Systems and methods for minimizing insertion loss in a multi-mode communications system

Abstract

Methods and system for using a multifunctional filter to minimize insertion loss in a multi-mode communications system are described. Specifically described is a multifunctional filter that is configurable to operate in a band-pass mode when a first type of signal is propagated through the multifunctional filter, and to operate in a low-pass mode when a second type of signal is propagated through the multifunctional filter. The multifunctional filter presents a lower insertion loss to the second type of signal when operating in the low-pass mode than in the band-pass mode.

Claims

1. A circuital arrangement comprising a multifunctional filter, wherein: the circuital arrangement is configurable to operate in a plurality of modes each based on a respective filtering function of the multifunctional filter for propagation of a respective type of signal through the circuital arrangement, the plurality of modes comprising: a first mode based on a first filtering function of the multifunctional filter for propagation of a first type of signal through the circuital arrangement, and a second mode based on a second filtering function of the multifunctional filter for propagation of a second type of signal through the circuital arrangement, the second mode providing a lower insertion loss upon the second type of signal than the first mode, and configuration of the circuital arrangement to operate in one of the first mode and the second mode is respectively based on a configuration of the multifunctional filter to operate according to the first filtering function and the second filtering function, wherein the multifunctional filter comprises: one or more independently selectable serial filter components, one or more independently selectable shunt filter components, one or more parallel switches connected in parallel with said serial filter components and one or more serial switches connected in serial with said shunt filter components.

2. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said serial filter components and said shunt filter components are arranged according to one or more filter stages, each of the one or more filter stages comprising at least one of the serial filter components and at least one of the shunt filter components.

3. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the parallel or serial switches is used in combination with multiple elements comprising at least one of an inductor and a capacitor as an impedance modification device.

4. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the parallel or serial switches is a variable impedance device for configuring of the multifunctional filter to operate according to the first functional filter or the second functional filter.

5. The circuital arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the variable impedance device is one of: a) a varicap, b) a varactor, c) a varistor, d) a thyristor, and e) a barium strontium titanate (BST) capacitor.

6. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of the first filtering function and the second filtering function is one of: a) a bandpass filter, b) a lowpass filter, c) a highpass filter, and d) a notch filter.

7. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein: during operation in the first mode, the multifunctional filter provides a first propagation path of the first type of signal by inclusion of the one or more independently selectable serial and shunt filter components in the first propagation path, and during operation in the second mode, the multifunctional filter provides a second propagation path of the second type of signal by removal of at least one filter component of the one or more independently selectable serial and shunt filter components from the second propagation path.

8. The circuital arrangement according to claim 7, wherein inclusion of the one or more independently selectable serial and shunt filter components in the first propagation path comprises placing at least one switch of the one or more parallel switches in an open position and placing at least one switch of the one or more serial switches in a closed position.

9. The circuital arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the removal of at least one filter component of the one or more independently selectable serial and shunt filter components from the second propagation path comprises placing one of a corresponding parallel switch of the one or more parallel switches in a closed position, and a corresponding serial switch of the one or more serial switches in an open position.

10. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the first type of signal is a frequency division duplex signal and the second type signal is a time division duplex signal.

11. The circuital arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the multifunctional filter is configured to provide a notch-type attenuation upon at least one harmonic component of the time division duplex signal.

12. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the multifunctional filter comprises at least one variable impedance device for configuring the multifunctional filter to operate according to the first functional filter or the second functional filter.

13. The circuital arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the circuital arrangement is a duplexer.

14. A communication system comprising at least one of a transmitter unit and a receiver unit coupled to the circuital arrangement of claim 13 for a respective transmission or reception of an RF signal.

15. The communication system according to claim 14, wherein the duplexer provides a propagation path of the RF signal, the RF signal being one of the first type of signal and the second type of signal.

16. The communication system according to claim 15, wherein the propagation path of the second type of signal is provided by closing at least one of the one or more parallel switches and opening at least one of the one or more serial switches.

17. A multifunctional filter comprising a plurality of filtering functions, comprising: a first filtering function of the plurality of filtering functions for propagation of a first type of signal through the multifunctional filter during a first mode of operation of the multifunctional filter, a second filtering function of the plurality of filtering functions for propagation of a second type of signal through the multifunctional filter during a second mode of operation of the multifunctional filter, the second filtering function providing a lower insertion loss upon the second type of signal than the first filtering function, wherein the multifunctional filter comprises: one or more independently selectable serial filter components, one or more independently selectable shunt filter components, one or more parallel switches connected in parallel with said serial filter components and one or more serial switches connected in serial with said shunt filter components.

