Duplexer with impedance inverter

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a diplexer with an impedance inverter. The diplexer can be used to isolate a transmitter and a receiver that share a common antenna. The diplexer is balanced by using an impedance gradient that provides an impedance that causes a balun of the diplexer to cut off access to the common antenna rather than replicate the antenna impedance. Such a cut off can have lower insertion loss than a diplexer that replicates the antenna impedance only to separate differential signals and common mode signals of the receiver and transmitter.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application filed on May 24, 2021, with Chinese national application number 202110567374.1 and invention title "Duplexer with Impedance Inverter". Background Technology

[0002] This disclosure relates in general to wireless communication systems, and more specifically to systems and methods using an electrically balanced duplexer.

[0003] This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of the art that may be related to the aspects of this disclosure, which are described below and / or protected by the claims. This discussion is intended to help provide the reader with background information to better understand the aspects of this disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements should be read in this regard and not as an endorsement of prior art.

[0004] Some electronic devices may include transmitters and receivers coupled to an antenna to transmit and receive signals. The transmitter and receiver may be included in a transceiver. These electronic devices may use a balanced duplexer to isolate transmitted and received signals from each other and / or control the connection of the transmitter or receiver to the antenna. The balanced duplexer may include one or more balun circuits. Each balun circuit may include a winding coupled to an impedance gradient that provides an impedance corresponding to the signal frequency to allow or block the signal. For example, some embodiments may include a transmitter balun configured to block signals from the antenna from reaching the transmitter in response to a first impedance (e.g., high impedance) received from the transmitter impedance gradient at a first frequency, while allowing signals from the transmitter to pass through the transmitter balun in response to a second impedance (e.g., low impedance) received from the transmitter impedance gradient at a second frequency. This frequency division is applied by the balanced duplexer because the first and second frequencies are different. For example, the first frequency and the second frequency may fall into different frequency ranges (i.e., non-overlapping frequency bands).

[0005] Ideally, a balanced duplexer can prevent the transmit frequency from passing through the transmitter's balun while receiving the signal, and can also prevent the receive frequency from passing through the receiver's balun while transmitting the signal. However, in practice, and therefore subject to non-ideal operating conditions, a balanced duplexer may provide less effective isolation from the transmit signal when filtering the received signal, or vice versa. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following outlines some of the embodiments disclosed herein. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a concise overview of these particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. In fact, this disclosure may cover many aspects not set forth below.

[0007] Some wireless electronic devices use duplexers to allow transmitters and receivers to share an antenna. In some cases, the electronic device can operate across multiple different frequencies. Compared to bandpass filter arrays and / or other methods, electrically balanced duplexers (EBDs) can be used to accommodate relatively more dynamic frequency usage. An EBD may include a balun circuit that includes windings for generating an electromagnetic field. The windings may be coupled to an impedance gradient that provides impedance at a corresponding frequency to allow / block signals from passing through the balun. For example, some implementations may utilize a first impedance (e.g., a high impedance) of the transmitter impedance gradient affecting a first frequency range to block signals from the antenna. Blocking signals from the antenna may involve preventing signals received at the antenna from passing through the transmitter balun to the transmitter, while allowing other signals. For example, signals corresponding to a transmit frequency range may be allowed to pass through the transmitter balun for transmission via the antenna, while signals corresponding to a receive frequency range may not be allowed to pass through the transmitter balun. This frequency division is imposed by the EBD because the first and second frequencies are different. For example, the first and second frequencies may fall into different (i.e., non-overlapping) frequency bands. It should be noted that any frequency range can be used for both the transmit and receive frequency ranges. Furthermore, the transmit frequency range may overlap with the receive frequency range, such as when the duplexer operates in a half-duplexer operation mode where transmit and receive operations are not performed simultaneously. It should be noted that the techniques disclosed in this invention are applicable to any suitable frequency division duplex (FDD) system and / or any suitable time division duplex (TDD) system, and are applicable to any suitable frequency range. As a non-limiting example, when used in 5G radio frequency systems (e.g., New Radio (NR)), the transmit and / or receive frequency ranges may include frequencies between 600 MHz and 700 MHz for low-band 5G applications, frequencies between 2.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz for mid-band 5G applications, and frequencies between 25 GHz and 42 GHz (e.g., between 25 GHz and 39 GHz) for high-band 5G applications.

[0008] A receiver balun can operate similarly to a transmitter balun. For example, a receiver balun can be configured to receive a first impedance at a first frequency from the receiver impedance gradient to block signals from the transmitter from passing through the receiver balun to the receiver, while using a second impedance at a second frequency from the receiver impedance gradient to allow signals from the antenna to pass through the receiver balun. This frequency division is applied by the EBD because the first and second frequencies are different. For example, the first and second frequencies may fall into different (i.e., non-overlapping) frequency bands. The impedance gradient can be assisted by an impedance tuner that reduces the need for an impedance gradient. For example, the impedance tuner includes circuitry (e.g., inductors, capacitors, resistors) that provides low impedance in the passband (e.g., to facilitate signal passage) while matching the impedance gradient in the stopband (e.g., to facilitate signal blocking).

[0009] However, the operation of the impedance gradient and impedance tuner used to isolate receive operation from transmit operation, or vice versa, can be improved by including an impedance inverter and / or notch filter that affect the signal transmitted or received from the antenna. For example, an impedance inverter can be coupled between the transmitter balun and the antenna. When coupled in this way, the impedance inverter provides impedance that more effectively blocks received signals (e.g., signals within the receive band received at the antenna) from passing through the transmitter balun. An impedance inverter coupled between the receiver balun and the antenna can operate in a similar manner. In addition or alternatively, a filter can be coupled to the output of the impedance gradient and to the output of the impedance tuner. The filter can generate a virtual short circuit in the filter's stopband to perform additional isolation to isolate the operation of EBD, thereby improving the operation of EBD. Attached Figure Description

[0010] A better understanding of the various aspects of this disclosure can be achieved by reading the following detailed description and referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of an electronic device including a duplexer according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0012] Figure 2 It means Figure 1 A perspective view of a laptop computer representing an implementation scheme for an electronic device;

[0013] Figure 3 It means Figure 1 A front view of a handheld device in another embodiment of an electronic device;

[0014] Figure 4 It means Figure 1A front view of another handheld device in another embodiment of an electronic device;

[0015] Figure 5 It means Figure 1 A front view of a desktop computer in another embodiment of an electronic device;

[0016] Figure 6 It means Figure 1 A front view and a side view of another embodiment of a wearable electronic device;

[0017] Figure 7 It is an electrical balancing duplexer (EBD) in the form of an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 1 A block diagram of a duplexer;

[0018] Figure 8 It is in launch operation mode according to the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 7 A block diagram of EBD;

[0019] Figure 9 It is an embodiment of the present disclosure for operation in launch mode. Figure 7 A flowchart of the EBD process;

