Reducing harmonics in a radio transmitter can involve using an electronically tunable harmonic filter (ETHF) in a transmit path at the output of an RF power amplifier stage to reduce harmonic signal components in the RF transmit signal. At least one filter characteristic of the ETHF is selectively controlled using one or more RF switch. The one or more RF switches that are used to control the ETHF can include a CMOS-SOI and/or a MEMs type of switch. Various filter characteristics of the ETHF can be controlled including a bandwidth and/or a center frequency of the ETHF.

Embodiments of resonator circuits and modulating resonators and are described generally herein. One or more acoustic wave resonators may be coupled in series or parallel to generate tunable filters. One or more acoustic wave resonances may be modulated by one or more capacitors or tunable capacitors. One or more acoustic wave modules may also be switchable in a filter. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Digital step attenuator (DSA) and digital phase shifter (DPS) multi-stage circuit architectures that provide for high resolution. Embodiments use a dithering approach to weight bit positions to provide a much finer resolution than the lowest-valued individual stage. Bit position weights for stages are determined so as to enable selection of combinations of n bit positions that provide a desired total attenuation or phase shift range while allowing utilization of the large number of states (2.sup.n) available to produce fractional intermediate steps of attenuation or phase shift. The fractional intermediate steps have a resolution finer than the lowest-valued stage. Bit position weights may be determined using a weighting function, including weightings determined from a linear series, a geometric series, a harmonic series, or alternating variants of such series. In some embodiments, at least one bit position has a fixed value that is not determined by the bit position weighting function.

A multiplexer includes a filter (10) arranged between a common terminal and an input/output terminal (110) and configured to pass a radio frequency signal in a first frequency band, and a filter (20) arranged between the common terminal and an input/output terminal (120) and configured to pass a radio frequency signal in a second frequency band. The filter includes series arm circuits (31 and 32) connected in series, a series arm circuit (33) connected in parallel to the series arm circuit (32), and a parallel arm circuit. The series arm circuit (32) includes a series arm resonator that is an acoustic wave resonator. The series arm circuit (33) includes a switch arranged on a second path connecting nodes. In a CA mode, the switch is OFF. In a non-CA mode, the switch is ON.

A tunable passband filter including a signal input port for receiving an input radio frequency (RF) signal, a signal output port for transmitting a filtered output RF signal, a first high-pass section having a first tunable microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch array to receive the input RF signal from the signal input port, a second high-pass section having a second tunable MEMS switch array to transmit the output RF signal to the signal output port, and a low pass section operatively coupled between the first high-pass section and the second high-pass section, and having each of a first tunable MEMS bridge array, a second tunable MEMS bridge array, and a high impedance line. The tunable passband filter is configured to filter the input RF signal to yield the filtered output RF signal.

The invention relates to a radio communication terminal (10) comprising:

an antenna (12) having an impedance;

an impedance-measuring sensor (14) for measuring the impedance of the antenne (12) in order to produce a measured impedance;

an amplifier (18);

a filter (20) connected to the antenna (12) and the amplifier (18), the filter (20) having a variable impedance; and

a body (22) for controlling the impedance of the filter (20), the body being used to control the impedance of the filter (20) according to the measured impedance.

Reducing harmonics in a radio transmitter can involve using an electronically tunable harmonic filter (ETHF) in a transmit path at the output of an RF power amplifier stage to reduce harmonic signal components in the RF transmit signal. At least one filter characteristic of the ETHF is selectively controlled using one or more RF switch. The one or more RF switches that are used to control the ETHF can include a CMOS-SOI and/or a MEMs type of switch. Various filter characteristics of the ETHF can be controlled including a bandwidth and/or a center frequency of the ETHF.

A flexible multi-path RF adaptive tuning network switch architecture that counteracts impedance mismatch conditions arising from various combinations of coupled RF band filters, particularly in a Carrier Aggregation-based (CA) radio system. In one version, a digitally-controlled tunable matching network is coupled to a multi-path RF switch in order to provide adaptive impedance matching for various combinations of RF band filters. Optionally, some or all RF band filters include an associated digitally-controlled filter pre-match network to further improve impedance matching. In a second version, some or all RF band filters coupled to a multi-path RF switch include a digitally-controlled phase matching network to provide necessary per-band impedance matching. Optionally, a digitally-controlled tunable matching network may be included on the common port of the multi-path RF switch to provide additional impedance matching capability. In a third version, CA direct mapped adaptive tuning networks include filter tuning blocks for selected lower frequency bands.

A flexible multi-path RF adaptive tuning network switch architecture that counteracts impedance mismatch conditions arising from various combinations of coupled RF band filters, particularly in a Carrier Aggregation-based (CA) radio system. In one version, a digitally-controlled tunable matching network is coupled to a multi-path RF switch in order to provide adaptive impedance matching for various combinations of RF band filters. Optionally, some or all RF band filters include an associated digitally-controlled filter pre-match network to further improve impedance matching. In a second version, some or all RF band filters coupled to a multi-path RF switch include a digitally-controlled phase matching network to provide necessary per-band impedance matching. Optionally, a digitally-controlled tunable matching network may be included on the common port of the multi-path RF switch to provide additional impedance matching capability. In a third version, CA direct mapped adaptive tuning networks include filter tuning blocks for selected lower frequency bands.

An apparatus and method for a frequency based integrated circuit that selectively filters out unwanted bands or regions of interfering frequencies utilizing one or more tunable notch or bandpass filters or tunable low or high pass filters capable of operating across multiple frequencies and multiple bands in noisy RF environments. The tunable filters are fabricated within the same integrated circuit package as the associated frequency based circuitry, thus minimizing R, L, and C parasitic values, and also allowing residual and other parasitic impedance in the associated circuitry and IC package to be absorbed and compensated.