CN115642927B

CN115642927B - Radio frequency signal receiving front-end module, signal transmission control method and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: CN115642927B
Application number: CN202211611077.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张俊; 王杰夫
Original assignee: Vanchip Tianjin Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Vanchip Tianjin Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-15
Filing date: 2022-12-15
Publication date: 2023-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2042-12-15
Also published as: CN115642927A

Abstract

The invention provides a radio frequency signal receiving front-end module, a signal transmission control method and a mobile terminal. The radio frequency signal receiving front end module comprises: the input amplifiers of each group comprise at least one amplifying unit, and the input ends of the amplifying units of the same group are connected together; the two ends of each input coupling switch are respectively connected with a radio frequency signal input end and the input ends of a group of input amplifiers; one end of each interstage switch is connected with the output end of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers, and the other end of each interstage switch is connected together; the control unit is connected with the plurality of input coupling switches, the plurality of inter-stage switches and the variable passive element in the load and is used for controlling the on and off of each input coupling switch and each inter-stage switch and parameter setting of the passive element; and the output end of the interstage switch is connected to the input end of the load and drive circuit.

Description

Radio frequency signal receiving front-end module, signal transmission control method and mobile terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a multimode and multifrequency rf receiving front-end module, a transmission control method for a received signal, and a mobile terminal.

Background

In a mobile communication system, a mobile terminal having a communication function needs to have dual functions of transmitting and receiving signals, and needs to operate in different communication frequency bands and communication modes. The radio frequency front end is one of core components and is used for realizing functions of combining, filtering, interference elimination, amplification and the like of communication signals. The radio frequency front end has two functions: 1) In the signal transmission process, converting the binary signal into a high-frequency radio electromagnetic wave signal; 2) In the signal receiving process, the electromagnetic wave signals are converted into binary digital signals, so that the signal transmission path of the radio frequency front end is also divided into a transmitting channel and a receiving channel.

With the continuous evolution of communication technology and the continuous increase of communication frequency bands, the frequency bands required to be supported by mobile terminals are also continuously increased. For a receiving channel of a radio frequency signal, one or more specific frequency signals are often selected from signals of a radio frequency front end, amplified and transmitted to a receiver, so as to obtain a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and ensure communication quality.

Due to the system requirements of the receiver, the rf front-end needs to provide different gains for received signals of different strengths. Meanwhile, more communication systems such as bluetooth, wi-Fi, NFC, and other technologies appear in the same mobile terminal (e.g., mobile phone), which provides new challenges for the area size, power consumption requirements, and the like of the radio frequency signal front end receiving module.

In patent application No. CN109687885B, granted by samsung corporation, a low noise amplifier for supporting beamforming functions is disclosed. The low noise amplifier may include first and second transistors and a variable capacitance circuit connected to a gate of the second transistor. The variable capacitance circuit may selectively change its capacitance based on a capacitance control signal applied to the circuit in accordance with the beamforming information, where the changed capacitance correspondingly causes a phase change of an output signal of the low noise amplifier. Although the patent scheme can support multi-frequency signals, a low-noise amplifier needs to be configured for each path of radio-frequency signals, and the chip area and the power consumption are increased.

In addition, in the patent of invention granted under publication No. CN111384984B by wakame corporation, a receiver and a low noise amplifier are disclosed. The receiver comprises a main signal path, an auxiliary signal path, a combiner circuit and an intermediate frequency amplifying circuit; the main signal path comprises a grid series inductor, a first common source amplifying circuit and a mixing circuit, wherein the input end of the main signal path is connected with the input end of the first common source amplifying circuit through the grid series inductor, the output end of the first common source amplifying circuit is connected with the input end of the mixing circuit, the output end of the mixing circuit is connected with the first input end of the combining circuit, and the output end of the combining circuit is connected with the input end of the intermediate frequency amplifying circuit; the auxiliary signal path comprises a second common source amplifying circuit and a mixing phase-shifting circuit; the input end of the auxiliary signal path is connected with the input end of the second common source amplifying circuit, the output end of the second common source amplifying circuit is connected with the input end of the mixing phase-shifting circuit, and the output end of the mixing phase-shifting circuit is connected with the second input end of the combining circuit. The low-noise amplifier disclosed by the patent can realize very good noise performance, comprises the function of a balun, has single-ended input and differential output, does not need an off-chip balun, reduces the cost and improves the integration level. However, this patent does not realize gain adjustability, and the main signal path and the auxiliary signal path are provided with low noise amplifiers, respectively, and amplifier sharing is not realized.

How to sufficiently support a plurality of frequency bands, meet the requirements of a plurality of gain modes and low power consumption, improve the overall performance of the whole radio frequency front end, and become an important subject of the design of the low noise amplifier.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a multi-mode multi-frequency radio frequency receiving front-end module. The radio frequency receiving front-end module can realize multi-channel input and multi-gain mode output, support multi-mode and multi-frequency modes and meet the requirement of low power consumption.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module, including:

the input amplifiers of each group comprise at least one amplifying unit, and the input ends of the amplifying units of the same group are connected together;

the two ends of each input coupling switch are respectively connected with a radio frequency signal input end and the input ends of a group of input amplifiers;

one end of each interstage switch is connected with the output end of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers, and the other end of each interstage switch is connected together;

the control unit is connected with the plurality of input coupling switches and the plurality of interstage switches and used for controlling the on and off of each input coupling switch and each interstage switch;

a load and drive circuit, the output of the inter-stage switch being connected to the input of the load and drive circuit. The output end of the load and drive circuit is connected to the radio frequency signal output end through the matching circuit.

Furthermore, each group of input amplifiers is composed of the same number of amplifying units, the number of the inter-stage switches is the same as that of the amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers, the output end of each amplifying unit is connected with a corresponding inter-stage switch, and the output end of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers is connected with the input end of the same corresponding inter-stage switch.

Furthermore, the control ends of the amplifying units in the input amplifiers in the same group are connected together and share one bias voltage, and each group of input amplifiers is respectively connected with the bias voltages which are independently arranged.

Further, each amplifying unit comprises a transistor, the transistors of different amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers have different transistor widths, and the transistor widths of the amplifying units have a predetermined proportional relationship.

Further, radio frequency signals are transmitted to the input ends of the amplifying units of the input amplifier through the input coupling switch and are input to the grid electrodes of the transistors;

when the interstage switch corresponding to the transistor is turned on, the radio-frequency signal is amplified by the transistor, and the amplified radio-frequency signal is input to the input end of the load and the driving circuit through the interstage switch.

Further, the drains of the transistors are coupled to respective inter-stage switches capable of controlling the conduction of the transistors;

the transistors of different amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers can be controlled to be conducted by different combination starting modes among the plurality of interstage switches, so that different gain combinations are realized.

Further, the load and driving circuit includes: the variable inductor, the variable resistor and the variable capacitor are connected in parallel, and at least one transistor is connected in parallel;

the source electrode of the transistor is connected with the interstage switch, the grid electrode of the transistor is connected with a control voltage, the drain electrode of the transistor is connected with the output end of the variable inductor, the variable resistor and the variable capacitor which are connected in parallel, and the other end of the variable inductor, the variable resistor and the variable capacitor which are connected in parallel is connected with a power supply.

