EP-4736317-A1 - RECONFIGURABLE CARRIER AGGREGATION MMWAVE RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

Techniques are provided for configurable millimeter wave (mmWave) receiver architectures for carrier aggregation (CA). An example method for operating a wireless node in a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode includes configuring the wireless node to operate in at least one of the carrier aggregation mode or the single band mode, configuring a high band receive chain wireless node to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the single band mode, and configuring the low band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the high band receive chain to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the carrier aggregation mode.

Inventors

• FENG, YUNFEI
• LIU, LI
• NARATHONG, CHIEWCHARN
• MEDRA, ALAAELDIEN MOHAMED ABDELRAZEK
• SANKARANARAYANAN, Janakiram
• FANG, SHER JIUN

Assignees

• QUALCOMM INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240621

Claims (20)

1. 1. A method for operating a wireless node in a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode, comprising: configuring the wireless node to operate in at least one of the carrier aggregation mode or the single band mode; configuring a high band receive chain in the wireless node to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the single band mode; and configuring a low band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the high band receive chain to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the carrier aggregation mode.
2. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless node is configured to utilize a millimeter wave spectrum.
3. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the low band receive chain is configured to receive radio frequency signals with frequencies less than or equal to 29.5GHz, and the high band receive chain is configured to receive radio frequency signals with frequencies greater than 29.5GHz.
4. 4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first intermediate frequency is less than or equal to 11GHz, and the second intermediate frequency is greater than 11GHz.
5. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the first intermediate frequency is approximately 9GHz and within a range of 8-10GHz, and the second intermediate frequency is approximately 12GHz within a range of l l-14GHz.
6. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring the high band receive chain to utilize the second intermediate frequency includes utilizing a high pass filter in an intermediate frequency path.
7. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein configuring the high band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency includes by-passing the high pass filter in the intermediate frequency path.
8. 8. The method of claim 6 further comprising providing a control signal to a multiplexer to utilize the high pass filter in the intermediate frequency path, wherein the high pass filter is one of a plurality of high filters.
9. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring the wireless node to operate in at least one of the carrier aggregation mode or the single band mode includes receiving a configuration indication from a software or firmware application.
10. 10. A method for operating a wireless node in a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode, compnsing: configuring the wireless node to operate in at least one of the carrier aggregation mode or the single band mode; configuring a low band receive chain in the wireless node to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the single band mode; and configuring a high band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the low band receive chain to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the carrier aggregation mode.
11. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein configuring the low band receive chain to utilize the second intermediate frequency includes utilizing a low pass filter in an intermediate frequency path.
12. 12. The method of claim 11 further providing a control signal to a multiplexer to utilize the low pass filter in the intermediate frequency path, wherein the low pass filter is one of plurality of low pass filters.
13. 13. The method of claim 11 wherein configuring the low band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency includes by-passing the low pass filter in the intermediate frequency path.
14. 14. An apparatus, comprising; at least one memory; at least one receiver comprising a low band circuit and a high band circuit including a configurable intermediate frequency path; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one receiver, and configured to: configure the at least one receiver to operate in at least one of a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode; configure the high band circuit to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the at least one receiver to operate in the single band mode; and configure the low band circuit to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the high band circuit to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the at least one receiver to operate in the carrier aggregation mode.
15. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the at least one receiver is configured to receive radio frequency signals in a millimeter wave spectrum.
16. 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the low band circuit is configured to receive radio frequency signals with frequencies less than or equal to 29.5GHz, and the high band circuit is configured to receive radio frequency signals with frequencies greater than 29.5GHz.
17. 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the first intermediate frequency is less than or equal to 1 1 GHz, and the second intermediate frequency is greater than 11 GHz.
18. 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the first intermediate frequency is approximately 9GHz and within a range of 8-10GHz, and the second intermediate frequency is approximately 12GHz and within a range of l l-14GHz.
19. 19. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to select the configurable intermediate frequency path which includes a high pass filter.
20. 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide a control signal to a multiplexer to select the high pass filter from a plurality of high pass filters.

Description

RECONFIGURABLE CARRIER AGGREGATION MMWAVE RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 18/748,252, filed June 20, 2024, entitled “RECONFIGURABLE CARRIER AGGREGATION MMWAVE RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/51 1,142, filed June 29, 2023, entitled “RECONFIGURABLE CARRIER AGGREGATION MMWAVE RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE,” both of which are assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND [0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, a fourthgeneration (4G) sendee (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax®), a fifthgeneration (5G) service (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)), etc. There are presently many- different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc. [0003] A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Carrier aggregation (CA) techniques may be utilized to further increase the data transfer speeds in 5G networks. The wireless nodes in these networks may be configured to utilize carrier aggregation across different radio frequency bands. SUMMARY [0004] An example method for operating a wireless node in a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode according to the disclosure includes configuring the wireless node to operate in at least one of the carrier aggregation mode or the single band mode, configuring a high band receive chain in the wireless node to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the single band mode, and configuring a low band receive chain to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the high band receive chain to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the wireless node to operate in the carrier aggregation mode. [0005] An example apparatus according to the disclosure including at least one memory, at least one receiver comprising a low band circuit and a high band circuit including a configurable intermediate frequency path, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one receiver, and configured to: configure the at least one receiver to operate in at least one of a carrier aggregation mode or a single band mode, configure the high band circuit to utilize a first intermediate frequency in response to configuring the at least one receiver to operate in the single band mode, and configure the low band circuit to utilize the first intermediate frequency, and the high band circuit to utilize a second intermediate frequency in response to configuring the at least one receiver to operate in the carrier aggregation mode. [0006] Items and/or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. A mmWave receiver may be configured to utilize carrier aggregation (CA) schemes. The CA schemes may include transmissions in different frequency bands, and the receiver may be a superheterodyne configuration including respective high band and low band circuits for downconverting the received mmWave signals. The high band and low band circuits may be configured to use multiple intermediate frequency (IF) frequencies. The receiver may be configured to operate in a CA-mode to utilize CA, or in a non-CA mode to operate on a single band. While in CA-mode, the high band circuit and the low band circuit in the receiver may utilize different IF frequencies. In the non-CA mode, the high band circuit may be configured to utilize the same IF frequency as the low band circuit when the receiver is in the non-CA mode. Power savings may be realized when the high band circuit utilizes the lower I