Resonators, filters, and multiplexers

Abstract

The present application discloses a resonator, a filter and a multiplexer, the resonator comprising an LC resonator unit including a resonator element, the LC resonator unit having a first part, a second part and an interface between the first part and the second part for connecting the first part and the second part, and an embedded resonator unit connected to be embedded in the LC resonator unit via the interface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with an application number of 202210305981.5, which was filed with the Chinese Patent Office on March 25, 2022, and all the contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The embodiments of this application relate to the technical field of signal processing, for example, related to resonators, filters, and multiplexers.

Background Art

[0003] Filters are widely applied in integrated circuits. In conventional filters in integrated circuits, there is a problem that it is difficult to improve the performance of the filter because the space for placing the filter in the integrated circuit is limited. A resonator is a basic unit in the design of a filter, that is, a filter may include a plurality of resonators. In general, a resonator is a two-port device. Exemplarily, FIG. 1 is a circuit schematic diagram of a resonator according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the resonator includes a first inductor L1 and a first capacitor C1, and the first inductor L1 and the first capacitor C1 are connected in series to form a resonator. FIG. 2 is a circuit schematic diagram of another resonator according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, the resonator includes a first inductor L1 and a first capacitor C1, and the first inductor L1 and the first capacitor C1 are connected in parallel to form a resonator. FIG. 3 is a circuit schematic diagram of another resonator according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 3, the resonator includes a first inductor L1, a first capacitor C1, and a second capacitor C2. After the first inductor L1 and the first capacitor C1 are connected in parallel, they are connected in series to the second capacitor C2 to form a resonator. Among them, FIGS. 1 to 3 are only one example of the resonator. In other resonators, an inductor or a capacitor may be additionally increased on the first inductor L1 and the first capacitor C1 to form a resonator.

[0004] When a filter has multiple resonators, the resonators can be connected in series or in parallel. Figure 4 is a schematic circuit diagram of a filter relating to the relevant technology. As shown in Figure 4, the filter may have a first resonator A and a second resonator B, where the first resonator A is connected in series between the first end IN and the second end OUT of the filter, and the second resonator B is connected in parallel to the second end OUT of the filter. Therefore, the resonators may be connected in series or in parallel in the filter, and in this case, the connection method of the resonators in the filter is fixed, and the filtering performance of the first resonator A and the second resonator B directly affects the filtering performance of the filter. At the same time, when different resonators are connected in series or in parallel in the filter, the connection structure between the resonators occupies a large space, which is disadvantageous for filter integration. [Overview of the project]

[0005] This invention provides a resonator, filter, and multiplexer for improving the filtering effect of a resonator and simultaneously saving the space occupied by the resonator.

[0006] The embodiments of this application are as follows: An LC resonant unit comprising a resonant element, having a first part, a second part, and an interface between the first part and the second part that connects the first part and the second part, The present invention provides a resonator comprising an embedded resonant unit connected to the LC resonant unit via the aforementioned interface so as to be embedded within it.

[0007] Preferably, the resonant element is an inductive element in which the interface is provided at the center and the interface divides it into a first part and a second part.

[0008] Preferably, the resonant element comprises at least a first capacitive element and a second capacitive element connected in series and having the interface formed at the series connection point, wherein the first capacitive element constitutes the first part and the second capacitive element constitutes the second part.

[0009] Preferably, the interface comprises a first interface and a second interface, and the embedded resonant unit is connected in series between the first interface and the second interface.

[0010] Preferably, the embedded resonant unit has its first end connected to the interface and its second end connected to the reference potential terminal.

[0011] Preferably, the resonant element in the LC resonant unit and the resonant element in the embedded resonant unit are the same or different.

[0012] Preferably, the embedded resonant unit comprises at least an inductive element and / or a capacitive element, or at least one of a surface acoustic wave resonator and a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator.