Furthermore, the input coupling switch comprises a series capacitor and a combined circuit of any mode of a series switch, a parallel shunt switch and a parallel switch resistance branch circuit;

when the input coupling switch is enabled, the series switch is turned on, the parallel shunt switch is turned off, a radio frequency signal is transmitted to the input end of the input amplifier, and the switch in the parallel switch resistance branch is in a conducting state under the condition of at least one gain;

when the input coupling switch is disabled, the series switch is turned off and the parallel shunt switch is turned on to ground.

Furthermore, the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module also comprises at least one bypass circuit;

when the bypass circuit is enabled, the input amplifier and the load and drive circuit are disabled, and radio-frequency signals are directly transmitted to the output ends of the load and drive circuit by the bypass circuit.

Further, the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module comprises at least two module output ends;

and the output selector switch is arranged between the radio-frequency signal output end and the module output ends and is used for switching the radio-frequency signal output end between at least two module output ends.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radio frequency signal transmission control method for a multi-mode and multi-band radio frequency signal receiving front end module, comprising:

the control unit controls the on and off of the input coupling switch, so that one path of radio frequency signal is input to the input ends of a group of input amplifiers;

the control unit controls the on and off of the interstage switches, further controls one or more amplifying units in the group of input amplifiers to amplify the input radio-frequency signals respectively, and inputs the radio-frequency signals amplified by the amplifying units to the input ends of the load and the driving circuit;

the control unit controls the enabling and disabling of the bias circuit of the amplifying unit;

the control unit controls the enabling and disabling of the bypass circuit;

the control unit controls a variable inductor, a variable capacitor and a variable resistor in the load and drive circuit to provide load impedance with certain frequency response;

the control unit controls the opening path of the output switch.

Further, the drain electrode of the transistor of the amplifying unit is coupled to the corresponding interstage switch, when the control unit controls the interstage switch corresponding to the transistor to be turned on, the transistor is turned on, the input radio-frequency signal is amplified by the transistor and converted into a radio-frequency current signal;

the radio frequency current signal is input to the input end of the load and drive circuit through the interstage switch, and an output voltage is generated at the output end through the load and drive circuit.

Further, the control unit determines different amplification gains of the radio frequency signal by controlling different on and off combinations of the inter-stage switches, impedance characteristics presented by the load circuit, and enabling and disabling of the bypass circuit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a mobile terminal is provided, which includes the above-mentioned multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module.

Compared with the prior art, the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module provided by the invention is respectively connected with the plurality of groups of input amplifiers through the plurality of groups of input coupling switches, so that high isolation among input ports can be realized on the premise of supporting multiple inputs, and meanwhile, the circuit occupation area is saved.

In addition, each input amplifier of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module is decomposed into a plurality of groups of amplifying units, an inter-stage switch connected with each amplifying unit is arranged for each amplifying unit, and the control unit controls the starting combination of the inter-stage switches, so that various different gain modes of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module are realized.

In addition, multiple groups of amplifiers share one load and one driving circuit, so that high gain and high isolation of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module are ensured, and the circuit area can be minimized. The load and the driving circuit can adjust the impedance according to different gain mode requirements and frequency band requirements of input signals, and the purpose of optimizing performance is achieved.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in more detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference numerals generally represent like parts throughout.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radio frequency front end according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an rf front end according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 3A is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 3B is a schematic diagram of a load circuit in the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 3C is a first schematic diagram of a bias circuit in the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 3D is a schematic diagram of a bias circuit in the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 4 of the present invention, in which transistors in all amplifying units share one degeneration inductance to ground.

Fig. 5A is a schematic diagram of a high-gain operating mode of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of a low-gain operating mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 6 of the present invention, in which the degeneration-to-ground inductances of the transistors in the amplifying unit are independent.

Fig. 7 is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 7 of the present invention, in which transistors in amplifying units in input amplifiers share a degeneration inductance to ground.

Fig. 8A is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 8 of the present invention.

Fig. 8B is a schematic diagram of an input coupling switch of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiments 4 and 8 of the present invention.

Fig. 9A is a schematic diagram of a high-gain operation mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 8 of the present invention.

Fig. 9B is a schematic diagram of a low-gain operating mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 8 of the present invention.

Fig. 10A is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 10B is a schematic diagram of an input coupling switch of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiments 4 and 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 11A is a schematic diagram of a high-gain operation mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 11B is a schematic diagram of a low-gain operating mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 11C is a schematic diagram of another low-gain operating mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 10 of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic circuit diagram of an rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 11 of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a low-gain operation mode of the rf signal receiving front-end module according to embodiment 11 of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a mobile terminal using the rf signal receiving front-end module according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below. While the following describes preferred embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and specific examples, which are not intended to be limiting. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments of the present invention may be combined with each other without conflict.

Example 1:

as shown in fig. 1, an embodiment 1 of the present invention first provides a radio frequency front end module. The rf front-end module is connected between the transceiver 300 and the main antenna 350, and includes a multi-mode multi-band power amplifier module 310, a transmit power amplifier switch module 320, and a rf signal receiving front-end module 330. In the rf signal transmission path, the high frequency power amplifier, the intermediate frequency power amplifier and the low frequency power amplifier in the multi-mode multi-band power amplifier module 310 respectively receive the high frequency signal, the intermediate frequency signal and the low frequency signal from the transceiver 300, and after the signal amplification is achieved, the signals are respectively input to the external filter bank 340 through respective output switches, and each signal channel has a corresponding filter, which jointly form the filter bank 340. The filtered signal is further transmitted to a multi-channel antenna switch in the transmit power switch module 320, and finally transmitted through the main antenna 350. On the other hand, in the rf signal receiving path, the main antenna 350 transmits the received rf signal to the corresponding filter bank 340 through the multi-channel antenna switch in the transmission power amplifier switch module 320, and then transmits the rf signal to the rf signal receiving front-end module 330. Each input coupling switch of the rf signal receiving front-end module 330 receives a high-frequency signal, an intermediate-frequency signal, and a low-frequency signal, respectively, and inputs the signals to the transceiver 300 after amplification. The rf signal receiving front-end module 330 is composed of a variable gain amplifier, and has a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs, which correspond to the high, middle and low band signals, respectively, and under the action of the control signal, the rf signal receiving front-end module 330 enters a proper amplification mode to provide a specific amplification gain for the received signal.

Example 2:

as shown in fig. 2, embodiment 2 of the present invention provides another rf front-end module. The rf front-end module 200 is connected between the transceiver 260 and the low frequency antenna 240 and the mid/high frequency antenna 250. Where low frequency antenna 240 receives low frequency signals and mid/high frequency antenna 250 receives mid and high frequency signals. In some simpler designs, the two antennas may be replaced by one, with the remainder unchanged. The rf signal is received by the low frequency antenna 240 or the mid/high frequency antenna 250, transmitted to the antenna switch module 210, and switched to a designated path through the switch module 210. Each receive signal path has a corresponding filter, which together form a filter bank 220, which may be a surface acoustic wave filter. The filtered received signal is coupled to the rf signal receive front end module 230, and is amplified by one of the matched amplifiers 231. The number of amplifiers is at least as large as the filtered input signal. Each input signal is connected to the input of a corresponding amplifier in the set of variable gain amplifiers 231. The gain of the amplifier is determined by the control unit in the rf signal receiving front-end module 230. The rf signal receiving front-end module 230 may further include output switches 232, one end of which is connected to the rf signal output of the amplifier, and the other end of which is connected to the output of the module. The output switches 232 enable the multiple amplifiers in the variable gain amplifier group 231 to share the same receiving port on the transceiver 260 in a time sharing manner, so as to provide flexibility of output interface and facilitate carrier aggregation.

