Reconfigurable base station using mobile station RF ASIC

A multi-mode, multi-band radio frequency (RF) transceiver, for use in at least one of a micro-base station and a mobile station of a wireless network and configured for low cost and low power consumption, the multi-mode, multi-band radio frequency (RF) transceiver comprising:

• a micro-electromechanical system duplexer configured to receive an incoming RF signal in a selectable receive frequency band and to transmit an outgoing RF signal in a selectable transmit frequency band;
• a reconfigurable RF transceiver application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprising:
• a first receive path configured to receive the incoming RF signal from the micro-electromechanical system duplexer and to down-convert the incoming RF signal to at least one of an analog baseband signal and a digital baseband signal,
• a transmit path configured to receive an outgoing baseband signal and to up-convert the outgoing baseband signal to the outgoing RF signal, wherein the transmit path is also configured to receive a signal from a digital RF interface block that comprises at least one serial digital function and at least one Gaussian Minimum Shift Key (GMSK) modulator, and
• a plurality of configuration registers, each configuration register configured to store at least one modifiable configuration parameter, wherein each modifiable configuration parameter configures at least one multiplexer receiver and one intermediate frequency processor, and wherein the modifiable configuration parameters are used to promote communication with a plurality of frequency bands and communication standards, wherein the reconfigurable registers are configured to reconfigure the RF transceiver at a time of use, and
• a plurality of low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) coupled to the duplexer, at least some of the LNAs designed for different frequency bands and communication standards,
• wherein unused LNAs are configured to be powered down to minimize power consumption;
• a software-defined radio modem coupled to the ASIC and configured to transmit the outgoing baseband signal to the ASIC and to receive the at least one of the analog baseband signal and the digital baseband signal from the ASIC;
• and
• an integrated central processing unit/network processing unit (CPU/NPU) configured to use the modifiable configuration parameters to handle data plane processing, management plane processing and control panel plane processing.