On-Chip T/R Switch and Multi-Port Antenna for Power Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile wireless devices are power inefficient due to power-hungry transmit and receive circuitry, significantly impacting battery life, especially in communication systems where transmitters and receivers consume a large portion of the device's power.
Innovation Solution
An on-chip and/or on-package transmit/receive (T/R) switch and antenna system is implemented, integrating low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and power amplifiers (PAs) with a multi-port distributed antenna, using CMOS switches to selectively couple these components to impedance-matched ports, enabling time division duplexing and reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional transmit and receive circuitry is used in mobile wireless devices, then communication functionality is achieved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines transmit and receive circuitry into an integrated transceiver module, merging previously separate functional blocks. This integration reduces the overall power consumption by sharing common components and reducing redundant circuitry, while maintaining full communication functionality through careful design of the switched architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements time-division multiplexing where the transmit and receive circuits operate in alternating time slots rather than simultaneously. The switch dynamically connects the antenna to either the transmitter or receiver based on the current time slot, enabling periodic operation that reduces average power consumption while maintaining reliable bidirectional communication.
2Device complexity
If transmitters and receivers are integrated on-chip with multi-port distributed antenna, then device complexity is reduced, but impedance matching becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides each antenna port with dedicated impedance matching circuits tailored to its specific characteristics and operating conditions. Rather than using a single generic matching network, each port has locally optimized matching components that account for variations in antenna impedance across different ports and frequency bands, enabling precise impedance matching despite on-chip integration constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamically adjustable impedance matching circuits that can adapt their characteristics based on operating conditions. The matching networks include variable components that can be tuned through control signals to optimize impedance matching for different frequency bands, power levels, and antenna configurations, maintaining precision despite the integrated architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for an on-chip and/or on-package T/R switch and antenna are disclosed and may include selectively coupling one or more low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and/or one or more power amplifiers (PAs) to one or more ports of a multi-port distributed antenna utilizing configurable transmit/receive (T/R) switches integrated on a chip with the LNAs and PAs. The LNAs and PAs may be impedance matched to the antenna by coupling them to a port based on a characteristic impedance at the port. The T/R switches may be integrated on a package to which the chip may be coupled. The signals transmitted and received by the antenna may be time division duplexed. The antenna, which may include a microstrip antenna, may be integrated on the chip or the package. The LNA and the PA may be coupled to different ports on the antenna via the T/R switches.