HK1219819B - Diversity receiver front end system with flexible band routing - Google Patents

Description

Diversity Receiver Front-End System with Flexible Band Routing

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/073,043, filed on October 31, 2014, entitled “DIVERSITY RECEIVER FRONT END SYSTEM,” U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/073,042, filed on October 31, 2014, entitled “FLEXIBLE MULTI-BAND MULTI-ANTENNA RECEIVER MODULE,” U.S. Application No. 14/727,739, filed on June 1, 2015, entitled “DIVERSITY RECEIVER FRONT END SYSTEM WITH VARIABLE-GAIN AMPLIFIERS,” and U.S. Application No. 14/727,739, filed on August 26, 2015, entitled “DIVERSITY RECEIVER FRONT END SYSTEM WITH FLEXIBLE Serial No. 14/836,575, entitled "ROUTING," the disclosure of each of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to wireless communication systems having one or more diversity receive antennas.

Background Art

In wireless communication applications, size, cost, and performance are examples of factors that may be important for a given product. For example, to improve performance, wireless components such as diversity receive antennas and associated circuitry are becoming more popular.

In many radio frequency (RF) applications, the diversity receive antenna is placed physically away from the primary antenna. When both antennas are used simultaneously, the transceiver can process the signals from both antennas to increase data throughput.

Summary of the Invention

According to some embodiments, the present application relates to a receiving system comprising a plurality of amplifiers. Each of the plurality of amplifiers is disposed along a corresponding one of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system and is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifier. The receiving system further comprises an input multiplexer configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more input multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more RF signals to one or more of a plurality of input multiplexer outputs for propagation along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths. The receiving system further comprises an output multiplexer configured to receive one or more amplified RF signals propagated along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths at one or more corresponding output multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected one of a plurality of output multiplexer outputs. The receiving system further comprises a controller configured to receive a band select signal and to control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band select signal.

In some embodiments, in response to a band select signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a single frequency band, the controller may be configured to control the output multiplexer to route amplified RF signals received at an output multiplexer input corresponding to the single frequency band to a default output multiplexer output. In some embodiments, the default output multiplexer output is different for different single frequency bands.

In some embodiments, in response to a band select signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a first frequency band and a second frequency band, the controller may be configured to control the output multiplexer to route an amplified RF signal received at an output multiplexer input corresponding to the first frequency band to a first output multiplexer output, and to route an amplified RF signal received at an output multiplexer input corresponding to the second frequency band to a second output multiplexer output. In some embodiments, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may both be high frequency bands or low frequency bands.

In some embodiments, in response to a band select signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a first frequency band, a second frequency band, and a third frequency band, the controller may be configured to control the output multiplexer to combine the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input corresponding to the first frequency band and the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input corresponding to the second frequency band to generate a combined signal, route the combined signal to the first output multiplexer output, and route the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input corresponding to the third frequency band to the second output multiplexer output. In some embodiments, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be the frequency bands closest to each other among the first frequency band, the second frequency band, and the third frequency band. In some embodiments, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be the frequency bands furthest apart among the first frequency band, the second frequency band, and the third frequency band.

In some embodiments, in response to a band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include multiple frequency bands and in response to a controller signal indicating that the transmission line is unavailable, the controller may be configured to control the output multiplexer to combine multiple amplified RF signals received at multiple output multiplexer inputs corresponding to the multiple frequency bands to generate a combined signal, and route the combined signal to the output multiplexer output.

In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to control the output multiplexer to route an amplified RF signal received at an output multiplexer input to a first output multiplexer output in response to a first band select signal, and to control the output multiplexer to route an amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input to a second output multiplexer output in response to a second band select signal.

In some embodiments, the output multiplexer may include a first combiner coupled to a first output multiplexer output and a second combiner coupled to a second output multiplexer output. In some embodiments, an output multiplexer input may be coupled to the first combiner and the second combiner via one or more switches. In some embodiments, the controller may control the output multiplexer by controlling the one or more switches. In some embodiments, the one or more switches may include two single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches. In some embodiments, the one or more switches may include a single single-pole multiple-throw (SPMT) switch. In some embodiments, the receiving system further includes a plurality of transmission lines respectively coupled to the plurality of output multiplexer outputs.

In some embodiments, the present application relates to a radio frequency (RF) module comprising a packaging substrate configured to house a plurality of components. The RF module further comprises a receiving system implemented on the packaging substrate. The receiving system comprises a plurality of amplifiers. Each of the plurality of amplifiers is disposed along a corresponding one of a plurality of paths between an input of the receiving system and an output of the receiving system and is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifier. The receiving system comprises an input multiplexer configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more input multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more RF signals to a selected one or more of a plurality of input multiplexer outputs for propagation along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths. The receiving system comprises an output multiplexer configured to receive one or more amplified RF signals propagated along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths at one or more corresponding output multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected one of a plurality of output multiplexer outputs. The receiving system comprises a controller configured to receive a band select signal and control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band select signal.

In some embodiments, the RF module may be a diversity receiver front-end module (FEM).

According to some teachings, the present application relates to a wireless device comprising a first antenna configured to receive a first radio frequency (RF) signal. The wireless device also comprises a first front-end module (FEM) in communication with the first antenna. The first FEM comprises a packaging substrate configured to house a plurality of components. The first FEM also comprises a receive system implemented on the packaging substrate. The receive system comprises a plurality of amplifiers. Each of the plurality of amplifiers is disposed along a corresponding one of a plurality of paths between an input of the receive system and an output of the receive system and is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifier. The receive system comprises an input multiplexer configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more input multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more RF signals to a selected one or more of a plurality of input multiplexer outputs for propagation along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths. The receive system comprises an output multiplexer configured to receive one or more amplified RF signals propagated along the corresponding one or more of the plurality of paths at one or more corresponding output multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected one of a plurality of output multiplexer outputs. The receiving system includes a controller configured to receive a band select signal and control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band select signal. The wireless device also includes a communication module configured to receive a processed version of the first RF signal from the first FEM via a plurality of transmission lines respectively coupled to the outputs of the plurality of output multiplexers, and generate data bits based on the processed version of the first RF signal.

In some embodiments, the wireless device further comprises a second antenna configured to receive a second radio frequency (RF) signal and a second FEM in communication with the second antenna. The communication module may be configured to receive a processed version of the second RF signal from an output of the second FEM and generate data bits based on the processed version of the second RF signal.

For the purpose of summarizing this application, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the present invention have been described herein. It should be understood that, according to any specific embodiment of the present invention, it is not necessary to achieve all of these advantages. Thus, the present invention may be implemented or realized in a manner that realizes or optimizes one or a group of advantages as taught herein, without realizing other advantages that may be taught or suggested herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless device having a communication module coupled to a main antenna and a diversity antenna.

FIG2 shows a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration including a DRx front-end module (FEM).

3 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration may include a DRx module having multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands.

4 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include a diversity RF module having fewer amplifiers than a diversity receiver (DRx) module.

FIG5 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module coupled to an off-module filter.

FIG6 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include a DRx module with a tunable matching circuit.

FIG. 7 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include multiple transmission lines.

FIG8 illustrates one embodiment of an output multiplexer that may be used for dynamic routing.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of an output multiplexer that can be used for dynamic routing.

FIG. 10 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration may include multiple antennas.

FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of an input multiplexer that may be used for dynamic routing.

FIG12 illustrates another embodiment of an input multiplexer that may be used for dynamic routing.

13A-13F illustrate various embodiments of a DRx module with dynamic input routing and/or output routing.

FIG14 shows one embodiment of a flow chart representation of a method of processing an RF signal.

FIG15 illustrates a module having one or more features described herein.

FIG16 illustrates a wireless device having one or more features described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subheadings provided herein, if any, are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

1 shows a wireless device 100 having a communication module 110 coupled to a main antenna 130 and a diversity antenna 140. The communication module 110 (and its components) may be controlled by a controller 120. The communication module 110 includes a transceiver 112 configured to convert between analog radio frequency (RF) signals and digital data signals. To this end, the transceiver 112 may include a digital-to-analog converter, an analog-to-digital converter, a local oscillator for modulating or demodulating baseband analog signals to or from a carrier frequency, a baseband processor for converting between digital samples and data bits (e.g., voice or other types of data), or other components.

