d2p universal rf power transceiver sources/3gsm rtt...a receiver and signal processing engine to...
TRANSCRIPT
1. Introduction
Parkervision will present a vision for simplifying the transceiver, power amplifier (PA) and device count in a truly universal radio chipset. To appreciate and understand the Parkervision approach one must consider the entire transceiver, PA, and front-end subsystem, rather than what might make sense from only the perspective of a power amplifier manufacturer. Parkervision is reinventing the transceiver and including the power amplifier function, which no other manufacturer can presently do with the same performance, efficiency and capability, while supporting multiple radio-access technologies. The first step was to prepare a block diagram for a conventional radio was to present and examine a conventional block diagram satisfying the requirements, which are given in appendices A.1 and A.2. (See Figure 1.) Although a service provider might seldom, if ever, require all of the listed bands and modes in the same device, it is certainly possible. What might be as important is to be able to stock fewer devices that are capable of being easily and quickly configured to serve multiple markets and satisfy complex roaming agreements. Therefore, the approach was to come up with a basic chipset architecture that would support all modes and bands, per the request, allowing for filters, duplexers and other components to be deleted to simplify the specific application and lower cost. Essentially, the concept covers every major band and radio access technology (RAT) from 2G-4G, including EVDO, WiFi and Bluetooth. In order to do this, some assumptions were made about the operational scenarios. First, no two primary WAN modes (GSM, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, or LTE) will be required to operate, simultaneously. Therefore, only a single baseband DSP core and a single transmitter and receiver or dual-receiver, common-frequency MIMO receiver setup would be required. In handover and signaling scenarios, there may be loose coupling of inter-system functionalities with UE-centric mobility based on (P)MIP, if significant break periods would be acceptable. Or, there may be tighter coupling with network-controlled handovers, taking advantage of layer 3 mobility based on (P)MIP (S101). IP connectivity and tunneling are assumed to manage communications between basestations and can coordinate break-before-make handovers, providing smother and faster breaks. (Alternatives radio architectures will be introduced, in the following discussion.) Second, Bluetooth operation would be concurrent with WAN modes, from the user perspective. Bluetooth and WiFi operation may be time multiplexed to share the same antenna. Finally, it is assumed that GPS data will be used in conjunction with applications and services via the WAN or WiFi networks so that simultaneous operation is required. Therefore, the configuration is intended to support a GPS radio that may be monitored as needed, while using WAN, WiFi, or Bluetooth services.
To further contrast a conventional approach with a ParkerVision approach, which reduces overall silicon area and redundancy, it was assumed that WAN and WiFi could be supported in two different ways. For the conventional approach, it is assumed that the Bluetooth and WiFi radios would be configured and possibly co-packaged so that their operation is coordinated in order to share the same band and antenna. Also, it would be possible to operate WAN modes, for example GSM or EDGE, and WiFi at the same time in order to monitor voice and messaging, if a VoIP mode cannot be supported via the WiFi services. For the ParkerVision approach, the RF Power Transceiver architecture assumes high speed connectivity from either WAN or WiFi is accessible allowing VoIP. Then, WiFi functionality might also be served by the transceiver and soft baseband, as well as WiMax and TD-SCDMA.
