KR100925396B1 - Method for controlling gain of amplifier and RF receiving apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier and an RF receiving device using the same, the apparatus comprising: an amplifier; A down converter configured to down convert an output signal of the amplifier; And a controller for controlling a gain of the amplifier in a manner of determining a current gain based on the power of the down-converted signal and a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier that contributed to the down-converted signal. According to the present invention, linearity and reception sensitivity of a radio frequency (RF) receiver can be optimized.

Description

Method for controlling gain of RF receiver and RF receiving apparatus using the same

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an RF receiving apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an RF receiving apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating specific configurations of the controller of FIG. 1 and the controller of FIG. 2.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to an RF receiver included in a wireless communication device.

In general, an RF receiver includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) for amplifying a received signal and a mixer for downconverting the amplified signal.

Increasing the gain of the low-noise amplifier reduces the noise figure (noise figure) and increases the reception sensitivity, but the linearity may be degraded due to the large interference signal of the adjacent band. Accordingly, when the interference signal is large, the gain of the low noise amplifier is reduced accordingly, and when the interference signal is small, the gain of the low noise amplifier is increased accordingly, thereby optimizing reception sensitivity and linearity. More specifically, if the interference signal is small, the gain of the low noise amplifier is increased to increase the reception sensitivity. If the interference signal is large, the gain of the low noise amplifier is reduced to improve the linearity. As such, when the low noise amplifier is operated in the nonlinear region, due to the intermodulation phenomenon or the like, the output signal of the mixer may be severely distorted due to the inclusion of an interference signal component. This is because the signal input to the low noise amplifier includes not only a desired signal but also an interference signal which is a component of an adjacent band.

Therefore, in order to prevent such a phenomenon, it is necessary to appropriately control the gain of the low noise amplifier so that linear amplification is performed.

Conventional methods of controlling the gain of a low noise amplifier include a method of reducing the gain of the amplifier by considering that there is some interference signal component when the power of the mixer output signal is larger than a fixed threshold. That is, according to this method, the threshold is a power detection level for determining whether to detect an interference signal component, and has a fixed value regardless of gain change of the amplifier. However, since this method is a method of adjusting the gain of the amplifier in discretely received packet units, a system, such as digital multimedia, that continuously controls the gain of the amplifier for continuously received signals. Under the Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) system, proper gain control cannot be performed.

Therefore, there is a need for a gain control method of an amplifier and an RF receiving apparatus using the same, which solves such problems and optimizes linearity and reception sensitivity of an RF receiver.

An object of the present invention is to provide a gain control method of an amplifier and an RF receiving apparatus using the same, which can optimize linearity and reception sensitivity of an RF receiver.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, a first aspect of the present invention, an amplifier; A down converter configured to down convert an output signal of the amplifier; And a controller for controlling a gain of the amplifier in a manner of determining a current gain based on a power of the down-converted signal and a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier that contributed to the down-converted signal. An RF receiver is provided.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, a second aspect of the present invention provides a method for controlling a gain of an amplifier by an RF receiving apparatus including an amplifier and a down converter for down converting an output signal of the amplifier, the method comprising: (a) Detecting power of an output signal of the down converter; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier.

To achieve the above technical problem, a third aspect of the present invention, an amplifier; And a controller configured to control a gain of the amplifier in a manner of determining a current gain based on a power of an output signal of the amplifier and a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier that contributed to the output signal. To provide.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier by an RF receiving apparatus including an amplifier, the method comprising: (a) detecting power of an output signal of the amplifier; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier.

Hereinafter, a method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an RF receiving apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the RF receiver of the present embodiment includes an amplifier 100, a down converting unit 110, a control unit 120, and a variable gain amplifier. It includes a VGA (130), a filter (140), an analog-to-digital converter (hereinafter referred to as an ADC) 150, and a baseband processor 160.

However, if the device including the amplifier 100 and the down converter 110 performs the RF reception process, the present invention is applicable, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the device shown in FIG. Anyone who is engaged in can understand enough.

First, the amplifier 100 amplifies a signal input through a receiving antenna or the like. Here, an example of the amplifier 100 may be LNA.

The down converter 110 down converts the output signal of the amplifier. It can be sufficiently understood by those skilled in the art that the down converter 110 may be implemented through, for example, a local oscillator and a mixer.