[0020] Figure 10 It is in the receiving operation mode according to the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 7 A block diagram of EBD;

[0021] Figure 11 It is an embodiment of this disclosure for operation in receiving operation mode. Figure 7 A flowchart of the EBD process;

[0022] Figure 12 It is an embodiment of the present disclosure having a filtering circuit (e.g., a filter). Figure 7 A block diagram of EBD;

[0023] Figure 13 It is for use in accordance with the embodiments of this disclosure Figure 12 A circuit diagram of the first exemplary filter circuit for EBD;

[0024] Figure 14 It is for use in accordance with the embodiments of this disclosure Figure 12 A circuit diagram of the second exemplary filter circuit for EBD;

[0025] Figure 15 The insertion loss and isolation during emission are illustrated in the embodiments of this disclosure. Figure 7 The curve showing how the frequency of the EBD signal changes as the frequency increases; and

[0026] Figure 16 The insertion loss and isolation during emission are illustrated in the embodiments of this disclosure. Figure 12 The graph shows how the frequency of the EBD signal changes as the frequency increases. Detailed Implementation

[0027] One or more specific implementations will be described below. To provide a brief description of these implementations, not all characteristics of the actual implementations are described in this specification. It should be understood that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, decisions must be made specific to many implementations to achieve the developer's specific objectives, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints that may vary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it should be understood that such development work can be complex and time-consuming, but will still be routine work of design, fabrication, and manufacturing for those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure.

[0028] Considering the above, there are many suitable electronic devices that can benefit from the duplexer implementation scheme described herein. First, let's turn to... Figure 1 The electronic device 10 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may, among other things, include one or more processors 12, memory 14, non-volatile storage device 16, display 18, antenna 20, input structure 22, input / output (I / O) interface 24, network interface 25 and power supply 29. Figure 1 The various functional blocks shown may include hardware elements (including circuits), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium), or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that... Figure 1 This is merely one example of a specific implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may exist in electronic device 10.

[0029] For example, electronic device 10 can represent Figure 2 The laptop shown Figure 3 The handheld device shown Figure 4 The handheld device shown Figure 5 The desktop computer shown Figure 6 The diagram shows a wearable electronic device or similar device. It should be noted that... Figure 1 The processor 12 and other related items herein may be generally referred to as "data processing circuitry". This data processing circuitry may be implemented wholly or partially in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single, contained processing module, or it may be wholly or partially integrated within any other element of the electronic device 10.

[0030] exist Figure 1In the electronic device 10, processor 12 may be operatively coupled to memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 to execute various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by processor 12 may be stored in any suitable article of art, including one or more tangible computer-readable media, such as memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16, that at least commonly store the instructions or routines. Memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 may include any suitable article of art for storing data and executable instructions, such as random access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard disk drive, and optical disk. Additionally, programs (e.g., operating systems) encoded on such computer program products may also include instructions executed by processor 12 to enable electronic device 10 to provide various functions.

[0031] In some embodiments, display 18 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) that allows a user to view images generated on electronic device 10. In some embodiments, display 18 may include a touchscreen that allows a user to interact with the user interface of electronic device 10. Furthermore, it should be understood that in some embodiments, display 18 may include one or more organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and OLED panels.

[0032] The input structure 22 of the electronic device 10 enables a user to interact with the electronic device 10 (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease the volume level). Like the network interface 25, the I / O interface 24 enables the electronic device 10 to interact with a variety of other electronic devices. The network interface 25 may include one or more interfaces for, for example, personal area networks (PANs) such as Bluetooth networks, local area networks (LANs) or wireless local area networks (WLANs) such as 802.11x Wi-Fi networks, and / or wide area networks (WANs) such as 3G cellular networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (UMTS), 4G cellular networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks or Long Term Evolution Licensed Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) cellular networks, 5G cellular networks, and / or 5G New Radio (5G NR) cellular networks. Network interface 25 may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (WiMAX), mobile broadband wireless networks (mobile WiMAX), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T) and its extended DVB handheld devices (DVB-H), ultra-wideband (UWB), alternating current (AC) power lines, etc. For example, network interface 25 may be able to join multiple networks, and for this purpose, one or more antennas 20 may be employed. In addition or alternatively, network interface 25 may include at least one duplexer 26, which enables multiple components (e.g., receiver 27 and transmitter 28) with separate paths (e.g., transmit path and receive path) to use one antenna of antenna 20, while providing separation between the multiple components. As further shown, electronic device 10 may include a power supply 29. Power supply 29 may include any suitable power source, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and / or an alternating current (AC) power converter.

[0033] In some embodiments, electronic device 10 may take the form of a computer, portable electronic device, wearable electronic device, or other types of electronic device. Such computers may include typically portable computers (such as laptops, notebook computers, and tablets) and computers typically used in one location (such as desktop computers, workstations, and / or servers). In some embodiments, electronic device 10 in the form of a computer may be purchased from Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California). PRO, MacBook MINI or MAC Model. By way of example, according to one embodiment of this disclosure, in... Figure 2An electronic device 10 in the form of a laptop computer 10A is shown. The laptop computer 10A shown may include a casing or housing 36, a display 18, input structures 22, and ports for I / O interfaces 24. In one embodiment, the input structures 22 (such as a keyboard and / or touchpad) can be used to interact with the laptop computer 10A, such as to launch, control, or operate a GUI or a graphical user interface (GUI) or application running on the laptop computer 10A. For example, the keyboard and / or touchpad can allow a user to navigate on a user interface or application interface displayed on the display 18.

[0034] Figure 3 A front view of a handheld device 10B is shown, representing one embodiment of an electronic device 10. The handheld device 10B can represent, for example, a portable telephone, media player, personal data manager, handheld gaming platform, or any combination of such devices. For example, the handheld device 10B could be purchased from Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California). or Model. The handheld device 10B may include a housing 36 to protect internal components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The housing 36 may enclose the display 18. The I / O interface 24 can be opened through the housing 36 and may include, for example, I / O ports for hard-wired connections to use standard connectors and protocols such as Lightning connectors purchased from Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California). Universal Serial Bus (USB) or other similar connectors and protocols are used for charging and / or content manipulation.

[0035] In conjunction with the display 18, the input structure 22 allows the user to control the handheld device 10B. For example, the input structure 22 can activate or deactivate the handheld device 10B, navigate the user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and / or activate the voice recognition features of the handheld device 10B. Other input structures 22 may provide volume control or switch between vibration and ringtone modes. The input structure 22 may also include a microphone for receiving user voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker for enabling audio playback and / or certain telephone functions. The input structure 22 may also include a headphone input for connecting to external speakers and / or headphones.

[0036] Figure 4A front view of another handheld device 10C is shown, representing another embodiment of electronic device 10. Handheld device 10C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, handheld device 10C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of electronic device 10, specifically, for example, a device purchased from Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California). model.