2. A Conventional Approach (A PA Vendor’s Perspective)
TCXO
SysClock
Cont
Clock
RX1Data
Control Data Low-
Band LNAs,BPFs
SP4T
746-756 MHz
TX Synthesizer
TX Data
Clock
Cont
EVDO-GSM/EDGE-UMTS-LTE Transceiver
1710-1980 MHz
RF Out
776-915 MHzRF Out
2300-2620 MHz
RF Out/2
IQ Mod
/2
IQ Mod
/4
IQ Mod
RX1Multi-Mode
Analog Baseband
869-894 MHz
925-960 MHz
1805-1880 MHz
1930-1990 MHz
2110-2170 MHz
2620-2690 MHz
SP4T
746-756 MHz
869-894 MHz
925-960 MHz (Opt. HSDPA/LTE)
1805-1880 MHz (Opt. HSDPA/LTE)
1930-1990 MHz
2110-2170 MHz
RX2Data
ITX
QTX
Dig
RF
V4 B
aseb
and
Inte
rface
RX Synthesizers
Cont
EVDO-GSMEDGE-
UMTS-LTE
Baseband
BPF
BPF
BPF
BPF
BPF
BPF
TX Analog Baseband,Adaptive
Predistortion,& DACs
BPF PA
Bluetooth-WiFi SoC
SPI Switching Control
BPF
Multi-RAT PA Front-End Network
Cont
PABPF
PABPF
PABPF
PA
PABPFPABPF
PABPF
PA
Band 7
Band 1
Band 2
Band 3
Band 5
Band 8
Band 13
TDD 2300-2400 MHz
TDD 824-915 MHz
TDD 1710-1910 MHzBPF
BPF
2300-2400 MHz
2570-2620 MHz
2300-2400 MHz2570-2620 MHz
2620-2690 MHz SP3T
SP3T
TDD 2570-2620 MHz
BPF
BPF
BPF
BPF
BPF
Mid-Band LNAs,BPFs
High-Band LNAs,BPFs
/4
/2
IQ Demod
IQ Demod
IQ Demod
Low-Band LNAs,BPFs
RX2Multi-Mode
Analog Baseband
Mid-Band LNAs,BPFs
High-Band LNAs,BPFs
/4
/2
IQ Demod
IQ Demod
IQ Demod
PA PowerManagement
PA OutputCouplers
APD Receiver
IRXData
QRXData
IRXData
QRXData
RXData
GPS Receiver
QUADPLEXER
SP5T
BPF
SP4T
SP4T
SP4T
SP4T
REF
QUADLEXER
FIG. 1: Conventional Architecture for an EVDO-GSM-EDGE-UMTS-LTE-
WiFi Radio
A block diagram of a possible architecture for the multimode radio that is described in the appendices is shown in Figure 1 above. A DigRF V4 link is assumed to support the high-speed data traffic without a large number of digital pins that a parallel interface would require. This architecture considers the Bluetooth and WiFi functions to be available from one or more ancillary ICs, as is common practice today. The GPS receiver could be a separate device or integrated within the transceiver, as shown and is relatively common practice for CDMA-EVDO transceivers. The GPS output might be packetized and sent across the DigRF V4 link, if GPS is supported in the final version of DigRF V4.
2.1. Core Bands: 824-1980 MHz TX
The most conventional approach to the transceiver might use redundant, polar loop transmitters for GSM/EDGE, in addition to linear transmitters for UMTS, EVDO and LTE. However, to reduce this redundancy in the transceiver, it was assumed that linear transmitters would be used for the core bands between 850 MHz and 2100 MHz. Predistortion capability may be required to achieve the needed modulation accuracy and reduce spectral regrowth from any of the PAs supporting UMTS, EVDO and LTE, without significant over design in capacity for back-off. Predistortion would also facilitate meeting the EDGE output radio frequency spectrum (ORFS) requirements. Given the bandwidth requirements for UMTS and, particularly, LTE, polar-loop architectures encompassing the PA were not considered because of power supply bandwidth, loop bandwidth, and calibration difficulties. Adaptive predistortion (APD) requires that the PA outputs be sampled and fed to a receiver and signal processing engine to determine the necessary predistortion corrections. This adds considerable complexity to the transceiver and front-end network, which is understated in the representation of the “PA Output Coupler” and “APD Receiver” blocks in Figure 1, below. Significant DSP, logic, and memory support circuitry would also be required in the “TX Analog Baseband, Adaptive Predistortion, and DACs” block. Unfortunately, the size of the PAs needed to meet the GSM requirements in a saturated mode make them suboptimal for efficient linear EDGE or UMTS operation at lower output powers. When comparing output power requirements, it is often useful to scale the modulated output power requirement to the equivalent CW capacity, considering the bandwidth and peak-to-average ratio (PAPR) of the modulation. A GSM amplifier requires nearly twice the device area for about 3 dB more CW output capacity than is needed for the EDGE requirement, with an approximate 3.5 dB PAPR. Fortunately, EDGE average power consumption is reduced according to the TDD duty cycle. So, the penalty of a large GSM-capable device is not so noticeable, when operated in a linear mode for EDGE. Therefore, the GSM-EDGE TDD paths feature two PAs, each covering two respective high and low bands, which is currently common practice. If one considers using a single, conventional linear