The RF input signals RF _ IN1, RF _in2, \8230 \ 8230 \ 8230: (RF _ IN n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, the same below) from multiple channels are connected to the RF signal receiving front-end module 230 provided by the present embodiment through an appropriate input matching network (not shown). The output of the rf signal receiving front-end module 230 is connected to the rf signal transceiver 260. The rf input signal on a certain path is determined to be amplified and generate a plurality of different gains by the control signal received by the rf signal receiving front-end module 230 or by a control unit (not shown) in the rf signal receiving front-end module 230. According to the strength of the received signal, the amplification factor of the rf signal receiving front-end module 230 can be configured at a proper gain value to ensure that a high enough gain is obtained when the signal is weak, so as to achieve the signal-to-noise ratio required by the system; there is a sufficiently low gain when the signal is strong to avoid distortion of the amplified signal.

The rf signal receiving front-end module 230 may have various circuit implementations. In particular, it may comprise sets of input amplifiers, sets of input coupled switches, a plurality of inter-stage switches, a control unit and load and drive circuitry.

Specifically, two ends of each input coupling switch are respectively connected with a radio frequency signal input end and an input end of a group of input amplifiers; when turned on, the radio frequency signal is transmitted through the input coupling switch to the input of the corresponding input amplifier. Each group of input amplifiers comprises at least two amplifying units, and the input ends of each amplifying unit are connected together.

The output end of each amplifying unit is connected with a corresponding interstage switch, and when the corresponding interstage switch is started, the amplifying unit is started to receive and amplify the radio-frequency signals transmitted to the input end of the amplifying unit. Different opening combination modes of the interstage switches can open different numbers of the amplifying units, and therefore different amplifying gains are determined. One end of each interstage switch is connected with the output end of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers, and the other end of each interstage switch is connected together to form a common end. The output end of the interstage switch is connected to the input end of the load and the driving circuit.

The control unit is connected to the plurality of input coupling switches and the plurality of inter-stage switches and is used for controlling the on and off of the input coupling switches and the inter-stage switches. For example, the input coupling switch and the inter-stage switch are respectively composed of transistors, the gates of the transistors are connected to the control unit, and the control unit sends out a control signal to determine whether the switches are turned on or off.

In this embodiment, the load and driving circuit includes a set of variable inductor, variable resistor and variable capacitor connected in parallel, and at least one transistor. The output ends of the variable inductor, the variable resistor and the variable capacitor which are connected in parallel are connected to the output end of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module through an output matching circuit (not shown in the figure), and the other end of the output matching circuit is connected with a power supply. The control unit can set the sizes of the variable inductor, the variable capacitor and the variable resistor, and can adjust the resonant frequency and different output impedances of the load and the driving circuit. The drain electrode of the transistor is connected to the output end of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module, and the source electrode of the transistor is connected with the common end of the interstage switches. The grid of the transistor is connected with a control voltage, and the selection of the value of the control voltage is determined by the working state and the performance of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module.

In this embodiment, each group of input amplifiers is composed of the same number of amplifying units, the number of the inter-stage switches is the same as the number of the amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers, the output terminal of each amplifying unit is connected with a corresponding inter-stage switch, and the output terminal of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers is connected with the input terminal of the same corresponding inter-stage switch. The control ends of the amplifying units in the same group of input amplifiers are connected together and share one bias voltage, and each group of input amplifiers is respectively connected with the bias voltages which are independently arranged.

When the radio frequency signal of a certain input end needs to be amplified, the control unit controls the input coupling switch connected with the input end to be turned on, and simultaneously controls the corresponding interstage switch to be turned on, and controls the bias voltage to be larger than the threshold voltage of the amplifier transistor, so that the input amplifier has the amplification function. The amplification factor (gain) is determined in part by the number of turns on of the plurality of interstage switches connected thereto.

Preferably, each amplifying unit comprises a transistor mainly functioning as a gain, and the radio frequency signal is transmitted to the input end of the amplifying unit of the group of input amplifiers through the input coupling switch and is input to the gate of the transistor, and the gate is also the control end of the amplifying unit. The drains of the transistors are coupled to respective inter-stage switches and the sources of the transistors are coupled to ground through degeneration inductances. When the inter-stage switch corresponding to the transistor is turned on, the radio-frequency signal is amplified by the transistor, and the amplified radio-frequency signal is input to the input end of the load and the driving circuit through the corresponding inter-stage switch.

Optionally, the transistors of the amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers may have the same size, or may have different sizes according to a certain ratio, and the transistors of the amplifying units in different groups of input amplifiers may have the same size, or may have different sizes. Preferably, the transistors of different amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers have different transistor widths, and the transistor widths of the amplifying units have a predetermined proportional relationship. In particular, the drains of the transistors are coupled to respective inter-stage switches, which are capable of controlling the conduction of the transistors. Therefore, the transistors of different amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers can be controlled to be conducted through different combination starting modes among the plurality of interstage switches, and different gain combinations are achieved.

Furthermore, the input coupling switch may include a series capacitor, and a combination circuit of any of a series switch, a shunt switch, and a shunt switch resistor branch. For example, the input coupling switch may comprise a series switch and at least one series capacitor; may comprise at least one series capacitor and a shunt switch; may comprise a series switch and a parallel shunt switch; may comprise a series switch and a parallel switch resistance branch; the switch can comprise a series switch, a parallel shunt switch, a parallel switch resistance branch circuit and other different combination modes.

The functions to be realized by the input coupling switch are as follows: under the control of the control unit, when the input coupling switch is started, the series switch is switched on, the parallel shunt switch is switched off, the radio-frequency signal is transmitted to the input end of the input amplifier, and the switch in the parallel switch resistance branch is in a conducting state under the condition of at least one gain; when the input coupling switch is disabled, the series switch is turned off and the parallel shunt switch is turned on to ground. The control unit is connected to the switch control ends in the series switch, the parallel shunt switch and the parallel switch resistance branch circuit and controls the on and off of the switches by sending out control signals. Preferably, the switch is a transistor, and the control unit controls a gate voltage of the transistor to control the conduction of the transistor.

The radio frequency signal receiving front end module may further comprise at least one bypass circuit. The bypass circuit has one end connected to the output of the load and drive circuit and the other end connected to the input of an input amplifier, when the bypass circuit is enabled, the input amplifier and the load and drive circuit are disabled, and the radio frequency signal is directly transmitted to the output of the load and drive circuit by the bypass circuit.

Furthermore, at least one series control switch can be included between the output end of the load and driving circuit and the output end of the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module. When the bypass circuit is enabled, the input amplifier and the load and drive circuit are disabled, the series control switch is turned off, and the rf input signal is transmitted from the bypass to the rf signal output terminal.

Further optionally, the rf signal receiving front-end module includes at least two module output terminals and a set of output switches. The output switch is arranged between the radio-frequency signal output end and the module output end and used for switching the radio-frequency signal output end between at least two module output ends. For example, by controlling the switch combination of the output selector switch, the signals output by a certain load and the driving circuit can be switched between the two module output terminals.