18. A method of minimizing insertion loss in a duplexer, the method comprising: configuring the duplexer to operate in a first mode of a plurality of modes when a first type of signal is propagated through the duplexer; and configuring the duplexer to operate in a second mode of the plurality of modes when a second type of signal is propagated through the duplexer, the second mode providing an insertion loss upon the second type of signal when propagated through the duplexer that is lower than an insertion loss provided upon the second type of signal when propagated through the duplexer in the first mode, wherein configuring the duplexer to operate in one of the first or second modes comprises configuring a multifunctional filter contained in the duplexer to operate in one of the first or second modes, each of the first and second modes comprising a filtering function according to one of: a) a bandpass filter, b) a lowpass filter, c) a highpass filter, and d) a notch filter.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the multifunctional filter comprises: one or more independently selectable serial filter components, one or more independently selectable shunt filter components, one or more parallel switches connected in parallel with said serial filter components and one or more serial switches connected in serial with said shunt filter components.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating various principles. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a prior art communications system that uses two separate sets of circuit elements for selectably operating the communications system in either a TDD mode or a FDD mode.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a communications system incorporating a multifunctional filter that can be selectively configured for operating the communications system in either a TDD mode or a FDD mode.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a few components that may be contained in the multifunctional filter shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) Throughout this description, embodiments and variations are described for the purpose of illustrating uses and implementations of the inventive concept. The illustrative description should be understood as presenting examples of the inventive concept, rather than as limiting the scope of the concept as disclosed herein. For example, it will be understood that terminology such as multi-functional, multi-mode, nodes, terminals, voltage drops, circuits, blocks, connections, lines, and coupling are used herein as a matter of convenience for description purposes and should not be interpreted literally in a narrow sense. Furthermore, the words block or functional blocks as used herein refer not only to a circuit containing discrete components or integrated circuits (ICs), but may also refer to various other elements such as a module, a sub-module, or a mechanical assembly. Similarly, the word line as used herein may refer to various connectivity elements such as a wire, a cable, a copper track on a printed circuit board, an optical fiber, or a wireless link. Also, it must be understood that the word example as used herein (in whatever context) is intended to be non-exclusionary and non-limiting in nature. It will be further understood that labels such as band-pass and notch filter are used herein solely for purposes of description. Consequently, other labels and other filtering functionalities are included in the scope of the concept disclosed herein. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand the principles described herein and recognize that these principles can be applied to a wide variety of applications using a wide variety of physical elements.

(6) In particular, described herein are some systems and methods pertaining to using a multifunctional filter for minimizing insertion loss in a multi-mode communications system. As can be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the described systems and methods can be incorporated into a wide variety of communications systems, and furthermore such communications systems may be used in a variety of devices and applications spanning a variety of operating conditions (frequencies, voltages, power etc).

(7) FIG. 2 shows a communications system 200 having a multi-mode system 205 incorporating a multifunctional filter 210 that can be selectively configured for operating communications system 200 in either a TDD mode or a FDD mode. It will be understood that multifunctional filter 210 may be referred to alternatively as a dual-purpose filter, an integrated filter, or a combination filter. Persons of ordinary skill in the art can recognize the equivalency amongst such alternative labels.

(8) It will also be understood that communications system 200 includes several other elements (in addition to multi-mode system 205), which are not shown in FIG. 2. These other elements have been omitted so as to avoid obscuring the primary focus of this disclosure.

(9) Multi-mode system 205 further includes a wide band transmit amplifier 207 and a wide band receiver 117, each of which is selected to have a bandwidth, as well as other characteristics that accommodate both FDD and TDD modes of signal propagation. In a first embodiment, multifunctional filter 210 is a standalone component that may be placed in either a transmit signal propagation path or a receive signal propagation path. In another embodiment, multifunctional filter 210 is a part of a duplexer 215 that is shown as a dashed box in FIG. 2. Duplexer 215 couples any signal that is received on line 211 from an antenna (not shown) and routes this received signal to wide band receiver 117. Duplexer 215 further couples transmit-side signals from wide band transmit amplifier 207 into line 211 through which the transmit-side signals are coupled to the antenna. As can be understood, transmit-side signals are generally much stronger in signal amplitude than the received-side signals. Duplexer 215 prevents a large part, or all of, this stronger transmit-side signal from reaching wide band receiver 206 and causing damage to receiver 206, which is designed to receive low amplitude signals and therefore, contains circuitry susceptible to overload damage.

(10) As mentioned above, multifunctional filter 210 can be selectively configured in accordance with communications system 200 operating in either a TDD mode or a FDD mode. Specifically, multifunctional filter 210 is configurable as a band-pass filter when communications system 200 is placed in an FDD mode of operation. Conversely, multifunctional filter 210 is configurable as a low-pass filter when communications system 200 is placed in a TDD mode of operation. The low-pass filter configuration imposes a lower insertion loss upon a TDD signal than that imposed by the band-pass filter (if such a band-pass filter were permitted to be located in a signal propagation path of the TDD signal).

