Attenuator applied to satellite-borne communication chip

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuits, and particularly relates to an anti-radiation attenuator applied to a satellite-borne wireless communication system. The circuit structure of the attenuator comprises a radiation-proof attenuator 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 attenuator 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 signal 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 attenuator core circuit, and generates a control signal for controlling the signal detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter; the anti-radiation attenuator core is composed of two identical switch embedded attenuators and two numerical control single-pole double-throw switches. Switching of the two attenuators 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 an attenuator. Background Art

[0002] An attenuator is an important component in a phased array transceiver system, mainly used in the amplitude control module of the system. It can not only suppress side lobes to obtain a better beam synthesis effect, but also compensate for the amplitude error caused by a phase shifter. Therefore, it has an important position in the system. The performance of the attenuator is directly related to key indicators such as the beam pointing and beam width of the phased array system. With the rapid development of phased array communication and radar systems, the performance requirements for attenuators are becoming increasingly strict.

[0003] The common structures of attenuators are SPDT gating type distributed and switch-embedded type; the switch-embedded attenuator uses MOS transistors as switches embedded in a resistive attenuation network to control attenuation. This structure can achieve low insertion loss in a wide frequency band range and can also achieve high-precision attenuation in a large attenuation range, making it the best structure choice for attenuators in many application scenarios.

[0004] Currently, the increasingly extensive communication application fields have put forward more requirements for phased array transceiver systems and attenuator 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 technology, 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 attenuator applied to spaceborne communication chips.

[0006] The attenuator proposed by the present invention has a circuit structure including: an anti-irradiation attenuator 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 attenuator core circuit, generating an output signal that is 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 an instruction from the control module circuit to generate an output signal of the overall circuit; the analog-to-digital converter converts the processing result output by the signal 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 attenuator core circuit, and generates control signals for the control signal detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter.

[0007] In the present invention, the core circuit of the anti-radiation attenuator consists of two attenuators and two numerically controlled single-pole double-throw switches; the two attenuators have exactly the same structure and both adopt the basic 6-bit switch-embedded attenuator architecture, which is composed of 6 sub-attenuators to control the power attenuation states of 0.5 dB, 1 dB, 2 dB, 4 dB, 8 dB, and 16 dB.

[0008] The attenuator designed in the present invention generally has two mutually backup attenuator paths. The two attenuators 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, thus effectively reducing the probability of overall circuit failure and enhancing 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 attenuator of the present invention.

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

[0011] The present invention will be described in more detail hereinafter 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] Many specific details of the present invention, such as the structure, materials, dimensions, processing techniques, and technologies of the devices, are described hereinafter 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 attenuator of the present invention.

[0014] As Figure 1As shown in the figure, the spaceborne radiation-hardened attenuator 100 in the present invention includes a radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit 101, a signal detection circuit 102, a control module 103, and an analog-to-digital converter 104. The power supply voltage VDD is connected to the radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit 101. The input signal Vi is input to the radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit 101. The output Vo' of the radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit 101 is transmitted to the power detection circuit 102. The output Vo of the power detection circuit 102 is used as the output signal of the entire attenuator circuit. The output pdout of the signal detection circuit 102 is transmitted to the analog-to-digital converter 104. The output adout of the analog-to-digital converter 104 is transmitted to the control module 103. The control module 103 outputs Ctrl<1:2> and transmits it to the radiation-hardened ring oscillator core circuit 101. The control module 103 outputs Ctrl3 and transmits it to the signal detection circuit 102. The control module 103 outputs Ctrl4 and transmits it to the analog-to-digital converter 104.

[0015] Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit in the present invention is shown.

[0016] As Figure 2 shown, the radiation-hardened attenuator core circuit includes a total of 2 single-pole double-throw switches S1-2, 24 transistors M1-M24, 52 resistors, 10 inductors L1-10, and 16 capacitors. Six stages (ATT1-ATT6) of sub-attenuators form attenuator path one. Six stages (ATT7-ATT12) of sub-attenuators form attenuator path two. Among them, the ATT1-4 (ATT7-10) sub-attenuators adopt the basic T-type attenuator configuration. The ATT5-6 (ATT11-12) sub-attenuators adopt the basic Π-type attenuator configuration.

[0017] As Figure 2As shown in the figure, in the core circuit of the anti-radiation attenuator, the structures of the ATT1 (ATT7) and ATT2 (ATT8) sub-attenuators are exactly the same: taking ATT2 as an example, the substrate of transistor M1 is connected to the source terminal through a resistor and grounded, and the drain terminal of transistor M1 is connected to the main path of the first attenuator path through an RC parallel circuit; the structures of the ATT3 (ATT9) and ATT4 (ATT10) sub-attenuators are exactly the same: taking ATT3 as an example, the substrate of transistor M2 is connected to the source terminal through a resistor and grounded, and the drain terminal of transistor M2 is connected to node x through an RC parallel circuit. Node x is connected to the source and drain terminals of transistor M9 through resistors respectively, and is also connected to the main path of the first attenuator path. The substrate of transistor M9 is grounded through a resistor; the structures of the ATT5 (ATT11) and ATT6 (ATT12) sub-attenuators are exactly the same: taking ATT5 as an example, the substrates of transistors M4-5 are connected to the source terminals through resistors respectively and grounded, and the drain terminals of transistors M4-5 are connected to the source and drain terminals of transistor M11 through an RC parallel circuit respectively, and are also connected to the main path of the first attenuator path. The substrate of transistor M11 is grounded through a resistor, and its source and drain terminals are connected through a resistor.

