Frequency conversion circuit arrangement and mobile radio comprising said circuit arrangement
View Patent ↗A frequency conversion circuit arrangement is disclosed providing a complex output signal at its output. The circuit comprises two frequency mixers that are driven, on the one hand, by an input signal and, on the other hand, by a feedback signal. In this case, the feedback signal is the frequency-divided output signal and has been broken down into an in-phase component and a quadrature component. The frequency conversion circuit provides a signal at an output frequency in a manner independent of production tolerances and accurately in terms of frequency, said signal being in the form of an IQ signal and additionally being decoupled, in terms of frequency, from the input signal. The frequency conversion circuit is therefore particularly well suited to use in mobile radio transceivers.
1. A frequency conversion circuit, comprising:
an input configured to supply an input signal at an input frequency;
an output configured to tap off a complex output signal at an output frequency that is dependent on the input frequency, wherein the output comprises an in-phase path and a quadrature path;
a first frequency mixer comprising a first input connected to the input of the frequency conversion circuit, a second input and an output coupled to the output of the frequency conversion circuit;
a second frequency mixer comprising a first input connected to the input of the frequency conversion circuit, a second input and an output coupled to the output of the frequency conversion circuit; and
a frequency divider comprising an input coupled to the output of the first frequency mixer, an in-phase output coupled to the second input of the second frequency mixer, and a quadrature output coupled to the second input of the first frequency mixer, wherein the frequency divider is configured to supply a respective signal component of a signal input thereto at a divided-down output frequency.
2. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the frequency divider comprises a divide-by-two frequency divider.
3. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the frequency divider comprises a flip-flop having a zero degree output and a 90 degree output which form the in-phase and quadrature outputs of the frequency divider, respectively.
4. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the flip-flop comprises a clock input that forms the input of the frequency divider.
5. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a means for decoupling a DC component of the output signal, wherein the means is coupled between the output of the first frequency mixer and the input of the frequency divider.
6. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the means for decoupling the DC component comprises a capacitor.
7. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a means for decoupling a DC component of the output signal, wherein the means is coupled to the output of the second frequency mixer.
8. The circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the means for decoupling the DC component comprises a capacitor.
9. A mobile radio system, comprising:
at least one mixer device configured to convert a frequency of a signal between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency, the device comprising an auxiliary input configured to receive a complex signal at a carrier frequency;
a frequency generator configured to provide a reference signal at a reference frequency at an output thereof; and
a frequency conversion circuit comprising an input coupled to the output of the frequency generator, and comprising an output coupled to the auxiliary input of the mixer device, wherein the frequency conversion circuit comprises:
an input configured to receive the reference signal at the reference frequency;
an output configured to tap off a complex output signal at the carrier frequency that is different than and dependent on the reference frequency, wherein the output comprises an in-phase path and a quadrature path;
a first frequency mixer comprising a first input connected to the input of the frequency conversion circuit, a second input and an output coupled to the output of the frequency conversion circuit;
a second frequency mixer comprising a first input connected to the input of the frequency conversion circuit, a second input and an output coupled to the output of the frequency conversion circuit; and
a frequency divider comprising an input coupled to the output of the first frequency mixer, an in-phase output coupled to the second input of the second frequency mixer, and a quadrature output coupled to the second input of the first frequency mixer, wherein the frequency divider is configured to supply a respective signal component of a signal input thereto at a divided-down output frequency.
10. A frequency conversion circuit, comprising:
an input node configured to receive an input signal having a first frequency;
first and second output nodes configured to provide respective components of a complex signal output, wherein the respective components are orthogonal to one another, the complex output signal components having a second frequency that is different than, and a function of, the first frequency;
a first mixer circuit comprising a first input coupled to the input node and configured to receive the input signal having the first frequency, a second input, and an output coupled to the second output node;
a second mixer circuit comprising a first input coupled to the input node and configured to receive the input signal having the first frequency, a second input, and an output coupled to the first output node; and
a divider circuit comprising an input coupled to the output of the first frequency mixer, and comprising two outputs, wherein a first output is coupled to the second input of the second mixer circuit and provides a first divided signal having a third frequency different than the first and second frequencies, and substantially in phase with the input signal, and a second output is coupled to the second input of the first mixer circuit and provides a second divided signal having the third frequency that is out of phase with the input signal,
wherein the second mixer circuit is configured to output an in-phase complex signal output component having the second frequency based on a mixing of the input signal and the first divided signal at the first output node, and wherein the first mixer circuit is configured to output a quadrature complex signal output component having the second frequency based on a mixing of the input signal and the second divided signal at the second output node.
11. The frequency conversion circuit of claim 10 , further comprising a DC component decoupling circuit coupled between the output of the first mixer circuit and the second output node.
12. The frequency conversion circuit of claim 10 , further comprising a DC component decoupling circuit coupled between the output of the second mixer circuit and the first output node.
13. The frequency conversion circuit of claim 10 , wherein the divider circuit comprises a flip-flop circuit, wherein the input of the divider circuit comprises a clock input of the flip-flop circuit, and wherein the flip-flop circuit is configured to provide signals at the first and second outputs at the third frequency that is half of the second frequency.