Adaptive gain for receiving wireless signals

A radio-frequency signal preconditioning method comprising:

• receiving, at a radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus from an antenna, a radio-frequency signal;
• selectively providing, at the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus, any of a plurality of gains to the radio-frequency signal to produce an output signal, the plurality of gains spanning a first range and including at least one positive gain and at least one negative gain;
• and
• providing, from the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus, the output signal to a conversion circuit configured to convert the output signal from an analog signal at a radio frequency to a digital signal at a baseband frequency, the conversion circuit having a dynamic range spanning a second range that is smaller than the first range, and wherein the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus is configured to provide a coarse gain adjustment to the output signal before being provided to the conversion circuit and the conversion circuit is configured to provide a fine gain adjustment to the output signal;
• wherein selectively providing any of the plurality of gains comprises selectively providing any of the plurality of gains such that an energy of the output signal is within the dynamic range of the conversion circuit.

A radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a radio-frequency signal from an antenna;
• means for selectively providing any of a plurality of gains to the radio-frequency signal to produce an output signal, the plurality of gains spanning a first range and including at least one positive gain and at least one negative gain;
• and
• means for providing the output signal to a conversion circuit configured to convert the output signal from an analog signal at a radio frequency to a digital signal at a baseband frequency, the conversion circuit having a dynamic range spanning a second range that is smaller than the first range, and wherein the means for selectively providing any of the plurality of gains to the radio-frequency signal is configured to provide a coarse gain adjustment to the output signal before being provided to the conversion circuit and the conversion circuit is configured to provide a fine gain adjustment to the output signal;
• wherein the means for selectively providing any of the plurality of gains comprise means for selectively providing any of the plurality of gains such that an energy of the output signal is within the dynamic range of the conversion circuit.

A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions to cause a processor of a radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus to:

• receive a radio-frequency signal from an antenna;
• and
• selectively cause the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus to provide any of a plurality of gains to the radio-frequency signal to produce an output signal, the plurality of gains spanning a first range including at least one positive gain and at least one negative gain, and to provide the output signal to a conversion circuit configured to convert the output signal from an analog signal at a radio frequency to a digital signal at a baseband frequency, the conversion circuit having a dynamic range spanning a second range that is smaller than the first range, and wherein the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus is configured to provide a coarse gain adjustment to the output signal before being provided to the conversion circuit and the conversion circuit is configured to provide a fine gain adjustment to the output signal;
• wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the processor to selectively cause the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus to provide any of the plurality of gains comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the processor to selectively provide any of the plurality of gains such that an energy of the output signal is within the dynamic range of the conversion circuit.

A radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus comprising:

• a variable gain circuit configured to receive a radio-frequency signal from an antenna and configured to selectively provide any of a plurality of gains to the radio-frequency signal to produce an output signal, the plurality of gains spanning a first range and including at least one positive gain and at least one negative gain;
• an output communicatively coupled to the variable gain circuit and configured to receive the output signal and to provide the output signal to a conversion circuit configured to convert the output signal from an analog signal at a radio frequency to a digital signal at a baseband frequency, the conversion circuit having a dynamic range spanning a second range that is smaller than the first range, and wherein the variable gain circuit is configured to provide a coarse gain adjustment to the output signal before being provided to the conversion circuit, and the conversion circuit is configured to provide a fine gain adjustment to the output signal;
• and
• a controller communicatively coupled to the variable gain circuit and configured to control which of the plurality of gains the variable gain circuit provides, based on an indication of an attenuation provided by a connection of the antenna to the radio-frequency signal preconditioning apparatus, such that an energy of the output signal is within the dynamic range of the conversion circuit.