[0037] See Figure 5 Computer 10D can represent Figure 1 Another embodiment of the electronic device 10. The computer 10D can be any computer, such as a desktop computer, server, or laptop, but can also be a standalone media player or video game console. For example, the computer 10D could be a device from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California. Or other similar devices. It should be noted that computer 10D may also refer to a personal computer (PC) from another manufacturer. A similar housing 36 may be provided to protect and enclose the internal components of computer 10D, such as monitor 18. In some embodiments, the user of computer 10D may interact with computer 10D using various input structures 22 such as a keyboard 22A or mouse 22B that can be connected to computer 10D.

[0038] Similarly, Figure 6 Depicting the representation Figure 1 Another embodiment of the electronic device 10 is a wearable electronic device 10E, which can be configured to operate using the techniques described herein. By way of example, the wearable electronic device 10E, which may include a wristband 38, could be an Apple product from Apple, Inc. (Cupertino, California). However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device 10E may include any wearable electronic device, such as, for example, a wearable motion monitoring device (e.g., a pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other devices from another manufacturer. The display 18 of the wearable electronic device 10E may include a touchscreen display 18 (e.g., an LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, etc.) and an input structure 22 that allows a user to interact with the user interface of the wearable electronic device 10E.

[0039] Some electronic devices, such as electronic device 10, may use one or more duplexers to separate received signals from transmitted signals, or vice versa. Some duplexers may include filters, such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters and / or bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters that operate based on microacoustic principles, or inductor-capacitor-resistor (LCR) filters that operate based on resonant circuits of inductors and capacitors to separate signals between the transmitter and receiver.

[0040] In addition to or as an alternative to SAW / BAW filters, any suitable component such as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) N-channel filter, a space-time circulator, or an electrically balanced duplexer (EBD) can be used in the duplexer. Furthermore, some duplexers use an active replication of the antenna impedance to more effectively isolate the transmitter signal from the receiver signal. Antenna impedance offset can interfere with duplexing functionality and reduce the isolation between the transmit and receive paths. As discussed in more detail below, the EBD discussed herein may differ from some EBDs in at least the fact that the balun in the disclosed EBD is used to cut off the path to the antenna, and not merely to separate the differential signal from the receiver and / or transmitter from the common-mode signal between the receiver and / or transmitter.

[0041] Considering the above, Figure 7 This is a block diagram of exemplary duplexers 26 and 50. As shown, duplexer 50 provides isolation between receiver 27 and transmitter 28 while allowing both receiver 27 and transmitter 28 to utilize antenna 20. As shown, duplexer 50 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 52, which can be used to amplify the signal received by antenna 20 before it reaches receiver 27. In some embodiments, in addition to or as an alternative to the LNA 52 within duplexer 50, one or more additional amplifiers may be located downstream of LNA 52, such as within receiver 27. Duplexer 50 may also include a power amplifier (PA) 54 that receives signals from transmitter 28. PA 54 amplifies the signal to an appropriate level to drive the transmission of the signal via antenna 20. In some embodiments, in addition to or as an alternative to PA 54 within duplexer 50, iterations of PA 54 may be located within transmitter 28 and / or upstream of PA 54. These signals can then be transmitted via antenna 20.

[0042] The duplexer 50 may include one or more receiver baluns and one or more transmitter baluns. Each of the baluns (e.g., receiver balun 56, transmitter balun 58) may include windings for allowing signals to pass through the respective balun. For example, receiver balun 56 includes a primary winding 60 for selectively passing a signal from antenna 20 to LNA 52 (and to receiver 27) by generating a signal in secondary winding 62 and / or secondary winding 64. For transmitter balun 58, a signal from PA 54 (and therefore from transmitter 28) is passed from primary winding 66 and / or primary winding 68 to antenna 20 and generated in secondary winding 70. This arrangement of the baluns reduces insertion loss relative to a duplexer that uses antenna replication when separating the common-mode signal from the differential signal between receiver 27 and transmitter 28. In addition, the duplexer 50 can reduce or eliminate the dependence on antenna replication to improve the flexibility of the frequencies used for communication via the antenna 20.

[0043] The duplexer 50 may include a transmitter balun circuit 72, which includes a transmitter balun 58. The duplexer 50 may also include a receiver balun circuit 74, which includes a receiver balun 56. A transmitter 28 may be coupled to a first side of the transmitter balun 58, and an antenna 20 may generally be coupled to a second side of the transmitter balun 58. A receiver 27 may be coupled to a first side of the receiver balun 56, and an antenna 20 may generally be coupled to a second side of the receiver balun 56.

[0044] Transmitter balun circuit 72 and receiver balun circuit 74 enable the blocking or passage of signals transmitted via corresponding paths (e.g., between antenna 20 and receiver 27, or between antenna 20 and transmitter 28, or between antenna 20 and both receiver 27 and transmitter 28). This selective passage and / or blocking can be performed by employing impedance gradients and / or impedance tuners. For example, a transmitter impedance gradient 76 (TX IG) may be coupled (e.g., electrically coupled to transmitter balun 58 and thus to transmitter 28) to the primary winding 66 of transmitter balun 58, and a transmitter impedance tuner 78 (TX IT) may be coupled to the primary winding 68 of transmitter balun 58, and transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or transmitter impedance tuner 78 may perform blocking and / or pass-through operation of transmitter balun 58. Similarly, the receiver balun circuit 74 may include a receiver impedance gradient 80 (RX IG) coupled to the secondary winding 62 of the receiver balun 56 and a receiver impedance tuner 82 (RX IT) coupled to the secondary winding 64 of the receiver balun 56 (e.g., electrically coupling the receiver impedance gradient 80 to the receiver balun 56, thereby electrically coupling it to the receiver 27), and the receiver impedance gradient 80 and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 may perform blocking and / or pass-through operations of the receiver balun 56. The transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or receiver impedance gradient 80 may include discrete lumped and / or distributed components that set the desired impedance for certain frequencies, and may couple certain frequencies to ground 84 with low impedance.