The controller 120 considers not only the power of the output signal of the down converter 110 but also the gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 100 that contributed to the output signal of the down converter 110. In this way, the gain of the amplifier 100 is controlled. An example of a specific control method will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

The VGA 130 amplifies the output signal of the down converter 110 so that the ADC 150 may perform digital conversion at an optimal resolution.

The filter 140 performs filtering on the output signal of the VGA 130 to pass only components of the corresponding frequency band. Here, an example of the frequency band may be a low frequency band suitable for processing by the baseband processor 160.

The ADC 150 converts the output signal of the VGA 130, which is an analog signal, into a digital signal, and the baseband processor 160 performs baseband processing for detecting desired data from the digital signal.

On the other hand, it can be fully understood by those skilled in the art that the above-described operation of the controller 120 may be performed by the baseband processor 160 through appropriate analog-to-digital conversion.

Also, in the drawing, an example in which the control unit 120 receives the output signal of the down-conversion unit 110 and obtains the power of the down-converted signal therefrom is expressed. However, unlike the drawing, the control unit 120 outputs the VGA 130. It is also possible to obtain the power of the down-converted signal from the signal input. However, the control unit 120 may not receive the output signal of the filter 140 or the output signal of the ADC 150 and obtain power of the down-converted signal therefrom. Because, the gain of the amplifier 100 should be determined based on the size of the RF signal including the interference signal, the signal passing through the filter 140 is the interference signal is removed, so the down conversion from the signal passing through the filter 140 An error occurs when the power of the signal is obtained. Therefore, only the case of receiving the signal prior to the filter 140 and obtaining the power of the down-converted signal therefrom is included in the scope of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an RF receiving apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the RF receiver according to the present embodiment includes an amplifier 200, a down converter 210, a controller 220, a VGA 230, a filter 240, an ADC 250, and a baseband processor ( 260).

The functions and operations of the amplifier 200, the down converter 210, the VGA 230, the filter 240, the ADC 250, and the baseband processor 260 of FIG. Since the functions and operations of the down converter 110, the VGA 130, the filter 140, the ADC 150, and the baseband processor 160 are the same, the description thereof will be omitted.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 220 may consider not only the power of the output signal of the amplifier 200 but also the gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 200 that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier 200. In a manner of determining the gain, the gain of the amplifier 200 is controlled. An example of a specific control method will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

3 and 3B are block diagrams illustrating specific configurations of the controller 120 of FIG. 1 and the controller 220 of FIG. 2.

The controller illustrated in FIG. 3A includes a power detector 300A, a divider 310A, a comparator 320A, and a gain controller 330A.

The power detector 300A detects the power of the output signal of the down converter 110 according to the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, and outputs the amplifier 200 according to the second embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 2. Detect the power of the signal. Since the power detection method has various known techniques, description thereof will be omitted.

According to the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, the divider 310A divides the detected power by a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 100 that contributed to the output signal of the down-conversion unit 110. According to the second embodiment described above, the detected power is divided by the gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 200 which contributed to the output signal of the amplifier 200.

The comparator 320A compares the output of the divider 310A, that is, the divided result, with a preset threshold value T.

The gain controller 330A determines the gain corresponding to the comparison result of the comparator 320A as the current gain and controls the gains of the amplifiers 100 and 200.

Meanwhile, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, unlike FIG. 3, the comparison unit 320A compares a result of the division with a plurality of preset threshold values, and accordingly, the gain control unit 330A determines more various gain control values. do.

The controller illustrated in FIG. 3B includes a power detector 300B, a multiplier 310B, a comparator 320B, and a gain controller 330B.

The power detector 300B detects the power of the output signal of the down converter 110 according to the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, and outputs the output signal of the amplifier 200 according to the second embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 2. Detects power. Since the power detection method has various known techniques, description thereof will be omitted.

According to the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 1, the multiplier 310B multiplies the preset threshold T by a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 100 that contributes to the output signal of the down converter 110. According to the second embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 2, the preset threshold T is multiplied by a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 200 that contributes to the output signal of the amplifier 200.

The comparator 320B compares the output of the multiplier 310B, that is, the result of the multiplication, with the detected power.

The gain controller 330B determines the gain corresponding to the comparison result of the comparator 320B as the current gain and controls the gains of the amplifiers 100 and 200.

