TWI901347B - Radio frequency front-end circuit and electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A radio frequency front-end circuit includes a first diplexer, an extractor and a second diplexer. The first diplexer is coupled to an antenna for receiving a radio frequency signal and the first diplexer is configured to separate the radio frequency signal to a first signal at a low to high band of a wireless wide area network and a second signal at an ultra-high band of the wireless wide area network. The extractor is coupled to a first diplexer. The extractor includes two band pass filters and a band rejection filter. The two band pass filters are configured to extract two global navigation system signals at two global navigation system bands from the first signal. The band rejection filter is configured to allow a third signal at a mid to high band of the wireless wide area network in the first signal to pass. The second diplexer is coupled to the first diplexer and the extractor and configured to combine the second third signals into a wireless wide area network signal.

Description

RF front-end circuits and electronic equipment

This application relates to a radio frequency front-end circuit and electronic device, and more particularly to a radio frequency front-end circuit and electronic device capable of reducing the number of antennas.

Today, electronic devices are increasingly equipped with antennas to meet various wireless transmission needs, such as wireless wide area network (WWAN) communications, wireless local area network (WLAN) communications, and global navigation system (GNSS) reception. However, electronic devices have always been designed to be light, thin, short, and compact. Considering the need to support multiple antennas and multiple applications simultaneously, current multi-antenna communication system designs struggle to accommodate the limited space within electronic devices (such as handhelds or wearables). Therefore, resolving these issues is a crucial issue in this field.

The present disclosure provides a radio frequency front-end circuit. The radio frequency front-end circuit includes a first duplexer, an extractor, and a second duplexer. The first duplexer is coupled to an antenna for receiving a radio frequency signal, and the first duplexer is used to separate the radio frequency signal into a first signal in a low to high frequency band of a wireless wide area network and a second signal in an ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network. The extractor is coupled to the first duplexer. The extractor includes two bandpass filters and a bandstop filter. The two bandpass filters are used to extract two global navigation system signals in two global navigation system bands from the first signal. The bandstop filter is used to allow a third signal in the mid to high frequency band of the wireless wide area network to pass through. The second duplexer is coupled to the first duplexer and the extractor, and is used to combine the second signal and the third signal into a wireless wide area network signal.

This disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes an antenna and a radio frequency front-end circuit. The antenna is used to receive a radio frequency signal. The radio frequency front-end circuit includes a first duplexer, an extractor, and a second duplexer. The first duplexer is coupled to the antenna and is used to separate the radio frequency signal into a first signal in a low to high frequency band of a wireless wide area network and a second signal in an ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network. The extractor is coupled to the first duplexer. The extractor includes two bandpass filters and a bandstop filter. The two bandpass filters are used to extract two global navigation system signals in two global navigation system bands from the first signal. The band-stop filter is used to allow a third signal in the first signal that is in the mid-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network to pass through. The second duplexer is coupled to the first duplexer and the extractor to combine the second signal and the third signal into a wireless wide area network signal.

In summary, the disclosed RF front-end circuit can reduce the number of antennas and improve the performance of the RF front-end circuit. Furthermore, the disclosed RF front-end circuit can reduce the number of RF transmission lines, extractors, and duplexers, thereby freeing up design space in electronic devices.

The following examples are illustrated in detail with accompanying diagrams. However, these examples are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure, and the description of the structure and operation is not intended to limit the order of execution. Any device with equivalent functionality resulting from the re-assembly of these components is within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, the diagrams are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to scale. To facilitate understanding, identical or similar components will be designated with the same reference numerals throughout the following description.

Unless otherwise specified, terms used throughout this specification and claims generally have the ordinary meanings they assume in the art, within the context of this disclosure, and within the specific context. Furthermore, the terms "include," "including," "have," "contain," etc., as used herein, are intended to be open-ended, meaning "including, but not limited to." Furthermore, "and/or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items.

Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the component layout of an electronic device 100 according to one embodiment. In some embodiments, the electronic device 100 is a handheld device. As shown in Figure 1, the electronic device 100 includes antennas ANT1-ANT8, a camera CAM, a scanner SCNR, and an input/output port 102. With the development of wireless transmission, the electronic device 100 is increasingly equipped with more and more antennas. For example, the antennas ANT1-ANT8 include four wireless wide area network antennas, two wireless local area network antennas, and one or two global navigation system antennas. In other words, the electronic device 100 may need to be equipped with a total of seven or eight antennas. However, with the increasing number of antennas, the current multi-antenna communication system design (e.g., 7-8 antennas and a large number of RF front-end components) is difficult to meet the limited space requirements of the electronic device 100.

