Low power radio transmitter using pulse transmissions

1. A radio transmitter comprises:

intermediate frequency stage operably coupled to up-convert frequency of a baseband digital signal into an N-bit signal at an intermediate frequency;

signal to pulse conversion module operably coupled to convert the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency into an M-bit signal at a radio frequency, wherein N is greater than M, the signal to pulse conversion module including a frequency up-conversion stage that includes a mixer for mixing the N-Bit signal by a discrete-valued signal having a frequency that is based on the radio frequency; and

power amplifier operably coupled to amplify the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

2. The radio transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate frequency stage further comprises:

first mixing module operably coupled to mix an in-phase component of the baseband digital signal with an in-phase intermediate frequency signal to produce a first mixed signal;

second mixing module operably coupled to mix a quadrature component of the baseband digital signal with a quadrature intermediate frequency signal to produce a second mixed signal; and

summing module operably coupled to sum the first and second mixed signals to produce the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency.

3. The radio transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the signal to pulse conversion module further comprises:

pulse position modulator operably coupled to modulate the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency with respect to a reference signal to produce the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

4. The radio transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the power amplifier comprises at least one of:

comparator operably coupled to compare the M-bit signal at the radio frequency with a reference to produce an amplified M-bit signal;

class A amplifier operably coupled to amplify the M-bit signal at the radio frequency;

inverter operably coupled to invert the M-bit signal at the radio frequency; and

transistor pull-up and pull-down circuit operably coupled to amplify the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

5. The radio transmitter of claim 1 further comprises:

ceramic bandpass filter operably coupled to bandpass filter an output of the power amplifier to produce a bandpass M-bit square wave signal; and

an antenna operably coupled to transmit the bandpass M-bit square wave signal.

6. A method for radio frequency signal transmissions, the method comprises:

up-converting frequency of a baseband digital signal into an N-bit signal at an intermediate frequency;

converting the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency into an M-bit signal at a radio frequency via a signal to pulse conversion module that includes a frequency up-conversion stage that includes a mixer for mixing the N-Bit signal by a discrete-valued signal having a frequency that is based on the radio frequency, wherein N is greater than M; and

amplifying the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the up-converting the frequency of the baseband signal further comprises:

mixing an in-phase component of the baseband digital signal with an in-phase intermediate frequency signal to produce a first mixed signal;

mixing a quadrature component of the baseband digital signal with a quadrature intermediate frequency signal to produce a second mixed signal; and

summing the first and second mixed signals to produce the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the converting of the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency into the M-bit signal at a radio frequency further comprises:

pulse position modulating the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency with respect to a reference signal to produce the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprises:

bandpass filtering the amplified M-bit signal at the radio frequency to produce a bandpass M-bit square wave signal; and

providing the bandpass M-bit square wave signal to an antenna for transmission.

10. An apparatus for radio frequency signal transmissions, the apparatus comprises:

processing module; and

memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

up-convert frequency of a baseband digital signal into an N-bit signal at an intermediate frequency;

convert the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency into an M-bit signal at a radio frequency that includes a frequency up-conversion stage that includes a mixer for mixing the N-Bit signal by a discrete-valued signal having a frequency that is based on the radio frequency, wherein N is greater than M; and

amplify the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to up-convert the frequency of the baseband signal by:

mixing an in-phase component of the baseband digital signal with an in-phase intermediate frequency signal to produce a first mixed signal;

mixing a quadrature component of the baseband digital signal with a quadrature intermediate frequency signal to produce a second mixed signal; and

summing the first and second mixed signals to produce the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to convert the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency into the M-bit signal at a radio frequency by:

pulse position modulating the N-bit signal at the intermediate frequency with respect to a reference signal to produce the M-bit signal at the radio frequency.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to:

bandpass filter the amplified M-bit signal at the radio frequency to produce a bandpass M-bit square wave signal; and

provide the bandpass M-bit square wave signal to an antenna for transmission.