Communication circuit for multi-antenna apparatus
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
InventorPeter Jakobsson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A communication circuit for communication at a carrier frequency via multiple antenna elements of a radio apparatus is disclosed. The communication circuit comprises a plurality of radio units, wherein each radio unit of said plurality of radio units is arranged to be connected to a separate antenna element. An LO signal generation unit is arranged to generate a plurality of LO signals at distinct frequencies, and supply a unique LO signal of the plurality of LO signals to each radio unit of the plurality of radio units. A corresponding radio apparatus and method are also disclosed.
Claims16
A communication circuit for communication at a carrier frequency via multiple antenna elements of a radio apparatus, the communication circuit comprising:
- a plurality of radio units, wherein each radio unit of the plurality of radio units is connected to a separate antenna element;
- a local oscillator (LO) signal generation unit configured to generate a plurality of LO signals at distinct frequencies and supply a unique LO signal of the plurality of LO signals to said each radio unit of the plurality of radio units, wherein the plurality of radio units are receiver units, and the plurality of LO signals are supplied to down-conversion mixers of the respective receiver units;
- and
- a baseband processing unit configured to:
- receive baseband output signals from the receiver units;
- frequency align the baseband output signals;
- and
- recombine the frequency-aligned baseband output signals.
A communication circuit for communication at a carrier frequency via multiple antenna elements of a radio apparatus, the communication circuit comprising:
- a plurality of radio units, wherein each radio unit of the plurality of radio units is connected to a separate antenna element;
- a local oscillator (LO) signal generation unit configured to generate a plurality of LO signals at distinct frequencies and supply a unique LO signal of the plurality of LO signals to said each radio unit of the plurality of radio units, wherein the plurality of radio units are transmitter units, and the plurality of LO signals are supplied to up-conversion mixers of the respective transmitter units;
- and
- a baseband processing unit configured to:
- generate baseband transmit signals;
- frequency shift the baseband transmit signals to account for the distinct frequencies;
- and
- supply the frequency-shifted baseband transmit signals to the transmitter units.
A method of operating a radio apparatus comprising an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements and a communication circuit for communication at a carrier frequency via the plurality of antenna elements, wherein the communication circuit comprises a plurality of radio units, each radio unit of the plurality of radio units connected to a separate antenna element, the method comprising:
- generating a plurality of local oscillator (LO) signals at distinct frequencies;
- supplying a unique LO signal of the plurality of LO signals to said each radio unit of the plurality of radio units, wherein the plurality of radio units are receiver units, and supplying the plurality of LO signals to the receiver units comprises supplying the plurality of LO signals to down-conversion mixers of the receiver units;
- and
- receiving baseband output signals from the receiver units;
- frequency aligning the baseband output signals;
- and
- recombining the frequency-aligned baseband output signals.
A method of operating a radio apparatus comprising an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements and a communication circuit for communication at a carrier frequency via the plurality of antenna elements, wherein the communication circuit comprises a plurality of radio units, each radio unit of the plurality of radio units connected to a separate antenna element, the method comprising:
- generating a plurality of local oscillator (LO) signals at distinct frequencies;
- supplying a unique LO signal of the plurality of LO signals to said each radio unit of the plurality of radio units, wherein the plurality of radio units are transmitter units, and supplying the plurality of LO signals to the transmitter units comprises supplying the plurality of LO signals to up-conversion mixers of the transmitter units;
- generating baseband transmit signals;
- frequency shifting the baseband transmit signals to account for the distinct frequencies;
- and
- supplying the frequency-shifted baseband transmit signals to the transmitter units.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.