Granted Patent B2

US 7,933,361 · App. 11/399,127 · Granted Apr 26, 2011

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. An RF receiver circuit for reducing static and dynamic offsets, comprising:

a low noise amplifier (LNA);

a plurality of down conversion mixers;

a plurality of static compensators coupled to the down conversion mixers;

a plurality of constant gain stages coupled to the static compensators;

a plurality of channel-select low-pass filters connected to the constant gain stages;

a plurality of servo-loop feedback amplifiers connected to the channel-select low pass filters, wherein each of the servo-loop feedback amplifiers comprises a plurality of subtractors, a plurality of variable gain amplifiers, and a plurality of low pass filters, wherein one of the low pass filters is coupled between an output of one of the variable gain amplifiers and a minuend end of one and the plurality of servo-loop feedback amplifiers includes three amplifiers connected in a three-stage configuration, the first amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,1 , the second amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,2 , and the third amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,3 , and wherein a gain mapping block allocates gain G 1 to the first amplifier, gain G 2 to the second amplifier, and gain G 3 to the third amplifier such that a total target gain for the three-stage amplifier G is distributed according to the following conditions:

if G<=G max,1 , then setting G 1 =G, G 2 =0, and G 3 =0;

if G>G max,1 and G<=(G max,1 G max,2 ), then setting G 1 =G max,1 and G 2 =G−G max,1 , and G 3 =0; and

if G>(G max,1 +G max,2 ) and G=(G max,1 +G max,2 +G max,3 ), then setting G 1 =G max,1 , G 2 =G max,2 , G 3 =G−(G max,1 +G max,2 )

wherein the gain mapping block is driving the servo-loop feedback amplifiers, and the gain mapping block assigns the gain for each stage in the servo-loop feedback amplifiers in such a way as to use a maximum gain of an earlier stage before assigning an unsatisfied gain to the remaining stages;

a plurality of analog to digital converters; and

an automatic gain feedback control block driving the LNA and the gain mapping block.

2. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the down conversion mixers comprises of an in-phase mixer and a quadrature-phase mixer.

3. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the analog to digital converters (ADC) comprises of a quadrature-phase ADC and an in-phase ADC.

4. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the static compensators comprises of an in-phase static compensator and a quadrature-phase static compensator.

5. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein the servo-loop feedback amplifiers comprises of an in-phase servo-loop feedback amplifier and a quadrature-phase servo-loop feedback amplifier both driven to the gain mapping block.

6. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the static compensators comprises of:

a subtractor;

a digital to analog converter (DAC);

a first register;

a second register;

a controller; and

a comparator.

7. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , further comprising an overload detection circuit having an input and an output, the input connected from the channel-select low pass filters and the output connected to the automatic gain feedback control block.

8. The RF receiver circuit of claim 1 , wherein Miller capacitance is utilized in the servo-loop feedback amplifiers.

9. The RF receiver circuit of claim 6 , wherein the digital to analog converter (DAC) has a capacity of 5-8 bits.

10. A method for amplifier gain allocation to reduce DC offset in an N-stage servo-feedback variable gain amplifier by using a gain mapping block, wherein a target total gain for the N-stage amplifier is G, a maximum gain in each stage is G max,1 , G max,2 , . . . , G max,N respectively, and a gain setting to each stage is G 1 , G 2 , . . . , G N , respectively, the method comprising the following steps:

if G<=G max,1 then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G and G i =0 for i=2, . . . , N;

if G>G max,1 and G<=(G max,1 +G max,2 ), then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G max,1 and G 2 =G−G max,1 , and G i =0 for i=3 . . . N;

if G>(G max,1 +G max,2 ) and G=(G max,1 +G max,2 +G max,3 ), then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G max,1 , G 2 =G max,2 , G 3 =G−(G max,1 +G max,2 ), and G i =0 for i=4, . . . , N; and

the gain mapping block continues assigning a maximum remaining gain to the first available stage until a desired target total gain G is satisfied.

11. The method for amplifier gain allocation as recited in claim 10 , wherein N=3, and wherein the target total gain for the 3-stage amplifier is G, the maximum gain in each stage is G max,1 , G max,2 , G max,3 , respectively, and the gain setting to each stage is G 1 , G 2 , G 3 , respectively, the method comprising the following steps:

if G<=G max,1 , then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G, G 2 =0, and G 3 =0;

if G>G max,1 and G<=(G max,1 +G max,2 ), then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G max,1 and G 2 =G−G max,1 , and G 3 =0; and

if G>(G max,1 +G max,2 ) and G<=(G max,1 +G max,2 +G max,3 ), then the gain mapping block sets G 1 =G max,1 , G 2 =G max,2 , G 3 =G−(G max,1 +G max,2 ).

12. A method for DC offset reduction for an RF receiver including a low-noise amplifier (LNA), an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit, servo-loops for dynamic DC offset reduction, and a static DC offset reduction circuit, the method comprising:

resetting the AGC;

disabling the servo-loops;

setting initial gains for variable gain amplifiers in the servo-loops and the LNA;

enabling the servo-loops;

releasing the AGC;

setting a delay time to allow the servo-loops to settle their gain settings;

adjusting gains of LNA; and

freezing the AGC;

wherein the variable gain amplifiers includes three amplifiers connected in a three-stage configuration, the first amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,1 , the second amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,2 , and the third amplifier having a maximum gain of G max,3 , and wherein gain G 1 is allocated to the first amplifier, gain G 2 is allocated to the second amplifier, and gain G 3 is allocated to the third amplifier such that a total target gain for the three-stage amplifier G is distributed according to the following conditions:

if G<=G max,1 , then setting G 1 =G, G 2 =0, and G 3 =0;

if G>G max,1 and G<=(G max,1 +G max,2 ), then setting G 1 =G max,1 and G 2 =G−G max,1 , and G 3 =0; and

if G>(G max,1 +G max,2 ) and G<=(G max,1 +G max,2 +G max,3 ), then setting G 1 =G max,1 , G 2 =G max,2 , G 3 =G−(G max,1 +G max,2 ).

13. A method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the delay time is about 100 to 200 ns.

Assignments (19)