Further, the bypass circuit may also be composed of a passive network with at least one switch and at least one capacitor. The passive network can be a parallel network, a T-type network and a pi-type network, and the passive network simultaneously forms an output matching network to optimize the performance of the bypass circuit.

Example 3:

as shown IN fig. 3A, the RF signal receiving front-end module 100 provided IN embodiment 3 includes multiple RF signal input terminals RF _ IN1, RF _ IN2 \8230, RF _ INn. The first RF signal input terminal RF _ IN1 is connected to one end of the first input coupling switch 131, and the other end of the first input coupling switch 131 is connected to the input terminal of the first group of input amplifiers. The first group of input amplifiers consists of m (m is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, the same below) amplification units, and comprises amplification units 141 (u 1, 141 (u 2), (8230); 8230; 141 (u m). The inputs of the m amplification units are connected together to form the inputs of the first set of input amplifiers. Specifically, a first amplification unit 141 \ u 1 in the first set of input amplifiers is connected to a first terminal of the first inter-stage switch 161, a second amplification unit 141 \ u 2 in the first set of input amplifiers is connected to a first terminal of the second inter-stage switch 162, and so on, and an mth amplification unit 141 \ u m in the first set of input amplifiers is connected to a first terminal of the mth inter-stage switch 16 m.

Similarly, the nth RF signal input terminal RF _ INn is connected to one end of the nth input coupling switch 13n, and the other end of the nth input coupling switch 13n is connected to the input terminal of the nth set of input amplifiers. The nth group of input amplifiers consists of m amplifying units, including amplifying units 14n _1, 14n _2, \8230 \8230and14n _m. The inputs of the m amplification units are connected together to form the input of the nth group of amplifiers. Further, a first amplifying unit 14n _1in the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the first inter-stage switch 161, a second amplifying unit 14n _2in the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the second inter-stage switch 162, and so on, and an mth amplifying unit 14n _min the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the mth inter-stage switch 16 m.

The second terminals of all m inter-stage switches are connected together to form a common terminal. The common terminal is further connected to an input terminal of a load and drive circuit 150. As shown in fig. 3B, the load and drive circuit 150 includes a drive transistor 150_a, a variable inductance 150_b, a variable capacitance 150_d, a variable resistance 150_c, and a switch 150_e. The variable inductor 150, the variable capacitor 150 and the variable resistor 150 are connected in parallel to form a configurable load. The source of drive transistor 150 ura is connected to the interstage switch and the drain is connected to the configurable load. A switch 150_e is connected in series between the drain of the driving transistor 150 _aand the radio frequency signal output terminal RF _ OUT.

The gate of the driving transistor 150\ a is connected to an independent control voltage. The configurable load consisting of variable inductor 150 v, variable capacitor 150 v, and variable resistor 150 v, in parallel, can provide impedance characteristics with a certain frequency response. Each set of input amplifiers converts the input rf signal into an rf current signal, which is used to generate an output voltage via the output of the load and driver circuit 150. To a first approximation, the gain of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 is obtained by multiplying the equivalent transconductance of the input amplifier and the impedance of the output terminal.

In the embodiment, the

interstage switches

1 and 2 \8230, wherein \8230, and m, determine which amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers actually participate in the amplifying operation. By selecting different combination modes of turning on or turning off the m interstage switches, which amplifying units in the input amplifier are selected can be determined, namely, the equivalent transconductance of the input amplifier under corresponding conditions is determined, and meanwhile, by selecting appropriate values of the variable inductor 150 v, the variable capacitor 150 v and the variable resistor 150 v, appropriate impedance values can be provided, so that a required gain mode is realized.

As shown in fig. 3C, the input amplifier in the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 includes a bias circuit for providing a bias voltage Vbias for the input amplifier. The bias voltage Vbias is connected to the gate of transistor M1 via a resistor R1, the resistor R1 acting as a radio frequency choke (RF choke) to prevent cross-talk of radio frequency signals to the bias circuit, since the radio frequency signal Rfin is also coupled to the gate of transistor M1. When the transistor M1 is enabled, the switch SW2 is turned off, the bias voltage is greater than the voltage threshold of the transistor M1, and the transistor M1 enters the operating state. When transistor M1 is disabled, switch SW2 is turned on to ground. The zero potential is transmitted to the gate of the transistor M1 through the resistor R1, which is less than the threshold voltage of the transistor M1, and the transistor M1 cannot be turned on, and thus is disabled.

As shown in fig. 3D, a mirror current mirror (formed by the transistor M1 and the transistor M2) may be used to provide the bias voltage for the transistor M1. The drain and gate of transistor M2 are connected together in a diode connection. When the bias current Ib1 passes through the transistor M2, the bias voltage Vbias is generated at the gate thereof, the transistor M1 is connected through the resistor R1, and the current Ib1 is mirrored onto the transistor M1 through the size proportional relationship between the transistor M1 and the transistor M2. Since the rf signal RFin1 is also coupled to the gate of the transistor M1, the resistor R1 plays a role of rf containment, preventing the rf signal from crosstalk to the bias circuit. When the transistor M1 needs to be enabled, the switch SW1 is turned on, the switch SW2 and the switch SW3 are turned off, the bias current Ib1 flows through the transistor M2, the transistor M2 is in a diode connection mode, the bias voltage Vbias is formed at the gate, and the transistor M1 is enabled after obtaining the current. When the transistor M1 needs to be disabled, the switch SW2 and the switch SW3 are turned on, the switch SW1 is turned off, the bias current Ib1 cannot flow through the transistor M2, the gate of the transistor M2 is pulled to the ground by the switch SW2, the zero potential is transmitted to the gate of the transistor M1 through the resistor R1, and the transistor M1 cannot obtain the current and is disabled. At this time, the bias voltage Vbias is not present because the transistor M2 generating Vbias does not operate. At this time, the switch SW2 to the ground is connected between the gate of the transistor M2 and the resistor R1, and the gate of the transistor M1 is not directly connected, and its parasitic capacitance does not affect the performance of the transistor M1 in operation. One end of the resistor R1 is directly connected with the Vbias end without any series switch. The switch SW1 is connected in series with the branch of the current source Ib1, when the transistor M1 is disabled, the switch SW1 is disconnected, the bias voltage Vbias is not existed, and therefore, the power consumption can be reduced.

As shown in fig. 3A, the present embodiment may implement amplification of multiple rf input signals. The frequencies of these rf input signals may be different or partially the same. Meanwhile, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, output matching circuits may be provided at the output terminal of the load circuit to the rf signal output terminal of the lna, and these output matching circuits may be networks composed of inductors, capacitors, and resistors, such as T-type, pi-type, L-type, etc. The output matching circuit is conventional in the art and will not be described herein.

Example 4:

as shown IN fig. 4, IN embodiment 4 of the present invention, the RF signal receiving front end module 100 has two RF signal input terminals RF _ IN1 and RF _ IN2 and two corresponding RF amplifying paths. The first RF amplifying path is composed of an RF signal input terminal RF _ IN1, an input coupled switch 131, a first set of input amplifiers, m inter-stage switches, a load and a driving circuit 150. The second RF amplification path is composed of the RF signal input terminal RF _ IN2, the input coupling switch 132, the second set of input amplifiers, m interstage switches, and the load and driver circuit 150.

