Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Atmel Corporation

Atmel Automotive Gmbh

Lutz Dathe

Wolfram Kluge

Thomas Hanusch

Henry Drescher

Dietmar Eggert

Dirk Haentzschel

Thorsten Riedel

Karl-Heinz Sandig

Matthias Vorwerk

Sven Jochmann

Sebastian Ehrenreich

Dietmer Eggert

Rolf Jaehne

Andreas Huschka

Hendrik Roller

Jörg Hönig

In certain embodiments, a circuit comprises a first voltage source configured to provide a supply voltage at an output of the first voltage source for a subcircuit. The circuit further comprises at least one second voltage source configured to provide output voltage to supply the subcircuit when the first voltage source is deactivated. The circuit further comprises an evaluation circuit connectable to an output of the at least one second voltage source, to a control input of the at least one second voltage source, and to the output of the first voltage source. The evaluation circuit is configured to adjust, based on the supply voltage at the output of the first voltage source, an output voltage of the at least one second voltage source.

Circuit and method for operating a circuit

An example circuit includes a voltage regulator, a controller, and a chain of switches. The voltage regulator is configured to generate a supply voltage, the supply voltage connected to each switch in the chain of switches, and generate a supply voltage status signal, the supply voltage status signal indicating a status of the supply voltage. The chain of switches includes a first switch configured to switch the supply voltage to a first subcircuit of a plurality of sub circuits based on the supply voltage status signal and one or more second switches configured to switch the supply voltage to one or more respective subcircuits of the plurality of subcircuits.

Voltage regulator and control circuit for supplying voltage to a plurality of subcircuits via a chain of switches

A circuit and method of operation for a circuit of a radio system in which a system time is divided into symbols, in which a system clock generator is activated in an operating mode, so that the system time is determined from an output clock signal of the system clock generator by counting, in which the system clock generator is deactivated in a sleep mode, in which an output clock signal of a sleep clock generator is blanked as a function of an output signal of a modulo divider in the sleep mode, and the system time is determined by counting, wherein an output frequency of the output clock signal of the sleep clock generator is a non-integer multiple of a symbol frequency, in which the modulo divider divides the output clock signal of the sleep clock generator by a division factor, and in which the division factor of the modulo divider is produced by changing between at least two integer divisor values.

Circuit for a radio system, use and method for operation

A circuit, use, and method for operating a circuit is provided that includes a regulated first voltage source for providing a supply voltage at an output of the first voltage source for a subcircuit, an adjustable second voltage source for providing an output voltage to supply the subcircuit, and an evaluation circuit, which is connected to an output of the second voltage source and to a control input of the second voltage source and to the output of the first voltage source. Wherein the evaluation circuit is formed to adjust the output voltage of the second voltage source by means of a control signal at the control input of the second voltage source with evaluation of the supply voltage at the output of the first voltage source, and wherein the evaluation circuit and/or the second voltage source have a memory for storing values of the adjustment.

Supplying voltage in a circuit using a first voltage source and an adjustable second voltage source

A circuit, an adjusting method, and use of a control loop for adjusting a data retention voltage and/or a leakage current of a CMOS circuit for a sleep mode, wherein the CMOS circuit is operated to control in a measuring mode, whereby in the measuring mode a leakage current exclusively flows through the CMOS circuit, the control loop in the measuring mode adjusts the data retention voltage and/or the leakage current, and the adjustments of the control loop for the sleep mode are stored.

Circuit, an adjusting method, and use of a control loop

Circuit, method for operating a circuit, and use, having a voltage regulator, which has a regulator output for providing a supply voltage, which for the supply can be connected to at least one first digital subcircuit via a first switch and to a second digital subcircuit via a second switch, wherein the voltage regulator is formed to output a first status signal dependent on the supply voltage, and to turn on the first switch by the first status signal is connected to a first control input of the first switch, and the first switch is formed to output a second status signal dependent on its switching state, and to turn on the second switch by the second status signal is connected to a second control input of the second switch.