[0045] Regardless of the specific implementation type, the transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or receiver impedance gradient 80 can be used as filters with relatively high impedance in the "pass" band (e.g., acting as an open circuit) compared to the relatively low impedance in the "stop" band (e.g., acting as a short path coupled to ground). Generally, the impedance provided by the high impedance mode is higher than that provided by the low impedance mode. Specifically, the impedance provided by the high impedance mode is close to infinite impedance, and the impedance provided by the low impedance mode is close to zero impedance. However, some circuits may have specific impedance values. For example, capacitance-based impedances may have relatively low capacitance values ​​between 0.1 pF and 4.0 pF (e.g., 0.19 pF, 3.7 pF, 0.1 pF-0.2 pF, 3.0 pF-4.5 pF) and high capacitance values ​​of about 30 pF (e.g., between 20 pF and 35 pF). In some cases, the low impedance may be approximately 50 ohms (Ω) or less (e.g., 40Ω-60Ω), and the high impedance may be approximately 100Ω or greater (e.g., 90Ω-110Ω). Thus, each of the transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 may include a combination of capacitors, inductors, resistors, switching circuitry, etc., to allow certain frequencies (or frequency ranges) to pass through the corresponding transmitter balun 58 and / or receiver balun 56, while disallowing other frequencies (or frequency ranges). Therefore, each of the transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 may allow passive filtering, where the circuitry allows frequency filtering even when the controller does not actively control certain circuitry of the duplexer 50. However, in some cases, each of the transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 may allow active filtering, where the circuitry causes some frequencies to travel to an open circuit (e.g., not allowed to pass), and some frequencies to a short circuit or a closed circuit (e.g., allowed to pass). Thus, in some cases, the duplexer 50 may receive control signals from the controller to operate the circuitry of transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or receiver impedance gradient 80 in a low-impedance mode or a high-impedance mode.

[0046] Primary windings 66 and 68 can generate electromagnetic fields due to excitation in the connection between the windings and transmitter 28, as well as through the common loop (e.g., ground 84) of transmitter impedance gradient 76 and transmitter impedance tuner 78. The fields generated at primary windings 66 and 68 can cause (e.g., generate) a resulting signal in secondary winding 70 for transmission through transmitter impedance inverter 86. Similarly, for receiver balun 56, the signal received from receiver impedance inverter 88 at primary winding 60 can cause a resulting signal to be generated in secondary windings 62 and / or secondary winding 64.

[0047] The transmitter impedance inverter 86 and / or receiver impedance inverter 88 may include circuitry that causes the impedance at the input of the transmitter impedance inverter 86 to differ from the impedance at the output of the transmitter impedance inverter 86. For example, the transmitter impedance inverter 86 may include a network of capacitors and / or inductors (e.g., an inductor-capacitor (LC) matching circuit) for generating the input impedance and different output impedances, and / or a quarter-wavelength waveguide that changes its output impedance based on the input impedance (e.g., providing a dual or inverse relationship between the output impedance and the input impedance, such that an infinitely large or relatively large load impedance results in an infinitely small or relatively small input impedance).

[0048] The transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 may also include circuitry capable of operating in multiple impedance modes. The circuitry of transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or receiver impedance gradient 80 may cause the impedance gradients to selectively behave as open or closed circuits when transmitting signals of different frequencies. For example, transmitter impedance gradient 76 may allow signals characterized by frequencies within the transmit frequency range to pass through transmitter balun 58 (e.g., as a “short circuit” allowing signals of the transmit frequency to pass through), while disallowing signals characterized by different frequencies (e.g., as an “open circuit” disallowing signals of the receive frequency to pass through), such as frequencies within the receive frequency range.

[0049] Since the impedance gradients (e.g., transmitter impedance gradient 76, receiver impedance gradient 80) can be implemented using real-world components, the high and low impedance settings of the impedance gradients can be values ​​other than ideal short-circuit and open-circuit values ​​(e.g., 0Ω and ∞Ω). Impedance tuners (e.g., transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance tuner 82) can be used to compensate for non-ideal operation of the impedance gradients (e.g., transmitter impedance gradient 76, receiver impedance gradient 80). The impedance tuner may include one or more potentiometers to tune or adjust the impedance between transmitter impedance gradient 76 and / or receiver impedance gradient 80.

[0050] Furthermore, the operation of duplexer 50 may be concerned with abrupt impedance changes at the transmit and receive frequencies. Impedance tuners can reduce the likelihood of impedance abrupt changes at the transmit and receive frequencies where the impedance gradient is used. The impedance gradient (e.g., transmitter impedance gradient 76, receiver impedance gradient 80) acts as a filter, while the impedance tuners (e.g., transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance tuner 82) have low impedance for the corresponding balun in the “pass” band (e.g., the band where the impedance tuner allows a signal at that frequency to pass through) and replicate the impedance of the corresponding impedance gradient in the “stop” band (e.g., the band where the impedance tuner blocks a signal at that frequency). In other words, in some embodiments, the impedance tuners (e.g., transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance tuner 82) can provide a low impedance that is lower than the high impedance of the corresponding impedance gradient for the passing frequencies, while providing a low impedance that is substantially similar to the low impedance (e.g., the impedance of the passing frequency) for the blocking frequencies.

[0051] By utilizing the different impedances of the transmitter impedance inverter 86, receiver impedance inverter 88, transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and / or receiver impedance tuner 82, signals can be guided to be transmitted via one path instead of another. For example, a signal passing through the transmitter balun 58 can be transmitted via the antenna 20. However, some of the signals passing through the transmitter balun 58 may have a suitable frequency range, or may generate signals with a suitable frequency range to also pass through the receiver balun 56. To ensure effective transmission of the transmitted signal without unintentionally generating signals characterized by the receiving frequency range, these signals can be blocked by the input impedance of the receiver impedance inverter 88 when transmission occurs. For example, when transmission occurs, the impedance associated with the input of the receiver impedance inverter 88 may be greater than the impedance of the antenna 20 to increase the likelihood that the signal as part of the transmission operation will be transmitted via the antenna 20, such as in combination with Figures 8 to 16 As detailed in the discussion. It should be noted that the receiver impedance inverter 88 may include a network of capacitors and / or inductors for generating the input and output impedances. The signal is passed through the transmitter balun 58 to generate a signal on the secondary winding 70 for transmission to the antenna 20.

[0052] Similarly, antenna 20 can receive and transmit signals through receiver balun 56 to be provided to receiver 27. Receiver balun 56 includes secondary windings 62 and 64, which can generate signals using an electromagnetic field generated by primary winding 60. Primary winding 60 can receive signals from antenna 20 and can generate an electromagnetic field based on receiver impedance inverter 88 in response to the signal, which provides impedance to antenna 20, allowing signals to pass through receiver balun 56 during reception operation. Although the impedance of receiver impedance inverter 88 can be any suitable value, the impedance at the input of receiver impedance inverter 88 during reception operation can correspond to a lower impedance than the impedance at the output of transmitter impedance inverter 86.

[0053] It should be noted that the duplexer 50 can operate in full-duplex mode or half-duplex mode and / or as a frequency division duplex (FDD) system and / or as a time division duplex (TDD) system. The duplexer 50 can be operated to transmit and receive signals simultaneously (e.g., concurrently or simultaneously) during full-duplex mode (e.g., an FDD system), and can be operated to transmit signals at a different time than during half-duplex mode (e.g., a TDD system) than during signal reception. Thus, when operating as an FDD system, the duplexer 50 can use a separate frequency band for reception operations compared to for transmission operations. When operating as a TDD system, the duplexer 50 can use the same frequency band for both reception and transmission operations, depending on the timing of signal separation for each operation.