To free up more space, this document proposes an RF front-end circuit for a single antenna supporting multiple frequency bands, including wireless wide area network (WWAN) and global navigation system (GNSS) bands. By separating and combining the signals from these frequency bands, the disclosed RF front-end circuit can reduce the number of antennas and RF front-end components required.

Please refer to FIG. 2A . FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a multi-band antenna 210 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2A , antenna ANT6 is a wireless wide area network auxiliary antenna, and antennas ANT7 and ANT8 are global navigation system L1 and L5 antennas, respectively.

In some embodiments, antenna 210 supports WWAN bands and GPS L1 and L5 bands. In some embodiments, antenna 210 is a WWAN auxiliary antenna capable of supporting GPS L1 and L5 bands.

Please refer to Figure 2B. Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the electronic device 200 is a handheld device. In other embodiments, the electronic device 200 may be a wearable device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the electronic device 200 is a wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the electronic device 200 supports wireless wide area network communications, wireless local area network communications, and global navigation system technologies. As shown in Figure 2B, the electronic device 200 includes antennas ANT1-ANT5, a camera CAM, a scanner SCNR, an input/output port 202, and an antenna 210.

In some embodiments, antenna 210 in FIG. 2B corresponds to antenna 210 in FIG. 2A . In some embodiments, antennas ANT1 to ANT5 include three WWAN antennas and two WLAN antennas, wherein the three WWAN antennas include a WWAN main antenna.

In some embodiments, the input/output port 202 is disposed on the lower side of the electronic device 100 closer to the user, and the antennas ANT1-ANT5 and the antenna 210 are disposed on the left and right sides and the upper side of the electronic device 100 farther from the user, respectively.

Please refer to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the electronic device 300 of FIG. 3 corresponds to the electronic device 200 of FIG. 2B . As shown in FIG. 3 , the electronic device 300 includes an antenna 310, an RF front-end circuit 320, and a wireless communication module 328. In some embodiments, the antenna 310 includes the antenna 210 of FIG. 2B . In some embodiments, the RF front-end circuit 320 couples the antenna 310 to the wireless communication module 328 to separate/combine the signals received by the antenna 310 and transmit them to the wireless communication module 328. The wireless communication module 328 includes a wireless wide area network module and a global navigation system module.

In some embodiments, antenna 310 further includes antennas ANT1-ANT5 shown in FIG. 2B . In some embodiments, antennas ANT1-ANT5 include three wireless wide area network (WWAN) antennas and two wireless local area network (WLAN) antennas, with the three WWAN antennas including a WWAN main antenna. In other embodiments, antenna 310 of electronic device 300 may include a greater or lesser number of antennas, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 300 further includes a processing circuit 330, a memory 340, and a display 350. The processing circuit 330 is coupled to the wireless communication module 328, the memory 340, and the display 350 to process data.

In some embodiments, the RF front-end circuit 320 includes a duplexer 322, a dual extractor 324, and a low noise amplifier 326. For details of the RF front-end circuit 320, please refer to the following embodiments.

Please refer to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the RF front-end circuit 400 of FIG. 4 corresponds to the RF front-end circuit 320 of FIG. 3 . In some embodiments, the GPS module 420 and the WWAN module 430 of FIG. 4 correspond to the wireless communication module 328 of FIG. 3 . In some embodiments, the antenna 210 of FIG. 4 corresponds to the antenna 210 of FIG. 2A , and the antenna 210 is a WWAN auxiliary antenna capable of supporting the GPS L1 and L5 bands. As shown in FIG. 4 , the RF front-end circuit 400 includes a duplexer 402 , an extractor 406 , low-noise amplifiers 408 - 409 , and a duplexer 407 .

In some embodiments, the duplexer 402 is coupled to the antenna 210 for receiving the RF signal 410, thereby separating the RF signal 410 into a first signal 410-1 in the low to high frequency band of the wireless wide area network and a second signal 410-2 in the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network.