PA for all FDD and TDD modes, duplexer insertion losses for FDD operation would further increase the size of the PA, driving down efficiency in TDD modes. In FDD modes, simultaneous support of EVDO, UMTS and LTE support will be similarly problematic due to the broader output power range requirement, while adding the nuances of operation into a duplexer. LTE operation will require efficient operation at higher output levels than predicted for EVDO or UMTS, with the output capacity needing to be about 3-6 dB higher, depending on the effectiveness of the predistortion correction, the maximum transmission bandwidth and the modulation format. Assuming bursty transmissions, the average power consumption for LTE would benefit from transmitter gating. On the other hand, data-centric LTE transmissions are likely to occur in building or in otherwise shadowed locations, while a dongle is plugged into a laptop. Therefore, PA efficiency over a broad span of the upper output power range will be very important. However, continuous EVDO and UMTS operation using a larger PA satisfying the capacity requirement for LTE will suffer in efficiency over an output power range profile that is shifted downwarddue to the roughly 3dB difference in PAPR between LTE and the 3G standards.. Single-ended linear PAs have acceptable efficiency if driving a real or well matched load. However, the duplexer can appear very reactive and require significantly higher current, if randomly chosen or placed so that the phasing of the load seen by the PA is adverse. Today, the most efficient multimode linear PAs for FDD are co-packaged with integral duplexers. This allows the designer control over the choice of the duplexer and to match the PA into its load impedance. Adjacent-channel power ration (ACPR) or adjacent-channel leakage ration (ACLR) will also deteriorate significantly, if duplexer loading of a single-ended PA is not well managed. For this reason, it is likely that conservative engineering will push for individual PAs in each band.
2.2. LTE Band 13: 777-787 MHz TX The frequency span of 777 MHz (776 MHz in the US) to 915 MHz covers a 16.5% bandwidth. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider extending the range of the single linear transmitter that was used above for the core FDD and TDD bands (GSM850, GSM900, Band 5) to cover LTE Band 13. As with the core bands, it is assumed that the transmitter would be multiplexed to an individual PA-duplexer combination for best efficiency and matching into the duplexer.
2.3. LTE Bands 7, 38, and 40: 2300-2620 MHz Since the frequency span for the core bands between 1710-1980 MHz will be difficult to extend to 2620 MHz with high efficiency, an additional linear transmitter may be required for the upper bands and is included here. When contemplating a single PA to cover these bands, the PA manufacturer may want to include an SP3T switch with the PA and Band 7 duplexer to provide the
TDD mode for bands 38 and 40 , which would allow for optimal matching in each band.
2.4. Receiver and Front-End Network
Although the focus of this discussion is the transmitter function, a few comments are in order regarding the front-end network and receivers. Note that in all cases, a SAW filter precedes the PA. It is likely that low noise synthesizers and high TX-RX isolation duplexers will often allow these filters to be omitted. (Duplexers are identified according to their respective bands in Figure 1.) To simplify the diagram, matching networks, which include low-pass filtering for the TDD modes, are not illustrated. To simplify the receive front-end network and interconnections, common TDD and FDD bands will be served with the same receiver input, which will be designed with the appropriate dynamic range and baseband filtering options to accommodate all modes. This avoids additional SAW filters for the TDD modes, more complex switching and additional LNAs, although the LNAs for multimode must have adjustable dynamic range. A complementary receiver with antennas and filtering will be included for HSDPA and LTE MIMO operation.
The quadplexer adjacent to the antenna allows simultaneous reception the GPS receiver from a common antenna with the band lying between the upper and lower core bands. If the antennas are orthogonal, a hybrid could be used to circularly polarize the triplexer output from both antennas for GPS operation. Alternatively, these could be switched for diversity. To facilitate continuous Bluetooth operation without coordination with the WAN baseband-RF functionality for LTE bands 7, 38 and 40, the Bluetooth and WiFi functions are serviced with a separate antenna.