[0054] When duplexer 50 operates in full-duplex mode, the circuitry associated with receiver balun 56 is operable to filter out signals associated with transmit operations, while the circuitry associated with transmitter balun 58 is operable to filter out signals associated with receive operations. For example, transmitter impedance gradient 76 can block signals in the transmit frequency range and allow transmitted signals in the receive frequency range to pass through. Therefore, when describing the operation of transmitter impedance gradient 76 from the perspective of transmit operations, transmitter impedance gradient 76 can be described as being in a high impedance mode relative to the frequency range used for transmit operations. However, when describing the operation of transmitter impedance gradient 76 from the perspective of receive operations, transmitter impedance gradient 76 can be described as being in a low impedance mode relative to the frequency range used for receive operations. Thus, when operating in full-duplex mode, for signals in the receive frequency range, the output of transmitter impedance inverter 86 can have a high impedance, while the input of receiver impedance inverter 88 can have a low impedance, where the combination of the two impedances allows signals in the receive frequency range to be transmitted from antenna 20 through receiver impedance inverter 88 instead of transmitter impedance inverter 86. Compared to Figures 8 to 11These modes are further described. By including impedance inverters (e.g., transmitter impedance inverter 86, receiver impedance inverter 88) in duplexer 50, the insertion loss of duplexer 50 can be reduced from about 6-8 dB to about 1-3 dB.

[0055] To further explain the operation of duplexer 50 in detail Figure 8 This is a block diagram of a first operating mode (e.g., transmit mode) for the duplexer 50 for at least one frequency range (e.g., transmit frequency range). When operating in transmit mode, the duplexer 50 can be operated by a controller, such as a controller associated with the processor 12, in one or more impedance configurations of the signals affecting the frequency range. For example, the controller can operate the circuitry of the duplexer 50 in various impedance operating modes. For example, the transmitter impedance gradient 76 can operate in a high impedance mode during transmit operation (e.g., ...). Figure 8 As shown), and operates in low impedance mode during receive operation (as shown). Figure 10 (As shown). It should also be noted that components of duplexer 50 can operate simultaneously in low-impedance mode for some frequencies and in high-impedance mode for others, to help isolate the operation of receiver 27 from the operation of transmitter 28. This simultaneous operation can occur when duplexer 50 is operating in full-duplex mode.

[0056] For example, the impedance mode can be specifically designed based on the transmit and receive frequencies, such that when the duplexer 50 is in full-duplex mode, signals in the transmit frequency range experience low impedance and signals in the receive frequency range experience high impedance. The transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, transmitter impedance inverter 86, receiver impedance gradient 80, receiver impedance tuner 82, and receiver impedance inverter 88 may include filtering circuitry (such as bandpass filters, notch filters, and bandstop filters). The filtering circuitry may include one or more inductors, one or more capacitors, and / or one or more resistors, which cause some frequencies to attenuate, as if attempting to transmit the signal through an open circuit (e.g., high impedance), and / or cause some frequencies not to attenuate, as if transmitting the signal through a closed circuit (e.g., low impedance).

[0057] In this example, to operate duplexer 50 in half-duplex mode in preparation for transmission, the controller can operate transmitter impedance gradient 76 in high-impedance mode while simultaneously operating transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and receiver impedance tuner 82 in low-impedance mode. When components of duplexer 50 operate in these modes (e.g., configurations), transmitter impedance inverter 86 and receiver impedance inverter 88 can operate in low-high impedance mode. For transmitter impedance inverter 86, the low-high impedance mode corresponds to a low impedance at its input and a high impedance at its output. For receiver impedance inverter 88, the low-high impedance mode corresponds to a high impedance at its input and a low impedance at its output. Thus, when a signal transmitted during transmission operation of duplexer 50 attempts to pass through receiver balun 56 or transmitter balun 58, the signal is blocked by the high impedance of transmitter impedance inverter 86 and / or receiver impedance inverter 88.

[0058] To further explain the launch operation of duplexer 50, Figure 9 It is an embodiment of the present disclosure for operating electronic equipment 10 in accordance with... Figure 8 The flowchart illustrates a method 100 for transmitting a signal in the first operating mode. It should be noted that although shown in a specific order, some operations of method 100 can be performed in any suitable order, and at least some boxes can be skipped entirely. As described herein, method 100 is described as being performed by a controller of electronic device 10; however, it should be understood that any suitable processing and / or control circuitry, such as other processor circuitry of processor 12, can perform some or all of the operations of method 100. It should be noted that at least some boxes in the flowchart may correspond to operations for configuring duplexer 50 in a specific configuration when operating in half-duplexer mode. When duplexer 50 operates in full-duplexer mode, duplexer 50 may not be configured between transmit and receive operations and may be performed substantially simultaneously with each other.

[0059] At block 110, the controller operating the duplexer 50 can receive an instruction from the electronic device 10 to transmit an output signal from transmitter 28 through transmitter balun 58 to antenna 20. Thus, the electronic device 10 can determine whether a transmission operation is in progress or about to occur based on the received instruction. The electronic device 10 can refer to a communication configuration stored in memory 14 to determine that the next communication will be output communication via antenna 20. The communication configuration can specify when the electronic device 10 transmits data and when the electronic device 10 receives data.

[0060] At block 112, the controller is capable of operating the transmitter impedance gradient 76 in a high-impedance mode (e.g., indicating, transmitting a control signal to induce the transmitter impedance gradient). At block 114, the controller is capable of operating the receiver impedance gradient in a low-impedance mode. The operation of blocks 112 and / or 114 can be substantially simultaneous with the transmitter impedance tuner 78 and receiver impedance tuner 82 in low-impedance mode. The transmitter impedance tuner 78 and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 can operate in an impedance mode that remains constant between transmit and receive operations. In some cases, the controller can retune (e.g., adjust) the impedance of the transmitter impedance tuner 78 and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 to compensate for any impedance shift experienced by the duplexer 50, such as maintaining circuit balance and / or proper operation of the duplexer 50. For this purpose, the controller can perform a calibration process by transmitting a known signal and adjusting the operation of the impedance tuner until the desired operation is achieved (e.g., until a threshold amount of isolation or isolation loss is achieved between transmit and receive operations).

[0061] In response to a combination of operating modes of transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and receiver impedance tuner 82, receiver impedance inverter 88 can operate in a low-high impedance mode, and transmitter impedance inverter 86 can operate in a low-high impedance mode. Impedance inverters (e.g., receiver impedance inverter 88, transmitter impedance inverter 86) may each include discrete components with corresponding inductances and / or may include corresponding quarter-wavelength waveguides with impedances depending on the impedance of the waveguide's load, and thus can operate autonomously and / or automatically switch to operate in the corresponding operating mode. For example, receiver impedance inverter 88 may switch its impedance to a low-high impedance mode in response to the impedance of receiver impedance gradient 80 being set to a low impedance mode. In this combination of operating modes, signals from PA 54 in the transmit frequency range can be transmitted from antenna 20, and signals in the receive frequency range may not be transmitted to LNA 52 (e.g., reducing the likelihood of transmission to LNA 52).