[0013] Embodiments of the present invention further provide a filter comprising the resonator described in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Embodiments of the present application further provide a multiplexer comprising the filter described in the embodiment of the present application. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a schematic circuit diagram of a resonator related to the relevant technology. [Figure 2] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator related to the same technology. [Figure 3] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator related to the same technology. [Figure 4] This is a schematic circuit diagram of a filter related to the relevant technology. [Figure 5] This is a schematic circuit diagram of a resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator related to the same technology. [Figure 8]This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] This is a schematic diagram comparing the filtering performance of the resonator shown in Figure 7 and the resonator shown in Figure 8. [Figure 10] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] This is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multiplexer according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] The present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for interpretation purposes and do not limit the present application. Furthermore, the drawings show only the parts relevant to the present application, not the entire structure.

[0017] Figure 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of a resonator according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the resonator comprises at least one LC resonant unit 110 and at least one embedded resonant unit 120, the at least one LC resonant unit 110 comprising at least one resonant element 111, the at least one resonant element 111 comprising a first portion 111A, a second portion 111B and an interface D between the first portion 111A and the second portion 111B, the interface D connecting the first portion 111A and the second portion 111B, and the at least one embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the at least one LC resonant unit 110 via the interface D so as to be embedded.

[0018] FIG. 5 illustratively shows that the resonator includes one LC resonance unit 110 and one embedded resonance unit 120. The LC resonance unit 110 is composed of an inductive element and a capacitive element. Illustratively, the LC resonance unit 110 is composed by connecting one inductive element and one capacitive element in parallel. The resonance element 111 may be an inductive element or a capacitive element connected in series. The resonance element 111 may be divided into a first portion 111A and a second portion 111B by an interface D, and the first portion 111A and the second portion 111B are connected via the interface D, whereby the resonance element 111 becomes an integrated one. When the resonance element 111 has the interface D, the embedded resonance unit 120 may be connected to the interface D, thereby enabling the embedded resonance unit 120 to be connected so as to be embedded in the LC resonance unit 110 via the interface D. At this time, the LC resonance unit 110 and the embedded resonance unit 120, as part of the resonator, simultaneously perform filtering on the input signal, not only guaranteeing the filtering performance of the resonator, but also the embedded resonance unit 120 is connected so as to be embedded in the LC resonance unit 110 via the interface D, whereby the elements in the embedded resonance unit 120 and the elements in the LC resonance unit 110 can form a new resonance unit, and by performing filtering on the input signal with the new resonance unit, not only can the filtering effect of the resonator be improved, but also the transmission zero point of the filter signal can be increased, and the filtering performance of the filter can be further improved.

[0019] Note that FIG. 5 is only one example of the resonator. In other embodiments, the LC resonance unit 110 may be configured by connecting one inductive element and one capacitive element in series. The resonator may include a plurality of LC resonance units 110 and / or a plurality of embedded resonance units 120. The plurality of LC resonance units 110 may be connected in series and / or in parallel. The embedded resonance unit 120 may be embedded in different LC resonance units 110, or different embedded resonance units 120 may be connected to each other and then connected to be embedded in the LC resonance unit 110. Also, the number and connection relationship of the inductive element and the capacitive element in each LC resonance unit 110 may be the same or different. Similarly, the number and connection relationship of the resonance elements in each embedded resonance unit 120 may be the same or different.

[0020] The technical solution of this embodiment is to provide an interface for the resonance elements in the LC resonance unit, and connect the embedded resonance unit to be embedded in the LC resonance unit through the interface, so that the LC resonance unit and the embedded unit can simultaneously filter the input signal, not only ensuring the filtering performance of the resonator, but also enabling the elements in the embedded resonance unit and the elements in the LC resonance unit to form a new resonance unit, and by filtering the input signal with the new resonance unit, not only can the filtering effect of the resonator be improved, but also the transmission zero point of the filtered signal can be increased, and the filtering performance of the filter can be further improved.

[0021] Exemplarily, FIG. 6 is a circuit schematic diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the resonance element 111 is an inductive element, and an interface D is provided at the central portion of the inductive element. The inductive element is divided into a first portion 111A and a second portion 111B by the interface D.