3. The d2p RF Power Transceiver Approach ParkerVision would like to offer a fresh approach to provide the same capabilities as previously discussed, while opening the possibility to include TD-SCDMA and WiMax. In Figure 2, below, the most startling contrast is that the multiplicity of power amplifiers would be eliminated. Up to 9 narrowband PAs and 9 SAW devices are replaced. Instead, the ParkerVision Direct-to Power (d2p) Power Modulator technology would rely on multimode, multiband vector modulators and Vector Power Amplifiers within the transceiver module. A more subtle contrast is that the transmitters are feed forward. No real-time feedback or adaptive predistortion circuitry would be needed.
Dig
RF
V4
Bas
eban
d In
terfa
ce
FIG. 2: ParkerVision Architecture for an EVDO-GSM-EDGE-UMTS-LTE-WiFi-
Bluetooth Radio The conventional paradigm is to linearly modulate the carrier and attempt to preserve or, in the case of predistortion, restore the fidelity of the signal through successive stages of amplification. Predistortion is particularly important to restore the fidelity of the signal, if a more efficient, non-linear amplification technique is used. For example, one might attempt to use class AB amplifiers in
the previous example for improved high-power efficiency, while correcting for additional non linearity with predistortion. In contrast to APD, d2p does not require that the outputs be sampled, down-converted, and processed real time to perform predistortion corrections. Instead, the input I/Q plane is mapped to the resultant output waveform, during the manufacturing process. The mapping is preserved in the form of a minimal set of coefficients in non-volatile memory. The Vector Synthesis Engine uses the phase, amplitude and trajectory of the IQ data to generate VPA control signals from mapping algorithms using the stored coefficients. The d2p process will provide Signaling-Defined Linearity (SDL). Certain transmitter performance metrics, such as ACPR, may be traded against current consumption by changing a pointer to a different set of calibration coefficients. Therefore, in response to LTE network signaling commands, NS_06 or NS_07, the baseband would be able to instruct the VSE to set a pointer to an alternate set of calibration coefficients that would provide improved ACPRs without back-off to a lower power, while giving up a modest amount of efficiency. The process is entirely feed forward, except for non-real-time monitoring of temperature. In fact, the fully modulated waveform only exists at the output of the VPA blocks shown in Figure 2. In Figure 3, below, the conventional transmitter modulation and amplification process is contrasted with the d2p approach of rendering the modulated waveform at the output of the VPA, using a multiple input, single output (MISO) operator.
Accurate preservation of the directly modulated AM/PM waveform requires linear amplification. Linearity & Efficiency Are Mutually Exclusive !
D2P precisely renders the AM/PM waveform only at the output, AM modulating RF at power in efficient, nonlinear and dynamically variable modes. D2P maps the input IQ and creates control signals that vectorially trace the desired constellation at the output.
VPA Control Signals
VectorModulator
MISOLO
LO
VectorModulator
Vector Synthesis
Engine
Vector Power Amplifier
D2P RF Power Modulator
Existing Transmitter IQ modulator and Amplification Chain
DAC_I
DAC_Q
VrefI Q Data Clock Quadrature
Generator
0 90
LO
I Q Modulator
Transmitter PAInterpolation
Filtersdata bitsI
data bitsQ
data bitsI
data bitsQ
Data Clock
FIG. 3: Conventional Linear Modulation and Amplification Contrasted with the d2p RF Power Modulation Process
The VPA control signals are used to manipulate several degrees of freedom. The VSE algorithms continuously vary phase modulation, differential outphasing offset angle between branches, and dynamic biasing of drivers and output stages, according to the input IQ. Unlike polar modulation schemes, the power supply level to the output stage is not varied with the AM waveform but only according to the maximum output level, as dictated by the power control commands. Dynamic biasing enables “class transiting”, the process in which d2p changes the class of amplification in the output stages, according to the signal demands yielding high efficiency. Class Transiting occurs according to the waveform trajectory on a sample-by-sample basis. In effect, Class Transiting continuously adjusts the load line of the VPA to meet the output requirement. High fidelity and linearity is a result of the mapping process that renders the desired output voltage and phase for the given I/Q input, without specific regard to the carrier manipulations ahead of the output. In Figure 4, below, Class Transiting is illustrated for a CDMA waveform and provides a dynamically variable load line.
