Receiver of frequency-modulated signals with digital demodulator

An electrical circuit comprising:

• a receiver circuit for receiving a frequency-modulated signal representing a digital signal;
• a frequency translation unit, electrically coupled to the receiver circuit, for lowering the frequency of the received frequency-modulated signal;
• a digital demodulator, electrically coupled to the frequency translation unit, for regenerating the digital signal from the lowered-frequency signal;
• counting means, electrically coupled to the receiver circuit and the frequency translation unit, for determining the number of periods of a reference signal from the frequency translation unit during a period of the lowered-frequency signal;
• and
• computation means, electrically coupled to the digital demodulator, for computing the period of the lowered-frequency signal from the number of periods of the reference signal.

A frequency-modulated signal receiver integrated circuit comprising:

• a receiver circuit for receiving a frequency-modulated signal representing a digital signal;
• a frequency translation unit, electrically coupled to the receiver circuit, for lowering the frequency of the received frequency-modulated signal;
• a digital demodulator, electrically coupled to the frequency translation unit, for regenerating the digital signal from the lowered-frequency signal;
• a reference signal generator for providing a reference signal, and wherein the duration of the period of the reference signal is variable and may take two possible values, T1 and T2.;
• counting means, electrically coupled to the receiver circuit, the reference signal generator, and the frequency translation unit, for determining the number of periods of the reference signal from the frequency translation unit during a period of the lowered-frequency signal;
• computation means, electrically coupled to the digital demodulator, for computing the period of the lowered-frequency signal from the number of periods of the reference signal;
• a first counter for counting a number P of periods with a duration T1 of the reference signal during a period of the lowered-frequency signal;
• and
• a second counter for counting a number Q of periods with a duration T2 of the reference signal during a period of the lowered-frequency signal, and wherein the computation means computes the period of the lowered-frequency signal by adding up the P periods with a duration T1 and the Q periods with a duration T2.