In some embodiments, the extractor 406 is coupled to the duplexer 402 to separate the first signal 410-1 in the low-to-high band of the wireless wide area network into two GPS signals 411-a and 412-a in two GPS bands and a third signal 410-3 in the mid-to-high band of the wireless wide area network. In some embodiments, the extractor 406 is a dual extractor.

In some embodiments, low noise amplifiers 408 and 409 are coupled to the extractor 406 to amplify the GPS signals 411 - a and 412 - a respectively to provide amplified signals 411 - b and 412 - b to two connection ports of the GPS module.

In some embodiments, duplexer 407 is coupled to duplexer 402 and extractor 406 to combine second signal 410-2 in the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network (WWAN) with third signal 410-3 in the mid- to high-frequency band of the WWAN into a wireless wide area network (WWAN) signal 410-4, and provide the WWAN signal 410-4 to a port of the WWAN module 430. In some embodiments, the WWAN module 430 supports multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology.

In some embodiments, duplexer 407 is configured to separate wireless wide area network signal 410-4 into a second signal 410-2 in the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network and a third signal 410-3 in the mid-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network. Extractor 406 transmits third signal 410-3 in the mid-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network as first signal 410-1 to duplexer 402. Duplexer 402 combines first signal 410-1 and second signal 410-2 into radio frequency signal 410 for transmission by antenna 210.

In some embodiments, the two GPS frequency bands may be the GPS L1 and L5 bands. In some embodiments, GPS signal 411-a is a GPS L1 signal, and GPS signal 412-a is a GPS L5 signal. In some embodiments, the GPS L1 band is approximately 1575.42 MHz, and the GPS L5 band is approximately 1176.45 MHz.

In some embodiments, the low- to high-band wireless wide area network ranges from 698 MHz to 2690 MHz, wherein the mid- to high-band wireless wide area network ranges from 1710 MHz to 2690 MHz.

In some embodiments, the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network is in the range of 3300 MHz to 4200 MHz. In some embodiments, the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network is in the range of 4400 MHz to 5000 MHz. In some embodiments, the ultra-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network is in the range of 5150 MHz to 5850 MHz, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Please refer to FIG5A. FIG5A is a schematic diagram of an extractor 406 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG5A, the extractor 406 includes bandpass filters 406-1 and 406-2 and a bandstop filter 406-3.

In some embodiments, pin 7 of the extractor 406 connects the antenna 210 to first ends (e.g., input/output ends) of the bandpass filters 406-1 and 406-2 and the bandstop filter 406-3, and second ends (e.g., output/input ends) of the bandpass filters 406-1 and 406-2 and the bandstop filter 406-3 are connected to pins 1, 3, and 5 of the extractor 406, respectively.

In some embodiments, the bandpass filter 406-1 is used to extract GPS L1 band signals. In some embodiments, the bandpass filter 406-2 is used to extract GPS L5 band signals. In some embodiments, the bandstop filter 406-3 is used to attenuate GPS L1 and L5 band signals contained in mid- to high-band signals of the wireless wide area network (WWAN), while allowing signals other than GPS L1 and L5 band signals in the WWAN mid- to high-band signals to pass through. In some embodiments, the bandstop filter 406-3 is a dual-band bandstop filter.

Please refer to FIG. 5B . FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a pin layout 500 of an extractor 406 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5B , the extractor 406 includes pins 1-9, and the functions of pins 1-9 are shown in Table 1 below. Pins Function 1 GNSS L1 3 GNSS L5 5 cellular network 7 Antenna 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 Grounding Table 1

As shown in Table 1, pin 1 of extractor 406 outputs a signal in the GPS L1 band, and pin 3 of extractor 406 outputs a signal in the GPS L5 band. In some embodiments, the signal output by pin 5 of extractor 406 corresponds to a wireless wide area network (WLAN) band. In some embodiments, pins 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 of extractor 406 are grounded.

See FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit 600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the RF front-end circuit 600 of FIG. 6 corresponds to the RF front-end circuit 400 of FIG. 4 . In some embodiments, the antenna 210 of FIG. 6 is a wireless wide area network auxiliary antenna capable of supporting the Global Navigation System L1 and L5 bands. As shown in FIG. 6 , the RF front-end circuit 600 includes a duplexer 402, an extractor 406, low-noise amplifiers 408-409, and a duplexer 407. In some embodiments, the extractor 406 includes bandpass filters 406-1 and 406-2, and a band-stop filter 406-3.