The communication module 110 also includes an RF module 114 coupled between the main antenna 130 and the transceiver 112. Because the RF module 114 can be physically close to the main antenna 130 to reduce attenuation due to cable loss, the RF module 114 can be referred to as a front-end module (FEM). The RF module 114 can perform processing on analog signals received from the main antenna 130 for use with the transceiver 112, or on analog signals received from the transceiver 112 for transmission via the main antenna 130. To this end, the RF module 114 may include filters, power amplifiers, band select switches, matching circuits, and other components. Similarly, the communication module 110 includes a diversity RF module 116 coupled between the diversity antenna 140 and the transceiver 112, which performs similar processing.

When a signal is transmitted to a wireless device, the signal may be received at both the main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140. The main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 may be physically separated so that the signals received at the main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 have different characteristics. For example, in one embodiment, the main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 may receive signals with different attenuation, noise, frequency response, or phase shift. The transceiver 112 may use the two signals with different characteristics to determine the data bits corresponding to the signals. In some embodiments, the transceiver 112 selects between the main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 based on the characteristics, for example, selecting the antenna with the highest signal-to-noise ratio. In some embodiments, the transceiver 112 combines the signals from the main antenna 130 and the diversity antenna 140 to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the combined signal. In some embodiments, the transceiver 112 processes the signals to perform multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) communication.

Because the diversity antenna 140 is physically separated from the main antenna 130, the diversity antenna 140 is coupled to the communication module 110 via a transmission line 135, such as a cable or a printed circuit board (PCB) trace. In some embodiments, the transmission line 135 is lossy and attenuates the signal received at the diversity antenna 140 before it reaches the communication module 110. Therefore, in some embodiments, as described below, gain is applied to the signal received at the diversity antenna 140. Gain (as well as other analog processing, such as filtering) can be applied by a diversity receiver module. Because such a diversity receiver module can be located physically close to the diversity antenna 140, it can be referred to as a diversity receiver front-end module.

FIG2 illustrates a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration 200 including a DRx front-end module (FEM) 210. The DRx configuration 200 includes a diversity antenna 140 configured to receive a diversity signal and provide the diversity signal to the DRx FEM 210. The DRx FEM 210 is configured to process the diversity signal received from the diversity antenna 140. For example, the DRx FEM 210 may be configured to filter the diversity signal to one or more active frequency bands, e.g., as indicated by the controller 120. As another example, the DRx FEM 210 may be configured to amplify the diversity signal. To this end, the DRx FEM 210 may include filters, low-noise amplifiers, band select switches, matching circuits, and other components.

The DRx FEM 210 transmits the processed diversity signal via transmission line 135 to downstream modules, such as the diversity RF (D-RF) module 116, which feeds the further processed diversity signal to the transceiver 112. The diversity RF module 116 (and, in some embodiments, the transceiver) is controlled by a controller 120. In some embodiments, the controller 120 can be implemented within the transceiver 112.

FIG3 illustrates that, in some embodiments, a diversity receiver (DRx) configuration 300 may include a DRx module 310 having multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands. The DRx configuration 300 includes a diversity antenna 140 configured to receive a diversity signal. In some embodiments, the diversity signal may be a single-band signal including data modulated onto a single frequency band. In some embodiments, the diversity signal may be a multi-band signal (also known as an inter-band carrier aggregation signal) including data modulated onto multiple frequency bands.

The DRx module 310 has an input for receiving a diversity signal from the diversity antenna 140 and an output for providing a processed diversity signal to the transceiver 330 (via the transmission line 135 and the diversity RF module 320). The input of the DRx module 310 is fed into the input of a first multiplexer 311. The first multiplexer (MUX) 311 includes a plurality of multiplexer outputs, each of which corresponds to a path between the input and output of the DRx module 310. Each path may correspond to a respective frequency band. The output of the DRx module 310 is provided by the output of a second multiplexer 312. The second multiplexer 312 includes a plurality of multiplexer inputs, each of which corresponds to one of the paths between the input and output of the DRx module 310.

The frequency bands may be cellular frequency bands such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) frequency bands. For example, the first frequency band may be UMTS downlink or "Rx" frequency band 2 between 1930 megahertz (MHz) and 1990 MHz, and the second frequency band may be UMTS downlink or "Rx" frequency band 5 between 869 MHz and 894 MHz. Other downlink frequency bands may be used, such as those described below in Table 1 or other non-UMTS frequency bands.

In some embodiments, the DRx module 310 includes a DRx controller 302 that receives signals from the controller 120 (also referred to as a communication controller) and selectively activates one or more of the plurality of paths between the input and output based on the received signals. In some embodiments, the DRx module 310 does not include the DRx controller 302, and the controller 120 directly selectively activates one or more of the plurality of paths.

As described above, in some embodiments, the diversity signal is a single-band signal. Therefore, in some embodiments, the first multiplexer 311 is a single-pole, multiple-throw (SPMT) switch that routes the diversity signal to one of the multiple paths corresponding to the frequency band of the single-band signal based on a signal received from the DRx controller 302. The DRx controller 302 may generate a signal based on a band selection signal received by the DRx controller 302 from the communications controller 120. Similarly, in some embodiments, the second multiplexer 312 is an SPMT switch that routes the signal from one of the multiple paths corresponding to the frequency band of the single-band signal based on a signal received from the DRx controller 302.

As described above, in some embodiments, the diversity signal is a multi-band signal. Therefore, in some embodiments, the first multiplexer 311 is a signal separator that routes the diversity signal to two or more paths corresponding to two or more frequency bands of the multi-band signal from a plurality of paths based on a separator control signal received from the DRx controller 302. The function of the signal separator may be implemented as an SPMT switch, a diplexer filter, or some combination of these devices. Similarly, in some embodiments, the second multiplexer 312 is a signal combiner that combines signals from two or more paths corresponding to two or more frequency bands of the multi-band signal from a plurality of paths based on a combiner control signal received from the DRx controller 302. The function of the signal combiner may be implemented as an SPMT switch, a diplexer filter, or some combination of these devices. The DRx controller 302 may generate the separator control signal and the combiner control signal based on the band selection signal received by the DRx controller 302 from the communication controller 120.

Thus, in some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on a band selection signal received by the DRx controller 302 (e.g., from the communications controller 120). In some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths by sending a splitter control signal to the signal splitter and sending a combiner control signal to the signal combiner.

The DRx module 310 includes a plurality of bandpass filters 313a-313d. Each of the bandpass filters 313a-313d is disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to filter signals received at the bandpass filters to a corresponding frequency band of the one of the plurality of paths. In some embodiments, the bandpass filters 313a-313d are further configured to filter signals received at the bandpass filters to a downlink frequency sub-band of the corresponding frequency band of the one of the plurality of paths. The DRx module 310 includes a plurality of amplifiers 314a-314d. Each of the amplifiers 314a-314d is disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and is configured to amplify signals received at the amplifiers.

In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are narrowband amplifiers configured to amplify signals within the corresponding frequency band of the path in which they are located. In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d may be controlled by the DRx controller 302. For example, in some embodiments, each of amplifiers 314a-314d includes an enable/disable input and is enabled (or disabled) based on an amplifier enable signal received at the enable/disable input. The amplifier enable signal may be sent by the DRx controller 302. Thus, in some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the multiple paths by sending an amplifier enable signal to one or more of the amplifiers 314a-314d, respectively, located along one or more of the multiple paths. In such embodiments, rather than being controlled by the DRx controller 302, the first multiplexer 311 may be a signal splitter that routes a diversity signal to each of the multiple paths, while the second multiplexer 312 may be a signal combiner that combines the signals from each of the multiple paths. However, in embodiments where the DRx controller 302 controls the first multiplexer 311 and the second multiplexer 312 , the DRx controller 302 may also enable (or disable) specific amplifiers 314 a - 314 d , for example, to conserve battery.

In some embodiments, the amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain amplifiers (VGAs). Thus, in some embodiments, the DRx module 310 includes a plurality of variable gain amplifiers (VGAs), each VGA disposed along a corresponding one of the plurality of paths and configured to amplify a signal received at the VGA at a gain controlled by an amplifier control signal received from the DRx controller 302.

