Portable computing device with a saw-less transceiver

1. A portable computing device comprises:

a front end module (FEM) operably coupled to an antenna section and operable to isolate one or more outbound radio frequency (RF) signals from one or more inbound RF signals;

a surface acoustic wave (SAW)-less receiver operable to:

produce one or more inbound intermediate frequency (IF) signals from

the one or more inbound RF signals, the producing the one or more inbound IF signals including:

frequency translating a baseband filter response to either of an IF filter response or an RF filter response, wherein the frequency translating of the baseband filter response configured to sufficiently filter far-out blockers with negligible effect on a desired signal component of the one or more inbound RF signals;

filtering the one or more inbound RF signals in accordance with the RF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the RF filter response; and

filtering the one or more inbound IF signals in accordance with the IF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the IF filter response; and

convert the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams;

a SAW-less transmitter operable to convert one or more outbound symbol streams into the one or more outbound RF signals; and

a baseband processing unit operable to:

convert outbound data into the one or more outbound symbol streams; and

convert the one or more inbound symbol streams into inbound data.

2. The portable computing device of claim 1 further comprises:

the FEM further operable to isolate one or more second outbound radio frequency RF signals from one or more second inbound RF signals, wherein the one or more inbound and outbound RF signals are within a first frequency band and the one or more second inbound RF signals are within a second frequency band;

the SAW-less receiver further operable to:

produce one or more second inbound IF signals from the one or more second inbound RF signals, wherein:

a second baseband filter response is frequency translated to either of a second IF filter response and a second RF filter response;

the one or more second inbound RF signals are filtered in accordance with the second RF filter response when the second baseband filter response is frequency translated to the second RF filter response; and

the one or more second inbound IF signals are filtered in accordance with the second IF filter response when the second baseband filter response is frequency translated to the second IF filter response; and

convert the one or more second inbound IF signals into one or more second inbound symbol streams;

the SAW-less transmitter further operable to convert one or more second outbound symbol streams into the one or more second outbound RF signals; and

the baseband processing unit further operable to:

convert second outbound data into the one or more second outbound symbol streams; and

convert the one or more second inbound symbol streams into second inbound data.

3. The portable computing device of claim 1 , wherein the FEM comprises:

an antenna tuning unit (ATU) operably coupled to the antenna structure and operably tuned to provide an impedance that substantially matches impedance of the antenna structure;

one or more power amplifiers operable to amplify the one or more outbound RF signals to produce one or more amplified outbound RF signals;

an isolation module operably coupled to the SAW-less receiver, the antenna tuning unit, and the one or more power amplifiers, wherein the isolation module is operable to:

output the one or more amplified outbound RF signals to the antenna tuning unit; and

attenuate the one or more amplified outbound RF signals with respect to the coupling of the isolation module to the SAW-less receiver such that the one or more inbound RF signals are isolated from the one or more outbound RF signals.

4. The portable computing device of claim 3 , wherein the baseband processing unit is further operable to generate at least one of:

an ATU control signal that adjusts the impedances of the ATU in accordance with changes of the impedance of the antenna structure;

an isolation control signal that adjusts the attenuation of the one or more outbound RF signals; and

a power amplifier control signal that adjusts one or more parameters of the one or more power amplifiers.

5. The portable computing device of claim 1 , wherein the SAW-less transmitter comprises:

an up-conversion mixing module operable to convert the one or more outbound symbol streams into one or more up-converted signals;

a transmit frequency translated bandpass filter (FTBPF) operable to:

frequency translate a second baseband filter response to a second RF bandpass filter response; and

filter the one or more up-converted signals in accordance with the second RF bandpass filter response to produce one or more filtered up-converted signals;

an output module operable to condition the one or more filtered up-converted signals to produce one or more conditioned up-converted signals; and

a power amplifier driver operable to amplify the one or more conditioned up-converted signals to produce the one or more outbound RF signals.

6. The portable computing device of claim 5 , wherein the baseband processing unit is further operable to:

generate a transmitter control signal that adjusts at least one of the second baseband filter response, the second RF bandpass filter response, and a parameter of the power amplifier driver.

7. The portable computing device of claim 1 , wherein the SAW-less receiver comprises:

an RF to IF receiver section including:

a low noise amplifier operable to amplify the one or more inbound RF signals to produce one or more amplified inbound RF signals;

an IF down conversion module operable to convert the one or more amplified inbound RF signals into the one or more inbound IF signals; and

a frequency translated bandpass filter having the RF bandpass filter response, operable to filter the one or more inbound RF signals or to filter the one or more inbound IF signals; and

an IF to baseband receiver section operable to convert the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams.

8. The portable computing device of claim 7 , wherein the baseband processing unit is further operable to:

generate a receiver control signal that adjusts at least one of the baseband filter response, the RF bandpass filter response, and a parameter of the low noise amplifier.