[0062] At block 116, once each circuit is in its appropriate operating mode, the controller can continue to transmit control signals to transmit the output from antenna 20. In other words, with transmitter impedance gradient 76 set to high impedance mode and transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and receiver impedance tuner 82 set to low impedance mode, the controller can continue to instruct electronics 10 to perform scheduled transmit operations. The transmit signals cause the combination of transmitter impedance gradient 76 and transmitter impedance tuner 78 to provide a generally lower impedance to the input of transmitter impedance inverter 86 relative to the relatively high impedance of antenna 20, allowing transmitter impedance inverter 86 to operate in a low-high impedance mode.

[0063] Similar systems and methods can be used for the receiving operation of electronic device 10. Figure 10 This is a block diagram of a second operating mode (e.g., a receive mode) of the duplexer 50 for at least one frequency range (e.g., a receive frequency range). When operating in receive mode, a controller of the electronic device 10, such as a controller associated with the processor 12, can operate the duplexer 50 in one or more impedance configurations affecting the receive frequency range. For example, the controller can operate the circuitry of the duplexer 50 in a high-impedance mode, a low-impedance mode, a low-high-impedance mode, or a high-low-impedance mode based on the operating mode in which the duplexer 50 will be operated. It should also be noted that certain components can keep the impedance modes of transmit operation and receive operation substantially simultaneous, such as when the duplexer 50 is operating in full-duplex mode. Even when operations occur simultaneously, the duplexer 50 operating in full-duplex mode can continue to provide separation between the signals of transmit operation and the signals of receive operation. The duplexer 50 can provide separation between operations through the components used to provide the duplexer, because the impedance of the components allows signals in different frequency ranges to be affected differently by various operating modes. For example, while affecting the received signal in the receiving frequency range in low impedance mode, the transmitter impedance gradient 76 can simultaneously affect the transmitted signal in the transmitting frequency range in high impedance mode, which is at least partly due to the filtering circuitry included in the transmitter impedance gradient 76. When the duplexer 50 operates in half-duplexer mode, the controller can operate the duplexer 50 to perform a transmit operation separately (e.g., not simultaneously) from the receive operation performed by the duplexer 50.

[0064] In receive mode, the controller can operate the transmitter impedance gradient 76, transmitter impedance tuner 78, and receiver impedance tuner 82 in low impedance mode, and the receiver impedance gradient 80 in high impedance mode. Furthermore, the transition of components of duplexer 50 in the corresponding impedance modes can result in the transmitter impedance inverter 86 operating in a low-high impedance mode and the receiver impedance inverter 88 operating in a high-low impedance mode. This combination of impedance states allows signals received at antenna 20 to be transmitted to LNA 52 when within the receive frequency range. This reduces the likelihood of signals from antenna 20 being transmitted to transmitter balun 58. With transmitter impedance inverter 86 configured to provide high impedance at its output and receiver impedance inverter 88 configured to provide low impedance at its input, antenna 20 can receive signals characterized by frequencies within the transmit frequency range. However, due to the high impedance blocking the signal, signals at the transmit frequency can be blocked by transmitter impedance inverter 86 from transmitting through transmitter balun 58. Signals with frequencies within the receiving frequency range can be received at antenna 20 and transmitted to receiver impedance inverter 88. The signal can be transmitted through primary winding 60 and generated in secondary windings 62 and 64. The generated signal can be amplified in LNA 52 and then transmitted from secondary windings 62 and 64 to receiver 27. Note that the signal received at antenna 20 can find a ground voltage (e.g., ground 84) through receiver impedance inverter 88 and is therefore prevented from transmitting through transmitter impedance inverter 86.

[0065] To help explain the launch operation of duplexer 50, Figure 11 It is an embodiment of the present disclosure for operating electronic equipment 10 in accordance with... Figure 10 The flowchart of method 132 for receiving signals in the second operating mode is shown. It should be noted that although shown in a specific order, some operations of method 132 can be performed in any suitable order, and at least some boxes can be skipped entirely. As described herein, method 132 is described as being performed by one or more processors, such as processor 12, of the controller of electronic device 10; however, it should be understood that any suitable processing and / or control circuitry can perform some or all of the operations of method 132. It should be noted that method 132 may correspond to operations used to configure the duplexer 50 in a specific configuration when it is operating in half-duplex mode. When the duplexer 50 is operating in full-duplex mode, the duplexer 50 can perform both transmit and receive operations substantially simultaneously, as impedance gradients and / or impedance inverters can sometimes be configured to maintain both impedance modes substantially simultaneously.

[0066] At block 134, the controller operating the duplexer 50 can receive instructions from the electronics 10 to transmit an input signal from the antenna 20 through the receiver balun 56 to the receiver 27. The electronics 10 can refer to a communication configuration, such as via the controller, to determine that the next communication will be an incoming communication via the antenna 20. The communication configuration can specify when the electronics 10 transmits data and when it receives data, and thus can indicate the next communication expected to occur. Operating according to the communication configuration reduces the likelihood of erroneous signals (e.g., signals not pointing to the communication to be received by the electronics 10) being collected via the antenna 20 and / or transmitted to the receiver 27 within the received frequency range.

[0067] At block 136, the controller can operate the transmitter impedance gradient 76, receiver impedance tuner 82, and / or transmitter impedance tuner 78 in a low-impedance mode (e.g., indicating, transmitting control signals to induce their operation). At block 138, the electronics 10 can operate the receiver impedance gradient 80 in a high-impedance mode. In some embodiments, operation of blocks 136 and / or 138 may include the controller operating only the impedance gradient in a specific operating mode, and performing substantially simultaneously with the transmitter impedance tuner 78 and receiver impedance tuner 82, which are already in a low-impedance mode. This is because the transmitter impedance tuner 78 and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 can operate in an impedance mode that remains constant between transmit and receive operations. In some cases, the controller may retune the impedance of the transmitter impedance tuner 78 and / or receiver impedance tuner 82 to compensate for any impedance shift experienced by the duplexer 50, such as maintaining circuit balance and / or proper operation of the duplexer 50. To this end, the controller can perform a calibration process by transmitting a known signal and adjusting the operation of the impedance tuner until the desired operation is achieved (e.g., until a threshold amount of isolation or isolation loss is achieved between the transmit and receive operations).