The gain of the VGA can be bypassable, step-variable, or continuously variable. In some embodiments, at least one of the VGAs includes a fixed-gain amplifier and a bypass switch controllable by an amplifier control signal. The bypass switch can (in a first position) connect the line between the input of the fixed-gain amplifier and the output of the fixed-gain amplifier, allowing the signal to bypass the fixed-gain amplifier. The bypass switch can (in a second position) disconnect the line between the input and output, allowing the signal to pass through the fixed-gain amplifier. In some embodiments, when the bypass switch is in the first position, the fixed-gain amplifier is disabled or otherwise reconfigured to accommodate the bypass mode.

In some embodiments, at least one of the VGAs includes a step-variable gain amplifier configured to amplify a signal received at the VGA with a gain of one of a plurality of configured amounts indicated by an amplifier control signal. In some embodiments, at least one of the VGAs includes a continuously-variable gain amplifier configured to amplify a signal received at the VGA with a gain proportional to the amplifier control signal.

In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable current amplifiers (VCAs). The current drawn by the VCAs can be bypassable, step-variable, or continuously variable. In some embodiments, at least one of the VCAs includes a fixed current amplifier and a bypass switch controllable by an amplifier control signal. The bypass switch can (in a first position) connect the line between the input of the fixed current amplifier and the output of the fixed current amplifier, bypassing the signal through the fixed current amplifier. The bypass switch can (in a second position) disconnect the line between the input and output, allowing the signal to pass through the fixed current amplifier. In some embodiments, when the bypass switch is in the first position, the fixed current amplifier is disabled or otherwise reconfigured to accommodate the bypass mode.

In some embodiments, at least one of the VCAs includes a step-variable current amplifier configured to amplify a signal received at the VCA by drawing a current of one of a plurality of configured amounts indicated by an amplifier control signal. In some embodiments, at least one of the VCAs includes a continuously-variable current amplifier configured to amplify a signal received at the VCA by drawing a current proportional to the amplifier control signal.

In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are fixed gain, fixed current amplifiers. In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are fixed gain, variable current amplifiers. In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain, fixed current amplifiers. In some embodiments, amplifiers 314a-314d are variable gain, variable current amplifiers.

In some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 generates the amplifier control signal based on a quality of service metric of an input signal received at the input. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 generates the amplifier control signal based on a signal received from the communications controller 120, which in turn may be based on a quality of service (QoS) metric of the received signal. The QoS metric of the received signal may be based at least in part on a diversity signal received on the diversity antenna 140 (e.g., the input signal received at the input). The QoS metric of the received signal may also be based on a signal received on the primary antenna. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 302 generates the amplifier control signal based on the QoS metric of the diversity signal without receiving a signal from the communications controller 120.

In some implementations, the QoS metric includes signal strength. As another example, the QoS metric may include bit error rate, data throughput, transmission delay, or any other QoS metric.

As described above, the DRx module 310 has an input for receiving a diversity signal from the diversity antenna 140 and an output for providing a processed diversity signal to the transceiver 330 (via the transmission line 135 and the diversity RF module 320). The diversity RF module 320 receives the processed diversity signal via the transmission line 135 and performs further processing. In particular, the processed diversity signal is split or routed to one or more paths by the diversity RF multiplexer 321, where the split or routed signals are filtered by corresponding bandpass filters 323a-323d and amplified by corresponding amplifiers 324a-324d. The output of each amplifier 324a-324d is provided to the transceiver 330.

Diversity RF multiplexer 321 can be controlled by controller 120 (directly or via an on-chip diversity RF controller) to selectively activate one or more paths. Similarly, amplifiers 324a-324d can be controlled by controller 120. For example, in some embodiments, each of amplifiers 324a-324d includes an enable/disable input and is enabled (or disabled) based on an amplifier enable signal. In some embodiments, amplifiers 324a-324d are variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) that amplify a signal received at the VGA at a gain controlled by an amplifier control signal received from controller 120 (or an on-chip diversity RF controller controlled by controller 120). In some embodiments, amplifiers 324a-324d are variable current amplifiers (VCAs).

Since the DRx module 310 added to the receiver chain already includes the diversity RF module 320, the number of bandpass filters in the DRx configuration 300 is doubled. Therefore, in some embodiments, the bandpass filters 323a-323d are not included in the diversity RF module 320. Instead, the bandpass filters 313a-313d of the DRx module 310 are used to reduce the strength of out-of-band blockers. In addition, the automatic gain control (AGC) table of the diversity RF module 320 can be shifted to reduce the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320 by the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 314a-314d of the DRx module 310.

For example, if the DRx module gain is 15dB and the receiver sensitivity is -100dBm, then the diversity RF module 320 will see a sensitivity of -85dBm. If the closed-loop AGC of the diversity RF module 320 is active, its gain will automatically decrease by 15dB. However, both the signal component and the out-of-band blocker component are received and amplified by 15dB. Therefore, the 15dB gain reduction of the diversity RF module 320 may also be accompanied by a 15dB improvement in its linearity. In particular, the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320 may be designed so that the linearity of the amplifiers increases as the gain decreases (or the current increases).

In some embodiments, the controller 120 controls the gain (and/or current) of the amplifiers 314a-314d of the DRx module 310 and the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320. As in the example above, the controller 120 can decrease the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320 in response to increasing the amount of gain provided by the amplifiers 314a-314d of the DRx module 310. Thus, in some embodiments, the controller 120 is configured to generate downstream amplifier control signals (for the amplifiers 324a-324d of the diversity RF module 320) based on the amplifier control signals (for the amplifiers 314a-314d of the DRx module 310) to control the gain of one or more downstream amplifiers 324a-324d coupled to the output (of the DRx module 310) via the transmission line 135. In some embodiments, the controller 120 also controls the gain of other components of the wireless device, such as amplifiers in a front-end module (FEM), based on the amplifier control signals.

As described above, in some embodiments, the bandpass filters 323a-323d are not included. Thus, in some embodiments, at least one of the downstream amplifiers 324a-324d is coupled to the output (the output of the DRx module 310) via the transmission line 135 without passing through the downstream bandpass filter.

4 shows that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 400 can include a diversity RF module 420 having fewer amplifiers than the diversity receiver (DRx) module 310. The diversity receiver configuration 400 includes the diversity antenna 140 and the DRx module 310, as described above with respect to FIG3. The output of the DRx module 310 is passed via the transmission line 135 to the diversity RF module 420, which differs from the diversity RF module 320 in FIG3 in that the diversity RF module 420 in FIG4 includes fewer amplifiers than the DRx module 310.

As described above, in some embodiments, the diversity RF module 420 does not include a bandpass filter. Therefore, in some embodiments, the one or more amplifiers 424 of the diversity RF module 420 need not be band-specific. Specifically, the diversity RF module 420 may include one or more paths, each including an amplifier 424, that are not mapped one-to-one with the paths of the DRx module 310. Such mapping of paths (or corresponding amplifiers) may be stored in the controller 120.

Thus, while the DRx module 310 includes multiple paths, each path corresponding to a frequency band, the diversity RF module 420 may include one or more paths that do not correspond to a single frequency band.

In some embodiments (as shown in FIG4 ), diversity RF module 420 includes a single broadband amplifier 424 that amplifies the signal received from transmission line 135 and outputs the amplified signal to multiplexer 421. Multiplexer 421 includes multiple multiplexer outputs, each corresponding to a respective frequency band. In some embodiments, diversity RF module 420 does not include any amplifiers.

In some embodiments, the diversity signal is a single-band signal. Therefore, in some embodiments, multiplexer 421 is an SPMT switch that routes the diversity signal to one of the multiple outputs corresponding to the frequency band of the single-band signal based on a signal received from controller 120. In some embodiments, the diversity signal is a multi-band signal. Therefore, in some embodiments, multiplexer 421 is a signal splitter that routes the diversity signal to two or more of the multiple outputs corresponding to two or more frequency bands of the multi-band signal based on a splitter control signal received from controller 120. In some embodiments, diversity RF module 420 may be combined with transceiver 330 into a single module.

