RFIC Oscillation Clock Sharing for Carrier Aggregation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing demand for various types of carrier aggregation in wireless communication devices leads to a higher number of receive chains and local oscillators in RFICs, resulting in increased manufacturing costs and RFIC size.
Innovation Solution
A wireless communication device is designed to share an oscillation clock signal among multiple RFICs, allowing each RFIC to use oscillation clock signals generated by local oscillators and external sources, thereby reducing the number of local oscillators required.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number of receive chains and local oscillators is increased to support various carrier aggregation types, then the adaptability to different carrier aggregation scenarios is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a shared oscillation clock system where a single oscillation clock signal generated by one local oscillator is distributed to multiple receive chains through multiplexers. This allows different receive chains to share the same oscillation resource, enabling support for multiple carrier aggregation scenarios without proportionally increasing the number of local oscillators. The multiplexers dynamically allocate the oscillation clock signal to different receive chains based on which carrier aggregation type is currently active, achieving universal support with reduced hardware complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If more local oscillators are used to support various carrier aggregations, then the adaptability to different frequency scenarios is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the oscillation functions of multiple local oscillators into a single shared oscillation clock source. Instead of implementing separate local oscillators for each receive chain and carrier aggregation scenario, the system combines these functions by generating one master oscillation clock signal that is time-multiplexed to serve multiple receive chains. This consolidation significantly reduces the number of oscillation circuits needed, lowering manufacturing costs while maintaining the ability to support various frequency bands and carrier aggregation types through software-controlled multiplexer switching.
3Productivity
If the number of local oscillators is increased to match the number of receive chains, then the signal processing capability for multiple carriers is improved, but the RFIC size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic allocation of the oscillation clock signal using multiplexers controlled by a carrier aggregation type determination unit. Instead of statically assigning dedicated oscillators to each receive chain, the system dynamically switches the oscillation clock connection to the active receive chain based on the currently operating carrier aggregation scenario. This dynamic time-multiplexing approach allows a single oscillation source to serve multiple receive chains sequentially, maintaining full signal processing capability for multiple carriers while occupying minimal RFIC area.
Data Source
AI summary
A radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) includes a first receive chain configured to receive a first high-frequency input signal, generate a first baseband signal based on the first high-frequency input signal by using a first downward frequency signal, and output the first baseband signal to a first output port, a first local oscillator configured to generate a first oscillation clock signal, a second local oscillator configured to generate a second oscillation clock signal, a first multiplexer configured to output one among the first and oscillation clock signals to a second output port based on an oscillation clock output selection signal, a first input port configured to receive a third oscillation clock signal from an external source, and a second multiplexer configured to output one among the first through third oscillation signals to the first receive chain as the first downward frequency signal based on a first downward frequency selection signal.