[0068] The receiver impedance inverter 88 can switch its impedance to a low-high impedance mode. For example, when the receiver impedance inverter 88 includes a quarter-wavelength waveguide, the impedance of the load on the quarter-wavelength waveguide can be based on the impedance at the input of the quarter-wavelength waveguide. Therefore, the higher the impedance of the load, the lower the impedance at the input (e.g., the inverse relationship between input and output impedance). Since the impedance of the receiver impedance gradient 80 can change the impedance seen at the output of the receiver impedance inverter when the receiver impedance inverter 88 is implemented as a waveguide, the impedance seen at the input of the receiver impedance inverter 88 can change in response to the setting of the impedance of the receiver impedance gradient 80.

[0069] At block 140, once each circuit is in its appropriate operating mode, the controller can continue to transmit control signals to ensure that the appropriate signal received by antenna 20 is transmitted through LNA 52. In other words, after transmitter impedance gradient 76 is set to high impedance mode and transmitter impedance tuner 78, receiver impedance gradient 80, and receiver impedance tuner 82 are set to low impedance mode, the controller can continue to instruct electronics 10 to perform scheduled reception operations. The received signal causes the combination of receiver impedance gradient 80 and receiver impedance tuner 82 to provide a generally higher impedance to the output of receiver impedance inverter 88 relative to the relatively low impedance of antenna 20 now receiving the signal, thereby enabling receiver impedance inverter 88 to operate in a high-low impedance mode (e.g., operating to provide low input impedance and high output impedance).

[0070] In some cases, a filter, including circuitry with duplexer 50, can improve isolation between transmit and receive operations. For example, when a certain amount of filtering is required, such as an isolation level greater than 30 dB, or between 50 dB and 60 dB, filtering circuitry can be added to duplexer 50 to provide a relatively large amount of isolation and increase the impedance matching between parts of the circuit (e.g., between receiver impedance gradient 80 and receiver impedance tuner 82). Any suitable filter can be used, such as notch filters, bandpass filters, n-channel filters, inductor-capacitor filters, bridge filters, etc.

[0071] For example, Figure 12 This is a block diagram of a duplexer 50 including filters 160 (e.g., filters 160A, filters 160B). Operation of the duplexer 50 in full-duplex mode, half-duplex mode, and / or various impedance modes can be combined with the operation of the duplexer 50 including filters 160. Furthermore, although not specifically shown, it should be noted that filters 160 may be selectively included in the duplexer 50 and can therefore be coupled to the circuitry of the duplexer 50 via, for example, switching circuitry (e.g., circuitry that enables or disables one or more filters 160 in response to a control signal from a controller).

[0072] Filter 160 may include any suitable filtering circuitry, and filter 160A may include the same or different filtering circuitry as filter 160B. Thus, each of the filters 160 may include the same or different combinations of resistors, inductors, capacitors, and / or switches to achieve the desired filtering operation. In some embodiments, multiple filters may be included. The corresponding filters may be selectively coupled to duplexer 50 as filters 160A and / or filter 160B. For example, determining which filter is more suitable for a particular application or communication frequency may result in the generation of control signals to couple or decouple certain filters from duplexer 50. In some cases, when electronic device 10 includes more than one duplexer 50, filter circuitry may be shared among the duplexers 50.

[0073] The operation of duplexer 50 can be similar to that described above. Filter 160 is coupled to the corresponding node of duplexer 50 to facilitate balancing of node voltages within duplexer 50, thereby improving isolation operation.

[0074] Specifically, as shown in the figure, filter 160A is coupled to the output of transmitter impedance gradient 76 and to the output of transmitter impedance tuner 78. Therefore, filter 160A can distribute charge between nodes, thereby making the voltages at the two nodes substantially similar. This voltage equalization between the corresponding nodes of duplexer 50 allows duplexer 50 to operate closer to ideal conditions, thereby improving the isolation between transmit and receive operations of duplexer 50, and thus improving the performance of duplexer 50 (and the performance of operation using either the transmit or receive signal).

[0075] Figure 13 This is a circuit diagram of an exemplary filter that can be used as filter 160A and / or filter 160B. Specifically, Figure 13 It is a bandpass filter 168, which includes one or more capacitors 170, one or more resistors 172, and / or one or more switches 174. The combination of capacitors 170 and resistors 172 coupled between the input (e.g., terminal 176) and output (e.g., terminal 178) of bandpass filter 168 can change which frequencies (e.g., frequency range) pass through bandpass filter 168 with negligible attenuation, and which frequencies are attenuated (e.g., blocked or filtered out) when passing through bandpass filter 168.

[0076] The controller of the electronic device 10 can individually open or close each of the switches 174 to change the frequency allowed to be transmitted from the bandpass filter 168. Specifically, the impedance of the bandpass filter 168 can be changed by altering a specific combination of capacitors 170, thereby changing the permissible frequency range.

[0077] It should be noted that each capacitor in capacitor 170 may have the same or different capacitance values. It should also be noted that the impedance of bandpass filter 168 may change over time and can therefore be adjusted to compensate for changes over time. For example, the controller of electronic device 10 may adjust which combination of switches 174 is closed to keep the impedance of bandpass filter 168 relatively constant over time (e.g., to compensate for impedance changes over time due to aging or use of duplexers and / or components of electronic device 10).

[0078] For the transmitter balun 58, when the bandpass filter 168 is included in the duplexer 50, terminal 176 can be coupled to the transmitter impedance gradient 76, and terminal 178 can be coupled to the transmitter impedance tuner 78. For the receiver balun 56, terminal 176 can be coupled to the receiver impedance gradient 80, and terminal 178 can be coupled to the receiver impedance tuner 82. When coupled in this way, filter 160A can be configured to allow a signal corresponding to the transmit frequency to pass through, while filter 160B can be configured to allow a signal corresponding to the receive frequency to pass through. Because the electronics 10 can adjust the corresponding impedance of filter 160 to compensate for impedance changes (e.g., due to aging) over time, the performance of filter 160 can be maintained over time.

[0079] Figure 14 This is a circuit diagram of another exemplary filter that can be used as filter 160A and / or filter 160B. Specifically, Figure 14 This is a notch filter 180 (e.g., a band-stop filter), which includes one or more capacitors 170, one or more resistors 172, and / or one or more switches 174. The combination of capacitors 170 and resistors 172 coupled between the input (e.g., terminal 176) and output (e.g., terminal 178) of the notch filter 180 can change which frequencies pass through the notch filter 180 with negligible attenuation, and which frequencies are attenuated (e.g., blocked or filtered out) when passing through the filter. The notch filter 180 may have a stopband that attenuates frequencies within a frequency range without attenuating signals outside that range. Thus, the notch filter 180 can virtually short-circuit frequencies within the stopband, thereby providing additional isolation and / or improved insertion loss (e.g., between -1 dB and -2 dB, -1.7 dB) between the operations of the duplexer 50. Similar to... Figure 13 The notch filter 180 can be configured by the controller of the electronic device using control signals. The controller can adjust the impedance of the notch filter 180 by switching appropriate combinations of capacitors 170, and thus adjust which frequencies are attenuated and which frequencies are allowed to pass. Terminals 176 and 178 can be similarly coupled to components of the duplexer 50, such as... Figure 13As stated above.