In some embodiments, the diversity RF module 420 includes multiple amplifiers, each corresponding to a set of frequency bands. The signal from the transmission line 135 can be fed into a band splitter, which outputs high frequencies along a first path to a high-frequency amplifier and low frequencies along a second path to a low-frequency amplifier. The output of each amplifier can be provided to a multiplexer 421, which is configured to route the signal to a corresponding input of the transceiver 330.

5 shows that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 500 may include a DRx module 510 coupled to an off-module filter 513. The DRx module 510 may include a package substrate 501 configured to house a plurality of components and a receive system implemented on the package substrate 501. The DRx module 510 may include one or more signal paths that are routed off-board the DRx module 510 and that allow a system integrator, designer, or manufacturer to support filters for any desired frequency band.

The DRx module 510 includes multiple paths between the input and output of the DRx module 510. The DRx module 510 includes a bypass path between the input and output that is activated by a bypass switch 519 controlled by the DRx controller 502. Although FIG5 shows a single bypass switch 519, in some embodiments, the bypass switch 519 may include multiple switches (e.g., a first switch disposed physically proximate to the input and a second switch disposed physically proximate to the output). As shown in FIG5 , the bypass path does not include a filter or amplifier.

The DRx module 510 has multiple multiplexer paths, including a first multiplexer 511 and a second multiplexer 512. The multiplexer paths include multiple on-module paths, which include the first multiplexer 511, bandpass filters 313a-313d implemented on the package substrate 501, amplifiers 314a-314d implemented on the package substrate 501, and the second multiplexer 512. The multiplexer paths include one or more off-module paths, which include the first multiplexer 511, the bandpass filter 513 implemented outside the package substrate 501, the amplifier 514, and the second multiplexer 512. The amplifier 514 can be a broadband amplifier implemented on the package substrate 501, or can be implemented outside the package substrate 501. As described above, the amplifiers 314a-314d and 514 can be variable gain amplifiers and/or variable current amplifiers.

The DRx controller 502 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the multiple paths between an input and an output. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 502 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the multiple paths based on a band select signal received by the DRx controller 502 (e.g., from a communications controller). The DRx controller 502 can selectively activate the paths by, for example, opening or closing a bypass switch 519, enabling or disabling amplifiers 314a-314d, 514, controlling multiplexers 511, 512, or through other mechanisms. For example, the DRx controller 502 can open or close a switch along the path (e.g., between filters 313a-313d, 513 and amplifiers 314a-314d, 514) or set the gain of the amplifiers 314a-314d, 514 to substantially zero.

6 shows that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 600 may include a DRx module 610 having tunable matching circuits. Specifically, the DRx module 610 may include one or more tunable matching circuits disposed at one or more of the input and output of the DRx module 610.

It is unlikely that all of the multiple frequency bands received on the same diversity antenna 140 will see an ideal impedance match. In order to use a compact matching circuit to match each frequency band, an adjustable input matching circuit 616 may be implemented at the input of the DRx module 610 and controlled by the DRx controller 602 (e.g., based on a band select signal from the communication controller). The DRx controller 602 may tune the adjustable input matching circuit 616 based on a lookup table that associates frequency bands (or groups of frequency bands) with tuning parameters. The adjustable input matching circuit 616 may be an adjustable T circuit, an adjustable PI circuit, or any other adjustable matching circuit. In particular, the adjustable input matching circuit 616 may include one or more variable components, such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors. The variable components may be connected in parallel and/or in series and may be connected between the input of the DRx module 610 and the input of the first multiplexer 311, or may be connected between the input of the DRx module 610 and a ground voltage.

Similarly, when signals for many frequency bands are carried using only one transmission line 135 (or, at least, a small number of cables), it is unlikely that all of the multiple frequency bands will see an ideal impedance match. To use a compact matching circuit to match each frequency band, an adjustable output matching circuit 617 may be implemented at the output of the DRx module 610 and controlled by the DRx controller 602 (e.g., based on a band select signal from the communication controller). The DRx controller 602 may tune the adjustable output matching circuit 618 based on a lookup table that associates frequency bands (or groups of frequency bands) with tuning parameters. The adjustable output matching circuit 617 may be an adjustable T circuit, an adjustable PI circuit, or any other adjustable matching circuit. In particular, the adjustable output matching circuit 617 may include one or more variable components, such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors. The variable components may be connected in parallel and/or in series and may be connected between the output of the DRx module 610 and the output of the second multiplexer 312, or may be connected between the output of the DRx module 610 and a ground voltage.

7 illustrates that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 700 may include multiple transmission lines. Although FIG7 illustrates an embodiment with two transmission lines 735a-735b and one antenna 140, aspects described herein may be implemented in embodiments with more than two transmission lines and/or (as further described below) two or more antennas.

The diversity receiver configuration 700 includes a DRx module 710 coupled to the antenna 140. The DRx module 710 includes multiple paths between an input of the DRx module 710 (e.g., an input coupled to the antenna 140a) and an output of the DRx module (e.g., a first output coupled to the first transmission line 735a or a second output coupled to the second transmission line 735b). In some embodiments, the DRx module 710 includes one or more bypass paths (not shown) between the input and the output that are activated by one or more bypass switches controlled by the DRx controller 702.

The DRx module 710 has multiple multiplexer paths including an input multiplexer 311 and an output multiplexer 712. The multiplexer paths include multiple on-module paths (as shown), which include the input multiplexer 311, bandpass filters 313a-313d, amplifiers 314a-314d, and the output multiplexer 712. The multiplexer paths may include one or more off-module paths (not shown) as described above. As described above, the amplifiers 314a-314d may be variable gain amplifiers and/or variable current amplifiers.

The DRx controller 702 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 702 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on a band select signal received by the DRx controller 702 (e.g., from a communications controller). The DRx controller 702 can selectively activate a path by, for example, enabling or disabling amplifiers 314a-314d, controlling multiplexers 311, 712, or by other mechanisms as described above.

To better utilize multiple transmission lines 735a-735b, the DRx controller 702 can control the output multiplexer 712 based on the band selection signal to route each signal propagating along the path to a selected one of the transmission lines 735a-735b (or the output multiplexer output corresponding to the transmission lines 735a-735b).

In some embodiments, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes a single frequency band, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to route the signal propagating on the corresponding path to a default transmission line. The default transmission line may be the same for all paths (and corresponding frequency bands), such as when one of the transmission lines 735a-735b is shorter, introduces less noise, or is otherwise preferred. The default transmission line may be different for different paths. For example, a path corresponding to a low frequency band may be routed to a first transmission line 735a, while a path corresponding to a high frequency band may be routed to a second transmission line 735b.

Therefore, in response to the band select signal indicating that one or more RF signals received at the input multiplexer 311 include a single frequency band, the DRx controller 702 can be configured to control the second multiplexer 712 to route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the single frequency band to the output of the default output multiplexer. As described above, the output of the default output multiplexer can be different for different single frequency bands, or can be the same for all frequency bands.

In some embodiments, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes two frequency bands, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to route the signal propagating along the path corresponding to the first frequency band to the first transmission line 735a, and to route the signal propagating along the path corresponding to the second frequency band to the second transmission line 735b. Thus, even if both frequency bands are high-frequency bands (or low-frequency bands), the signals propagating along the corresponding paths may be routed to different transmission lines. Similarly, in the case of three or more transmission lines, each of the three or more frequency bands may be routed to a different transmission line.

Therefore, in response to the band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals received at the input multiplexer 311 include a first frequency band and a second frequency band, the DRX controller 702 can be configured to control the second multiplexer 712 to route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the first frequency band to the first output multiplexer output, and to route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the second frequency band to the second output multiplexer output. As described above, both the first frequency band and the second frequency band can be high frequency bands or low frequency bands.

In some embodiments, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes three frequency bands, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine two signals propagating along two paths corresponding to two of the frequency bands, and route the combined signal along one of the transmission lines, and route the signal propagating along a path corresponding to the third frequency band along another transmission line. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 702 controls the output multiplexer 712 to combine two of the three frequency bands that are closest to each other (e.g., both are low frequency bands or both are high frequency bands). Such an embodiment can simplify impedance matching at the output of the DRx module 710 or the input of a downstream module. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 702 controls the output multiplexer 712 to combine two of the three frequency bands that are farthest apart. Such an embodiment can simplify the separation of frequency bands at the downstream module.

