Front end module with a tunable balancing network

1. A radio front module comprises:

a power amplifier operably coupled to amplify an up-converted signal into an outbound wireless signal;

a duplexer operably coupled to an antenna and configured to provide electrical isolation between the outbound wireless signal and an inbound wireless signal; and

a tunable balancing network operably coupled to the duplexer and configured to establish an impedance that substantially matches an impedance of the antenna, wherein the tunable balancing network includes an impedance up-conversion module that further includes:

a plurality of capacitive elements;

a plurality of resistive elements; and

a plurality of low-voltage switching elements configured to, and in accordance with a tuning signal, couple one or more of the plurality of capacitive elements and one or more of the plurality of resistive elements to the duplexer as an impedance balancing load wherein the impedance up-conversion module is configured to up-covert a baseband impedance to a radio frequency impedance based upon a received clock.

2. The radio front module of claim 1 , wherein the tunable balancing network further comprises:

a first resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements coupled in series with a first switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements;

a second resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements coupled in series with a second switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements, wherein a common node of the second resistive element and the second switching element is coupled to a control node of the first switching element;

a first capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements coupled in series with a third switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements; and

a second capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements coupled in series with a fourth switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements, wherein a common node of the second capacitive element and the fourth switching element is coupled to a control node of the third switching element, wherein impedance of the tunable balancing network is tuned in accordance with small-signaling of the tuning signal.

3. The radio front module of claim 1 , wherein the tunable balancing network comprises:

a first resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements coupled in series with a first switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements;

a second resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements coupled in series with a second switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements;

a first capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements coupled in series with a third switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements; and

a second capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements coupled in series with a fourth switching element of the plurality of low-voltage switching elements, wherein impedance of the tunable balancing network is tuned in accordance with large-signaling of the tuning signal.

4. The radio front module of claim 1 , wherein the tunable balance network further comprises:

one or more inductive elements operably coupled to at least:

one of the resistive elements of the plurality resistive elements; and

one of the capacitive elements of the plurality of capacitive elements.

5. The radio front module of claim 1 , wherein a resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements comprises one or more of:

a resistor;

a transistor-inductor based active resistor; and

a switched capacitor.

6. The radio front module of claim 1 , wherein a capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements comprises one or more of:

a capacitor; and

a varactor.

7. The radio front module of claim 1 further comprises:

an antenna tuning unit operably coupled between the duplexer and the antenna, wherein the antenna tuning unit tunes an operational characteristic of the antenna based on an antenna tuning signal; and

the tunable balancing network including:

a first set of the plurality of capacitive elements having a first capacitive common node;

a second set of the plurality of capacitive elements having a second capacitive common node;

a first set of the plurality of resistive elements having a first resistive common node;

a second set of the plurality of resistive elements having a second resistive common node; and

an inductor coupled, at one end, to the first capacitive and resistive common nodes and coupled, at another end, to the second capacitive and resistive common nodes such that the tunable balancing network has a wide tuning range for a desired voltage-standing-wave-ratio (VSWR).

8. A radio front module comprises:

a power amplifier operably coupled to amplify an up-converted signal into an outbound wireless signal;

a duplexer operably coupled to an antenna and configured to provide electrical isolation between the outbound wireless signal and an inbound wireless signal; and

a tunable balancing network operably coupled to the duplexer, wherein the tunable balancing network includes:

a baseband impedance circuit; and

an impedance up-conversion module operably configured to selectively tune a baseband impedance circuit to balance an impedance at a baseband frequency signal and to up-convert a baseband impedance of the baseband impedance circuit to produce a radio frequency (RF) impedance that substantially matches an impedance of the antenna in a frequency band of operation based on a received clock.

9. The front end module of claim 8 , wherein the baseband impedance circuit comprises:

a plurality of capacitive elements;

a plurality of resistive elements; and

a plurality of switching elements configured to, and in accordance with a tuning signal, couple one or more of the plurality capacitive elements and one or more of the plurality of resistive elements to produce the baseband impedance.

10. The radio front module of claim 9 , wherein a resistive element of the plurality of resistive elements comprises one or more of:

a resistor;

a transistor-inductor based active resistor; and

a switched capacitor.

11. The radio front module of claim 9 , wherein a capacitive element of the plurality of capacitive elements comprises one or more of:

a capacitor; and

a varactor.

12. The front end module of claim 8 , wherein the impedance up-conversion module comprises:

a multi-phase transistor switching network operably coupled to receive a multi-phase clock signal to up-convert the baseband impedance into the RF impedance.

13. The front end module of claim 8 , wherein the tunable balancing network further comprises:

a second baseband impedance circuit; and

a second impedance up-conversion module operably coupled to up-convert a second baseband impedance of the second baseband impedance circuit to produce a second RF impedance that substantially matches an impedance of the antenna in a second frequency band of operation.

14. The front end module of claim 13 further comprises:

the frequency band of operation corresponding to a transmit frequency band of a wireless communication protocol; and

the second frequency band of operation corresponding to a receive frequency band of the wireless communication protocol.

15. The front end module of claim 8 further comprises:

the frequency band of operation corresponding to a frequency band of a first wireless communication protocol; and

the second frequency band of operation corresponding to a frequency band of a second wireless communication protocol.

16. A radio front end module comprises:

a power amplifier operably coupled to amplify an up-converted signal into an outbound wireless signal;

a duplexer operably coupled to an antenna and operable to provide electrical isolation between the outbound wireless signal and an inbound wireless signal; and

a tunable balancing network operably coupled to the duplexer, wherein the tunable balancing network includes:

a baseband impedance circuit; and

an impedance up-conversion module that includes a multi-phase transistor switching network operably coupled to receive a multi-phase clock signal to up-convert the baseband impedance into a radio frequency (RF) impedance that substantially matches an impedance of the antenna in a frequency band of operation.

17. The radio front end module of claim 16 , wherein the tunable balancing network further comprises:

a second baseband impedance circuit; and

a second impedance up-conversion module operably coupled to up-convert a second baseband impedance of the second baseband impedance circuit to produce a second RF impedance that substantially matches an impedance of the antenna in a second frequency band of operation.

18. The radio front end module of claim 17 further comprises:

the frequency band of operation corresponding to a transmit frequency band of a wireless communication protocol; and

the second frequency band of operation corresponding to a receive frequency band of the wireless communication protocol.

19. The front end module of claim 16 further comprises:

the frequency band of operation corresponding to a frequency band of a first wireless communication protocol; and

the second frequency band of operation corresponding to a frequency band of a second wireless communication protocol.