[0022] The resonant element 111 may be an inductive element. By providing an interface D in the center of the inductive element, it becomes possible to divide the inductive element into a first part 111A and a second part 111B. By connecting an embedded resonant unit 120 to interface D, the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the LC resonant unit 110 via interface D in the inductive element, thereby allowing the elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 and the elements in the LC resonant unit 110 to form a new resonant unit. Furthermore, by filtering the input signal with this new resonant unit, the filtering effect of the resonator can be improved, and at the same time, the transmission zeros of the filter signal can be increased, further improving the filtering performance of the filter. Simultaneously, since the first part 111A and the second part 111B of the inductive element are connected via interface D, the overall inductance value of the inductive element remains unchanged, guaranteeing the performance of the resonator and providing an advantage in resonator design.

[0023] Exemplary, the inductive element may be an inductor. In the LC resonant unit 110, the inductor and the capacitive element are connected in parallel, and when designing the LC resonant unit 110, one inductor can be designed and an interface D can be formed in the center of the inductor for connection to an embedded resonant unit 120, thereby reducing the overall space occupied by the inductor and the embedded resonant unit 120, and further saving space occupied by the resonator. Exemplary, when forming the inductor, if the inductor is a three-dimensional inductor structure, the inductor comprises at least two conductive layers, and multiple conductive layers are electrically connected to form the inductor, in which case the interface D may be provided at the connection points between different conductive layers. If the inductor is a two-dimensional inductor structure, the inductor may comprise multiple coils, and the interface D may be provided at the connection points between different coils.

[0024] When interface D is provided at the center of the inductive element, the embedded resonant unit 120 can be connected to the LC resonant unit 110 in series or parallel.

[0025] Continuing with Figure 6, Figure 6 illustrates that interface D comprises a first interface D1 and a second interface D2, and that the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected in series between the first interface D1 and the second interface D2.

[0026] The embedded resonant unit 120 may be connected to the LC resonant unit 110 in series, in which case the first interface D1 is connected to the first end of the embedded resonant unit 120, and the second interface D2 is connected to the second end of the embedded resonant unit 120, and the first part 111A and the second part 111B are connected by the embedded resonant unit 120, and the total inductive value of the first part 111A and the second part 111B is the sum of the inductive value of the first part 111A and the inductive value of the second part 111B, that is, the first part 111A Furthermore, the overall inductive value of the second section 111B remains unchanged, and by connecting the embedded resonant unit 120 so that it is embedded, the elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 and the elements in the LC resonant unit 110 can be made to constitute a new resonant unit. By filtering the input signal with the new resonant unit, not only can the filtering effect of the resonator be improved, but at the same time, the transmission zeros of the filter signal can be increased, further improving the filtering performance of the filter.

[0027] For illustrative purposes, Figure 7 is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator relating to related technology, Figure 8 is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator relating to an embodiment of the present application, and Figure 9 is a schematic diagram comparing the filtering performance of the resonator relating to Figure 7 and the resonator relating to Figure 8. In these diagrams, the horizontal coordinate is frequency, and the vertical coordinate is insertion loss. Curve 1 is the performance curve of the resonator relating to related technology, and curve 2 is the performance curve of the resonator relating to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figures 7 to 9, the LC resonant unit 110 in the resonator comprises an A inductor LA and an A capacitor CA connected in parallel, and the embedded resonant unit 120 comprises a B capacitor CB, a C capacitor CC, a D capacitor CD, an E capacitor CE, and a B inductor LB. The B capacitor CB and the C capacitor CC are connected in series between the first and second ends of the embedded resonant unit 120, the D capacitor CD is connected in parallel with the B capacitor CB and the C capacitor CC, the first end of the E capacitor CE is connected to the series connection point of the B capacitor CB and the C capacitor CC, the second end of the E capacitor CE is connected to the first end of the B inductor LB, and the second end of the B inductor LB is connected to one reference potential terminal. Figures 7 and 8 exemplify that the reference potential terminal is the reference ground GND. In related art, as shown in Figure 7, the LC resonant unit 110 and the embedded resonant unit 120 are connected in series. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 8, the A inductor LA of the LC resonant unit 110 is provided with a first interface D1 and a second interface D2, and the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected in series between the first interface D1 and the second interface D2. As can be seen from curves 1 and 2, on one side greater than the frequency range of the passband, the slope of the roll-off of curve 2 is greater than the slope of the roll-off of curve 1, that is, the steepness of curve 2 is greater than the steepness of curve 1, and as a result the filtering effect of the resonator according to this embodiment is superior to the filtering effect of the resonator according to related technologies. Furthermore, compared to curve 1, the number of transmission zeros is increased in curve 2, further improving the filtering effect of the resonator according to this embodiment.As can be seen from this, by connecting the embedded resonant unit 120 to the LC resonant unit 110 via interface D, it is possible to improve the filtering effect of the resonator, taking into account resonators related to related technologies, and at the same time increase the zero points of signal transmission of the filter, thereby further improving the filtering performance of the filter.

