Wideband receiver

Abstract

A receiver and method for identifying the frequency of an RF component in an RF signal are disclosed. The receiver includes a first mixer that receives an RF signal and mixes that RF signal with a first multi-tone LO signal that includes a plurality of tones to generate a mixed signal. The output of the first mixer is filtered by a first filter that removes signals outside of a predetermined band to generate a first IF signal. A processor determines the RF frequency of the component utilizing the first IF signal and a second IF signal generated using a second multi-tone LO signal having a different plurality of tones from said first multi-tone signal. The first and second multi-tone LO signals can be generated by clocking suitable digital sequences into the mixer either by using different sequences or by using the same sequence clocked at a different rate.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to wideband receivers, and more particularly to receivers and methods for identifying the frequency of an RF component in an RF signal. Background technique [0002] One application of radio frequency (RF) receivers is to monitor the RF spectrum and identify unknown transmitters. For example, in a battlefield, it would be advantageous to be able to detect the presence of narrowband walkie-talkie radios that indicate the presence of nearby enemy forces. Once detected, the location of the unknown transmitter can be estimated and / or the signal can be demodulated to determine the information content. [0003] A prior art method for identifying narrowband emissions of unknown frequencies in a much larger frequency band utilizes a conventional heterodyne receiver that mixes pure tones with the received RF signal frequency (mix) to create a new intermediate frequency (IF) usually at a much lower frequency than the original RF s...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, these ultra-high-speed ADCs have limited dynamic range, require high power, and are extremely costly

Limited dynamic range negatively affects the ability to detect low power signals in the presence of higher power background signals

High cost and high power requirements make this implementation unattractive for devices used in the field

In addition, the large amount of data generated by such systems requires significant computing resources to process, making this solution even more inferior

Images