Thus, in response to the band select signal indicating that the one or more RF signals received at the input multiplexer 311 include a first frequency band, a second frequency band, and a third frequency band, the DRx controller 702 may be configured to control the second multiplexer 712 to (a) combine the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the first frequency band and the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the second frequency band to generate a combined signal, (b) route the combined signal to the first output multiplexer output, and (c) route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the third frequency band to the second output multiplexer output. As described above, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be the two frequency bands closest to or furthest apart from each other among the three frequency bands.

In some embodiments, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes four frequency bands, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine two signals propagating along two paths corresponding to two frequency bands and route the first combined signal along one of the transmission lines, and to combine two signals propagating along two paths corresponding to the other two frequency bands and route the second combined signal along the other transmission line. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine three signals propagating along three paths corresponding to three frequency bands and route the combined signal along one of the transmission lines, and route the signal propagating along the path corresponding to the fourth frequency band along the other transmission line. Such an embodiment may be advantageous when the three frequency bands are close to each other (e.g., all low frequency bands) and the fourth frequency band is far away (e.g., a high frequency band).

In general, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes more frequency bands than the number of transmission lines, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine two or more signals propagating along two or more paths corresponding to two or more of the frequency bands and route the combined signal to one of the transmission lines. The DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine multiple frequency bands that are closest to or furthest apart from each other.

Thus, a signal propagating along one of the paths may be routed to a different one of the transmission lines by the output multiplexer 712 depending on the other signal propagating along the other path. As an example, a signal propagating along the third path through the third amplifier 314 c may be routed to the second transmission line 735 b when the third path is the only active path, and to the first transmission line 735 a (and to the second transmission line 735 b) when the fourth path (through the fourth amplifier 314 d) is also active.

Thus, the DRx controller 702 can be configured to control the output multiplexer 712 in response to a first band selection signal to route the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input to the first output multiplexer output, and to control the output multiplexer in response to a second band selection signal to route the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input to the second output multiplexer output.

Thus, the DRx module 710 implements a receive system that includes a plurality of amplifiers 314 a - 314 d, each of which is disposed along a corresponding one of a plurality of paths between an input of the receive system (e.g., an input of the DRx module 710 coupled to the antenna 140 and/or additional inputs of the DRx module 710 coupled to other antennas) and an output of the receive system (e.g., an output of the DRx module 710 coupled to the transmission lines 735 a - 735 b and/or additional outputs of the DRx module 710 coupled to other transmission lines). Each of the amplifiers 314 a - 314 d is configured to amplify an RF signal received at the amplifier 314 a - 314 d.

The DRx module 710 also includes an input multiplexer 311 configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more input multiplexer inputs and output each of the one or more RF signals to one or more of a plurality of input multiplexer outputs for propagation along corresponding one or more paths. In some embodiments, the DRx module 710 receives a single RF signal at a single input multiplexer input and is controlled by the DRx controller 702 to output the single RF signal to one or more of the input multiplexer outputs corresponding to each frequency band indicated in the band select signal. In some embodiments, the DRx module 710 receives multiple RF signals (each corresponding to a different set of one or more frequency bands indicated in the band select signal) at multiple input multiplexer inputs and is controlled by the DRx controller 702 to output each of the multiple RF signals to one or more of the input multiplexer outputs corresponding to the set of one or more frequency bands of the corresponding RF signal. Thus, generally speaking, the input multiplexer 311 receives one or more RF signals, each corresponding to one or more frequency bands, and is controlled by the DRx controller to route each RF signal along one or more paths corresponding to the one or more frequency bands of the RF signal.

The DRx module 710 also includes an output multiplexer 712 configured to receive one or more amplified RF signals propagated along one or more corresponding ones of the plurality of paths at one or more corresponding output multiplexer inputs, and to output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected one of a plurality of output multiplexer outputs (each coupled to one of the plurality of output transmission lines 735a-735b, respectively).

The DRx module 710 also includes a DRx controller 702 configured to receive a band select signal and control an input multiplexer and an output multiplexer based on the band select signal. As described above, the DRx controller 702 controls the input multiplexer to route each of the one or more RF signals corresponding to the one or more frequency bands along one or more paths corresponding to the one or more frequency bands of the RF signals. Also as described above, the DRx controller 702 controls the output multiplexer to route each of the one or more amplified RF signals propagating along the one or more paths to a selected one of the plurality of output multiplexer outputs, thereby better utilizing the transmission lines 735a-735b coupled to the DRx module 710.

In some embodiments, if the band select signal indicates that the received signal includes multiple frequency bands, the DRx controller 702 may control the output multiplexer 712 to combine all signals propagating along paths corresponding to the multiple frequency bands and route the combined signal to one of the transmission lines. Such an embodiment may be used when other transmission lines are unavailable (e.g., impaired or absent in a particular wireless communication configuration) and may be implemented in response to a controller signal received by the DRx controller 702 (e.g., from a communications controller) indicating that one of the transmission lines is unavailable.

Thus, in response to the band selection signal indicating that one or more RF signals received at the input multiplexer 311 include multiple frequency bands, and in response to the controller signal indicating that the transmission line is unavailable, the DRx controller 702 can be configured to control the output multiplexer 712 to combine multiple amplified RF signals received at multiple output multiplexer inputs corresponding to the multiple frequency bands to generate a combined signal, and route the combined signal to the output of the output multiplexer.

FIG8 illustrates an embodiment of an output multiplexer 812 that can be used for dynamic routing. The output multiplexer 812 includes a plurality of inputs 801a-801d, which can be respectively coupled to amplifiers arranged along a plurality of paths corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands. The output multiplexer 812 includes a plurality of outputs 802a-802b, which can be respectively coupled to a plurality of transmission lines. Each output 802a-802b is coupled to the output of a corresponding combiner 820a-820b. Each input 801a-801d is coupled to the input of each combiner 820a-820b via one of a set of single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches 830. The switches 830 can be controlled via a control bus 803, which can be coupled to a DRx controller.

FIG9 illustrates another embodiment of an output multiplexer 912 that can be used for dynamic routing. The output multiplexer 912 includes multiple inputs 901a-901d, which can be coupled to amplifiers arranged along multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands. The output multiplexer 912 includes multiple outputs 902a-902b, which can be coupled to multiple transmission lines. Each output 902a-902b is coupled to the output of a corresponding combiner 920a-920b. The first input 901a is coupled to the input of the first combiner 920a, while the fourth input 901d is coupled to the input of the second combiner 920b. The second input 901b is coupled to a first single-pole, multiple-throw (SPMT) switch 930a, which has multiple outputs coupled to each combiner 920a-920b. Similarly, the third input 901c is coupled to a second SPMT switch 930b, which has multiple outputs coupled to each combiner 920a-920b. The switches 930a-930b may be controlled via a control bus 903, which may be coupled to a DRx controller.

Unlike output multiplexer 812 in FIG8 , output multiplexer 912 in FIG9 does not allow each input 901a-901d to be routed to any of outputs 902a-902b. Instead, first input 901a is fixedly routed to first output 902a, while fourth input 902d is fixedly routed to second output 902b. This embodiment can reduce the size of control bus 903 or simplify the control logic of the DRx controller attached to control bus 903.

The output multiplexer 812 of Figure 8 and the output multiplexer 912 of Figure 9 both include first combiners 820a, 920a coupled to the first output multiplexer outputs 802a, 902a and second combiners 820b, 920b coupled to the second output multiplexer outputs 802b, 902b. In addition, the output multiplexer 812 of Figure 8 and the output multiplexer 912 of Figure 9 both include output multiplexer inputs 801b, 901b coupled to the first combiner 820a, 920a and the second combiner 820b, 920b via one or more switches (controlled by the DRx controller). In the output multiplexer 812 of Figure 8, the input 801b of the output multiplexer is coupled to the first combiner 820a and the second combiner 820b via two SPST switches. In the output multiplexer 912 of Figure 9, the input 901b of the output multiplexer is coupled to the first combiner 920a and the second combiner 920b via a single SPMT switch.

Figure 10 shows that in some embodiments, a diversity receiver configuration 1000 may include multiple antennas 1040a-1040b. Although Figure 10 shows an embodiment with one transmission line 135 and two antennas 1040a-1040b, aspects described herein may be implemented in embodiments with two or more transmission lines and/or more than two antennas.

