Communication using continuous-phase modulated signals
View Patent ↗Embodiments of a circuit are described. In this circuit, a modulation circuit provides a first modulated electrical signal and a second modulated electrical signal, where a given modulated electrical signal, which can be either the first modulated electrical signal or the second modulated electrical signal, includes minimum-shift keying (MSK) modulated data. Moreover, a first phase-adjustment element, which is coupled to the modulation circuit, sets a relative phase between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal based on a phase value of the first phase-adjustment element. Additionally, an output interface, which is coupled to the first phase-adjustment element, is coupled to one or more antenna elements which output signals. These signals include a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal corresponding to the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal.
1. A circuit, comprising:
a modulation circuit to produce a first modulated electrical signal and a second modulated electrical signal, wherein the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal are modulated using minimum-shift keying (MSK);
a phase-adjustment element to set a defined phase difference between the first modulated electrical signal received from the modulation circuit and the second modulated electrical signal to produce a phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal;
an output interface to output the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal collectively constituting a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) modulated signal; and
an antenna coupled to the output interface, wherein the antenna comprises a first antenna element and a second antenna element, wherein the first antenna element is to transmit the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal with a first polarization, and the second antenna element is to transmit the second modulated electrical signal with a second polarization, different from the first polarization.
2. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the defined phase difference is approximately 90°.
3. The circuit of claim 1 , further comprising an amplifier interposed between the modulation circuit and the phase-adjustment element.
4. The circuit of claim 3 , wherein the amplifier is configured to amplify the first modulated electrical signal prior to the phase-adjustment element setting the defined phase.
5. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first polarization and the second polarization are substantially orthogonal.
6. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the phase-adjustment element sets the defined phase based on feedback, wherein the feedback represents a property of the QPSK signal; and
wherein the feedback represents a phase of the QPSK signal.
7. The circuit of claim 6 , further comprising control logic to determine a phase adjustment for the phase-adjustment element based on the received feedback.
8. The circuit of claim 1 ,
wherein the modulation circuit is configured to receive a first data stream and a second data stream; and
wherein the modulation circuit produces the first modulated electrical signal by modulating the first data stream, and the second modulated electrical signal by modulating the second data stream.
9. The circuit of claim 8 , further comprising a decimator circuit to receive an initial data stream and to produce the first data stream and the second data stream, wherein the first data stream comprises even data bits from the initial data stream and the second data stream comprises odd data bits from the initial data stream.
10. The circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a combiner circuit, interposed between the phase-adjustment element and the output interface, to receive the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal, and to output a first combined electrical signal and a second combined electrical signal.
11. The circuit of claim 10 , wherein the first combined electrical signal comprises a sum of the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal, and the second combined electrical signal comprises a difference of the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal.
12. The circuit of claim 10 , wherein:
the phase-adjustment element is a first phase-adjustment element; and
the circuit further comprises a second phase-adjustment element coupled to the combiner circuit and the output interface, to set a phase adjustment between the first combined electrical signal and the second combined electrical signal based on a phase adjustment of the first phase-adjustment element.
13. The circuit of claim 12 , wherein the phase adjustment of the second phase-adjustment element is determined based on feedback representing a property of the QPSK signal; and
wherein the feedback comprises a phase of the QPSK signal.
14. The circuit of claim 13 , further comprising control logic to determine the phase adjustment for the second phase-adjustment element based on the feedback.
15. A circuit, comprising:
an input interface to receive a first modulated electrical signal from a first antenna element and a second modulated electrical signal from a second antenna element, wherein the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal collectively constitute a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal, wherein the first antenna element is to receive the first modulated electrical signal with a first polarization, and the second antenna element is to receive the second modulated electrical signal with a second polarization, different from the first polarization;
a phase-adjustment element, coupled to the input interface, to perform a phase adjustment between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal to produce a phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal; and
a combiner circuit, interposed between the input interface and the phase-adjustment element, to receive a first input signal and a second input signal from the input interface and to combine the first input signal with the second input signal to produce the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal.
16. The circuit of claim 15 , further comprising control logic to determine a phase relationship between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal, and to determine the phase adjustment based on the phase relationship.
17. The circuit of claim 16 , further comprising an output to output feedback, wherein the feedback represents a property of the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal to the circuit.
18. The circuit of claim 17 , wherein the feedback represents a phase relationship between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal.
19. The circuit of claim 15 , further comprising an antenna coupled to the input interface, wherein the antenna comprises the first antenna element and the second antenna element.
20. The circuit of claim 15 , further comprising a first antenna coupled to the input interface and a second antenna coupled to the input interface, wherein the first antenna comprises the first antenna element and the second antenna comprises the second antenna element.
21. The circuit of claim 15 , wherein the first polarization and the second polarization are substantially orthogonal.
22. The circuit of claim 15 , wherein the first modulated electrical signal comprises a sum of the first input signal and the second input signal, and the second modulated electrical signal comprises a difference of the first input signal and the second input signal.
23. A system, comprising a first device to transmit signals to a second device, wherein the first device comprises:
a modulation circuit to provide a first modulated electrical signal and a second modulated electrical signal, wherein the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal are each modulated using minimum-shift keying (MSK);
a first phase-adjustment element to set a defined phase difference between the first modulated electrical signal received from the modulation circuit and the second modulated electrical signal to produce a phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal; and
an output interface to output the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal received from the first phase-adjustment element and the second modulated electrical signal received from the modulation circuit, the phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal collectively constituting a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) modulated signal.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the second device comprises:
an input interface to receive a third modulated electrical signal from a third antenna element, and a fourth modulated electrical signal from a fourth antenna element, wherein the third modulated electrical signal and the fourth modulated electrical signal collectively constitute a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal; and
a second phase-adjustment element coupled to the input interface to set a defined phase between the third modulated electrical signal and the fourth modulated electrical signal based on a phase adjustment of the first phase-adjustment element to produce a phase-adjusted third modulated electrical signal.
25. A method for transmitting signals, comprising:
generating a first modulated electrical signal and a second modulated electrical signal, wherein the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal are each modulated using minimum-shift keying (MSK);
setting a defined phase between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal to produce a phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal; and
transmitting a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal that is generated by transmitting the first phase-adjusted modulated electrical signal using a first antenna element and the second phase-adjusted modulated electrical signal using a second antenna element.
26. A method for receiving signals, comprising:
receiving a first modulated electrical signal using a first antenna element and a second modulated electrical signal using a second antenna element, wherein the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal collectively constitute a quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal;
wherein receiving the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal comprises combining a first input signal with a second input signal to produce the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal; and
setting a defined phase between the first modulated electrical signal and the second modulated electrical signal to produce a phase-adjusted first modulated electrical signal.