Mixer applied to satellite-borne communication chip

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuits, and particularly relates to a frequency mixer applied to a satellite-borne wireless communication system. The circuit structure of the mixer comprises an anti-radiation mixer core circuit, a power detection circuit, an analog-to-digital converter and a control module circuit. An input signal is input to the anti-radiation mixer core circuit, and an output signal is generated and output to the power detection circuit. The power detection circuit processes the received signal, outputs a processing result to the analog-to-digital converter, receives an instruction of the control module circuit and generates an output signal of the whole circuit; the analog-to-digital converter converts a processing result output by the power detection circuit into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the control module circuit; the control module circuit performs judgment according to the input digital signal, generates a control signal for controlling the working mode of the anti-radiation mixer core circuit, and generates a control signal for controlling the power detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter; the radiation-proof mixer core circuit is composed of two identical double-balanced mixers and four numerical control single-pole double-throw switches. Switching of the two paths of mixer circuits is controlled by a numerical control single-pole double-throw switch, and by applying the structure, the circuit failure probability caused by space irradiation can be remarkably reduced, and the anti-irradiation performance and the stability of the circuit are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuits, and particularly relates to a mixer. Background Art

[0002] A mixer is an important component of a phased array transceiver system. Its function is to mix two electrical signals with different frequencies to generate a new frequency signal. It is mainly used to perform spectral shifting on the signals received by the RF front-end using the local oscillator signal, such as converting high-frequency signals into intermediate-frequency signals or baseband signals to facilitate signal processing and transmission. Therefore, the performance of the mixer is crucial for the performance of the overall RF communication system.

[0003] Mixers are mainly divided into passive mixers and active mixers. Among them, the passive double-balanced mixer has good port-to-port isolation performance and a relatively simple architecture. For most applications, the double-balanced mixer can achieve the best trade-off among isolation, linearity, and noise figure, and has a wide bandwidth, high dynamic range, low noise figure, and high port-to-port isolation, making it the most cost-effective and popular choice.

[0004] Currently, the increasingly widespread communication application fields have put forward more requirements for phased array transceiver systems and mixer circuits. In the aerospace field, the working environment of spaceborne chips is the strongly irradiated space. The circuit modules in the chips are affected by irradiation, having a higher failure probability and a shorter expected lifespan. Therefore, it is imperative to pay attention to the special working environment of spaceborne chips in the aerospace field, study chip anti-irradiation technologies, and improve the stability and reliability of the system. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to propose an anti-irradiation mixer applied to spaceborne communication chips.

[0006] The mixer proposed by the present invention has a circuit structure including: an anti-irradiation mixer core circuit, a power detection circuit, an analog-to-digital converter, and a control module circuit; an input signal is input to the anti-irradiation mixer core circuit to generate an output signal and output it to the power detection circuit; the power detection circuit processes the signal it receives, outputs the processing result to the analog-to-digital converter, and receives instructions from the control module circuit to generate the output signal of the overall circuit; the analog-to-digital converter converts the processing result output by the power detection circuit into a digital signal and outputs it to the control module circuit; the control module circuit makes a judgment based on the input digital signal, generates a control signal for controlling the working mode of the anti-irradiation mixer core circuit, and generates control signals for controlling the power detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter.

[0007] In the present invention, the anti-irradiation mixer core circuit consists of two mixers and 4 numerically controlled single-pole double-throw switches; the circuit structures of the two mixers are exactly the same, and both adopt the basic double-balanced mixer architecture.

[0008] The mixer designed in the present invention generally has two mutually backup mixer circuits. The two mixers are mutually backup and can be switched by changing the connection state of the single-pole double-throw switch under the control of the system, thereby effectively reducing the failure probability of the overall circuit and improving the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the anti-radiation mixer of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the core circuit of the anti-radiation mixer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. In the various drawings, the same elements are denoted by like reference numerals. For the sake of clarity, the various parts in the drawings are not drawn to scale. In addition, some well-known parts may not be shown in the figures.

[0012] In the following, many specific details of the present invention are described, such as the structure, materials, dimensions, processing techniques and technologies of the devices, in order to understand the present invention more clearly. However, as those skilled in the art can understand, the present invention can be implemented without these specific details.

[0013] Figure 1 It shows a schematic structural diagram of the spaceborne anti-radiation mixer of the present invention.