An input terminal of the input coupled switch 131 is connected to a first terminal of the first switch 131_a, a second terminal of the first switch 131_a is connected to a first terminal of the capacitor 131_c, and a second terminal of the capacitor 131 _uc constitutes an output terminal of the input coupled switch 131. The second terminal of the first switch 131\ a is connected to the first terminal of the second switch 131 \/b, and the second terminal of the second switch 131 \/b is connected to ground. The internal structures of the input coupling switch 132 and the input coupling switch 131 are the same, and are not described in detail.

Load and drive circuit 150 is comprised of drive transistor 150 ura and a configurable load. For example, the configurable load includes variable inductance 150, variable capacitance 150, and variable resistance 150, in parallel.

In the present embodiment, the first input amplifier includes m amplification units, i.e., a transistor 141_1, a transistor 141_2, \8230, a transistor 141 \8230, and a transistor 141 _um. The RF signal input terminal RF _ IN1 is connected to the input terminal of the input coupling switch 131, and the output terminal of the input coupling switch 131 is connected to the gates of the m transistors (141 _1, 141_2, \8230; 141 _m), which are also the control terminals of the amplifying unit.

The drain of transistor 141_1 in the first amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 161, the drain of transistor 141_2 in the second amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 162, and so on, and the drain of transistor 141_m in the mth amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 16 m. The source 141_1a of transistor 141_1, the source 141 _u2a, \8230, the source 141 _uma of the mth transistor 141 _um are connected together and grounded through degeneration inductance 141 _u1d. Second terminals of the m inter-stage switches are connected together and connected to a source of the driving transistor 150. The drain of the drive transistor 150\ua is connected to the output of the parallel connected variable inductor 150_b, variable capacitor 150_d, variable resistor 150 _cand further OUT to the radio frequency signal output terminal RF _ OUT. The other end of the variable inductor 150 v, the variable capacitor 150 v, and the variable resistor 150 c connected in parallel is connected to a power supply VDD.

By analogy, the second input amplifier comprises m amplification units, namely a transistor 142_1, a transistor 142 _u2, up to a transistor 142 _um. The RF signal input terminal RF _ IN2 is connected to the input terminal of the input coupling switch 132, and the output terminal of the input coupling switch 132 is connected to the gates of the m transistors (142 _1, 142_2, \8230; 142 _m). The drain of the transistor 142_1 in the first amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 161, the drain of the transistor 142 _u2 in the second amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 162, and the drain of the transistor 142 _min the mth amplification unit is connected to the first terminal of the inter-stage switch 16 m. In addition, the source 142_1a of the transistor 142 _u1, the source 142 _u2a, \8230 \ 8230of the transistor 142 _u2, and the source 142 _uma of the mth transistor 142 _um are connected together and grounded through the degeneration inductor 141 _u1d.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above description of an embodiment of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 does not represent all of the details of the electronic circuitry. For example, the input amplifier may set the bias circuit shown in fig. 3C or fig. 3D to maintain the proper operating state. Or a control unit is arranged, and the control unit provides a control signal for the grid electrode of the amplifying transistor, so that whether the input amplifier is started or stopped or not is determined. In addition, the gate of drive transistor 150\ a may also be provided with a bias voltage and a corresponding decoupling capacitance to control the operating state of the transistor.

Since the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 needs to work in different application scenarios and the received signal strength has a wide dynamic range, the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 is required to provide multiple gain modes to cover different signal amplification requirements. For example, the conventional mobile phone requires the gain range of the rf signal receiving front end module 100 to be between-15 dB and 25dB, where a negative gain indicates the need for attenuation. In order to support multiple communication systems and platforms, the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 further needs to have at least 10 different gain modes, and meanwhile, the static operating current needs to be significantly reduced when the gain is reduced and the gain is higher.

To a first order approximation, the gain of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 can be expressed as an equivalent transconductance (Gm) of its input terminal and a load impedance (Z) of its output terminal _load ) Is the product of the gains G = Gm × Z _load . Further, gm is proportional to the square law of the I-V curve of the transistorAt sqrt (W/L Ic). Where W is the width of the amplifying transistor, ic is the quiescent operating current flowing through the amplifying transistor, and L is the length of the amplifying transistor. The expressions here omit process-related expressions, and the length L is usually chosen to be the minimum value allowed by the process, or some fixed value. The quiescent operating current of the amplifier transistor is usually mirrored by the current in the bias circuit, i.e., ic = (W/Wo) × Io, where Io is the source current in the bias circuit, wo is the width of the source current transistor, and W is the width of the amplifier transistor. Thus Gm is proportional to W.

In summary, the following calculation formula can be obtained: gain G = Gm × Z _load Proportional to W x Z _load The total quiescent operating current Ic is proportional to W, where W is the width of the transistor.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment has the advantages that the plurality of transistors with different sizes are arranged, the drains of the transistors are respectively connected with the independently controlled inter-stage switches, when the inter-stage switches connected with the transistors are turned on, the corresponding transistors are turned on to have an amplification function, and the width W of the transistors can be counted into the above gain and current formulas. Therefore, the effective width of the amplifying transistor is adjusted dynamically, so that multiple gain modes are realized, and the requirement of low power consumption is met. Compared with the mode of changing load impedance or amplifying the degenerate inductance of the source electrode of the transistor commonly adopted in the prior art, the technical scheme adopted by the invention has the outstanding advantages of easy realization of low power consumption, difficult variation of difference values among different gain modes along with the variation of a wafer process and the like.

For example, if there are three amplifier cells in each set of input amplifiers (i.e., m = 3), and their size (width) is chosen in accordance with W1,2 × W1,4 × W1, there are a total of 7 different effective sizes depending on the different combinations of 3 inter-stage switch activations. Quiescent operating current and theoretical gain relationships (see table 1 below). Here, "1" means on and "0" means off.

TABLE 1

Gain mode

Inter-stage switch 3

Inter-stage switch 2

Interstage switch 1

Effective total width of transistor

Transistor quiescent operating current proportional to

Theoretical gain value is proportional to

G7

1

7*W1

7*W1*Z _load

G6

1

0

6*W1

6*W1*Z _load

G5

1

0

1

5*W1

5*W1*Z _load

G4

1

0

4*W1

4*W1*Z _load

G3

0

1

3*W1

3*W1*Z _load

G2

0

1

0

2*W1

2*W1*Z _load

G1

0

1

1*W1

1*W1*Z _load

Due to the need to compromise other performance criteria of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100, such as noise figure, linearity, input matching, etc., it may be necessary to change the load size, bias voltage, etc. when implementing different gain modes, so that the relationship between the static operating current and the gain value in the above table and the effective width of the transistor may change, but such changes are still within the expectations of those skilled in the art.

