Method and system for down-converting electromagnetic signals by sampling and integrating over apertures

A method of down-converting a first signal to a second signal, comprising the steps of:

• (1) receiving the first signal;
• (2) sampling the first signal over aperture periods to transfer energy from the first signal;
• (3) integrating the energy over the aperture periods;
• and
• (4) generating the second signal from the integrated energy.

An apparatus for down-converting a carrier signal to a lower frequency signal, comprising:

• a universal frequency down-converter (UFD), including a switch, an integrator coupled to said switch, and a pulse generator coupled to said switch;
• and
• a reactive structure coupled to said UFD;
• wherein said pulse generator outputs pulses to said switch at an aliasing rate that is determined according to:
• (a frequency of the carrier signal +/− a frequency of the lower frequency signal) divided by N;
• wherein said pulses have apertures and cause said switch to close and sample said carrier signal, and wherein energy is transferred from said carrier signal and integrated using said integrator during apertures of said pulses, and wherein said lower frequency signal is generated from the transferred energy.

An apparatus for down-converting a carrier signal to a lower frequency signal, comprising:

• a differentially configured universal frequency down-converter (UFD), including at least first and second integrators, at least one switch coupled to at least one of said at least first and second integrators, and at least one pulse generator coupled to said at least one switch;
• and
• at least one reactive structure coupled to said UFD;
• wherein said at least one pulse generator outputs pulses to said at least one switch at an aliasing rate that is determined according to:
• (a frequency of the carrier signal +/− a frequency of the lower frequency signal) divided by N;
• wherein said pulses have apertures and cause said at least one switch to close and sample said carrier signal, and wherein energy is transferred from said carrier signal and integrated using said at least first and second integrators during apertures of said pulses, and wherein said lower frequency signal is generated from the transferred energy.

An apparatus for down-converting a carrier signal to a lower frequency signal, comprising:

• a differentially configured universal frequency down-converter (UFD), including at least first and second switches, at least one integrator coupled to at least one of said at least first and second switches, and at least one pulse generator coupled to at least one of said at least first and second switches;
• and
• at least one reactive structure coupled to said UFD;
• wherein said at least one pulse generator outputs pulses to at least one of said at least first and second switches;
• and
• wherein said pulses have apertures and cause at least one of said at least first and second switches to close and sample said carrier signal, and wherein energy is transferred from said carrier signal and integrated using said at least one integrator during apertures of said pulses, and wherein said lower frequency signal is generated from the transferred energy.

A method of down-converting a first signal to a second signal, comprising the steps of:

• (1) sub-sampling the first signal over aperture periods to transfer energy from the first signal;
• (2) integrating the transferred energy over the aperture periods;
• (3) generating the second signal from the integrated energy;
• and
• (4) impedance matching at least one of said first signal and said second signal.

An apparatus for down-converting a carrier signal to a baseband signal, the carrier signal including at least one of amplitude variations, phase variations, or frequency variations at a frequency lower than a carrier frequency of the carrier signal, the apparatus comprising:

• means for sampling the carrier signal over aperture periods to transfer energy from the carrier signal at an aliasing rate, the aliasing rate determined according to a frequency of the carrier signal divided by N, wherein N indicates a harmonic or sub-harmonic of the carrier signal;
• means for integrating the energy over the aperture periods;
• and
• means for generating the baseband signal from the integrated energy.

An apparatus for down-converting a first signal to a second signal, comprising:

• means for sampling the first signal over aperture periods to transfer energy from the first signal at an aliasing rate, the aliasing rate determined according to:
• (a frequency of the first signal +/− a frequency of the second signal) divided by N;
• means for integrating the energy over the aperture periods;
• and
• means for generating the second signal from the integrated energy.

An apparatus for down-converting a first signal to a second signal, comprising:

• means for sub-sampling the first signal over aperture periods to transfer energy from the first signal;
• means for integrating the transferred energy over the aperture periods;
• means for generating the second signal from the integrated energy;
• and
• means for impedance matching at least one of said first signal and said second signal.