In some embodiments, a bandpass filter 406-1 is coupled between the duplexer 402 and an input of a low-noise amplifier 408 to extract a global navigation system signal 411-a from a first signal 410-1 in the low-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network and provide the global navigation system signal 411-a to the low-noise amplifier 408. In some embodiments, an output of the low-noise amplifier 408 is coupled to a first port of a global navigation system module 420 to transmit an amplified signal 411-b to the global navigation system module 420.

In some embodiments, a bandpass filter 406-2 is coupled between the duplexer 402 and an input of the low-noise amplifier 409 to extract a global navigation system signal 412-a from a first signal 410-1 in the low-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network and provide the global navigation system signal 412-a to the low-noise amplifier 409. In some embodiments, an output of the low-noise amplifier 409 is coupled to a second port of the global navigation system module 420 to transmit an amplified signal 412-b to the global navigation system module 420.

In some embodiments, a band-stop filter 406-3 is coupled between duplexers 402 and 407 to allow a third signal 410-3 in the mid- to high-band of the wireless wide area network (WWAN) included in the first signal 410-1 to pass through. In some embodiments, the band-stop filter 406-3 is further configured to attenuate GPS L1 and L5 band signals included in the third signal 410-3 and allow signals in the third signal 410-3 other than those in the L1 and L5 bands to pass through.

In some embodiments, the circuit connections and operation of the RF front-end circuit 600 are similar to those of the RF front-end circuit 400 and are not further described herein.

Please refer to FIG. 7 . FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the RF front-end circuit 700 of FIG. 7 corresponds to the RF front-end circuit 320 of FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 7 , the RF front-end circuit 700 includes a duplexer 402, an extractor 406, low-noise amplifiers 408-409, and a duplexer 407. Compared to the RF front-end circuit 600 of FIG. 6 , the RF front-end circuit 700 of FIG. 7 further includes a triplexer 702 and single-axis double-cut switches 704 and 706.

In some embodiments, a common contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 704 is coupled to the first port of the global navigation system module 420 , a first contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 704 is coupled to the triplexer 702 , and a second contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 704 is coupled to the output of the low-noise amplifier 408 .

In some embodiments, a common contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 706 is coupled to the second port of the global navigation system module 420. A first contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 706 is coupled to the triplexer 702, and a second contact of the single-axis double-cut switch 706 is coupled to the output of the low-noise amplifier 409.

In some embodiments, triplexer 702 is coupled to an external antenna 710 that supports two GPS bands: L1 and L5.

In some embodiments, if the electronic device is equipped with an external antenna 710 that supports two GPS bands, L1 and L5, the receiving paths for GPS L1 and L5 band signals can be switched via the triplexer 702 and single-axis double-cut switches 704 and 706. Therefore, the RF front-end circuit 700 has better adaptability.

In summary, based on the RF front-end circuits 400, 600, and 700, the present disclosure can reduce the number of antennas and RF front-end components (e.g., RF transmission lines, extractors, and duplexers) required for the electronic devices 200 and 300, thereby improving the performance of the RF front-end circuits and freeing up design space in the electronic devices.

Although the present disclosure has been disclosed in the form of embodiments as described above, this is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Anyone with ordinary skill in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

To facilitate understanding of the above and other objects, features, advantages, and embodiments of the present disclosure, the accompanying symbols are described as follows: 1-9: Pins 100, 200, 300: Electronic device 102, 202: Input/output port 210, 310: Antenna 320, 400, 600, 700: RF front-end circuit 322, 402, 407: Duplexer 324: Dual extractor 326, 408, 409: Low-noise amplifier 328: Wireless communication module 330: Processing circuit 340: Memory 350: Display 406: Extractor 406-1: Bandpass filter 406-2: Bandpass filter 406-3: Band-stop filter 410: RF signal 410-1: First signal 410-2: Second signal 410-3: Third signal 410-4: Wireless wide area network signal 411-a, 412-a: Global navigation system signal 411-b, 412-b: Amplified signal 420: Global navigation system module/GNSS module 430: Wireless wide area network module/WWAN module 500: Pin layout 702: Triplexer 704, 706: Single-axis double-cut switch 710: External antenna ANT1-ANT8: Antennas CAM: Camera SCNR: Scanner

