I-Q Signal Receiver Architecture for Lower-Cost Broadband Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-cost hardware components such as broadband analogue to digital converters and digital to analogue converters are required for testing modern wireless communication systems, which are expensive and difficult to produce, especially for high-frequency and broadband applications.
Innovation Solution
A signal receiving and generating apparatus with two operation modes: one for processing independent signal paths and another for separating signals into in-phase and quadrature components, allowing for simpler, lower bandwidth converters to be used, reducing costs and improving reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If broadband analogue to digital converters and digital to analogue converters are used for high-frequency applications, then the system can process high-frequency and broadband signals, but the hardware costs become very high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments a high-frequency broadband signal into two separate baseband signals (in-phase and quadrature components) using I-Q demodulation. This allows the use of lower-frequency, lower-cost analogue to digital converters instead of expensive broadband converters, while still capturing the full information content of the original high-frequency signal through mathematical reconstruction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the frequency parameter of the signal by demodulating the high-frequency carrier to baseband frequencies. This parameter transformation enables the use of lower-bandwidth, lower-cost converters that operate at baseband frequencies rather than requiring expensive high-frequency broadband converters
2Speed
If broadband analogue to digital converters are used, then high-frequency signals can be processed, but the manufacturing complexity and production difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the complex task of processing high-frequency broadband signals into separate processing paths for in-phase and quadrature components. Each path uses standard, well-established baseband processing techniques with conventional converters, avoiding the need for difficult-to-manufacture broadband converters with precise high-frequency characteristics
3Reliability
If expensive broadband hardware components are used, then appropriate test hardware for modern wireless communication systems can be provided, but the overall system cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signal processing function into I-Q demodulation followed by separate baseband processing paths, enabling the use of reliable but lower-cost conventional converters rather than expensive broadband converters, thus maintaining test hardware capability while reducing system cost
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the need for expensive broadband analogue hardware with a combination of lower-frequency analogue processing and digital signal processing. The mathematical operations in the digital domain substitute for the need for expensive high-frequency analogue components
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques related to signal processing include setting up a first operation mode or a second operation mode. In the first operation mode: providing a first analog signal to a first A/D converter by a first switch and a second analog signal to a second A/D by second switch, and converting the first analog signal to a first digital signal by the first A/D and the second analog signal to a second digital signal by the second A/D. In the second operation mode: demodulating a third analog signal to an in-phase signal and a quadrature signal by an I-Q-demodulator, providing the in-phase signal to the first A/D by the first switch, providing the quadrature signal to a second A/D by second switch, converting the in-phase signal to a third digital signal by the first A/D, and converting the quadrature signal to a fourth digital signal by the second A/D.