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 057935/0474 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055671/0612 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 053468/0705 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2020
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 053466/0011 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0305 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 18, 2018
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 047103/0206 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 25, 2018
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 046426/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 10, 2017
From: ATMEL CORPORATION
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 041715/0747 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL Recorded Apr 7, 2016
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: ATMEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 038375/0490 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 15, 2014
From: ATMEL CORPORATION
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
Reel/Frame 032908/0485 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 7, 2014
From: ATMEL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
To: ATMEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 032381/0739 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 7, 2014
From: SCHWARZMUELLER, MARCO
To: ATMEL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
Reel/Frame 032381/0555 →