(11) In various other embodiments, multifunctional filter 210 can be selectively configured in accordance with multi-mode system 205 operating in modes other than a TDD mode or a FDD mode. For example, in a first of other such operational modes, multifunctional filter 210 may be configurable to perform a first filtering function (such as, for example, low pass, high pass, band-pass, single notch, multiple notches, single band-stop, multi-band stop etc) and then re-configurable in a second operational mode to perform a second different filtering function. It can be understood that the first filtering function may be more suitable for the first operational mode but may not be optimal for the second operational mode (for example, as a result of having a higher insertion loss, or some other such undesirable characteristic).

(12) Attention is now drawn to FIG. 3, which shows certain elements contained inside multifunctional filter 210. The configuration shown is a generic ladder network solely for purpose of description, and it will be understood that various combinations and arrangements of series and shunt elements (capacitors, inductors, resistors etc in and/or T-configurations) may be used in various alternative embodiments. Furthermore, it will be noticed that only two filter stages are shown in FIG. 3, with each stage having one shunt element and one series element. However, a single stage or more than two stages (n stages) may be employed in various other embodiments, furthermore with more than one element located in each shunt and/or series limb if so desired.

(13) Switch 305, which may be a normally-closed switch, is controllable via a control signal (not shown) that may be used to place switch 305 in an open position when it is desired to isolate shunt element 310 from signal propagation path 300. Switch 315, which may be a normally-open switch, is also provided a control signal (not shown) that may be used to place switch 315 in a closed position, thereby providing a low impedance shunt signal path that effectively eliminates series element 320 from signal propagation path 300, when so desired. Switches 325 and 335 may be operated in a similar manner for configuring shunt element 330 and series element 340 respectively.

(14) 027 In one implementation, each of shunt elements 310 and 330 is a capacitor (C), while each of series elements 320 and 340 is an inductor (L). When all of these elements (having appropriately selected values) are included in signal propagation path 300, multifunctional filter 210 operates as a band-pass filter. On the other hand, when some of these elements, for example, shunt element 310 and series element 340 are switched out of signal propagation path 300, multifunctional filter 210 operates as an L-C low-pass filter.

(15) Thus, by suitably operating one or more of switches 305, 315, 325 and 335, multifunctional filter 210 can be configured as a single stage or a multi-stage filter having either a band-pass or a low-pass characteristic. The overall impedance characteristics of multifunctional filter 210 can be configured to any suitable value by not only operating one or more of switches 305, 315, 325 and 335 so as to insert or remove one or more filter stages, but also by inserting resistors in lieu of, or to complement, one or more of shunt element 310, shunt element 330, series element 320 and series elements 340.

(16) When configured as a band-pass filter, multifunctional filter 210 may be used to selectively attenuate certain frequencies, such as undesirable harmonics or transmit-side frequencies that may cause damage to receiver 206 (FIG. 2).

(17) Each of switches 305, 315, 325 and 335 may be implemented in several alternative ways. A non-exhaustive list of devices that may be used include relays, solid-state switches, discrete switching semiconductors (such as field effect transistors), micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), and controllable variable impedance devices. A few examples of controllable variable impedance devices include a varicap, a varactor, a varistor, a thyristor, and a barium strontium titanate (BST) capacitor.

(18) Such devices may be configured to not only operate as switches (with a high impedance constituting an open switch condition and a low impedance constituting a closed switch condition), but may also, in some embodiments, be used as impedance modification devices. For example, when switch 315 is a variable inductor, the value of the inductance provided by switch 315 may be varied under suitable voltage control to provide a desired inductance value that operates in parallel with the inductance value provided by series element 320. In another example, when switch 315 is a variable capacitor, the value of the capacitance provided by switch 315 may be varied under suitable voltage control so as to provide a desired capacitance value that operates in parallel with the inductance value provided by series element 320. Such a combination may be used as part of a tuned circuit for selectively propagating certain frequencies while blocking certain other frequencies in the signal propagation path 300. In yet another example, switch 315 is provided in the form of multiple elements, for example, a resistor in parallel (or in series) with an inductor or a capacitor. Such combinations may be used for example to obtain specific Q values in a tuned circuit formed in conjunction with series element 320.

(19) The other switches shown in FIG. 3 may be also configured in similar ways. Furthermore, though not shown, it will be understood that additional switches may be located in various other limbs of multifunctional filter 210. For example, an additional switch may be located on the limb connecting junction 306 to series element 320. This additional switch may be operated in conjunction with switch 315. Thus, when switch 315 is closed, the additional switch may be opened so as to isolate the input side of series element 320 and reduce signal loss in series element 320, or to present a higher impedance value in parallel with closed switch 315.

(20) The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the systems, components, and methods described herein allow for using a multifunctional filter to minimize insertion loss in a multi-mode communications system. While the devices and methods have been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, it is understood that numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the claims, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

(21) A number of embodiments of the present inventive concept have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive teachings.

(22) Accordingly, it is to be understood that the inventive concept is not to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims. The description may provide examples of similar features as are recited in the claims, but it should not be assumed that such similar features are identical to those in the claims unless such identity is essential to comprehend the scope of the claim. In some instances the intended distinction between claim features and description features is underscored by using slightly different terminology.