Example 5:

fig. 5A shows an operation scenario of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 provided in embodiment 5. In this working scenario, the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 needs to operate in a high gain mode. As shown IN fig. 5A, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters a first amplification path from a radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the path is enabled. At this time, the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, specifically, the first switch 131_ain the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, and the second switch 131 _bis turned off. The bias voltage Vbias1 is configured at a proper voltage value, and the first input amplifier enters an operating state and has an amplifying function. The gate control voltage of the driving transistor in the load and driving circuit 150 is set to an appropriate voltage value. All m inter-stage switches (161, 162, \8230; 16 m) are all conducting. The rf signal is coupled to the input terminal of the first input amplifier, i.e., the gate of the transistor in each amplifying cell, through the capacitor 131 v/c in the input coupling switch, and a corresponding rf current is generated by the transistors (141 v 1, 141 v 2, \8230; 141 v m). The rf currents are output from the drains of the respective transistors, collected at the common side of the interstage switches via the conducting interstage switches (161, 162, \8230; 16 m), and enter the load and drive circuit 150. In the load and drive circuit 150, the configurable parallel variable capacitor, variable inductor and variable resistor are configured at appropriate values with the desired frequency response impedance characteristics. After passing through the driving transistor 150 ura, the RF current signal is converted into an RF voltage signal at the output terminal of the parallel variable capacitor, variable inductor, and variable resistor, and coupled to the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT through an output matching circuit (not shown). The path of the rf signal flowing from the rf signal input terminal to the rf signal output terminal is shown by the black dotted line in fig. 5A.

The second amplification path may be disabled during amplification of the radio frequency signal. That is, the input coupled switch 132 is turned off, specifically, the switch 132_ain the input coupled switch 132 is turned off, and the switch 132 _bis turned on to the ground. The bias voltage Vbias2 is set to a power ground (zero potential), and all the amplifying transistors (142 _1, 142_2, \8230; 142 _m) in the second input amplifier are in an off state.

Fig. 5B shows another operation scenario of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 according to embodiment 5. In this working scenario, the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 needs to operate in the low gain mode. As shown IN fig. 5B, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters the first amplification path from the radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the path is enabled. At this time, the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, specifically, the first switch 131_ain the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, and the second switch 131_bis turned off. The bias voltage Vbias1 is configured at a proper voltage value, and the first input amplifier enters an operating state and has an amplifying function. The gate control voltage of the driver transistor in the load and driver circuit 150 is configured at a suitable voltage value, which may or may not be the same as the corresponding value at the high gain in fig. 5A. The first inter-stage switch 161 is turned on. The rf signal is coupled to the input of the first input amplifier through a capacitor 131' c in the input coupling switch. Since only inter-stage switch 161 is on, only transistor 141_1 produces a corresponding radio frequency current. The rf current is output from the drain of the transistor, passes through the first interstage switch 161, is collected at the common terminal side of the first interstage switch 161, and enters the load and drive circuit 150. In the load and drive circuit 150, the configurable parallel variable capacitor, variable inductor and variable resistor are configured at appropriate values with the desired frequency response impedance characteristics. These configuration values may or may not be the same as the corresponding values at the high gain in fig. 5A. After passing through the driving transistor 150 ura, the RF current signal is converted into an RF voltage signal at the output terminal of the parallel variable capacitor, variable inductor, and variable resistor, and coupled to the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT through an output matching circuit (not shown). The path of the rf signal flowing from the rf signal input terminal to the rf signal output terminal is shown by the black dashed line in fig. 5B. In the process of amplifying the rf signal, the state of the second amplifying path is the same as that of the corresponding path in fig. 5A, and is not repeated herein.

In the first group of input amplifiers and the second group of input amplifiers, the sizes of the m transistors may be the same or different. Similarly, the sizes of the transistors in the corresponding amplifying cells between the two sets of input amplifiers may be the same or different. In addition, one or more inter-stage switches can be biased to be in a normally-open state (when being started), transistors in the amplifying units connected with the inter-stage switches always provide radio-frequency current signals, and then radio-frequency currents generated on other opened inter-stage switch paths are superposed, and finally radio-frequency output signals are formed at the output end of the load circuit.

Example 6:

embodiment 6 shown in fig. 6 is obtained by changing the degenerate inductance connection manner in which the sources of the transistors in the amplifying cells in the respective input amplifiers are coupled to the ground, based on embodiment 5. Taking the first input amplifier as an example, the source (141_1a, 141_2a, \8230; 141 _8230; 141 _ma) of the transistor (141 _u1, 141_2, \8230; 141 _8230; 141 _ma) in each amplification unit is independently connected to one end of m degeneration inductors (141 _u1b, 141_2b,. 823030;. 141 _mb), and the other end of the m degeneration inductors is grounded. The source connection degeneration inductance of the transistor in the amplifying cell in the second input amplifier is similar to it. The inductance values of the degenerate inductors may be the same or different, and need to be determined according to design requirements. Other circuit connection methods in embodiment 6 are the same as those in embodiment 5, and are not described herein again.

Example 7:

embodiment 7 shown in fig. 7 is based on embodiment 5, and is formed by changing the degenerate inductance connection mode of the source of the transistor in the amplifying unit in each input amplifier, which is coupled to the ground. Taking the first input amplifier as an example, the sources (141_1a, 141_2a, 8230; 823030; 141 _8230; 141 _ma) of the transistors (141 _u1, 141_2, \8230; 141 _m) in each amplification unit are commonly connected to one end of a degeneration inductance 141_1c, and the other end of the degeneration inductance 141 _1cis grounded. In the second input amplifier, the source of the transistor in the amplifying unit is connected with a degeneration inductor similarly. Each input amplifier therefore shares a degenerate sense ground. The inductance values of the degenerate inductors may be the same or different, and need to be determined according to design requirements. The other circuit connection method in embodiment 7 is the same as that in embodiment 5, and is not described herein again.

It should be noted that the number and connection mode of the degeneration inductors in the input amplifiers in embodiment 6 and embodiment 7 are exemplary, and other connection modes may be provided. For example, the first input amplifier shares one degeneration inductance, and the transistors in the amplifying units in the second input amplifier have independent degeneration inductances or share parts, and so on, which are not illustrated herein.

Example 8:

embodiment 8 shown in fig. 8A is another embodiment of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100. Referring to fig. 8A, it is formed by replacing the input coupling switch on the basis of embodiment 4 shown in fig. 4. Fig. 8B shows the input switch of fig. 4 in the upper half and the input switch of fig. 8A in the lower half. In comparison with the upper half of fig. 8B, the serial switch on the signal path in the permuted input coupled switch is eliminated, thereby eliminating the insertion loss caused by it. The other circuits in fig. 8A are the same as the corresponding parts in fig. 4, and are not described again here.

It is to be noted that, similarly to embodiments 6 and 7, the number and connection manner of the degeneration inductors coupling the source of the transistor in the input amplifier amplifying unit to the ground in embodiment 8 may be different.

FIG. 9A shows a working scenario of embodiment 8. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a high gain mode. As shown IN fig. 9A, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters a first amplification path from a radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the amplification path is enabled. At this time, the input coupling switch 131 is turned on, and specifically, the switch 131_bwithin the input coupling switch 131 is turned off. The rest of the working states are the same as those described in fig. 5A, and are not described again.

FIG. 9B shows another working scenario of embodiment 8. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a low gain mode. As shown IN fig. 9B, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters the first amplification path from the radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the amplification path is enabled. At this time, the input coupling switch 131 is turned on, and the switch 131_bis turned off. The rest of the working states are the same as those described in fig. 5B, and are not described again here.

