Integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuitry to support multiple antennas
US9425505B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 2011 |
| Grant date | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 18, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B7/084
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The disclosed embodiments generally relate to techniques for processing signals received from multiple antennas. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to a system that uses an integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit to process signals received from multiple antenna elements. This circuit applies a specified phase shift to the input signals, and combines the phase-shifted input signals to produce an output signal. In some embodiments, the integrated phase-shifting-and-combining circuit uses a current-steering mechanism to perform the phase-shifting-and-combining operations. This current-steering mechanism operates by converting the input signals into associated currents, and then steering each of the associated currents through multiple pathways which have different delays. Next, the currents from the multiple pathways for the associated currents are combined to produce the output signal. During this process, while steering each of the associated currents through multiple pathways to achieve different phase shifts, complementary impedance changes through the multiple pathways cause the aggregate impedance at the output to remain substantially constant.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.