Cryoelectronic receiver front end
AssigneeSpectral Solutions, Inc.
InventorsDavid O. Patton, Robert M. Yandrofski, Gerhard A. Koepf, Robert F. Arentz, Jerry Lynn Martin
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a novel use of cryoelectronic equipment to implement an extremely sensitive and stable receiver front end for UHF, microwave, and millimeter wave applications. The invention is particularly applicable to base station receivers in mobile radio systems, where the range and capacity of the systems are typically limited by the base station receiver sensitivity.
Claims23
In a mobile radio system in which a base station range is typically limited by the sensitivity of a base station receiver, a base station having at least one antenna and receiver front end and a plurality of sectors, the receiver front end comprising;
- a plurality of planar filters for spectrally filtering a plurality of RF signals to form a plurality of filtered RF signals corresponding to the plurality of sectors;
- a plurality of amplifiers, in communication with the plurality of planer filters, for amplifying the plurality of filtered RF signals;
- and
- a cooler for cryogenically cooling the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, wherein at least one of the plurality of planar filters and plurality of amplifiers comprises a superconducting material, the cooler including at least one cryostat containing the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, the at least one cryostat being mounted on the antenna, and at least one cold finger engaging simultaneously the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers and having a variable cooling capacity and being substantially adjacent to the antenna to reduce the insertion loss along a conductor extending between the antenna and the plurality of planar filters to a selected level, wherein the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers are located in a common evacuated chamber of the cooler.
A base station for a mobile radio system, comprising:
- an antenna structure;
- a receiver front end mounted on the antenna structure, the receiver front end comprising:
- a plurality of planar filters for spectrally filtering a plurality of RF signals to form a plurality of filtered RF signals;
- a plurality of amplifiers in communication with the plurality of planar filters for amplifying tie plurality of filtered RF signals, wherein at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers includes a superconducting material;
- and
- a cooler for cryogenically cooling the at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, the cooler including at least one cryostat containing the at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, the at least one cryostat being mounted on the antenna structure, at least one cold finger engaging simultaneously a plurality of the at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, and having a variable cooling capacity.
A method for receiving and/or emitting RF signals in or from a base station, comprising:
- filtering an RF signal in a planar filter including a superconducting material;
- amplifying the RF signal in an amplifier, wherein at least one of the planar filter and the amplifier are located on an antenna structure;
- cryocooling at least one of a plurality of planar filters and a plurality of amplifiers using a cryocooler, the cryocooler including at least one cryostat containing the at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, the at least one cryostat being mounted on the antenna structure, at least one cold finger engaging simultaneously a plurality of the at least one of the plurality of planar filters and the plurality of amplifiers, and having a variable cooling capacity, wherein the planar filter and amplifier correspond to a common sector;
- and
- varying a rate of cooling of the cryocooler to maintain a temperature of the at least one of the planar filter and the amplifier substantially constant by compensating for fluctuations in an ambient temperature external to the cryocooler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.