Meanwhile, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, unlike FIG. 2B, a plurality of multiplications multiplied by different preset thresholds and gains (hereinafter, referred to as previous gains) of the amplifier 100 contributed to the output signal of the down-conversion unit 110. Comparing unit 320B, the comparator 320B compares the outputs of the multipliers 310B with the detected power, and accordingly, the gain controller 330B determines more various gain control values.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 is described with reference to FIG. 1 as follows.

First, the control unit 120 detects the power of the output signal of the down converter 110 (S400).

Next, the controller 120 determines a current gain for the amplifier 100 based on the detected power and the gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 100 that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier 100 (S410). ).

In a preferred embodiment, step S410 may include comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain, as described in FIG. 3A; And determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result.

In a preferred embodiment, step S410 may include comparing at least one predetermined threshold with a result of dividing the detected power by the previous gain, as described with reference to FIG. 3B; And determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a gain of an amplifier according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 as follows.

First, the control unit 220 detects the power of the output signal of the amplifier 200 (S500).

Next, the controller 220 determines a current gain for the amplifier 200 based on the detected power and the gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier 200 that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier 200 (S510). ).

In a preferred embodiment, step S510 may include comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain, as described in FIG. 3A; And determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result.

In a preferred embodiment, step S510 may include comparing at least one preset threshold with a result of dividing the detected power by the previous gain, as described with reference to FIG. 3B; And determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result.

The present invention can also be embodied as machine-readable code on a machine-readable recording medium such as a computer. The machine-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices that store data that can be read by the machine. Examples of machine-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and the like, which are also implemented in the form of carrier waves (for example, transmission over the Internet). Include. The machine-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled machine systems so that the machine-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present invention belongs.

Such a method and apparatus of the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings for clarity, but this is merely exemplary, and various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible to those skilled in the art. Will understand. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims.

According to the present invention, by adjusting the gain of the amplifier according to the size of the interference signal, it is possible to optimize the linearity and reception sensitivity of the RF receiver.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is an advantage in that the gain of the low noise amplifier can be continuously controlled with respect to the continuously received signal such as DMB.

In addition, according to the present invention, in determining the gain of the low noise amplifier, there is an advantage that an error that may occur in the continuous gain determination process may be eliminated by considering the previous gain of the low noise amplifier.

Claims (13)

delete amplifier; A down converter configured to down convert an output signal of the amplifier; And And a controller for controlling a gain of the amplifier in a manner of determining a current gain based on the power of the down-converted signal and a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier contributing to the down-converted signal. The control unit, A power detector detecting power of the downconverted signal; A comparator for comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain; And And a gain controller for controlling the gain of the amplifier to amplify the gain corresponding to the compared result. delete delete delete In the RF receiving apparatus including an amplifier and a down converter for down-converting the output signal of the amplifier, the method for controlling the gain of the amplifier, (a) detecting power of an output signal of the down converter; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier, In step (b), (b1) comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain; And (b2) determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result. In the RF receiving apparatus including an amplifier and a down converter for down-converting the output signal of the amplifier, the method for controlling the gain of the amplifier, (a) detecting power of an output signal of the down converter; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier, In step (b), (b1) comparing a result of dividing the detected power by the previous gain and at least one preset threshold; And (b2) determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result. delete amplifier; And And a controller for controlling a gain of the amplifier in a manner of determining a current gain based on a power of an output signal of the amplifier and a gain (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) of the amplifier that contributed to the output signal. The control unit, A power detector for detecting power of an output signal of the amplifier; A comparator for comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain; And And a gain controller for controlling the gain of the amplifier to amplify the gain corresponding to the compared result. delete delete In the RF receiving device including an amplifier to control the gain of the amplifier, (a) detecting the power of the output signal of the amplifier; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier, In step (b), (b1) comparing the detected power with at least one threshold proportional to the previous gain; And (b2) determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result. In the RF receiving device including an amplifier to control the gain of the amplifier, (a) detecting the power of the output signal of the amplifier; And (b) determining a current gain for the amplifier based on the detected power and a gain of the amplifier (hereinafter, referred to as a previous gain) that contributed to the output signal of the amplifier, In step (b), (b1) comparing a result of dividing the detected power by the previous gain and at least one preset threshold; And (b2) determining the current gain with a gain corresponding to the compared result.

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