[0028] Figure 10 is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the first end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to interface D, and the second end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the reference potential terminal V1.

[0029] The embedded resonant unit 120 may be connected to the resonator in a parallel connection manner, that is, the first end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to interface D, and the second end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to reference potential terminal V1. In this case, the first part 111A and the second part 111B are connected via interface D, and the overall inductive value of the first part 111A and the second part 111B remains unchanged. By connecting the embedded resonant unit 120 in an embedded manner, the elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 and the elements in the LC resonant unit 110 can be made to constitute a new resonant unit. By filtering the input signal with the new resonant unit, the filtering effect of the resonator can be improved, and at the same time, the transmission zeros of the filter signal can be increased, further improving the filtering performance of the filter. Exemplaryly, the reference potential terminal V1 may be a reference ground or an input terminal of another reference potential.

[0030] Furthermore, to increase the filtering performance of the resonator, the embedded resonant unit 120 may be connected to other circuits or elements via a reference potential terminal V1. For example, to improve the filtering performance of the filter, the second terminal of the embedded resonant unit 120 may be connected to another resonator to form a filter.

[0031] Figure 11 is a schematic circuit diagram of another resonator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 11, the resonant element 111 comprises at least a first capacitive element C11 and a second capacitive element C12. The first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 are connected in series, and an interface D is formed at the series connection point. The first capacitive element C11 is designated as a first part 111A, and the second capacitive element C12 is designated as a second part 111B.

[0032] As shown in Figure 11, if the resonant element 111 is a capacitive element, it may be two capacitive elements connected in series. By forming an interface D at the series connection point of the two capacitive elements and connecting the embedded resonant unit 120 so as to be embedded in the LC resonant unit 110 via the interface D between the capacitive elements, the elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 and the elements in the LC resonant unit 110 can be made to constitute a new resonant unit. By filtering the input signal with this new resonant unit, the filtering effect of the resonator can be improved, and at the same time, the transmission zeros of the filter signal can be increased, further improving the filtering performance of the filter. At the same time, by forming an interface D at the series connection point of the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12, it can be guaranteed that the capacitance values ​​of the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 do not change, and furthermore, it can be guaranteed that the overall capacitance value of the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 does not change, thereby guaranteeing the performance of the resonator and being advantageous for resonator design. For example, the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 may be capacitors.

[0033] When the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 are connected in series and an interface D is formed at the series connection point, the embedded resonant unit 120 can similarly be connected to the LC resonant unit 110 in either series or parallel. When the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the LC resonant unit 110 in series, the interface D may comprise a first interface and a second interface, and the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected in series between the first interface and the second interface, with the first capacitive element C11 and the second capacitive element C12 being connected by the embedded resonant unit 120. When the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the LC resonant unit 110 in parallel, the first end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to interface D, and the second end of the embedded resonant unit 120 is connected to the reference potential terminal.

[0034] Based on the above technical proposals, the resonant elements in the LC resonant unit 110 and the embedded resonant unit 120 are either the same or different.