Example 9:

embodiment 9 shown in fig. 10A is yet another embodiment of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100. Referring to fig. 10A, it is formed by replacing the input coupling switch on the basis of embodiment 4 shown in fig. 4. In fig. 10B, the input coupled switch in fig. 4 is shown in the upper dotted box, and in the lower dotted box, the input coupled switch in fig. 10A is shown in the lower dotted box. Compared with the upper half of fig. 10B, the serial switch on the signal path in the permuted input coupled switch is removed, thereby eliminating the insertion loss caused by it. Meanwhile, a parallel switch resistance branch is added to the ground. The other circuits in fig. 10A are the same as the corresponding parts in fig. 4, and are not described again.

FIG. 11A shows a working scenario of embodiment 9. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a high gain mode. As shown IN fig. 11A, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters a first amplification path from a radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the amplification path is enabled. At this time, the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, and specifically, the switch 131\band the switch 131 \din the input coupled switch 131 are simultaneously turned off. The rest of the working states are the same as those described in fig. 5A, and are not described again here.

FIG. 11B shows another working scenario of embodiment 9. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a low gain mode. As shown IN fig. 11B, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters the first amplification path from the radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the amplification path is enabled. At this time, the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, and specifically, the switch 131\band the switch 131 \din the input coupled switch 131 are simultaneously turned off. The rest of the working states are the same as those described in fig. 5B, and are not described again here.

FIG. 11C shows yet another operational scenario of embodiment 9. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a low gain mode. As shown IN fig. 11C, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters the first amplification path from the radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN1, and the amplification path is enabled. At this time, the input coupled switch 131 is turned on, specifically, the switch 131_b in the input coupled switch 131 is turned off, and the switch 131 _dis turned on. The rest of the working states are the same as those described in fig. 5B, and are not described again. In this low gain mode, part of the rf input signal leaks to ground through resistor 131 v, and thus the gain is further reduced compared to the situation shown in fig. 11B. Due to the existence of the switch 131 \ u d and the resistor 131 \ u f, the realization and selection of the gain have one more working degree of freedom, and the trade-off among the noise coefficient, the linearity and the gain can be better realized.

Example 10:

as shown IN fig. 12, the RF signal receiving front-end module 100 provided IN embodiment 10 includes multiple RF signal inputs RF _ IN1, RF _ IN2 \8230, RF _ INn. The first RF signal input terminal RF _ IN1 is connected to one end of the first input coupled switch 131, and the other end of the first input coupled switch 131 is connected to the input terminals of the first group of input amplifiers. The first group of input amplifiers consists of m amplification units, which are respectively amplification units 141_1, 141_2, \8230; 8230; 141_m. The inputs of the m amplification units are connected together to form the inputs of the first set of input amplifiers. Further, a first amplification unit 141_1 in the first set of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the first inter-stage switch 161, a second amplification unit 141 _2is connected to the first terminal of the second inter-stage switch 162, and so on, and an mth amplification unit 141 _mis connected to the first terminal of the mth inter-stage switch 16 m. A bypass circuit 171 is connected between the output of the input coupled switch 131 and the output RF _ OUT of the RF signal receiving front-end module 100. And so on, the nth RF signal input terminal RF _ INn is connected to one end of the nth input coupled switch 13n, and the other end of the nth input coupled switch 13n is connected to the input terminal of the nth group of input amplifiers. The nth group of input amplifiers consists of m amplification units, which are respectively amplification units 14n _1, 14n _2, \8230 \8230and14n _m. The inputs of the m amplification units are connected together to form the inputs of the nth group of amplifiers. Further, a first amplifying unit 14n _1in the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the first inter-stage switch 161, a second amplifying unit 14n _2in the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the second inter-stage switch 162, and so on, and an mth amplifying unit 14n _min the nth group of input amplifiers is connected to the first terminal of the mth inter-stage switch 16 m. A bypass circuit 17n is connected between the output terminal of the input coupled switch 13n and the output terminal RF _ OUT of the RF signal receiving front-end module 100.

Second terminals of the m inter-stage switches are connected together to form a common terminal. The common terminal is further connected to an input terminal of a load and drive circuit 150. The load and drive circuit 150 is illustrated in fig. 3B. The bypass circuit has the function of enabling a radio frequency input signal not to pass through the active input amplifier but to be directly coupled to a radio frequency signal output end through the passive amplification unit. When only the bypass circuit is activated, the rf signal receiving front-end module 100 may provide a low gain with a negative value, i.e., attenuation. The other parts of the circuit in fig. 12 are the same as the corresponding parts in fig. 3A, and are not described again here.

Example 11:

as shown in fig. 13, in example 11, two

bypass circuits

171 and 172 are added to example 5. The two bypass circuits (in dashed lines) are identical in structure and are composed of a set of capacitors, inductors and switches. Taking the bypass circuit 171 as an example, the input terminal of the bypass circuit is connected to one end of a capacitor 171_a, the other end of the capacitor 171_a is connected to one end of an inductor 171 b, the other end of the inductor 171_b is connected to one end of a series switch 171_c, the other end of the switch is connected to one end of a capacitor 171 e, and the other end of the capacitor 171_e is connected to the output terminal of the bypass circuit 171. At the junction of inductor 171_b and switch 171_c, one end of shunt switch 171 _dis connected and the other end of shunt switch 171 _dis connected to ground.

One end of the bypass circuit 171 is connected to the output end of the first input coupled switch 131, which is also the input end of the first input amplifier. The other end of the bypass circuit 171 is connected to the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT. One end of the bypass circuit 172 is connected to the output end of the second input coupled switch 132, which is also the input end of the second input amplifier. The other end of the bypass circuit 172 is connected to the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT.

An output matching circuit 151 is also included between the output of the load and driver circuit 150 and the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT. It comprises at least one switch 180 a and at least one capacitor 180 b connected in series therewith. The other end of the capacitor 180 v is connected to the rf signal output terminal. The rest of the circuit in embodiment 11 is the same as that in embodiment 5, and is not described again here.

FIG. 14 shows a working scenario of embodiment 11. The rf signal receiving front-end module 100 operates in a low gain mode. As shown IN fig. 14, a radio frequency signal of a certain frequency band enters the first amplification path from the radio frequency signal input terminal RF _ IN 1. All input amplifiers are disabled and the bias voltages Vbias1 and Vbias2 are configured to be at ground potential or well below the transistor threshold voltage. The load and drive circuit 150 is disabled with the bias voltage of the drive transistor 150\ a configured at ground potential or well below the transistor threshold voltage. The series switch 180 ura in the output matching circuit 151 is open. All interstage switches (161, 162, \8230; 16 m) are open. Meanwhile, input coupling switch 131 is turned on, specifically, switch 131_a in input coupling switch 131 is turned on, and switch 131_b is turned off. The in-coupled switch 132 is turned off, specifically, the switch 132 a in the in-coupled switch 132 is turned off, and the switch 132 b is turned on to ground. The bypass circuit 171 is on, specifically, the switch 171 c in the bypass circuit 171 is on, and the switch 171 d is off. Bypass circuit 172 is open, specifically switch 172 'c within bypass circuit 172 is open and switch 172'd is conductive to ground.

The RF signal passes from the RF signal input terminal RF _ IN1, through the input coupling switch 131, into the bypass circuit 171, and finally to the RF signal output terminal RF _ OUT, IN a direction indicated by a dotted line IN fig. 14. Since the bypass circuits are all passive components, the circuit scheme of embodiment 11 realizes low gain, i.e., attenuation, of the rf signal receiving front-end module 100. The bypass circuit not only plays a role in blocking, but also provides an output matching circuit, so that the circuit performance under the working scene can be further optimized.

