Technique for Suppressing Noise in a Transmitter Device

A method of suppressing noise in a transmitter device having a baseband signal processing stage and a radio frequency (RF) processing stage, the baseband signal processing stage operating at a baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and the RF signal processing stage operating at RF and comprising at least one amplifier for amplifying said RF signal, wherein the method is implemented in a feedback loop coupled around the at least one amplifier and comprises the following steps:

• tapping the RF signal processing stage downstream of the at least one amplifier to obtain an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component;
• downconverting the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• removing the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal;
• upconverting the resulting signal still comprising the noise component to RF;
• and
• feeding the upconverted signal back to the RF signal processing stage upstream of the at least one amplifier, thereby suppressing the noise component.

A method of suppressing noise in a transmitter device having a baseband signal processing stage and a radio frequency (RF) processing stage, the baseband signal processing stage operating at a baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and the RF signal processing stage operating at an RF and comprising at least one amplifier for amplifying said RF signal, wherein the method is implemented in a feedback loop coupled around the at least one amplifier and comprises the following steps:

• tapping the RF signal processing stage downstream of the at least one amplifier to obtain an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component;
• downconverting the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• removing the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal in order to obtain a signal essentially containing the noise component;
• and
• feeding the signal essentially containing the noise component back to the baseband signal processing stage upstream of the at least one modulator, thereby suppressing the noise component.

A transmitter device comprising:

• a baseband signal processing stage operating at baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and
• a radio frequency (RF) signal processing stage operating at RF and comprising at least a first amplifier for amplifying the RF signal, and
• a feedback loop coupled around the first amplifier and comprising:
• a first tapping unit configured to tap an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component downstream of the first amplifier;
• a downconverting unit configured to downconvert the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• a removing unit configured to remove the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal;
• and
• an upconverting unit configured to upconvert the resulting signal still comprising the noise component to RF,
• wherein the feedback loop is configured to feed the upconverted signal back to the RF signal processing stage upstream of the first amplifier, thereby suppressing the noise component.

A transmitter device comprising

• a baseband signal processing stage operating at baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and
• a radio frequency (RF) signal processing stage operating at RF and comprising at least a first amplifier for amplifying the RF signal, and
• a feedback loop coupled around the first amplifier and comprising:
• a first tapping unit configured to tap an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component downstream of the first amplifier;
• a downconverting unit configured to downconvert the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• and
• a removing unit configured to remove the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal in order to obtain a signal essentially containing the noise component;
• wherein the feedback loop is configured to feed the signal essentially containing the noise component back to the baseband signal processing stage upstream of the at least one modulator, thereby suppressing the noise component.

A transceiver device comprising:

• a transmitter device comprising:
• a baseband signal processing stage operating at baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and
• a radio frequency (RF) signal processing stage operating at RF and comprising at least a first amplifier for amplifying the RF signal, and
• a feedback loop coupled around the first amplifier and comprising:
• a first tapping unit configured to tap an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component downstream of the first amplifier;
• a downconverting unit configured to downconvert the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• a removing unit configured to remove the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal;
• and
• an upconverting unit configured to upconvert the resulting signal still comprising the noise component to RF,
• wherein the feedback loop is configured to feed the upconverted signal back to the RF signal processing stage upstream of the first amplifier, thereby suppressing the noise component.
• a receiver device;
• and
• a duplexer having an antenna port, wherein the duplexer is configured to frequency selectively couple RF signals from the transmitter device to the antenna port and RF signals received via the antenna port to the receiver device.

A transceiver device comprising:

• a transmitter device comprising:
• a baseband signal processing stage operating at baseband frequency and comprising at least one modulator for converting a baseband signal into an RF signal, and
• a radio frequency (RF) signal processing stage operating at RF and comprising at least a first amplifier for amplifying the RF signal, and
• a feedback loop coupled around the first amplifier and comprising:
• a first tapping unit configured to tap an amplified RF signal comprising a baseband signal component and a noise component downstream of the first amplifier;
• a downconverting unit configured to downconvert the tapped RF signal to baseband frequency;
• and
• a removing unit configured to remove the baseband signal component from the downconverted signal in order to obtain a signal essentially containing the noise component;
• wherein the feedback loop is configured to feed the signal essentially containing the noise component back to the baseband signal processing stage upstream of the at least one modulator, thereby suppressing the noise component.
• a receiver device;
• and
• a duplexer having an antenna port, wherein the duplexer is configured to frequency selectively couple RF signals from the transmitter device to the antenna port and RF signals received via the antenna port to the receiver device.