Conduction Angle (independent of outphasing).Duty Cycle (outphasing conduction angle ratio with multi level pulse density). Branch DriveBranch Amplitude DifferentialBranch Phase DifferentialPower Supply
Degrees of Freedom
d2p RF OutputClass of Operation
Class E
Class C
Class C
Class E
Switching
Classes
Switching
Classes
Linear Classes Variable Classes
Example Waveform Envelope
Time
A
E~
Class S
Class S
Class S
FIG. 4: d2p Class Transiting Uses Several Degrees of Freedom to Provides a
Continuously Variable Load Line
In the highest region of the waveform dynamic range, the signal will have a constant AM envelope while power is being increased through the individual branches of the VPA. Therefore, the output stages of the VPA can operate in switching classes at high output levels, including class E at the peak, and allow the designer to use much smaller periphery devices. In turn, these devices will have lower input capacitances and higher output impedances, allowing for
broader-band operation. The efficiency case should be evident from the packaging; so little battery current is wasted into heat therefore allowing the PAs to be easily integrated into the same module as the transceiver. Efficiency plots for the VPA are given in Figure 5, on the following page. As with the conventional approach, the architecture assumes that the “soft baseband” processor would be used. However, software configurability of the baseband could be extended to support WiFi in addition to all the WAN modes assuming that the device will rely on the WiFi network for incoming messages or calls. In other words, simultaneous operation of WiFi and WAN modes is not required.
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10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
GSM PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
EDGE PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Efficiency (%
)
Pout (dBm)
WCDMA 1_1 PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
HSUPA PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
CDMA2000 PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 10 14 18 22 26
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
LTE PAE vs. Power OutLTE 5MHz 16QAM
FIG. 5: VPA Power-Added Efficiency Plots for GSM, EDGE, UMTS
(WCDMA Voice and HSUPA), CDMA2000 EVDO, and LTE
If the configurability of the soft baseband could be further extended, the ParkerVision Power Transceiver would be capable of supporting TD-SCDMA and WiMax technologies within the same TX bands without additional PAs. (Some additional RX baseband filtering may be required for WiMax support.) As before, the configuration is intended to support a GPS radio that may be monitored as needed, while using WAN, WiFi, or Bluetooth services.
3.1. Core Bands: 824-1980 MHz TX and 776-798 MHz
In the case of d2p, the size of a VPA needed to meet the GSM requirements would make it ideal for LTE and WiMax applications. A device that is capable of +35 dBm operating in a class E mode would be capable of over +28 dBm in LTE mode (16 QAM, 5MHz BW) and +26 dBm for a WiMax (16 QAM, 10MHz BW) signal them suboptimal for efficient EDGE or UMTS/HSUPA operation at lower output powers. Since d2p has a high efficiency over a broad output power range, efficiency will remain high in EDGE, EVDO, and UMTS/HSUPA modes. Also, the output impedance can be controlled to provide relatively flat frequency response over greater than 16% bandwidth from 776MHz to 915 MHz Therefore, a single low-band VPA could satisfy the requirements for GSM, EDGE, EVDO, UMTS, LTE and WiMax in EUTRA bands 5, 6, 8, 13, and 14, which include GSM850, and GSM900 bands. This is unprecedented in a device that provides high efficiency and high fidelity, which are mutually exclusive in conventional architectures. Using silicon-on-insulator (SoI) technology for high dynamic range, an SP4T switch illustrates this capability in Figure 2 by providing paths to band 5, 8, and 13 duplexers, as well as a TDD path for GSM-EDGE from 824-915 MHz . The inter-stage match between the VPA output and the SP4T transforms the impedance over the broad band, while post VPA elements improve the match for each individual band and account for the duplexers. Post-VPA switching losses are held to less than 2 dB in TDD modes and 4 dB in FDD modes using high performance SOI switches and modern duplexer technology. For the bands from 1710MHz to 1980MHz, the GSM output power requirement for the embedded VPA drops to roughly +32 dBm. Even though the frequency is higher, a VPA device with proper sizing would be able to exceed this requirement with very high efficiency. The same device would still be capable of producing +27 dBm in LTE mode (16 QAM, 5 MHz BW), which would allow the device to meet the LTE requirements in these bands (+23 dBm at the antenna), using high performance SOI switches and duplexers with less than 4 dB insertion loss.
