Devices and methods related to radio-frequency front-end architecture for carrier aggregation of cellular bands
Circuits and methods related to radio-frequency (RF) architectures having carrier aggregation. In some implementations, a method for performing carrier aggregation (CA) can include providing a duplexer configured to provide duplexing functionality for a first frequency band and a second frequency band with a common antenna. The method can further include providing a first amplification path and a second amplification path coupled to respective ports of the duplexer, each of the first amplification path and the second amplification path configured to amplify a signal in its respective frequency band, each amplification path including a transmit/receive (TX/RX) switch configured to provide time-division duplexing (TDD) functionality for the amplified signal and a received signal. In some implementations, the first frequency band includes a B39 band, and the second frequency band includes a B41 band.
1. A method for performing carrier aggregation comprising:
providing a duplexer configured to provide duplexing functionality for a first frequency band and a second frequency band with a common antenna; and
providing a first amplification path associated with the first frequency band and a second amplification path associated with the second frequency band coupled to respective ports of the duplexer, each of the first amplification path and the second amplification path configured to amplify a signal in its respective frequency band, the first amplification path including a first transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the first frequency band and a received signal in the first frequency band, the second amplification path including a second transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the second frequency band and a received signal in the second frequency band, the first amplification path further configured to amplify a signal in a third frequency band, the first transmit/receive switch configured to route an amplified signal in the third frequency band to a filter.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first frequency band includes a B39 band.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the second frequency band includes a B41 band.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an antenna switch module coupled to a node of the duplexer.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first amplification path includes a first band-selection switch and the second amplification path includes a second band-selection switch.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first amplification path includes a controller configured to provide one or more control functionalities for the operation of the first amplification path.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first amplification path includes a power amplifier and a bias port configured to bias the power amplifier.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the first transmit/receive switch and the second transmit/receive switch includes a common node coupled to the duplexer for transmitted and received signals.
9. A method of implementing a radio-frequency module, the method comprising:
providing a packaging substrate of the radio-frequency module configured to receive a plurality of components; and
providing a carrier aggregation architecture of the radio-frequency module implemented on the packaging substrate, the carrier-aggregation architecture including a duplexer configured to provide duplexing functionality for a first frequency band and a second frequency band with a common antenna, the carrier-aggregation architecture further including a first amplification path associated with the first frequency band and a second amplification path associated with the second frequency band coupled to respective ports of the duplexer, each of the first amplification path and the second amplification path configured to amplify a signal in its respective frequency band, the first amplification path including a first transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the first frequency band and a received signal in the first frequency band, the second amplification path including a second transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the second frequency band and a received signal in the second frequency band, the first amplification path further configured to amplify a signal in a third frequency band, the first transmit/receive switch configured to route an amplified signal in the third frequency band to a filter.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the radio-frequency module is a power amplifier module.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the radio-frequency module is a front-end module.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein the first frequency band includes a B39 band and the second frequency band includes a B41 band.
13. The method of claim 9 wherein each of the first transmit/receive switch and the second transmit/receive switch includes a common node coupled to the duplexer for transmitted and received signals.
14. The method of claim 9 wherein the first amplification path includes a first band-selection switch and the second amplification path includes a second band-selection switch.
15. A method of implementing a radio-frequency device, the method comprising:
providing a transceiver of the radio-frequency device configured to process radio-frequency signals; and
providing a radio-frequency module of the radio-frequency device in communication with the transceiver, the radio-frequency module having a carrier aggregation architecture, the carrier-aggregation architecture including a duplexer configured to provide duplexing functionality for a first frequency band and a second frequency band with a common antenna, the carrier-aggregation architecture further including a first amplification path associated with the first frequency band and a second amplification path associated with the second frequency band coupled to respective ports of the duplexer, each of the first amplification path and the second amplification path configured to amplify a signal in its respective frequency band, the first amplification path including a first transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the first frequency band and a received signal in the first frequency band, the second amplification path including a second transmit/receive switch configured to provide time-division duplexing functionality for an amplified signal in the second frequency band and a received signal in the second frequency band, the first amplification path further configured to amplify a signal in a third frequency band, the first transmit/receive switch configured to route an amplified signal in the third frequency band to a filter.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the radio-frequency device includes a wireless device.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the wireless device is a cellular phone.
18. The method of claim 15 wherein the first frequency band includes a B39 band and the second frequency band includes a B41 band.
19. The method of claim 15 wherein each of the first transmit/receive switch and the second transmit/receive switch includes a common node coupled to the duplexer for transmitted and received signals.
20. The method of claim 15 wherein the first amplification path includes a first band-selection switch and the second amplification path includes a second band-selection switch.