Smart AGC for wideband multi-standard RFIC
One embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic gain control (AGC) module for a wireless communication system that includes a plurality of amplifiers. The AGC module includes a receiving mechanism configured to receive an input that indicates a total amount of gain adjustment; a collecting mechanism configured to collect a number of parameters associated with the amplifiers; a determining mechanism configured to determine a desired performance requirement; a gain-control engine configured to generate a gain profile for the amplifiers based on the collected parameters, the total amount of gain, and the desired performance requirement; and an output mechanism configured to output a plurality of control signals based on the generated gain profile, wherein a respective control signal independently controls gain of a corresponding amplifier, thereby enabling the wireless communication system to achieve the total amount of gain adjustment while meeting the desired performance requirement.
1. A method for accomplishing automatic gain control (AGC) for a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of amplifiers, comprising:
receiving, from a baseband signal processor, an input that indicates a total amount of gain adjustment;
obtaining, from a database, amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers, wherein the obtained amplification characteristics include one or more of: a gain value, a noise figure, a nonlinearity measure, and a power efficiency measure;
determining a desired performance requirement;
calculating a per-amplifier-stage gain profile based on the amplification characteristics obtained from the database, the total amount of gain adjustment, and the desired performance requirement; and
outputting a plurality of control signals based on the generated per-amplifier-stage gain profile, wherein a respective control signal independently controls gain of a corresponding amplifier, thereby enabling the wireless communication system to achieve the total amount of gain adjustment while meeting the desired performance requirement.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired performance requirement is determined based on a wireless communication standard that is currently active on the wireless communication system.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired performance requirement includes one or more of:
a noise figure requirement;
a power efficiency requirement; and
a linearity requirement.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the gain profile involves performing a table lookup.
5. An automatic gain control (AGC) module for a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of amplifiers, the AGC module comprising:
a database storing amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers, wherein the amplification characteristics include one or more of: a gain value, a noise figure, a nonlinearity measure, and a power efficiency measure;
a receiving mechanism configured to receive, from a baseband signal processor, an input that indicates a total amount of gain adjustment;
an amplification-characteristics-obtaining mechanism configured to obtain, from the database, amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers;
a determining mechanism configured to determine a desired performance requirement;
a gain-control engine configured to generate a per-amplifier-stage gain profile based on the amplification characteristics obtained from the database, the total amount of gain adjustment, and the desired performance requirement; and
an output mechanism configured to output a plurality of control signals based on the generated per-amplifier-stage gain profile, wherein a respective control signal independently controls gain of a corresponding amplifier, thereby enabling the wireless communication system to achieve the total amount of gain adjustment while meeting the desired performance requirement.
6. The AGC module of claim 5 , wherein the desired performance requirement is determined based on a wireless communication standard that is currently active on the wireless communication system.
7. The AGC module of claim 5 , wherein the desired performance requirement includes one or more of:
a noise figure requirement;
a power efficiency requirement; and
a linearity requirement.
8. The AGC module of claim 5 , wherein while generating the gain profile, the gain-control engine is configured to perform a table lookup.
9. The AGC module of claim 5 , wherein the AGC module is configured to receive the input from a baseband digital signal processor (DSP).
10. The AGC module of claim 5 , wherein the AGC module is a separate component of the baseband DSP.
11. A wireless receiver, comprising:
a plurality of amplifiers;
a demodulator;
a baseband digital signal processor (DSP); and
an automatic gain control (AGC) module, wherein the automatic gain control module further comprises:
a receiving mechanism configured to receive, from the baseband DSP, an input that indicates a total amount of gain adjustment;
a database storing amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers, wherein the amplification characteristics include one or more of: a gain value, a noise figure, a nonlinearity measure, and a power efficiency measure;
an amplification-characteristics-obtaining mechanism configured to obtain, from the database, amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers;
a determining mechanism configured to determine a desired performance requirement;
a gain-control engine configured to generate a per-amplifier-stage gain profile based on the amplification characteristics obtained from the database, the total amount of gain adjustment, and the desired performance requirement; and
an output mechanism configured to output a plurality of control signals based on the generated per-amplifier-stage gain profile, wherein a respective control signal independently controls gain of a corresponding amplifier, thereby enabling the wireless receiver to achieve the total amount of gain adjustment while meeting the desired performance requirement.
12. The receiver of claim 11 , wherein the desired performance requirement is determined based on a currently active wireless communication standard.
13. The receiver of claim 11 , wherein the desired performance requirement includes one or more of:
a noise figure requirement;
a power efficiency requirement; and
a linearity requirement.
14. The receiver of claim 11 , wherein while generating the gain profile, the gain-control engine is configured to perform a table lookup.
15. The receiver of claim 11 , wherein the demodulator is a quadrature demodulator.
16. A wireless transmitter, comprising:
a plurality of amplifiers;
a modulator;
a baseband digital signal processor (DSP); and
an automatic gain control (AGC) module, wherein the automatic gain control module further comprises:
a receiving mechanism configured to receive, from the baseband DSP, an input that indicates a total amount of gain adjustment;
a database storing amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers, wherein the amplification characteristics include one or more of: a gain value, a noise figure, a nonlinearity measure, and a power efficiency measure;
an amplification-characteristics-obtaining mechanism configured to obtain, from the database, amplification characteristics associated with at least one of the amplifiers;
a determining mechanism configured to determine a desired performance requirement;
a gain-control engine configured to generate a per-amplifier-stage gain profile for the amplifiers based on the amplification characteristics obtained from the database, the total amount of gain, and the desired performance requirement; and
an output mechanism configured to output a plurality of control signals based on the generated gain profile, wherein a respective control signal independently controls gain of a corresponding amplifier, thereby enabling the wireless transmitter to achieve the total amount of gain adjustment while meeting the desired performance requirement.