Supplying voltage to digital subcircuits

A monolithic integrated circuit is provided that includes a semiconductor switch, a constant current source, a capacitor, and a load circuit, which has a load capacitance. An output of the semiconductor switch is connected to the load circuit to turn on and off a supply voltage of the load circuit. The capacitor is connected to the output of the semiconductor switch and to a control input of the semiconductor switch. The constant current source can be or is connected to the control input of the semiconductor switch. Also, a use of a semiconductor switch is provided to reduce the leakage current of a load circuit of a monolithic integrated circuit.

Monolithic integrated circuit and use of a semiconductor switch

An automatic power level control circuit provides output power control of a transmitter device as used in wireless LAN applications in that an output signal is detected and a corresponding control voltage of a DAC in the base band section is corresponding adjusted. Preferably, the measurement of the output power is carried out during a first transmit cycle and the DAC is adjusted after completion of the first transmit cycle and prior to the begin of a subsequent transmit cycle. Thus, a reliable output level control is obtained with a minimum number of radio frequency components, wherein the control loop shows an enhanced stability due to the time-discrete control operation.

Automatic power level control circuit for a transceiver device

A receiver, an integrated circuit chip and a method are provided for estimating the power of a digitally modulated signal received by the receiver in a communication system. The method comprises determining in-phase and quadrature-phase values of a phase constellation system relating to the received signal, calculating at least one modified in-phase value and at least one modified quadrature-phase value relating to the phase constellation system rotated by a predetermined angle, and determining absolute values of the in-phase and quadrature-phase values and the modified in-phase and quadrature-phase values. The method further comprises identifying the maximum of the absolute values, and determining a power estimate of the received signal based on the identified maximum value. The provided technique may allow for estimating the power of a digitally modulated signal in a simple and less complex implementation.

Phase system rotation for power estimation

An automatic gain controller for transceiver elements uses a digital topology to achieve an efficient and rapid gain settling so that an output signal of the variable gain section is within a predefined range. In one embodiment, an input signal is periodically sampled and latched so as represent the gain excess of a variable gain section. An accumulator, including an adder having saturation characteristics and a latch as a feedback element, creates a number for a new gain setting so that the variable gain section may adapt to the new gain setting within one clock period. In one example, a gain range of 84 dB is controllable and settling is achieved within 3 clock periods at most.

Digital automatic gain control for transceiver devices

An electronic circuit with an improved current stabilization operating in an RF transceiver or receiver, e.g. in a wireless local area network system, and a corresponding method is provided for generating a supply current and supplying the generated supply current to at least two subunits of the electronic circuit. The at least two subunits are connected in parallel to each other. Each of the subunits receives an input voltage at an input transistor in the first one of at least two parallel current paths of the subunit. Each subunit stabilizes the current through the input transistor by means of a control circuit a second current path of the subunit and a common voltage output terminal is connected to each subunit for outputting a voltage. The provided technique may allow for detecting maximum values or generating absolute values.

Electronic circuit with improved current stabilization

In a direct conversion radio frequency receiver, an automatic gain control is implemented that allows changing the operation mode of a filter unit in the baseband section of the receiver such that in a first operation mode filter capacities are selected to provide desired output signal characteristics, whereas in a second operation mode the filter settling time is significantly reduced in order to speed up gain adaptation and to improve gain loop stability. In one embodiment the cut-off frequency of a high pass filter and the Q-factor of a subsequent low pass filter are increased and decreased respectively upon changing the gain setting of a variable gain amplifier to accelerate settling of the filter.

Direct conversion receiver having a gain-setting dependent filter parameter

A radio frequency signal level is determined by generating an AC reference voltage from a DC reference voltage and determining an envelope of the AC reference voltage in an envelope detector having substantially the same composition as an envelope detector for determining the envelope of the radio frequency signal. The AC reference voltage substantially eliminates any DC offset and thus induces a high immunity against temperature and power supply variations. Moreover, using substantially the same RF signal path for the RF signal and the reference signal, signal distortions cause by the RF signal path are substantially compensated for.

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Dresden, Germany

Lutz Dathe