To facilitate understanding of the above and other objects, features, advantages, and embodiments of the present disclosure, the accompanying figures are described as follows: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a component layout of an electronic device according to an embodiment. Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of a multi-band antenna according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of a component layout of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of an extractor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the pin layout of the extractor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an RF front-end circuit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Domestic Storage Information (Please enter in order by institution, date, and number) None International Storage Information (Please enter in order by country, institution, date, and number) None

210: Antenna

400: RF front-end circuit

402,407: Duplexer

406: Extractor

408,409: Low-noise amplifier

410: RF signal

410-1: First Signal

410-2: Second Signal

410-3: Third Signal

410-4: Wireless Wide Area Network Signal

411-a, 412-a: Global Navigation System Signals

411-b, 412-b: Amplified signal

420: Global Navigation System Module/GNSS Module

430: Wireless Wide Area Network Module/WWAN Module

Claims (10)

A radio frequency front-end circuit includes: A first duplexer coupled to an antenna for receiving a radio frequency signal, the first duplexer being configured to separate the radio frequency signal into a first signal in a low-to-high frequency band of a wireless wide area network (WWAN) and a second signal in an ultra-high frequency band of the WWAN; An extractor coupled to the first duplexer, comprising: Two bandpass filters for extracting two Global Navigation System (GNSS) signals in two Global Navigation System (GNSS) bands from the first signal; and A bandstop filter for allowing a third signal in the first signal in a mid-to-high frequency band of the WWAN to pass through; and A second duplexer is coupled to the first duplexer and the extractor, and is configured to combine the second signal and the third signal into a wireless wide area network signal. The RF front-end circuit of claim 1, wherein the antenna supports the two global navigation system bands and the wireless wide area network band. The RF front-end circuit of claim 1, wherein the antenna is a wireless wide area network auxiliary antenna. The RF front-end circuit of claim 1, wherein the extractor is a dual extractor, wherein the band-stop filter is a dual-band band-stop filter, and wherein the band-stop filter is coupled between the first duplexer and the second duplexer to attenuate the two Global Navigation System signals in the first signal in the two Global Navigation System bands and allow the third signal in the first signal in the mid-to-high frequency band of the wireless wide area network to pass. The RF front-end circuit as described in claim 1, wherein the two GNSS frequency bands are GNSS L1 band and GNSS L5 band. In the RF front-end circuit of claim 1, the low to high frequency bands of the wireless wide area network include the two global navigation system bands and the mid to high frequency bands of the wireless wide area network. The RF front-end circuit of claim 1, wherein the two bandpass filters include: a first bandpass filter for allowing a first one of the two Global Navigation System (GNSS) signals to pass therethrough; and a second bandpass filter for allowing a second one of the two Global Navigation System (GNSS) signals to pass therethrough. The RF front-end circuit of claim 7 further comprises: a first low-noise amplifier coupled to the output of the first bandpass filter, configured to amplify the first global navigation system signal and provide a first amplified signal to a first port of a global navigation system module; and a second low-noise amplifier coupled to the output of the second bandpass filter, configured to amplify the second global navigation system signal and provide a second amplified signal to a second port of the global navigation system module. The RF front-end circuit of claim 8 further comprises: a triplexer coupled to an external antenna supporting the two GPS frequency bands; a first single-axis double-cut switch, having a common contact coupled to the first port of the GPS module, a first contact coupled to the triplexer, and a second contact coupled to the output of the first low-noise amplifier; and a second single-axis double-cut switch, having a common contact coupled to the second port of the GPS module, a first contact coupled to the triplexer, and a second contact coupled to the output of the second low-noise amplifier. An electronic device comprises: An antenna for receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal; An RF front-end circuit coupled to the antenna, the RF front-end circuit comprising: A first duplexer coupled to the antenna and configured to separate the RF signal into a first signal in a low-to-high frequency band of a wireless wide area network (WWAN) and a second signal in an ultra-high frequency band of the WWAN; An extractor coupled to the first duplexer, comprising: Two bandpass filters for extracting two Global Navigation System (GNSS) signals in two Global Navigation System (GNSS) bands from the first signal; and A bandstop filter for allowing a third signal in the first signal in a mid-to-high frequency band of the WWAN to pass through; and A second duplexer is coupled to the first duplexer and the extractor, and is configured to combine the second signal and the third signal into a wireless wide area network signal.