Patent · US Expired

Integrated beamformer/modem architecture

US7260141B2 · kind B2 · utility

185Cited by
17References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 28, 2002
Grant dateAug 21, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 10, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04B7/0617
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A transceiver employing a steerable phased-array antenna includes a modem architecture in which signals from each antenna element in the array are independently processed down to the individual baseband channel level, and digital beamforming is performed at baseband. The data rate reduction from IF to baseband permits parallel signal data from multiple antenna elements to be time multiplexed and serially processed at acceptable data rates at baseband with minimal modem hardware requirements. Both for transmit signal modulation and received signal demodulation, the computation of carrier tracking, automatic gain control (AGC)/power-control, and beamforming are shared by the same processing circuitry for all channels when performed at baseband. The resulting baseband circuitry is only incrementally larger than that required for carrier tracking and AGC alone, yet accomplishes independent beamforming for each antenna element on each user channel.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.