It should be noted that the various embodiments of the present invention are merely exemplary, and that other implementations of the functional circuitry are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the input coupling switch 131 in fig. 14 may be replaced with the input coupling switch in fig. 8B or fig. 10B. As shown in fig. 14, in the bypass circuit 171, the shunt switch 171_d may be provided after the series switch 171 c, or may be removed instead of before the series switch 171 _cin fig. 14. The bypass circuit may be present independently on some or all of the amplification path. For example, bypass circuit 171 in FIG. 14 is retained, while bypass circuit 172 is removed. The specific choice of the bypass circuit is determined by various design indexes such as the area and the performance of the circuit. In fig. 14, the degenerate inductive connection of the sources of the transistors in the respective amplifying cells may be replaced with the various ones in the foregoing embodiments.

In addition, the embodiments or the modifications in the present invention are all described in a related manner, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments or the modifications may be referred to each other, and each embodiment or modification is described with emphasis on differences from other embodiments.

Further, the present invention provides a radio frequency signal transmission control method for the multi-mode multi-band radio frequency signal receiving front end module, including:

the control unit controls the on and off of the input coupling switch, so that one path of radio frequency signal is input to the input ends of a group of input amplifiers; when a certain path of radio frequency signal needs to be received and amplified, the control unit controls the corresponding coupling switch to be started, so that a receiving path of the path of signal is conducted, and the path of radio frequency signal is input to the input ends of a group of input amplifiers;

the control unit controls the on of the interstage switches, controls the bias circuit of the amplifying unit to be started, further controls one or more amplifying units in the group of input amplifiers to respectively amplify the input radio-frequency signals, and inputs the radio-frequency signals amplified by the amplifying unit to the input end of the load and the driving circuit;

the control unit controls the opening path of the output switch so that the amplified radio frequency signal is output to the appointed module output end.

The control mode of the control unit when the rf signal is amplified is described above by way of example, and it is known to those skilled in the art that the control unit can execute various combined control modes. For example, when the amplifying unit is not required to amplify and the load and driving circuit are not required to work, the bypass circuit can be controlled to be enabled, so that the received radio frequency signal is directly output to the output end of the module. For example, the control unit may control the combined operation mode of different amplification units by controlling the combined on mode of the plurality of inter-stage switches, thereby implementing different gain modes.

In addition, the radio frequency signal receiving front-end module provided by the invention can be used in a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal mentioned here refers to a wireless communication device that can be used in a mobile environment and supports multiple communication systems such as GSM, EDGE, TD _ SCDMA, TDD _ LTE, FDD _ LTE, and the like, and includes a mobile phone, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, an internet of vehicles terminal, and the like. In addition, the technical scheme provided by the invention is also suitable for other occasions of radio frequency front end application, such as a communication base station, an intelligent networking automobile and the like.

As shown in fig. 15, the mobile terminal at least includes a processor and a memory, and may further include a communication component, a sensor component, a power component, a multimedia component, and an input/output interface according to actual needs. The memory, the communication component, the sensor component, the power supply component, the multimedia component and the input/output interface are all connected with the processor. The memory may be a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, etc., and the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, etc. Other communication components, sensor components, power components, multimedia components, etc. may be implemented using common components.

While embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above description is illustrative, not exhaustive, and not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments.

The foregoing detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, when processes or modules are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may execute instructions having steps, or use systems having modules in a different order, and some processes or modules may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. Each of these processes or modules may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Further, while processes or modules are sometimes shown as being performed in series, these processes or modules may be performed in parallel, or at different times.

The teachings of the invention provided herein may be applied to other systems, not necessarily the systems described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.

Claims

1. A multi-mode multi-band RF signal receiving front-end module, comprising:

the output end of the interstage switch is connected to the input end of the load and drive circuit, and the output end of the load and drive circuit is connected to the radio frequency signal output end through the matching circuit;

the number of the inter-stage switches is the same as that of the amplifying units in each group of input amplifiers, the output end of each amplifying unit is connected with a corresponding inter-stage switch, and the output end of the corresponding amplifying unit in each group of input amplifiers is connected with the input end of the same corresponding inter-stage switch;

each amplifying unit comprises a transistor, and radio-frequency signals are transmitted to the input ends of the amplifying units of a group of input amplifiers through the input coupling switch and are input to the grid electrodes of the transistors;

when the interstage switch corresponding to the transistor is turned on, a radio-frequency signal is amplified by the transistor, and the amplified radio-frequency signal is input to the input end of the load and driving circuit through the interstage switch;

the drains of the transistors are coupled to respective inter-stage switches capable of controlling the conduction of the transistors;

2. The front-end module for receiving rf signals of multiple modes and frequencies of claim 1, wherein the control terminals of the amplifying units in the same set of input amplifiers are connected together and share a bias voltage, and each set of input amplifiers is connected to the bias voltage independently.

3. The front-end module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transistors of different amplifying units in each set of input amplifiers have different transistor widths, and the transistor widths of the amplifying units have a predetermined proportional relationship.

4. The multi-mode multi-band RF signal receiving front-end module of claim 1, wherein each set of input amplifiers comprises the same number of amplifying units.

5. The multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module of claim 1, wherein the load and driving circuit comprises: the variable inductor, the variable resistor and the variable capacitor are connected in parallel, and at least one transistor is connected in parallel;

6. The front-end module for receiving rf signals according to claim 1, wherein the input coupling switch comprises a series capacitor, and a combination circuit of any combination of a series switch, a shunt switch, and a shunt switch resistor branch;

when the input coupling switch is disabled, the series switch is open and the parallel shunt switch is conductive to ground.

7. The multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module of claim 1, further comprising at least one bypass circuit; and one end of the bypass circuit is connected with the output end of the load and drive circuit, the other end of the bypass circuit is connected with the input end of an input amplifier, when the bypass circuit is enabled, the input amplifier and the load and drive circuit are disabled, and the radio-frequency signal is directly transmitted to the output end of the load and drive circuit by the bypass circuit.

8. The multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module of claim 1, comprising:

at least two module output terminals;

9. A radio frequency signal transmission control method for a multi-mode and multi-band radio frequency signal receiving front-end module according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising performing one or more of the following controls:

the control unit controls the enabling and disabling of the bypass circuit;

the control unit controls a variable inductor, a variable capacitor and a variable resistor in the load and drive circuit to provide load impedance with a preset frequency response;

the control unit controls the opening path of the output switch.

10. The transmission control method of radio frequency signals according to claim 9, wherein the drains of the transistors of the amplifying unit are coupled to the corresponding inter-stage switches, when the control unit controls the inter-stage switches corresponding to the transistors to be turned on, the transistors are turned on, the input radio frequency signals are amplified by the transistors and converted into radio frequency current signals;

the radio frequency current signal is input to the input end of the load and the driving circuit through the interstage switch, and output voltage is generated at the output end of the load and the driving circuit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the control unit determines different amplification gains of the rf signal by controlling different on and off combinations of inter-stage switches, impedance characteristics presented by the load and driver circuits, and enabling and disabling of bypass circuits.

12. A mobile terminal, comprising the multi-mode multi-band rf signal receiving front-end module according to any one of claims 1 to 8.