Zarlink Semiconductor Limited

Broadcom Corporation

Intel Corporation

Mitel Semiconductor Limited

Lance Rhys Trodd

Arshad Madni

Nicholas Paul Cowley

David John Miles

Robin Wyndham John Wilson

Franco Lauria

Humberto Andrade Da Fonseca

Mark Stephen John Mudd

Keith Strickland

Chris Powell

A near field communications (NFC) device is disclosed that detects an envelope of a radio frequency (RF) signal. The NFC device includes a peak detector that determines the envelope of the RF signal. The peak detector compares a first differential signal voltage to a second differential signal voltage. The peak detector delays a rising edge of a first differential signal and provides the first differential signal voltage to the peak detector output when the first differential signal voltage is greater than the second differential signal voltage. The peak detector delays a falling edge of a second differential signal and provides the second differential signal voltage to the peak detector output when the second differential signal voltage is greater than the first differential signal voltage.

Near field RF communicator and timing apparatus

Detecting peaks in a received signal in a near field communications (NFC) device

A radio frequency tuner is provided for selecting channels from a cable distribution network or other reception system. The tuner has one or more stages whose performance, such as signal to noise plus intermodulation, and gain are functions of the stage power consumption. A comparator compares the tuner performance, such as bit error rate, with a predetermined performance. When the tuner performance exceeds the predetermined performance, a power consumption control circuit reduces the power consumption of one or more of the stages so as to reduce the tuner power consumption while maintaining acceptable tuner performance. As an alternative, the control circuit may have an input which allows the power consumption to be preset in accordance with the tuner application. The control circuit also controls a variable gain arrangement to compensate for changes in gain resulting from changes in power consumption.

Radio frequency tuner

A signal handling stage provides variable gain, for example for automatic gain control functions, in a radio frequency tuner. The stage comprises a transconductance stage having negative feedback via further transconductance stage. The output current of the transconductance stage is supplied to an AGC core, which steers the output current between output loads and loads for driving the transconductance stage in accordance with an AGC voltage. The amount of negative feedback is therefore varied in accordance with the AGC voltage. For relatively low gain, a large amount of feedback is used and this improves the distortion performance. For relatively high gain, the negative feedback is reduced but a good noise figure can be achieved.

Signal processing stage and radio frequency tuner

A radio frequency amplifier including a long tail pair of transistors provided with a tail current source. The bases of the transistors are driven by emitter follower transistor provided with collector load resistors. Feedback capacitors ensure stability and feedback resistors bias the amplifier without degrading noise performance. The amplifier may be driven unbalanced while retaining good second harmonic distortion performance.

Radio frequency amplifier and television tuner

A system and method are provided for designing and manufacturing a semiconductor device, such as part of an integrated circuit. A template comprising a basic circuit diagram of a discrete circuit block and corresponding design equations are selected from a library. Desired performance parameters are selected and the value of one or more components of the circuit block are determined to allow the block to achieve the desired performance parameters.

System for and method of designing and manufacturing a semiconductor device

A radio frequency amplifier comprises an input amplifier provided with a shunt feedback path for determining the input impedance. A first transconductance amplifier forms part of a series feedback arrangement with a resistor around the amplifier so as to boost the effective value of the resistor. An identical transconductance amplifier is connected to the output of the input amplifier and its output forms the output of the radio frequency amplifier.

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Swindon, United Kingdom

Lance Rhys Trodd