Reconfigurable RF Transceiver Filter for Shared Rx/Tx Circuitry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional RF transceivers occupy large chip area due to separate RF receiver and transmitter circuits, which leads to increased power consumption and inefficiency in signal processing.
Innovation Solution
Integration of RF transmitter and receiver on a single substrate with a reconfigurable filter that shares configurable circuit components, such as programmable resistors and switches, to operate as both a bandpass filter for reception and a lowpass filter for transmission, reducing chip area and power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If RF receiver and transmitter circuits are implemented separately on a chip, then each circuit can be optimized for its specific function, but the total chip area occupied increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the RF receiver and transmitter circuits into a single integrated transceiver unit on one chip. The receiver uses a poly-phase image rejection band pass filter while the transmitter uses a low pass filter, and both are merged into a unified architecture that shares common components such as mixers, amplifiers, and the substrate infrastructure, thereby reducing total chip area while maintaining functional optimization
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a reconfigurable filter that can dynamically switch between operating as a band pass filter for reception and a low pass filter for transmission. This multi-functional component allows the same physical hardware to serve both receiver and transmitter needs, eliminating the requirement for separate dedicated filter circuits and reducing overall chip area
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate RF receiver and transmitter circuits are used, then each circuit can operate independently, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges power-consuming components such as mixers, amplifiers, and filtering functions into shared circuits that serve both receiver and transmitter operations. By consolidating these functions rather than duplicating them, the system reduces total power consumption while maintaining the ability to operate in receive or transmit modes independently through electronic reconfiguration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a reconfigurable filter that can dynamically change its characteristics between receive and transmit modes. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the system to optimize power consumption by activating only the necessary circuit paths for the current operation mode, rather than keeping all circuits continuously active or requiring separate dedicated circuits for each mode
3Area of stationary object
If a reconfigurable filter shares configurable circuit components between receiver and transmitter modes, then chip area is reduced, but the complexity of switching between modes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a reconfigurable filter with dynamically adjustable parameters that can switch between band pass and low pass configurations. The filter uses configurable circuit components such as switchable capacitors, variable resistors, or digitally controlled attenuators that can be programmed to change the filter characteristics, allowing a single physical implementation to serve multiple functions without requiring complex mechanical or manual reconfiguration
Data Source
AI summary
An RF receiver and an RF transmitter, which are integrated in a single substrate, are operable to share a single reconfigurable filter to perform RF receiver filtering and RF transmitter filtering. The reconfigurable filter is configured to operate as a bandpass filter such as an image rejection bandpass filter for receiving RF signals by the RF receiver. The reconfigurable filter operates as a low pass filter for transmitting RF signals by the RF transmitter. The reconfigurable filter is configured to operate in a RF receiver filtering mode or a RF transmitter filtering mode, respectively. The reconfigurable filter is enabled to share configurable circuit components of the radio transceiver in both the radio frequency receiver filtering mode and the radio frequency transmitter filtering mode. The reconfigurable filter transitions between the radio frequency receiver filtering mode and the radio frequency transmitter filtering mode via reconfiguring the shared configurable circuit components.