The diversity receiver configuration 1000 includes a DRx module 1010 coupled to a first antenna 1040a and a second antenna 1040b. The DRx module 1010 includes multiple paths between an input of the DRx module 1010 (e.g., a first input coupled to the first antenna 140a or a second input coupled to the second antenna 1040b) and an output of the DRx module (e.g., an output coupled to the transmission line 135). In some embodiments, the DRx module 1010 includes one or more bypass paths (not shown) between the input and the output that are activated by one or more bypass switches controlled by the DRx controller 1002.

The DRx module 1010 has multiple multiplexer paths including an input multiplexer 1011 and an output multiplexer 312. The multiplexer paths include multiple on-module paths (as shown), which include the input multiplexer 1011, bandpass filters 313a-313d, amplifiers 314a-314d, and the output multiplexer 312. The multiplexer paths may include one or more off-module paths (not shown) as described above. Also as described above, the amplifiers 314a-314d may be variable gain amplifiers and/or variable current amplifiers.

The DRx controller 1002 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths. In some embodiments, the DRx controller 1002 is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of paths based on a band select signal received by the DRx controller 1002 (e.g., from a communications controller). The DRx controller 1002 can selectively activate a path by, for example, enabling or disabling amplifiers 314a-314d, controlling multiplexers 1011, 312, or through other mechanisms as described above.

In various diversity receiver configurations, antennas 1040a-1040b can support various frequency bands. For example, in one embodiment, a diversity receiver configuration may include a first antenna 1040a supporting a low-frequency band and a mid-frequency band, and a second antenna 1040b supporting a high-frequency band. Another diversity receiver configuration may include a first antenna 1040a supporting a low-frequency band and a second antenna 1040b supporting a mid-frequency band and a high-frequency band. Yet another diversity receiver configuration may include only the first wideband antenna 1040a supporting a low-frequency band, a mid-frequency band, and a high-frequency band, and may lack the second antenna 1040b.

The same DRx module 1010 can be used for all of these diversity receiver configurations by having the DRx controller 1002 control the input multiplexer 1011 based on antenna configuration signals (eg, received from a communications controller or stored in and read from persistent memory or other hardwired configuration).

In some embodiments, when the antenna configuration signal indicates that the diversity receiver configuration 1000 includes only a single antenna 1040a, the DRx controller 1002 may control the input multiplexer to route signals received at the single antenna 1040a to all paths (or all activated paths indicated by the band selection signal).

Thus, in response to the antenna configuration signal indicating that the diversity receiver configuration includes a single antenna, the DRx controller 1002 can be configured to control the input multiplexer to route an RF signal received at a single input multiplexer input to all multiple input multiplexer outputs or to all multiple input multiplexer outputs associated with one or more frequency bands of the RF signal.

In some embodiments, when the antenna configuration signal indicates that the diversity receiver configuration 1000 includes a first antenna 1040a supporting a low frequency band and a second antenna 1040b supporting a mid-frequency band and a high frequency band, the DRx controller 1002 may control the input multiplexer 1011 to route the signal received at the first antenna 1040a to the first path (including the first amplifier 314a), and to route the signal received at the second antenna 1040b to the second path (including the second amplifier 314b), the third path (including the third amplifier 314c), and the fourth path (including the fourth amplifier 314d), or at least to those of the paths indicated as active by the band selection signal.

In some embodiments, when the antenna configuration signal indicates that the diversity receiver configuration 1000 includes a first antenna 1040a supporting a low frequency band and a lower intermediate frequency band and a second antenna 1040b supporting an upper intermediate frequency band and a high frequency band, the DRx controller 1002 may control the input multiplexer 1011 to route the signal received at the first antenna 1040a to the first path and the second path, and to route the signal received at the second antenna 1040b to the third path and the fourth path, or at least to those of the paths indicated as active by the band selection signal.

In some embodiments, when the antenna configuration signal indicates that the diversity receiver configuration 1000 includes a first antenna 1040a supporting a low frequency band and a mid frequency band and a second antenna 1040b supporting a high frequency band, the DRx controller 1002 may control the input multiplexer 1011 to route the signal received at the first antenna 1040a to the first path, the second path, and the third path, and to route the signal received at the second antenna 1040b to the fourth path, or at least to those of the paths indicated as active by the band selection signal.

Thus, a signal propagating along a particular path (e.g., the third path) may be routed to input multiplexer 1011 from different ones of the input multiplexer inputs (coupled to one of antennas 1040a-1040b) according to the diversity receiver configuration (as indicated by the antenna configuration signal).

Thus, the DRx controller 1002 can be configured to control the input multiplexer 1011 in response to a first antenna configuration signal to route an RF signal received at the first input multiplexer input to the input multiplexer output, and to control the input multiplexer 1011 in response to a second antenna configuration signal to route an RF signal received at the second input multiplexer input to the input multiplexer output.

In general, the DRx controller 1002 can be configured to control the input multiplexer 1011 to route received signals, each of which includes one or more frequency bands, along paths corresponding to the one or more frequency bands. In some embodiments, the input multiplexer 1011 can also function as a frequency band separator, outputting each of the one or more frequency bands along paths corresponding to the one or more frequency bands. As an example, the input multiplexer 1011 and the bandpass filters 313a-313d form such a frequency band separator. In other embodiments (as further described below), the bandpass filters 313a-313d and the input multiplexer 1011 can be integrated in other ways to form a frequency band separator.

FIG11 illustrates an embodiment of an input multiplexer 1111 that can be used for dynamic routing. The input multiplexer 1111 includes multiple inputs 1101a-1101b, each of which can be coupled to one or more antennas. The input multiplexer 1111 includes multiple outputs 1102a-1102d, each of which can be coupled to amplifiers arranged along multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands (e.g., via bandpass filters). Each input 1101a-1101b is coupled to each output 1102a-1102d via one of a set of single-pole, single-throw (SPST) switches 1130. The switches 1130 can be controlled via a control bus 1103, which can be coupled to a DRx controller.

FIG12 illustrates another embodiment of an input multiplexer 1211 that can be used for dynamic routing. The input multiplexer 1211 includes multiple inputs 1201a-1201b, which can be coupled to one or more antennas, respectively. The input multiplexer 1211 includes multiple outputs 1202a-1202d, which can be coupled to amplifiers arranged along multiple paths corresponding to multiple frequency bands (e.g., via bandpass filters). The first input 1201a is coupled to the first output 1202a, a first multi-pole single-throw (MPST) switch 1230a, and a second MPST switch 1230b. The second input 1201b is coupled to the first MPST switch 1230a, the second MPST switch 1230b, and a fourth output 1202d. The switches 1230a-1230b can be controlled via a control bus 1203, which can be coupled to a DRx controller.

Unlike the input multiplexer 1111 of FIG. 11 , the output multiplexer 1211 of FIG. 12 does not allow each input 1201a-1201d to be routed to any of the outputs 1202a-1202d. Instead, the first input 1201a is fixedly routed to the first output 1202a, while the second input 1201b is fixedly routed to the fourth output 1202d. This embodiment can reduce the size of the control bus 903 or simplify the control logic of the DRx controller attached to the control bus 903. However, based on the antenna configuration signal, the DRx controller can control the switches 1230a-1230b to route a signal from any of the inputs 1201a-1201b to the second output 1202b and/or the third output 1202c.

Both the input multiplexer 1111 of FIG. 11 and the input multiplexer 1211 of FIG. 12 operate as multi-pole, multi-throw (MPMT) switches. In some embodiments, the input multiplexers 1111, 1211 include filters or matching components to reduce insertion loss. Such filters or matching components can be co-designed with other components of the DRx module (e.g., the bandpass filters 313a-313d of FIG. 10). For example, the input multiplexer and the bandpass filter can be integrated into a single component to reduce the total number of components. As another example, the input multiplexer can be designed for a specific output impedance (e.g., an impedance other than 50 ohms), and the bandpass filter can be designed to match that impedance.