3.2. LTE Bands 7, 38, and 40: 2300-2620 MHz
As with the conventional linear modulator, the frequency span for the core bands between 1710-1980 MHz (15% bandwidth) will be difficult to extend to 2620 MHz with high efficiency. An additional vector modulator and VPA chain would be required to support the bands from 2300 MHz to 2620 MHz (13% bandwidth). For these bands, an SP4T switch would follow the VPA output and transformer. Again, matching elements on the output side of the SP4T switch allow for optimizing the match to each sub band and, especially, into the FDD duplexer for Band 7. An SP3T switch in the front-end network would allow the Bluetooth, WiFi TX and WiFi RX paths to share a common filter for additional out-of-band rejection. Separate paths would be provided to optimize matching for bands 38 and 40.
3.3. Receiver and Front-End Network
As with the conventional architecture presented in Figure 1, the front-end network seeks to provide all the necessary RF paths from as few antennas as possible. Note that the ParkerVision architecture greatly simplifies the output network, eliminating up to 6 PAs and 9 SAWs that are external to the transceiver. Low noise synthesizers and high TX-RX isolation duplexers will allow the SAW filters to be eliminated from the transceiver module, too. There is no need for external PA power management, which would likely consist of up to 7 individual CMOS die hidden within the various PA modules in a conventional solution. There are no feedback couplers for APD and no power detectors. For the receiver paths, the front-end network is consistent with Figure 1.To simplify the receive front-end network and interconnections, common TDD and FDD bands will be served with the same receiver input, which will be designed with the appropriate dynamic range and baseband filtering options to accommodate all modes. This avoids additional SAW filters for the TDD modes, more complex switching and additional LNAs, although the LNAs for multimode must have adjustable dynamic range. A complementary receiver with antennas and filtering will be included for HSDPA and LTE MIMO operation.
The quadplexer adjacent to the antenna allows simultaneous reception to the GPS receiver from a common antenna with the band lying between the upper and lower core bands. Alternatively, these could be switched among transmitters for diversity, using a transfer switch (not shown). To facilitate continuous Bluetooth operation without coordination with the WAN baseband-RF functionality for LTE bands 7, 38 and 40, the Bluetooth function will be serviced with a separate antenna.
3.4. Roadmap for Extended Bandwidth and Variable Output Capacity To meet the fastest time to market, the proposed approach is conservative, relying on VPA output stage matching that only covering about 16% bandwidth and fixed power capacity. In partnership with ITT, Parkervision has development efforts underway to deliver broadband RF Power Modulator and VPA capability with varactor-tuned matching networks that cover a bandwidth well beyond the primary commercial range of 400 MHz to 2.6 GHz, including 3.5 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands. In addition, VPA output stages will be developed with switched geometries and additional branches to allow scaling of output capacities to meet an even wider range of output capacities for complex modulations and varying requirements between RATs and regulatory restrictions in various bands and applications.
4. d2p Multifunctional Architecture
d2p is the ideal technology for multifunctional radios featuring MIMO, opening a wide range of possibilities. A VPA under the d2p control algorithms will provide high efficiency over a broad range of output powers, not just at the peak outputs for switched bias regimes. Recalling Figure 5, note that in Figure 6, below, broad flat efficiency curves allow a single device to provide high efficiency in a 2G or 3G mode or LTE mode.
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40.00
50.00
60.00
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Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
CDMA2000 PAE vs. Power Out
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
6 10 14 18 22 26
Efficien
cy (%
)
Pout (dBm)
LTE PAE vs. Power OutLTE 5MHz 16QAM
FIG. 6: ParkerVision Enhanced Architecture for an EVDO-GSM-EDGE-UMTS-
LTE-WiFi-Bluetooth Radio Recall that the output response is calibrated and mapped to the input IQ plane, allowing modulation agility and device dexterity over broad modulation band widths. Therefore, broad flat high efficiency curves are evident in all modes and all bands.
