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AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorClark T.-C. Nguyen
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Several MEMS-based methods and architectures which utilize vibrating micromechanical resonators in circuits to implement filtering, mixing, frequency reference and amplifying functions are provided. A method and apparatus are shown for generating a signal having at least one desired output frequency such as LO frequency in an RF subsystem in response to a tuning voltage and without the need for a phase-locking circuit. One of the primary benefits of the use of such architectures is a savings in power consumption by trading power for high selectivity (i.e., high Q). Consequently, the present invention relies on the use of a large number of micromechanical links in SSI networks to implement signal processing functions with basically zero DC power consumption.
A method for generating a signal having at least one desired output frequency in a system in response to a tuning voltage and without the need for a phase-locking circuit, the method comprising:
A local oscillator synthesizer apparatus for generating a signal having at least one desired output frequency in a system in response to a tuning voltage and without the need for a phase-locking circuit, the apparatus comprising:
A method for generating a signal in response to a control voltage, the method comprising:
The method as claimed in claim 21 wherein the impedance of a micromechanical resonator device of the plurality of micromechanical resonator devices other than the desired micromechanical resonator device is that of a substantially open circuit to input signals provided to the input thereof.
An apparatus for generating a signal having an output frequency, the apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.