Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Technology Corp.

Renasas Electronics Corporation

Koji Maeda

Yukinori Akamine

Taizo Yamawaki

Satoshi Tanaka

Hiroshi Kamizuma

Sungwoo Cha

Manabu Kawabe

Masahiro Ito

Takayasu Norimatsu

Irei Kyu

The power consumption of a data sampling unit that selects a phase of a clock signal appropriate for sampling payload data is reduced at an input interface. A semiconductor integrated circuit includes an input interface and internal core circuits. The input interface includes a hysteresis circuit and a data sampling unit. The hysteresis circuit detects an input signal between first and second input thresholds as a sleep command. The data sampling unit selects an appropriate phase of a sampling clock signal in accordance with a synchronizing signal and samples payload data. When a sleep command is detected, a sleep signal is also supplied to the internal core circuits and the data sampling unit and they are controlled into a low-power consumption state.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and circuit operation method

The transmitter of the transceiver includes: a transmitter-side mixers of a transmitter-side modulator; a transmitter-side voltage-controlled oscillator; and a transmitter-side divider. The divider having a dividing factor of a non-integral number is supplied with an oscillating output of the oscillator. A pair of non-quadrature local signals having a phase difference of 90&#xb0; plus a predetermined offset angle is produced by the divider and supplied to the mixers. The transmitter includes a phase-shift unit which converts a pair of quadrature transmit signals having a phase difference of about 90&#xb0; on an analog basis into a pair of non-quadrature shifted transmit signals. Consequently, quadrature modulation is performed by the mixers. Use of a similar configuration enables the reduction in interference of an RF signal with local signals supplied to receiver-side mixers of the receiver.

Transceiver

The transmitter synthesizes amplitude and phase components and calibrates a delay mismatch between amplitude and phase components with high accuracy at high speed. The transmitter has: a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a low-pass filter (LPF) in its amplitude-signal path; and a phase modulator operable to convert up a phase component into an RF component in its phase-signal path. In an operation of delay calibration, a test input signal is supplied to a delay-calibrating unit in the amplitude-signal path, and the delay-calibrating unit provides a test input signal to DAC. Then, LPF generates a test output signal. The delay-calibrating unit detects a delay of the test output signal relative to the test input signal, calibrates an amplitude signal delay in a range from the input of the delay-calibrating unit to the output of LPF, reduces the difference between amplitude and phase signal delays of the phase modulator in the phase-signal path.

Transmitter and semiconductor integrated circuit available for it

The semiconductor integrated communication circuit includes: a low-noise amplifier; a receive mixer; a receive VCO; a demodulation-processing circuit; a modulation-processing circuit; a transmit mixer; a transmit VCO; a second-order-distortion-characteristic-calibration circuit; a quadrature-receive-signal-calibration circuit; and a test-signal generator. The test-signal generator generates first and second test signals using the transmit VCO. In the second-order-distortion-characteristic-calibration mode, the second-order-distortion-characteristic-calibration circuit variably changes an operation parameter of the receive mixer thereby to calibrate the second-order distortion characteristic to achieve its best condition while the first test signal is supplied to the receive mixer. In the quadrature-receive-signal-calibration mode, the quadrature-receive-signal-calibration circuit calibrates IQ mismatch of a quadrature receive signal to achieve the best condition thereof while the second test signal is supplied to the receive mixer. The integrated communication circuit can minimize the increase in chip footprint of a test-signal-generating circuit used to perform calibrations of both the second-order characteristic and IQ mismatch.

Semiconductor integrated communication circuit and operation method thereof

A transceiver includes an oscillator and a plurality of communication blocks. Each of the communication blocks includes frequency dividers and mixers. Frequency dividing number of the frequency divider included in one communication block is set to an even-numbered integer, and transmission local signals supplied from the frequency dividers to the mixer become quadrature signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees. The frequency dividing number of another frequency divider in the another communication block is set to a non-integer, and communication local signals supplied from the frequency divider to the mixers become non-quadrature signals having a phase difference at a predetermined offset angle from 90 degrees. The transceiver further includes a converting unit for giving a compensation offset amount having almost the same absolute value and having a polarity opposite to that of the offset angle to communication analog signals related to the mixer of the another communication block.

A transceiver includes an oscillator and a plurality of communication blocks. Each of the communication blocks includes frequency dividers and mixers. Frequency dividing number of the frequency divider included in one communication block is set to an even-numbered integer, and transmission local signals supplied from the frequency dividers to the mixer become quadrature signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees. The frequency dividing number of another frequency divider in the another communication block is set to a non-integer, and communication local signals supplied from the frequency divider to the mixers become non-quadrature signals having a phase difference at a predetermined offset angle from 90 degrees. The transceiver further includes a converting unit for giving a compensation offset amount having almost the same absolute value and having a polarity opposite to that of the offset angle to communication analog signals related to the mixer of the another communication block. Increase in the number of voltage-controlled oscillators for multiband communication, broadening of the band, and increase in phase noise can be reduced.

When generating an RF test signal for mismatch calibration for receiver in order to calibrate reception mismatch of an I-phase signal and a Q-phase signal that are output from demodulated signal processing circuits coupled to mixers for receiving, a Tx VCO avoids covering the higher frequency of an RF received signal in an FDD system. An RF test signal generating unit generates, in a calibration mode of a mismatch calibration for receiver circuit, the RF test signal by using an oscillation output signal of the Tx VCO and other circuits, and supplies the same to the mixers for receiving via a switch. The RF test signal has a frequency within an RF reception frequency band that is higher than that of an RF transmission signal with the maximum frequency band of multiband radio frequency communications. By switching the switch in a reception mode, an output of a low-noise amplifier that amplifies the RF received signal received by an antenna is supplied to each of the mixers for receiving.

Integrated circuit and device for mobile communications

The receiver, which enables rejection of image signals with higher accuracy over wider frequency band, can be provided as a low IF receiver by inputting a calibration signal of frequency f(1&#x2266;i&#x2266;N) before reception of signals and determining the frequency response f(z) to f(z) of a calibrating filter in a filter mismatch calibrating circuit (FIL_CAL)to make zero amplitude and phase mismatches between the I component and Q component of the quadrature demodulation signal at the frequency f.

Method and system for calibrating frequencies-amplitude and phase mismatch in a receiver

This invention provides a receiver in which the calibration time by repeated operations to correct phase mismatch and amplitude mismatch between I and Q signals can be reduced. The receiver comprises mixers which convert received RF signals into quadrature modulated IF signals, signal paths which filter and amplify and output the quadrature modulated signals output from the mixers, a calibration circuit which calibrates phase and amplitude mismatches between the I and Q components of the quadrature modulated signals output through the signal paths, a frequency converter which, when the mixers or the signal paths selected output calibration signals with IF frequency instead of the quadrature modulated signals, converts the calibration signals into those with a frequency higher than IF frequency, and an arithmetic operation circuit which calculates phase and amplitude mismatches from the calibration signals output by the frequency converter and outputs calculation results. The calibration circuit executes calibration, using the calculation results.

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Kokubunji, Japan

Koji Maeda