[0014] As Figure 1 shown, the spaceborne anti-radiation mixer 100 in the present invention includes an anti-radiation mixer core circuit 101, a power detection circuit 102, a control module 103, and an analog-to-digital converter 104. The power supply voltage VDD is connected to the anti-radiation mixer core circuit 101, the differential input signals Vi+ and Vi- are input to the anti-radiation mixer core circuit 101, the anti-radiation mixer core circuit 101 outputs Vo+’ and Vo-’ and transmits them to the power detection circuit 102, the outputs Vo+ and Vo- of the power detection circuit 102 are used as the output signals of the entire mixer circuit, the power detection circuit 102 outputs pdout and transmits it to the analog-to-digital converter 104, the analog-to-digital converter 104 outputs adout and transmits it to the control module 103, the control module 103 outputs Ctrl<1:4> and transmits it to the anti-radiation mixer core circuit 101, the control module 103 outputs Ctrl5 and transmits it to the power detection circuit 102, and the control module 103 outputs Ctrl6 and transmits it to the analog-to-digital converter 104.

[0015] Figure 2 It shows a schematic diagram of the core circuit of the anti-radiation mixer in the present invention.

[0016] As Figure 2 shown, the core circuit of the anti-radiation mixer includes a total of 4 single-pole double-throw switches S1-4 and 8 transistors M1-M8; M1-4 are the mixer branch 1 (105), and M5-8 are the mixer branch 2 (106); the input signal Vi+ is connected to the moving end of switch S1, and the input signal Vi- is connected to the moving end of switch S3; the fixed end 1.1 of S1 is connected to the source ends of transistors M1 and M2; the gate ends of M1 and M2 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO+ and LO-, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.1 of S2 and 4.1 of S4; the fixed end 1.2 of S1 is connected to the source ends of transistors M5 and M6; the gate ends of M5 and M6 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO+ and LO-, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.2 of S2 and 4.2 of S4; the fixed end 3.1 of S3 is connected to the source ends of transistors M3 and M4; the gate ends of M3 and M4 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO- and LO+, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.1 of S2 and 4.1 of S4; the fixed end 3.2 of S3 is connected to the source ends of transistors M7 and M8; the gate ends of M7 and M8 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO- and LO+, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.2 of S2 and 4.2 of S4; the moving ends of S2 and S4 are used as the outputs of this circuit module, which are Vo+' and Vo-' respectively; the switching of switches S1-4 is controlled by the control signal output by the control module to flexibly switch the actually working mixer circuit: mixer branch 1 (105) or mixer branch 2 (106), thereby improving the circuit reliability and enhancing the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system.

Claims

1. A mixer applied to a spaceborne communication chip, characterized in that The circuit structure includes: an anti-radiation mixer core circuit, a power detection circuit, an analog-to-digital converter, and a control module circuit; an input signal is input into the anti-radiation mixer core circuit, and an output signal is generated and output to the power detection circuit; the power detection circuit processes the signal it receives, outputs the processing result to the analog-to-digital converter, and receives instructions from the control module circuit to generate the output signal of the overall circuit; the analog-to-digital converter converts the processing result output by the power detection circuit into a digital signal and outputs it to the control module circuit; the control module circuit makes a judgment based on the input digital signal, generates a control signal for controlling the working mode of the anti-radiation mixer core circuit, and generates control signals for controlling the power detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter.

2. The anti-radiation mixer applied to the spaceborne communication chip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The anti-radiation mixer core circuit consists of two mixers and four numerically controlled single-pole double-throw switches; the circuit structures of the two mixers are exactly the same, and both adopt the basic double-balanced mixer architecture. The two mixer circuits are backup to each other and can be switched by changing the connection state of the single-pole double-throw switches under the control of the system, so as to effectively reduce the failure probability of the overall circuit and improve the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system.

3. The anti-radiation mixer applied to the spaceborne communication chip according to claim 2, wherein The anti-radiation mixer core circuit includes a total of four single-pole double-throw switches S1 - 4 and eight transistors M1 - M8; M1 - 4 are the mixer branch 1, and M5 - 8 are the mixer branch 2; the input signal Vi+ is connected to the moving end of switch S1, and the input signal Vi- is connected to the moving end of switch S3; the fixed end 1.1 of S1 is connected to the source ends of transistors M1 and M2; the gate ends of M1 and M2 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO+ and LO-, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.1 of S2 and 4.1 of S4; the fixed end 1.2 of S1 is connected to the source ends of transistors M5 and M6; the gate ends of M5 and M6 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO+ and LO-, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.2 of S2 and 4.2 of S4; the fixed end 3.1 of S3 is connected to the source ends of transistors M3 and M4; the gate ends of M3 and M4 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO- and LO+, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.1 of S2 and 4.1 of S4; the fixed end 3.2 of S3 is connected to the source ends of transistors M7 and M8; the gate ends of M7 and M8 are respectively connected to the local oscillator signals LO- and LO+, and the drain ends are respectively connected to the fixed ends 2.2 of S2 and 4.2 of S4; the moving ends of S2 and S4 are used as the outputs of this circuit module, which are Vo+’ and Vo-’ respectively; the switching of switches S1 - 4 is controlled by the control signal output by the control module, so as to flexibly switch the actually working mixer circuit (mixer branch 1 or mixer branch 2), thereby improving the circuit reliability and enhancing the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system.

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