Gain partitioning in a receiver
AssigneeMaxLinear, Inc.
InventorsCurtis Ling, Madhukar Reddy, John Wetherell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automatic gain control loop disposed in a receiver is adapted to compensate for varying levels of out of band interference sources by adaptively controlling the gain distribution throughout the receive signal path. One or more intermediate received signal strength indicator (RSSI) detectors are used to determine a corresponding intermediate signal level. The output of each RSSI detector is coupled to an associated comparator that compares the intermediate RSSI value against a corresponding threshold. The take over point (TOP) for gain stages is adjusted based in part on the comparator output values. The TOP for each of a plurality of gain stages may be adjusted in discrete steps or continuously.
Claims15
A receiver comprising:
- a first amplification stage having a first gain for producing an amplified RF signal;
- a frequency conversion module responsive to the first amplification stage;
- a filter responsive to the frequency conversion module;
- a second amplification stage having a second gain and being responsive to said filter;
- and
- a controller adapted to vary the first and second gains in response to a signal external to the receiver, said external signal causing an overall gain of the receiver to be maintained substantially constant.
A method of controlling a gain of a receiver, the method comprising:
- amplifying a received signal to generate a first amplified signal using a first amplification stage, the first amplification stage having a first gain;
- frequency converting the first amplified signal;
- filtering the frequency converted signal;
- amplifying the filtered signal to generate a second amplified signal using a second amplification stage, the second amplification stage having a second gain;
- varying the first and second gains in response to a signal external to the receiver, and
- maintaining an overall gain of the receiver to be substantially constant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.