Using direct phase noise measurement and blocker recovery to cancel reciprocal mixing noise

1. A method for reciprocal mixing noise cancellation, the method comprising:

receiving a baseband signal down-converted to baseband using a local oscillator (LO), the baseband signal comprising a wanted signal and a reciprocal mixing noise, at least partially overlapping the wanted signal, the reciprocal mixing noise being due to mixing of a blocker signal with a phase noise of the LO during down-conversion;

performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal and generating a blocker estimate signal from the baseband signal;

measuring the phase noise of the LO and generating a phase noise measurement signal based on the measured phase noise of the LO;

processing the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal and generating a reconstructed noise signal comprising the overlapping reciprocal mixing noise; and

subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the baseband signal and providing the wanted signal substantially free from to the reciprocal mixing noise.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal comprises:

phase shifting the blocker estimate signal; and

multiplying the phase shifted blocker estimate signal by the phase noise measurement signal and generating a first processed signal, wherein phase shifting the blocker estimate signal comprises phase shifting of the blocker estimate signal by approximately 90 degrees or using a quadrature phase version of the blocker estimate signal.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein processing the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal further comprises:

subtracting the first processed signal from the blocker estimate signal and generating a second processed signal; and

filtering the second processed signal and generating the reconstructed noise signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal comprises using at least one of a phase-locked loop or a band-pass filter.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal further comprises filtering the baseband signal using a band-pass filter having a pass-band centered at a frequency of the blocker signal.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal further comprises applying the filtered baseband signal to a phased-locked loop that locks to the frequency of the blocker signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising amplifying the baseband signal, and wherein subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the baseband signal comprises subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the amplified baseband signal.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising filtering the amplified baseband signal and generating a processed baseband signal, and wherein subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the baseband signal comprises subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the processed baseband signal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring the phase noise of the LO comprises measuring the phase noise of the LO using a delay-cell discriminator technique.

10. A system for reciprocal mixing noise cancellation, the system comprising:

a blocker recovery module configured to perform blocker recovery on a baseband signal to generate a replica of a blocker signal, the baseband signal down-converted to baseband using a local oscillator (LO), and comprising a wanted signal and a reciprocal mixing noise, at least partially overlapping the wanted signal, the reciprocal mixing noise being due to mixing of a blocker signal with a phase noise of the LO during down-conversion;

a phase noise measurement module configured to measure the phase noise of the LO and to generate a phase noise measurement signal based on the measured phase noise of the LO;

a first processing module configured to process the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal to generate a reconstructed noise signal comprising the overlapping reciprocal mixing noise; and

a first subtraction module configured to subtract the reconstructed noise signal from the baseband signal to provide the wanted signal substantially free from to the reciprocal mixing noise.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first processing module comprises:

a phase shifter to shift the blocker estimate signal; and

a mixer configured to multiply the phase shifted blocker estimate signal by the phase noise measurement signal and to generate a first processed signal, wherein:

the phase shifter is configured to phase shift the blocker estimate signal by approximately 90 degrees, or

the phase shifter is removed and a quadrature phase version of the blocker estimate signal is used as the shifted blocker estimate signal.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first processing module further comprises:

a second subtraction module configured to subtract the first processed signal from the blocker estimate signal and to generate a second processed signal; and

a low pass filter configured to filter the second processed signal and to generate the reconstructed noise signal.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the blocker recovery module comprises at least one of a phase-locked loop or a band-pass filter.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the blocker recovery module comprises a band-pass filter, and wherein a pass-band of the band-pass filter is centered at a frequency of the blocker signal.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the blocker recovery module further comprises a phased-locked loop configured to lock to the frequency of the blocker signal.

16. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a second processing module that comprises a gain stage configured to amplify the baseband signal to generate an amplified baseband, and wherein the first subtraction module is configured to subtract the reconstructed noise signal from the amplified baseband signal.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the second processing module further comprises a low-pass filter configured to filter the amplified baseband signal to generate a processed baseband signal, and wherein the first subtraction module is configured to subtract the reconstructed noise signal from the processed baseband signal.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the phase noise measurement module is configured to measure the phase noise of the LO using a delay-cell discriminator technique.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, allow the machine to perform a method for reciprocal-mixing noise cancellation, the method comprising:

receiving a baseband signal down-converted to baseband using a local oscillator (LO), the baseband signal comprising a wanted signal and a reciprocal mixing noise, at least partially overlapping the wanted signal, the reciprocal mixing noise being due to mixing of a blocker signal with a phase noise of the LO during down-conversion;

performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal and generating a blocker estimate signal from the baseband signal;

measuring the phase noise of the LO and generating a phase noise measurement signal based on the measured phase noise of the LO;

processing the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal and generating a reconstructed noise signal comprising the overlapping reciprocal mixing noise; and

subtracting the reconstructed noise signal from the baseband signal and providing the wanted signal substantially free from to the reciprocal mixing noise.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein:

a) processing the blocker estimate signal and the phase noise measurement signal comprises:

a1) multiplying a phase shifted blocker estimate signal by the phase noise measurement signal and generating a first processed signal;

a2) subtracting the first processed signal from the blocker estimate signal and generating a second processed signal; and

a3) filtering the second processed signal and generating the reconstructed noise signal,

b) performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal comprises using at least one of a phase-locked loop or a band-pass filter,

c) performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal further comprises filtering the baseband signal using a band-pass filter centered at a frequency of the blocker signal,

d) performing blocker recovery on the baseband signal further comprises applying the filtered baseband signal to a phased-locked loop that locks to the frequency of the blocker signal.