Amplifier assembly, receiver comprising said assembly and method for operating a programmable amplifier
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorElmar Wagner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An amplifier assembly and also a receiver including such an amplifier assembly is disclosed, wherein the amplifier includes a programming input for setting the gain thereof. The signal level at the output of the amplifier is compared with a reference level and a counter is incremented in a step-by-step fashion such that the gain in the amplifier is reduced for as long as the output level lies above the reference level. The amplifier assembly enables frequency-dependent received field strength fluctuations that occur in frequency hopping methods to be corrected in a manner dependent on the conditions in the current time slot. The assembly is also suitable for modulation methods that use a modulation with phase and amplitude variation.
Claims10
An amplifier assembly for data transmission organized in time slots, comprising:
- a programmable amplifier comprising a signal input, a signal output, and a programming input configured to set the gain associated therewith;
- a comparator connected to the signal output of the programmable amplifier, and configured to output a control signal at an output thereof if a signal level at the signal output of the programmable amplifier is greater than a predetermined reference level at the beginning of a time slot;
- and
- a counter comprising an incrementing input configured to increment the count connected to the output of the comparator, and comprising a count output coupled to the programming input of the programmable amplifier, and configured to program the amplifier at the beginning of the time slot,
- wherein the programmable amplifier comprises a multistage amplifier comprising a plurality of series-coupled amplifier stages, each with a respective control input for setting the gain thereof, wherein the control inputs are coupled together and jointly form the programming input of the programmable amplifier for setting the gain thereof.
A method for operating a programmable amplifier in the case of data transmission organized in time slots, comprising:
- programming the programmable amplifier to a largest settable gain associated therewith;
- applying an input signal to the programmable amplifier and comparing an output level of the programmable amplifier with a reference level at the beginning of a time slot;
- and
- reducing the gain of the programmable amplifier step-by-step until the output level of the programmable amplifier is less than the reference level at the beginning of the time slot by a predetermined amount corresponding to an overdriving margin for further signal processing.
An amplifier assembly for data transmission organized in time slots, comprising:
- a programmable amplifier comprising a signal input, a signal output, and a programming input configured to set the gain associated therewith;
- a comparator connected to the signal output of the programmable amplifier to solely receive a signal level at the signal output of the programmable amplifier and a predetermined reference level, and configured to output a control signal at an output thereof if the signal level at the signal output of the programmable amplifier is greater than the predetermined reference level at the beginning of a time slot;
- and
- a counter comprising an incrementing input configured to increment the count connected to the output of the comparator, and comprising a count output coupled to the programming input of the programmable amplifier, and configured to program the amplifier at the beginning of the time slot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.