Common carrier, multiple output RF upconverter
AssigneeAgile TV Corporation
InventorsTheodore Calderone, Mark J. Foster
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Abstract
The invention provides a mechanism for implementing a common carrier, multiple output RF upconverter. The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a method and apparatus for distributing the LO signals for both the first and second LO functions to several upconverter sections simultaneously. This technique eliminates the frequency synthesizers and VCOs typically required for each individual upconverter section, thereby substantially reducing the board space and component count required to perform this function. By providing a distributed LO, only two LO synthesizers and VCO's are required per board, where a board might support anywhere from two to twelve or more upconverters.
Claims22
A common carrier, multiple output upconverter, comprising:
- a plurality of channels, each channel comprising an upconverter and a downconverter;
- and
- means for distributing local oscillator (LO) signals from a common first LO and a common second LO to each respective upconverter and downconverter in said plurality of channels.
A common carrier, multiple output upconversion method, comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of channels, each channel comprising an upconverter and a downconverter;
- and
- distributing local oscillator (LO) signals from a common first LO and a common second LO to each respective upconverter and downconverter in said plurality of channels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.