9. The portable computing device of claim 1 further comprises:

a first integrated circuit (IC) supporting the baseband processing unit, the SAW-less receiver, and the SAW-less transmitter; and

a second IC supporting the FEM.

10. The portable computing device of claim 1 further comprises at least one of:

a processing module operable to:

generate the outbound data in performance of one or more portable computing device functions; and

process the inbound in performance of the one or more portable computing device functions; and

a power management unit operable to perform one or more power management functions of the portable computing device.

11. A method for operating a portable computing device comprising:

isolating one or more outbound radio frequency (RF) signals from one or more inbound RF signals by a front end module (FEM);

producing one or more inbound intermediate frequency (IF) signals from the one or more inbound RF signals, the producing the one or more inbound IF signals including:

frequency translating a baseband filter response to at least one of an IF filter response or an RF filter response, wherein the frequency translating of the baseband filter response configured to sufficiently filter far-out blockers with negligible effect on a desired signal component of the one or more inbound RF signals;

filtering the one or more inbound RF signals in accordance with the RF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the RF filter response; and

filtering the one or more inbound IF signals in accordance with the IF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the IF filter response;

converting the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams;

converting one or more outbound symbol streams into the one or more outbound RF signals by a SAW-less transmitter;

converting outbound data into the one or more outbound symbol streams; and

converting the one or more inbound symbol streams into inbound data.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

isolating one or more second outbound radio frequency RF signals from one or more second inbound RF signals, wherein the one or more inbound and outbound RF signals are within a first frequency band and the one or more second inbound RF signals are within a second frequency band;

converting the one or more second inbound RF signals into one or more second inbound IF signals;

converting the one or more second inbound IF signals into one or more second inbound symbol streams;

converting one or more second outbound symbol streams into the one or more second outbound RF signals by the SAW-less transmitter;

converting second outbound data into the one or more second outbound symbol streams; and

converting the one or more second inbound symbol streams into second inbound data.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

generating an antenna tuning unit (ATU) control signal that adjusts the impedances of an ATU in accordance with changes of the impedance of an antenna structure of the FEM;

generating an isolation control signal that adjusts attenuation of the one or more outbound RF signals; and

generating a power amplifier control signal that adjusts one or more parameters of one or more power amplifiers the SAW-less transmitter.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the SAW-less transmitter:

converting the one or more outbound symbol streams into one or more up-converted signals;

frequency translating a second baseband filter response to a RF bandpass filter response;

filtering the one or more up-converted signals in accordance with the RF bandpass filter response to produce one or more filtered up-converted signals;

conditioning the one or more filtered up-converted signals to produce one or more conditioned up-converted signals; and

amplifying the one or more conditioned up-converted signals to produce the one or more outbound RF signals.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

generating a transmitter control signal that adjusts at least one of the second baseband filter response, the RF bandpass filter response, and a parameter of a power amplifier driver.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the SAW-less receiver:

amplifying the one or more inbound RF signals to produce one or more amplified inbound RF signals;

converting the one or more amplified inbound RF signals into the one or more inbound IF signals; and

filtering the one or more inbound RF signals or to filter the one or more inbound IF signals; and

converting the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

generating a receiver control signal that adjusts at least one of the baseband filter response, the RF bandpass filter response, and a parameter of a low noise amplifier.

18. A method for operating a portable computing device comprising:

isolating one or more outbound radio frequency (RF) signals from one or more inbound RF signals by a front end module (FEM);

producing one or more inbound intermediate frequency (IF) signals from the one or more inbound RF signals, the producing the one or more inbound IF signals including:

frequency translating a baseband filter response to either of an IF filter response or an RF filter response, wherein the frequency translating of the baseband filter response configured to sufficiently filter far-out blockers with negligible effect on a desired signal component of the one or more inbound RF signals;

filtering the one or more inbound RF signals in accordance with the RF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the RF filter response; and

filtering the one or more inbound IF signals in accordance with the IF filter response when the baseband filter response is frequency translated to the IF filter response;

converting the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams; and

converting the one or more inbound symbol streams into inbound data.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

converting the one or more outbound symbol streams into one or more up-converted signals;

frequency translating a second baseband filter response to a second RF bandpass filter response;

filtering the one or more up-converted signals in accordance with the second RF bandpass filter response to produce one or more filtered up-converted signals;

conditioning the one or more filtered up-converted signals to produce one or more conditioned up-converted signals; and

amplifying the one or more conditioned up-converted signals to produce the one or more outbound RF signals.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the SAW-less receiver:

amplifying the one or more inbound RF signals to produce one or more amplified inbound RF signals;

converting the one or more amplified inbound RF signals into the one or more inbound IF signals;

filtering the one or more inbound RF signals or to filter the one or more inbound IF signals; and

converting the one or more inbound IF signals into one or more inbound symbol streams.