Figures 13A-13F illustrate various embodiments of a DRx module with dynamic input routing and/or output routing. Figure 13A illustrates that in some embodiments, a DRx module 1310 may include a single input and two outputs. The DRx module 1310 includes a high-low duplexer 1311 as a band splitter, a double-pole eight-throw switch 1312 (implemented as a first single-pole three-throw switch and a second single-pole five-throw switch), and various filters and band-splitting duplexers. The high-low duplexer 1311 separates the input signal into a low frequency band and mid- and high frequency bands. As described above, the high-low duplexer 1311 and the various filters and band-splitting duplexers can be designed together.

13B shows that in some embodiments, the DRx module 1320 may include a single input and a single output. The DRx module 1320 includes a high-low duplexer 1321 as a band splitter, a double-pole eight-throw switch 1322 (implemented as a first single-pole three-throw switch and a second single-pole five-throw switch), and various filters and band-splitting duplexers. The high-low duplexer 1321 separates the input signal into a low frequency band and medium and high frequency bands. As described above, the high-low duplexer 1321 and the various filters and band-splitting duplexers can be designed together. The DRx module 1320 includes a high-low combiner 1323 as an output multiplexer that filters and combines the signals received at the two inputs and outputs the combined signal.

FIG13C shows that in some embodiments, the DRx module 1330 may include two inputs and three outputs. The DRx module 1330 includes a high-low duplexer 1331 as a band splitter, a three-pole eight-throw switch 1332 (implemented as a first single-pole three-throw switch, a second single-pole two-throw switch, and a third single-pole three-throw switch), and various filters and band-splitting duplexers. The high-low duplexer 1331 separates the input signal into a low frequency band and mid and high frequency bands. As described above, the high-low duplexer 1331 and the various filters and band-splitting duplexers can be designed together.

13D shows that in some embodiments, the DRx module 1340 may include two inputs and two outputs. The DRx module 1340 includes a high-low duplexer 1341 as a band splitter, a three-pole eight-throw switch 1342 (implemented as a first single-pole three-throw switch, a second single-pole two-throw switch, and a third single-pole three-throw switch), and various filters and band separation duplexers. The high-low duplexer 1341 separates the input signal into a low frequency band and medium and high frequency bands. As described above, the high-low duplexer 1341 and the various filters and band separation duplexers can be designed together. The DRx module 1340 includes a high-low combiner 1343 as part of the output multiplexer, which filters and combines the signals received at the two inputs and outputs the combined signal.

FIG13E shows that in some embodiments, the DRx module 1350 may include a multi-pole, multi-throw switch 1352. The DRx module 1340 includes a high-low duplexer 1351 as a band splitter, a three-pole, eight-throw switch 1352, and various filters and band-splitting duplexers. The high-low duplexer 1351 separates the input signal into a low frequency band and medium and high frequency bands. As described above, the high-low duplexer 1341 and the various filters and band-splitting duplexers can be designed together. The three-pole, eight-throw switch 1352 is implemented as a first single-pole, three-throw switch and a second double-pole, five-throw switch for routing a signal received on a first pole to one of five throws and for routing a signal received on a second pole to one of three of the throws.

FIG13F shows that in some embodiments, the DRx module 1360 may include an input selector 1361 and a multi-pole, multi-throw switch 1362. The DRx module 1360 includes an input selector 1361 as a band splitter (which operates as a double-pole, four-throw switch and can be implemented as shown in FIG11 and FIG12 ), a four-pole, ten-throw switch 1362, and various filters, matching components, and band-splitting duplexers. As described above, the input selector 1361, the switch 1362, and the various filters, matching components, and band-splitting duplexers can be designed together. The input selector 1361 and the switch 1362 together operate as a double-pole, ten-throw switch. The DRx module 1360 includes an output selector 1363 as an output multiplexer that can route inputs to a selected one of the outputs (which may include a combined signal). The output selector 1363 can be implemented using the aspects shown in FIG8 and FIG9 .

FIG14 illustrates an embodiment of a flow diagram of a method for processing RF signals. In some embodiments (and as described in detail below as an example), method 1400 is performed by a controller, such as the DRx controller 702 of FIG7 or the communication controller 120 of FIG3. In some embodiments, method 1400 is performed by processing logic comprising hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, method 1400 is performed by a processor executing code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a memory). Briefly, method 1400 includes receiving a band select signal and routing a received RF signal along one or more paths to a selected output for processing the received RF signal.

Method 1400 begins with a controller receiving a band selection signal at block 1410. The controller may receive the band selection signal from another controller, or from a cellular base station or other external source. The band selection signal may indicate one or more frequency bands in which the wireless device transmits and receives RF signals. In some embodiments, the band selection signal indicates a set of frequency bands to be used for carrier aggregation communications.

At box 1420, the controller determines the output terminal of each frequency band indicated by the band select signal. In some embodiments, the band select signal indicates a single frequency band, and the controller determines the default output terminal of the single frequency band. In some embodiments, the band select signal indicates two frequency bands, and the controller determines the different output terminals of each of the two frequency bands. In some embodiments, the band select signal indicates more frequency bands than available output terminals, and the controller determines two or more of the frequency bands combined (and therefore, determines that the same output terminal is used for two or more frequency bands). The controller can determine the frequency band closest to the combination or the frequency band farthest away.

At block 1430, the controller controls the output multiplexer to route the signals for each frequency band to the determined output terminals. The controller may control the output multiplexer by opening or closing one or more SPST switches, determining the state of one or more SPMT switches, sending an output multiplexer control signal, or other mechanisms.

FIG15 illustrates that in some embodiments, some or all diversity receiver configurations (e.g., those shown in FIG3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 10 , and 13A-13F ) can be implemented in whole or in part within a module. Such a module can be, for example, a front-end module (FEM). Such a module can be, for example, a diversity receiver (DRx) FEM. In the example of FIG15 , module 1500 can include a package substrate 1502 , and various components can be mounted on such package substrate 1502 . For example, a controller 1504 (which can include a front-end power management integrated circuit (FE-PIMC)), a low-noise amplifier assembly 1506 (which can include one or more variable-gain amplifiers), a matching component 1508 (which can include one or more tunable matching circuits), a multiplexer assembly 1510 (which can include a dynamically routed input multiplexer and/or a dynamically routed output multiplexer), and a filter bank 1512 (which can include one or more bandpass filters) can be mounted and/or implemented on and/or within the package substrate 1502 . Other components, such as a plurality of SMT devices 1514, may also be mounted on the package substrate 1502. Although all of the various components are shown as being arranged on the package substrate 1502, it will be understood that certain component(s) may be implemented over certain other component(s).

In some embodiments, devices and/or circuits having one or more features described herein may be included in an RF electronic device, such as a wireless device. Such devices and/or circuits may be implemented directly in the wireless device, in a modular form as described herein, or in some combination thereof. In some embodiments, such a wireless device may include, for example, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a handheld wireless device with or without telephone functionality, a wireless tablet, and the like.

16 illustrates an example wireless device 1600 having one or more advantageous features described herein. In the context of one or more modules having one or more features described herein, such modules may be generally represented by dashed box 1601 (which may be implemented as, for example, a front-end module), diversity RF module 1611 (which may be implemented as, for example, a downstream module), and diversity receiver (DRx) module 900 (which may be implemented as, for example, a front-end module).

16 , a power amplifier (PA) 1620 may receive its corresponding RF signal from a transceiver 1610, which may be configured and operated in a known manner to generate RF signals to be amplified and transmitted, and to process received signals. Transceiver 1610 is shown interacting with a baseband subsystem 1608, which is configured to provide conversion between data and/or voice signals intended for a user and RF signals intended for transceiver 1610. Transceiver 1610 may also communicate with a power management component 1606, which is configured to manage power for operation of wireless device 1600. Such power management may also control the operation of baseband subsystem 1608 and modules 1601, 1611, and 900.

Baseband subsystem 1608 is shown connected to user interface 1602 to facilitate various inputs and outputs of voice and/or data to and from the user. Baseband subsystem 1608 may also be connected to memory 1604, which is configured to store data and/or instructions to facilitate operation of the wireless device and/or provide storage of user information.

In the example wireless device 1600, the output of the PA 1620 is shown matched (via corresponding matching circuits 1622) and routed to its corresponding duplexer 1624. The amplified and filtered signal can then be routed to the primary antenna 1616 via the antenna switch 1614 for transmission. In some embodiments, the duplexer 1624 can allow simultaneous transmit and receive operations using a common antenna (e.g., the primary antenna 1616). In FIG16 , the receive signal is shown routed to the "Rx" path, which may include, for example, a low noise amplifier (LNA).