[0080] Figure 15 and Figure 16 The improvement in insertion loss and isolation when filter 160 is used in duplexer 50 is shown. Figure 15 This is a graph comparing the insertion loss and isolation of a duplexer 50 without filter 160 as a function of frequency. Figure 16 This is a graph comparing the insertion loss and isolation of a duplexer 50 with filter 160 as a function of frequency. For ease of explanation, [the graph is shown here]. Figure 15 and Figure 16 Describe them together.

[0081] exist Figure 16 The text emphasizes the effect of including filter 160 in duplexer 50. Specifically, when using filter 160, the isolation is relatively more targeted and greater. For example, the isolation of duplexer 50 without filter 160 is... Figure 15 At a frequency of 190, it is approximately -20 dB, but... Figure 16 At a frequency of 190, the loss is approximately -50 dB, highlighting the improvement achieved through the inclusion of filter 160. Furthermore, isolation loss is also improved. For example, Figure 16 An isolation loss of approximately -1.7 dB is shown, which is an improvement over the -2 dB isolation loss that is at least partly due to the absence of filter 160.

[0082] The technical effects of the systems and methods described herein include improved isolation between receive and transmit operations using a duplexer. The duplexer may include an impedance inverter for isolating operations beyond those provided by a combination of impedance gradients and impedance tuners of the transmit and receive baluns. Furthermore, in some cases, the duplexer may include filter circuitry coupled to corresponding nodes within the duplexer to further improve insertion loss and / or isolation associated with the duplexer's transmit and / or receive operations.

[0083] The specific embodiments described above have been illustrated by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments are permissible with various modifications and alternatives. For example, the method can be applied to embodiments with different numbers and / or locations of antennas, different groups, and / or different networks. It should also be understood that the claims are not intended to limit the specific forms disclosed, but are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of this disclosure.

[0084] The techniques described herein and protected by the claims are referenced and applied to specific examples of physical and practical nature, which significantly improve the technical field and are therefore not abstract, intangible, or purely theoretical. Furthermore, if any claim appended to the end of this specification contains one or more elements designated as "means for [performing] [function]..." or "steps for [performing] [function]...", those elements shall be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f). However, for any claim containing elements designated in any other manner, those elements shall not be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f).

Claims

1. An electronic device, the electronic device comprising: A first converter, the first converter including a first winding, a second winding and a third winding; A transmitter impedance inverter is coupled to the antenna circuit and a terminal of the third winding; A first amplifier is configured to be coupled to the transmitter impedance inverter via the first converter, wherein the first amplifier is coupled to a first terminal of the first winding and a first terminal of the second winding; as well as A first filter, coupled to the first converter at the second terminal of the first winding and the second terminal of the second winding, is configured to modulate a first signal from the first amplifier based on the signal being transmitted to the transmitter impedance inverter.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising: Receiver impedance inverter; The second amplifier is configured to be coupled to the receiver impedance inverter via a second converter; as well as A second filter, coupled to the second converter, is configured to modulate the second signal going to the second amplifier based on the signal being transmitted from the receiver impedance inverter.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the first amplifier comprises a power amplifier, and wherein the second amplifier comprises a low-noise amplifier.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising: Transmitter impedance tuner; Transmitter impedance gradient; as well as The receiver impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance gradient, and the receiver impedance tuner are operable in a low-impedance mode to enable the transmitter impedance inverter to operate in a low-high impedance mode, the low-high impedance mode being configured to prevent signals received via the antenna circuit from being transmitted to the first amplifier.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising: The transmitter impedance gradient is coupled to the second terminal of the first winding; as well as The transmitter impedance tuner is coupled to the second terminal of the second winding.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first filter comprises a notch filter, a bandpass filter, or any combination thereof.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first filter comprises an n-path filter, a bridge filter, or any combination thereof.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first filter comprises an inductor-capacitor filter.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first filter comprises one or more switches, one or more resistors, one or more capacitors, or combinations thereof configured to change the impedance of the first filter.

10. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising: Transmitter impedance tuner; Transmitter impedance gradient; as well as The receiver impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance gradient, and the receiver impedance tuner are operable in a low-impedance mode to enable the transmitter impedance inverter to operate in a low-high impedance mode, which is configured to prevent signals received at the antenna circuit from being transmitted.

11. The device of claim 10, further comprising a controller coupled to a duplexer, the duplexer including the transmitter impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance gradient, the receiver impedance tuner, and the transmitter impedance inverter, the controller being configured to: Receive an instruction to transmit a signal from the antenna circuit through the receiver balun to the receiver; Operate the receiver impedance gradient in high impedance mode; The transmitter impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance gradient, and the receiver impedance tuner are operated in the low impedance mode. as well as The receiver receives the signal that passes through the receiver balun from the antenna circuit.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured such that the receiver receives the signal passing through the receiver balun from the antenna circuit via a filter.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the filter comprises a notch filter, a bandpass filter, or any combination thereof.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the filter comprises an n-path filter, a bridge filter, or any combination thereof.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the filter comprises an inductor-capacitor filter.

16. The device of claim 10, further comprising a controller coupled to a duplexer, the duplexer including the transmitter impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance gradient, the receiver impedance tuner, and the transmitter impedance inverter, the controller being configured to: An indication that the received signal will be received within the frequency range, and Operate the transmitter impedance tuner, the receiver impedance tuner, the transmitter impedance inverter, or any combination thereof in relation to the frequency range.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to prevent the signal transmitted in the frequency range from reaching at least the transmitter by operating the transmitter impedance inverter in the low-high impedance mode, at least in part.

18. A duplexer, the duplexer comprising: The transmitter impedance gradient is coupled to the first winding of the converter; A transmitter impedance tuner is coupled to the second winding of the converter; A transmitter impedance inverter is coupled to the third winding of the converter; as well as A first amplifier, coupled to the first winding and the second winding, is configured to transmit a signal to the transmitter impedance inverter via the first winding, the second winding, or both and the third winding.

19. The duplexer according to claim 18, comprising: The receiver impedance gradient is coupled to the fourth winding of the converter; The receiver impedance tuner is coupled to the fifth winding of the converter; The receiver impedance inverter is coupled to the sixth winding of the converter; as well as The second amplifier is coupled to the fourth and fifth windings of the converter.

20. The duplexer of claim 19, comprising a filter coupled to the fourth winding, the fifth winding, the receiver impedance gradient, and the receiver impedance tuner.

21. The duplexer of claim 18, comprising a filter coupled to the first winding and coupled to the second winding.

22. The duplexer of claim 21, wherein the filter is configured to modulate the signal emitted from the first amplifier based on a configurable impedance.

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