>30% PAE over 7.5 dB range
>40% PAE over 12 dB range
Therefore, a complementary transmitter, which will be required for 2x2 MIMO devices, would be able to operate at 3dB lower output with high efficiency in a dual transmit mode. During short a handover, both transmitters would be capable of sustaining full output power at high efficiency (within SARs limitations) for different RAT networks, for example LTE (23dBm) transitioning to EVDO (24 dBm) or HSUPA (24 dBm) or GSM (33 dBm). With dual “soft” baseband processors, make-before-break handovers would be possible and possibly coordinated within the UE. A “soft” reconfigurable baseband DSP engine supporting all of the target applications may only require about 2 sq. mm. of silicon within a baseband or combination applications processor reconfigured from software stored in flash memory, facilitated with SRAM. Therefore, it is now reasonable to consider a baseband processor with dual radio cores that can support multiple transmissions in a MIMO configuration or to tow networks for handovers, signaling, or multifunctional operation.
TCXO
QUADPLEXER
SysClock
ContClock
RX1Data
Control Data SwitchingLN
As,BPFs
REF
746-756 MHz
TX1 Data
Clk
EVDO-GSM/EDGE-UMTS-LTE-WiFi Power Transceiver
1710-1980MHz
776-915MHz
2300-2620MHz
RX1Multi-Mode
Analog-Digital Baseband
869-894 MHz (FDD/TDD)925-960 MHz (FDD/TDD)
1805-1880 MHz (FDD/TDD)1930-1990 MHz (FDD/TDD)
2110-2170 MHz2620-2690 MHz
ITX
QTX
Cont
EVDO-GSMEDGE-
UMTS-LTE
Baseband
Bluetooth SoC
SPI Switching Control
BPF
Cont
Band 1Band 2
Band 3
Band 5Band 8
Band 13
2300-2400 MHz TDD
824-915 MHz TDD
1710-1910 MHz TDD
2300-2400 MHz
2570-2620 MHz
2570-2620 MHz TDD
BPF
BPF
Switching LNAs,BPFs
Switching LNAs,BPFs
/4
Demod
Demod
Demod
VPA PowerManagement
/4
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
/2
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
/2
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
Single-Channel
VSE&
Control DACs
AutoBias ControlLevel Control
IRXDataQRXData
SP4T
SP4T
2400-2484 MHz TDDSP2T
2400-2484 MHz
Voltage Control
B-T 2400-2484 MHz
Cntrl
Multi-RAT Front-EndNetwork
Cal Data
Cntrl
VCO
RX Synth& VCO
Cntrl
I/O Clk
BasebandDSP
Engine 1
GPS2Data GPS Receiver
Dig
RF
V4
Base
band
Inte
rface
TX Synth
BPF
SP6T
BPF
Band 7
/2
QUADPLEXER
ContClock
SwitchingLNAs,
BPFs
REF
746-756 MHz
Clk
EVDO-GSM/EDGE-UMTS-LTE-WiFi Power Transceiver
1710-1980MHz
776-915MHz
2300-2620MHz
RX1Multi-Mode
Analog-Digital Baseband
869-894 MHz (FDD/TDD)925-960 MHz (FDD/TDD)
1805-1880 MHz (FDD/TDD)1930-1990 MHz (FDD/TDD)
2110-2170 MHz2620-2690 MHz
ITX
QTX
Cont
SPI Switching ControlCont
Band 1Band 2
Band 3
Band 5Band 8
Band 13
2300-2400 MHz TDD
824-915 MHz TDD
1710-1910 MHz TDD
2300-2400 MHz
2570-2620 MHz
2570-2620 MHz TDD
BPF
BPF
Switching LNAs,BPFs
Switching LNAs,BPFs
/4
Demod
Demod
Demod
VPA PowerManagement
/4
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
/2
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
/2
VectorModu-lators
VPA
SP4T
Single-Channel
VSE&
Control DACs
AutoBias ControlLevel Control
IRXDataQRXData
SP4T
SP4T
2400-2484 MHz TDDSP2T
2400-2484 MHz
Voltage Control
Cntrl
Cal Data
Cntrl
VCO
RX Synth& VCO
Cntrl
I/O Clk
Dig
RF
V4 B
aseb
and
Inte
rface
TX Synth
SP6T
BPF
Band 7
/2
GPS1Data
GPS Receiver BPF
BasebandDSP
Engine 2
SysClock
RX2Data
Control Data
TX2 Data
REF
FIG. 7: ParkerVision Dual-Radio Multifunctional Power TransceiverArchitecture
for an EVDO-GSM-EDGE-UMTS-LTE-WiFi-Bluetooth Device
To manage size and placement nearest the antenna, a complementary power transceiver chipset may be desirable. The additional transmitter section would still result in a much smaller total footprint that the conventional architecture, due to
the elimination of several PAs. Converting the FDD band RX SAWs in the secondary receiver for MIMO requires only seven additional SAWs in the worst case (all bands, all modes) configuration. A split DigRF interface configuration was assumed to be configurable, although not verified as valid per the specification. The d2p dual-radio, multifunctional power transceiver architecture is illustrated in Figure 7, on the previous page.
