Electronic component with integrated tuning device, allowing the decoding of digital terrestrial or cable television signals

An electronic component comprising:

• an integrated circuit embodied on a monolithic substrate and comprising:
• a superheterodyne type tuning module with non zero intermediate frequency dual upconversion then downconversion, possessing an input able to receive digital terrestrial or cable television analog signals composed of several channels,
• a bulk acoustic wave type bandpass filter disposed between two frequency transposition stages of the tuning module and delivering a filtered analog signal containing the information conveyed by a desired channel and adjacent channels information,
• a microelectromechanical type bandpass filter disposed downstream of a second frequency transposition stage and able to eliminate the adjacent channels information;
• first means for determining the central frequency of the bulk acoustic wave filter, and
• second means for determining the central frequency of the microelectromechanical filter;
• wherein the first means for determining comprise means in the absence of a signal at the input of a first transposition stage for varying beyond an upper limit of a frequency span of the channels the frequency of a calibration transposition signal applied to the first transposition stage, and detection means for determining for each value of the frequency of the calibration signal the power of the signal at the output of the bulk acoustic wave filter and to detect the maximum power, the central frequency of the bulk acoustic wave filter then being the frequency of the calibration signal corresponding to this maximum value of power.

An electronic component comprising:

• an integrated circuit embodied on a monolithic substrate and comprising:
• a superheterodyne type tuning module with non zero intermediate frequency dual upconversion then downconversion, possessing an input able to receive digital terrestrial or cable television analog signals composed of several channels,
• a bulk acoustic wave type bandpass filter disposed between two frequency transposition stages of the tuning module and delivering a filtered analog signal containing the information conveyed by a desired channel and adjacent channels information,
• a microelectromechanical type bandpass filter disposed downstream of a second frequency transposition stage and able to eliminate the adjacent channels information;
• first means for determining the central frequency of the bulk acoustic wave filter, and
• second means for determining the central frequency of the microelectromechanical filter;
• wherein the second means for determining comprises means able in the absence of any signal at the input of the second transposition stage for varying in the neighborhood of a predetermined reference intermediate frequency the frequency of a calibration transposition signal applied to the second transposition stage, and means for detecting that determines for each value of the frequency of the calibration signal the power of the signal at the output of the microelectromechanical filter and to detect the maximum power, the central frequency of the microelectromechanical filter then being the frequency of the calibration signal corresponding to this maximum value of power.

A circuit, comprising:

• an input receiving an analog signal including a plurality of channels;
• an upconversion device to upconvert the received analog signal;
• a filter that filters the received analog signal and generates a filtered upconverted signal comprising information from a selected one of the channels and adjacent channel information, wherein the filter, from a design perspective, has a known bandwith defining a passband of the filter but a not accurately known center frequency of the passband;
• and
• a calibration circuit that determines the not accurately known center frequency of the filter passband and configures the upconversion device to upconvert the received analog signal such that the selected one of the channels is placed at the determined center frequency, wherein the calibration circuit comprises:
• a power measurement circuit;
• a first switch to disconnect the analog signal from the upconversion device;
• a second switch to connect an output of the filter to the power measurement device;
• and
• a control circuit that varies a frequency transposition signal applied to the upconversion device and determines a frequency of the varying frequency transposition signal at which the power measurement device measures maximum power passing through the filter, that determined frequency being the center frequency.

A circuit, comprising:

• an input receiving an analog signal comprising information from a selected one of a plurality of channels and adjacent channel information;
• a downconversion device to downconvert the analog signal to an analog downconverted signal centered at a non-zero frequency;
• a filter that filters the analog downconverted signal and generates a filtered analog downconverted signal comprising information from the selected one of the channels and less of the adjacent channel information, wherein the filter, from a design perspective, has a not accurately known center frequency;
• and
• a calibration circuit that determines the not accurately known center frequency of the filter and configures the downconversion device to downconvert the filtered analog signal such that the selected one of the channels is placed at the determined center frequency, wherein the calibration circuit comprises:
• a power measurement circuit;
• a first switch to disconnect the analog signal from the downconversion device;
• a second switch to connect an output of the filter to the power measurement device;
• and
• a control circuit that varies a frequency transposition signal applied to the upconversion device and determines a frequency of the varying frequency transposition signal at which the power measurement device measures maximum power passing through the filter, that determined frequency being the center frequency.

A method for processing an analog signal including a plurality of channels;

• upconverting the received analog signal;
• filtering the upconverted received analog signal to generate a filtered upconverted signal comprising information from a selected one of the channels and adjacent channel information, wherein filtering comprises filtering with a filter that, from a design perspective, has a known bandwith defining a passband of the filter but does not have an accurately known center frequency of the passband;
• downconverting the filtered upconverted signal to a downconverted signal at a non-zero frequency;
• determining the not accurately known center frequency of the filter passband;
• configuring upconverting to upconvert the received analog signal such that the selected one of the channels is placed at the determined center frequency;
• wherein determining comprises:
• disconnecting the analog signal from being upconverted;
• connecting an output of the filter to a power measurement device;
• varying a frequency transposition signal applied to effectuate upconverting;
• and
• determining a frequency of the varying frequency transposition signal at which the power measurement device measures maximum power passing through the filter, that determined frequency being the center frequency.