[0035] The resonant elements in the LC resonant unit 110 and the resonant elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 may be the same or different depending on the performance requirements of the resonator. If the resonant elements in the LC resonant unit 110 and the resonant elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 are the same, the resonant elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 shall consist only of inductive and capacitive elements, and the number and connection relationships of the inductive and capacitive elements shall be the same as those in the LC resonant unit 110, i.e., the LC resonant unit 110 and the embedded resonant unit 120 shall be exactly the same. If the resonant elements in the LC resonant unit 110 and the resonant elements in the embedded resonant unit 120 are different, the embedded resonant unit 120 may consist of other elements other than inductive and capacitive elements, or the number and / or connection relationships of the inductive and capacitive elements may differ from those in the LC resonant unit 110, and are not limited thereto.

[0036] Based on the above-mentioned technical proposals, the embedded resonant unit 120 comprises at least an inductive element and / or a capacitive element, or the embedded resonant unit 120 comprises at least one of a surface acoustic wave resonator and a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator.

[0037] The embedded resonant unit 120 may be equipped with various types of resonant elements, as long as the performance requirements of the resonator are met. For example, the embedded resonant unit 120 may be equipped with only inductive elements or capacitive elements, in which case the inductive elements or capacitive elements may be embedded in the LC resonant unit 110 as a special type of resonant element. Alternatively, the embedded resonant unit 120 may be equipped with both inductive and capacitive elements, in which case the embedded resonant unit 120 is an LC resonator. In other embodiments, the embedded resonant unit 120 may be equipped with at least one of the following: a surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator and a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR).

[0038] Embodiments of the present application further provide a filter comprising a resonator according to any embodiment of the present application.

[0039] The filter has the effect of a resonator, since it includes at least a resonator according to any embodiment of the present application, and will not be described repeatedly here. The filter may also include other filtering circuits to improve the filtering function of the filter. Exemplarily, the other filtering circuits may be low-pass filtering circuits, high-pass filtering circuits, or band-pass filtering circuits, and are not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0040] Embodiments of the present application further provide a multiplexer. Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multiplexer according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the multiplexer comprises a filter 210 according to any embodiment of the present application.

[0041] Continuing to refer to Figure 12, the multiplexer comprises one first terminal IN and at least two second terminals, and each filter 210 is connected in series between the first terminal IN of the multiplexer and one of the second terminals.

[0042] Figure 12 illustrates that the multiplexer has one first end IN and n second ends, where the n second ends are OUT1, OUT2...OUTn, respectively. Each filter 210 is connected in series between the first end IN and one second end. For example, the first filter 210 is connected in series between the first end IN and the first second end OUT1, the second filter 210 is connected in series between the first end IN and the second second end OUT2, and so on, by analogy. Since the multiplexer has filters 210 according to any embodiment of the present application, it has the effect of filters 210, which will not be described again here.

[0043] Furthermore, the multiplexer may also be equipped with other filtering circuits, which are connected in series between the first terminal IN and either of the second terminals, and the other filtering circuits may be low-pass filtering circuits, high-pass filtering circuits, or band-pass filtering circuits, and the embodiments of this application are not limited.

Claims

1. An LC resonant unit comprising a resonant element, having a first part, a second part, and an interface between the first part and the second part that connects the first part and the second part, The system comprises an embedded resonant unit connected to the LC resonant unit via the interface, The interface comprises a first interface and a second interface, The embedded resonant unit is connected in series between the first interface and the second interface. resonator.

2. The resonant element is an inductive element in which the interface is provided at the center and the interface divides it into a first part and a second part. The resonator according to claim 1.

3. The resonant element comprises a first capacitive element and a second capacitive element connected in series, with the interface formed at the series connection point, wherein the first capacitive element constitutes the first part, and the second capacitive element constitutes the second part. The resonator according to claim 1.

4. The embedded resonant unit has a first end connected to the interface and a second end connected to the reference potential end. The resonator according to claim 1.

5. The resonant element in the LC resonant unit and the resonant element in the embedded resonant unit are either the same or different. The resonator according to claim 1.

6. The embedded resonant unit comprises at least one of an inductive element and a capacitive element, or at least one of a surface acoustic wave resonator and a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator. The resonator according to claim 5.

7. A resonator comprising the resonator described in any one of claims 1 to 6, filter.

8. A filter comprising the filter described in claim 7, Multiplexer.

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