US 9,425,505 B2 · Integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuitry to support multiple antennas

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments generally relate to techniques for processing signals received from multiple antennas. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to a system that uses an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit to process signals received from multiple antenna elements. This circuit applies a specified phase shift to the input signals, and combines the phase-shifted input signals to produce an output signal. In some embodiments, the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit uses a current-steering mechanism to perform the phase-shifting-and-combining operations. This current-steering mechanism operates by converting the input signals into associated currents, and then steering each of the associated currents through multiple pathways which have different delays. Next, the currents from the multiple pathways for the associated currents are combined to produce the output signal. During this process, while steering each of the associated currents through multiple pathways to achieve different phase shifts, complementary impedance changes through the multiple pathways cause the aggregate impedance at the output to remain substantially constant.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A system to support a phased-array antenna, comprising:

a set of input terminals to receive input signals from antenna elements in the phased-array antenna;
an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit, which applies a specified phase shift to the input signals, and combines the phase-shifted input signals to produce an output signal, wherein the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit comprises a current-steering circuit including:
a plurality of current pathways having different delays;
one or more input transistors to convert the input signals into respective currents;
and
one or more steering transistors to steer each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways to generate a plurality of delayed currents each having the different delays, wherein steering each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways comprises:
causing complementary impedance changes through the plurality of current pathways;
and
causing an aggregate impedance at the output terminal to remain substantially constant;
and
a combining circuit to combine the plurality of delayed currents to generate the output signal;
and
an output terminal to output the output signal.

10 more elements

A circuit to support a phased-array antenna, comprising:

a set of interconnected phase-shifting-and-combining components which collectively process signals from antenna elements in the phased-array antenna, wherein each phase-shifting-and-combining component includes:
a set of input terminals to receive input signals from antenna elements in the phased-array antenna;
an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit, which applies a specified phase shift to the input signals, and combines the phase-shifted input signals to produce an output signal, wherein the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit comprises a current-steering circuit including:
a plurality of current pathways having different delays;
one or more input transistors to convert the input signals into respective currents;
and
one or more steering transistors to steer each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways to generate a plurality of delayed currents each having the different delays, wherein steering each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways comprises:
causing complementary impedance changes through the plurality of current pathways;
and
causing an aggregate impedance at the output terminal to remain substantially constant;
and
a combining circuit to combine the plurality of delayed currents to generate the output signal;
and
an output terminal to output the output signal.

11 more elements

A circuit to support a set of antenna elements, comprising:

a first input terminal to receive a first input signal from a first antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
a second input terminal to receive a second input signal from a second antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
and
an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit, which applies a specified phase shift to the first and the second input signals, and combines the phase-shifted first and second input signals to produce an output signal, wherein the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit comprises a current-steering circuit including:
a plurality of current pathways having different delays;
one or more input transistors to convert the input signals into respective currents;
and
one or more steering transistors to steer each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways to generate a plurality of delayed currents each having the different delays, wherein steering each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways comprises:
causing complementary impedance changes through the plurality of current pathways;
and
causing an aggregate impedance at the output terminal to remain substantially constant;
and
a combining circuit to combine the plurality of delayed currents to generate the output signal;
and
an output terminal to output the output signal.

12 more elements

A circuit to support a set of antenna elements, comprising:

a first input terminal to receive a first input signal from a first antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
a second input terminal to receive a second input signal from a second antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
a third input terminal to receive a third input signal from a third antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
a fourth input terminal to receive a fourth input signal from a fourth antenna element in the set of antenna elements;
and
an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit, which applies a specified phase shift to the first, second, third and fourth input signals, and combines the phase-shifted first, second, third and fourth input signals to produce an output signal, wherein the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit comprises a current-steering circuit including:
a plurality of current pathways having different delays;
one or more input transistors to convert the input signals into respective currents;
and
one or more steering transistors to steer each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways to generate a plurality of delayed currents each having the different delays, wherein steering each of the respective currents through at least two of the plurality of current pathways comprises:
causing complementary impedance changes through the plurality of current pathways;
and
causing an aggregate impedance at the output terminal to remain substantially constant;
and
a combining circuit to combine the plurality of delayed currents to generate the output signal;
and
an output terminal to output the output signal.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuitry to support multiple antennas

Life of this patent

Integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuitry to support multiple antennas

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21