The wireless device also includes a diversity antenna 1626 and a diversity receiver module 900 that receives signals from the diversity antenna 1626. The diversity receiver module 900 processes the received signals and sends the processed signals via a cable 1635 to a diversity RF module 1611, which further processes the signals before feeding them to the transceiver 1610.

One or more features of the present application may be implemented with the various cellular frequency bands described herein. Examples of such frequency bands are listed in Table 1. It will be understood that at least some frequency bands may be divided into sub-bands. It will also be understood that one or more features of the present application may be implemented with frequency ranges that do not have a designation such as the examples in Table 1.

Table 1

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the terms "comprise," "comprising," and the like are to be interpreted in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense, that is, in the sense of "including but not limited to." The word "coupled," as generally used herein, means that two or more elements can be connected directly or via one or more intermediate elements. Similarly, the term "connected," as generally used herein, means that two or more elements can be connected directly or via one or more intermediate elements. In addition, when used in this application, the terms "herein," "above," "below," and terms of similar meaning should refer to this application as a whole and not to any specific parts of this application. Where the context permits, terms in the above detailed description that use the singular or plural may also include the plural or singular, respectively. The term "or" when referring to a list of two or more items encompasses all of the following interpretations of the term: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

Furthermore, unless otherwise specifically stated or understood in the context of use, conditional language used herein, such as, among others, "may," "could," "would," "might," "for example," "for example," "such as," etc., is generally intended to indicate that some embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or conditions. Thus, such conditional language is generally not intended to imply that features, elements, and/or conditions are in any way required for one or more embodiments, or to imply that one or more embodiments must include logic for determining, with or without designer input or prompting, whether such features, elements, and/or characteristics are included or will be implemented in any particular embodiment.

The above detailed description of the embodiment of the present invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed above. Although specific embodiments of the present invention and examples for the present invention have been described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications within the scope of the present invention are possible as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. For example, although processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform processes with steps in a different order, or employ systems with blocks in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subtracted, combined, and/or modified. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of ways. Similarly, although processes or blocks are sometimes shown as being performed serially, on the contrary, these processes or blocks may also be performed in parallel, or may be performed at different times.

The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above.The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.

Although certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be implemented in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the present application. The accompanying drawings and their equivalents are intended to encompass such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the present application.

Claims (18)

1. A receiving system, comprising: A plurality of amplifiers, each of which is set along one of a plurality of paths between the input and the output of the receiving system, and configured to amplify the radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifier; An input multiplexer is configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more inputs of the input multiplexer and output each of the one or more RF signals to one or more of the multiple input multiplexer outputs to propagate along one or more corresponding paths of the multiple paths; An output multiplexer configured to receive one or more amplified RF signals propagating along one or more corresponding paths in the plurality of paths at one or more respective output multiplexer inputs, and to output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected output of the plurality of output multiplexer outputs; and A controller is configured to receive a band selection signal and control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band selection signal, such that, in response to the band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a single frequency band, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to route amplified RF signals received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the single frequency band to a default output multiplexer output, the default output multiplexer output being different for different single frequency bands. 2. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein, in response to a band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a first frequency band and a second frequency band, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to route an amplified RF signal received at an input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the first frequency band to a first output multiplexer output, and to route an amplified RF signal received at an input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the second frequency band to a second output multiplexer output. 3. The receiving system as claimed in claim 2, wherein both the first frequency band and the second frequency band are high frequency bands or low frequency bands. 4. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein, in response to a band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a first frequency band, a second frequency band, and a third frequency band, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to combine an amplified RF signal received at an input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the first frequency band and an amplified RF signal received at an input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the second frequency band to generate a combined signal, route the combined signal to the output of the first output multiplexer, and route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the third frequency band to the output of the second output multiplexer. 5. The receiving system of claim 4, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are the frequency bands that are closest to each other among the first frequency band, the second frequency band and the third frequency band. 6. The receiving system of claim 4, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are the most distant of the first frequency band, the second frequency band, and the third frequency band. 7. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein, in response to a band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals comprise multiple frequency bands and in response to a controller signal indicating that a transmission line is unavailable, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to combine multiple amplified RF signals received at multiple output multiplexer inputs corresponding to the multiple frequency bands to generate a combined signal, and to route the combined signal to the output multiplexer output. 8. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer in response to a first band selection signal to route an amplified RF signal received at an input of an output multiplexer to a first output multiplexer output, and to control the output multiplexer in response to a second band selection signal to route an amplified RF signal received at an input of the output multiplexer to a second output multiplexer output. 9. The receiving system of claim 1, wherein the output multiplexer includes a first combiner coupled to the output of a first output multiplexer and a second combiner coupled to the output of a second output multiplexer. 10. The receiving system of claim 9, wherein an output multiplexer input is coupled to the first combiner and the second combiner via one or more switches. 11. The receiving system of claim 10, wherein the controller controls the output multiplexer by controlling the one or more switches. 12. The receiving system of claim 10, wherein the one or more switches comprise two single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches. 13. The receiving system of claim 10, wherein the one or more switches comprise a single single-pole multi-throw (SPMT) switch. 14. The receiving system as claimed in claim 1 further includes: multiple transmission lines respectively coupled to the outputs of the plurality of output multiplexers. 15. A radio frequency (RF) module, comprising: Packaging substrate, configured to accommodate multiple components; and A receiving system, implemented on the package substrate, includes: a plurality of amplifiers, each of the plurality of amplifiers being configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifiers, each of the plurality of amplifiers being positioned along a corresponding path of a plurality of paths between an input and an output of the receiving system; an input multiplexer configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more inputs of the input multiplexer and to output each of the one or more RF signals to one or more selected outputs of the plurality of input multiplexers for propagation along a corresponding path of the plurality of paths; and an output multiplexer configured to receive a corresponding RF signal at one or more corresponding inputs of the output multiplexer for propagation along the plurality of paths. One or more amplified RF signals propagated along one or more paths, and each of the one or more amplified RF signals output to a selected output of a plurality of output multiplexers; and a controller configured to receive a band selection signal and control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band selection signal, such that in response to the band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a single frequency band, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to route the amplified RF signal received at the input of the output multiplexer corresponding to the single frequency band to a default output multiplexer output, the default output multiplexer output being different for different single frequency bands. 16. The RF module of claim 15, wherein the RF module is a diversity receiver front-end module (FEM). 17. A wireless device, comprising: The first antenna is configured to receive a first radio frequency (RF) signal. A first front-end module (FEM) communicating with the first antenna includes a package substrate configured to accommodate a plurality of components. The first FEM also includes a receiving system implemented on the package substrate, the receiving system comprising: a plurality of amplifiers, each of which is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal received at the amplifiers, each of the plurality of amplifiers being disposed along a corresponding path of a plurality of paths between an input and an output of the receiving system; an input multiplexer configured to receive one or more RF signals at one or more inputs of the input multiplexer and to output each of the one or more RF signals to one or more selected outputs of the plurality of input multiplexers for propagation along a corresponding path of one or more of the plurality of paths; and an output multiplexer configured to... One or more corresponding output multiplexer inputs receive one or more amplified RF signals propagating along one or more corresponding paths in the plurality of paths, and output each of the one or more amplified RF signals to a selected output of the plurality of output multiplexer outputs; and a controller configured to receive a band selection signal and control the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer based on the band selection signal, such that, in response to the band selection signal indicating that the one or more RF signals include a single frequency band, the controller is configured to control the output multiplexer to route the amplified RF signal received at the output multiplexer input corresponding to the single frequency band to a default output multiplexer output, the default output multiplexer output being different for different single frequency bands; and The communication module is configured to receive a processed version of the first RF signal from the first FEM via multiple transmission lines respectively coupled to the outputs of the multiple output multiplexers, and to generate data bits based on the processed version of the first RF signal. 18. The wireless device of claim 17, further comprising: a second antenna configured to receive a second radio frequency (RF) signal and a second FEM communicating with the second antenna, the communication module being configured to receive a processed version of the second RF signal from the output of the second FEM and generate data bits based on the processed version of the second RF signal.