[0018] As Figure 2 shown in the figure, in the core circuit of the anti-radiation attenuator, the input signal Vi is input to the moving terminal of switch S1; the fixed terminal 1.1 of switch S1 is connected to the ATT2 sub-attenuator 201. ATT2 is connected to the ATT3 sub-attenuator 202 through inductor L1. ATT3 is connected to the ATT4 sub-attenuator 203 through inductor L2. ATT4 is connected to the ATT5 sub-attenuator 204 through inductor L3. ATT5 is connected to the ATT6 sub-attenuator 205 through inductor L4. ATT6 is connected to the ATT1 sub-attenuator 206 through inductor L5. ATT1 is connected to the fixed terminal 2.1 of switch S2; the fixed terminal 1.2 of switch S1 is connected to the ATT8 sub-attenuator 207. ATT8 is connected to the ATT9 sub-attenuator 208 through inductor L6. ATT9 is connected to the ATT10 sub-attenuator 209 through inductor L7. ATT10 is connected to the ATT11 sub-attenuator 210 through inductor L8. ATT11 is connected to the ATT12 sub-attenuator 211 through inductor L9. ATT12 is connected to the ATT7 sub-attenuator 212 through inductor L10. ATT7 is connected to the fixed terminal 2.2 of switch S2; the moving terminal of switch S2 outputs the output signal Vo' of this circuit; the switching of switches S1-2 is controlled by the control signal output by the control module, so as to flexibly switch the actually working attenuator path, thereby improving the circuit reliability and enhancing the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system.

Claims

1. An attenuator applied to a spaceborne communication chip, characterized in that, The circuit structure includes: an anti-radiation attenuator core circuit, a power detection circuit, an analog-to-digital converter, and a control module circuit; the input signal is input into the anti-radiation attenuator 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 the instruction 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 signal 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 attenuator core circuit, and generates control signals for the control signal detection circuit and the analog-to-digital converter.

2. The anti-irradiation attenuator applied to the spaceborne communication chip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The anti-radiation attenuator core circuit is composed of two attenuators and two numerically controlled single-pole double-throw switches; the two attenuators have exactly the same structure, both adopting a 6-bit switch-embedded attenuator architecture, consisting of 6 sub-attenuators, controlling the power attenuation states of 0.5dB, 1dB, 2dB, 4dB, 8dB, and 16dB; the two attenuators are backup to each other 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.

3. The attenuator applied to the on-board communication chip according to claim 2, characterized in that, The anti-radiation attenuator core circuit includes a total of 2 single-pole double-throw switches S1-2, 24 transistors M1-M24, 52 resistors, 10 inductors L1-10, and 16 capacitors; 6 stages (ATT1-6) of sub-attenuators constitute the first attenuator path; 6 stages (ATT7-12) of sub-attenuators constitute the second attenuator path; Among them, the ATT1-4 (ATT7-10) sub-attenuators adopt the basic T-type attenuator configuration; the ATT5-6 (ATT11-12) sub-attenuators adopt the basic Π-type attenuator configuration.

4. The attenuator applied to the spaceborne communication chip according to claim 3, characterized in that In the anti-radiation attenuator core circuit, the input signal is connected to the moving end of switch S1; the fixed end 1.1 of switch S1 is connected to the ATT2 sub-attenuator, ATT2 is connected to the ATT3 sub-attenuator through inductor L1, ATT3 is connected to the ATT4 sub-attenuator through inductor L2, ATT4 is connected to the ATT5 sub-attenuator through inductor L3, ATT5 is connected to the ATT6 sub-attenuator through inductor L4, ATT6 is connected to the ATT1 sub-attenuator through inductor L5, and ATT1 is connected to the fixed end 2.1 of switch S2; the fixed end 1.2 of switch S1 is connected to the ATT8 sub-attenuator, ATT8 is connected to the ATT9 sub-attenuator through inductor L6, ATT9 is connected to the ATT10 sub-attenuator through inductor L7, ATT10 is connected to the ATT11 sub-attenuator through inductor L8, ATT11 is connected to the ATT12 sub-attenuator through inductor L9, ATT12 is connected to the ATT7 sub-attenuator through inductor L10, and ATT7 is connected to the fixed end 2.2 of switch S2; the moving end of switch S2 is used as the output of this circuit module; the switching of switches S1-2 is controlled by the control signal output by the control module, so as to flexibly switch the actually working attenuator channels, thereby improving the circuit reliability and enhancing the anti-radiation performance and stability of the system.

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