5. Summary In summary, ParkerVision’s d2p Power-Modulator technology would greatly reduce the hardware and complexity that would result from a conventional transceiver , PA, and front-end network architecture that must support GSM, EDGE, EVDO, UMTS, LTE, WiFi, and Bluetooth across the frequency span ranging from EUTRA Band 13 (776 MHz) to Band 38 (2620 MHz). As a result, cost and size would be greatly reduced. Yield improvements in the manufacturing process would result in additional cost savings. Furthermore, d2d technology will provide much higher efficiency and accuracy for EDGE, LTE, EVDO, and UMTS/HSUPA operation. Capabilities could be extended to include WiFi and WiMax operation from the same Power Transceiver. Parkervision d2p provides the simplest solution to a complex problem, a modulation-agile universal power transceiver.
A.1: Background ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RTT Meeting Notes February 17th, 10:00am-11:15am Attendees: Roger Belcher, Director, RTT John Stuckey, EVP, ParkerVision Jeff Leach, Dir. of Sales, ParkerVision John Moon, Advisor, ParkerVision Charlie Moses, Sr. FAE, ParkerVision Devin Feher, Business Development, ParkerVision Summary of Meeting: Roger was advised by a large Service Provider (“SP”) to talk to us regarding our technology. RTT was initially a test equipment company that sold their business to a Far East company. Thereafter, they became a Technology Analyst company, and most recently have done 3 reports for GSMA. They have been asked by the SP to put together 2 reports (1 20-pager to be shared with suppliers and 1 100-200 pager for SP internal usage). The reports are to cover which companies can support a program that the SP and partners are looking at for a multi-band, multi-protocol system. This system will initially go into Laptops, but will quickly move to Cell Phones as well. The RF Architecture is targeted to cover the following bands:
- Upper Band C (776-787MHz UL: 746-757 MHz DL) for LTE (2 Rx Paths) - Band V - 850 (824-849 UL: 869-894 DL) for EVDO (2 Rx Paths) - Band VIII - GSM 900 (880 – 915 UL: 925 -960 DL) for GSM/EDGE (1 Rx path) - Band III – GSM 1800 (1710 – 1785 UL: 1805 – 1880 DL) for GSM/EDGE, LTE
(1 Rx path) - Band 11 – US PCS 1900 (1850 – 1910 UL: 1930 – 1990 DL) for EVDO (2/1 Rx
Paths) - Band 1 – UMTS (1920 – 1980 UL: 2110 – 2170 DL) for HSPA/LTE (2/1 Rx
Paths) - Band 40 China (2300 -2400 MHz) for TDD-LTE (2 Rx paths) - Band VII UMTS2600 Extension band (2500-2570 UL: 2620 – 2690 DL) for LTE
(2 Rx paths) - Band 38 (2570 – 2620 TDD) for TDD-LTE (2 Rx paths) - GPS (1575MHz) - Bluetooth (2400 – 2484MHz) - WiFi (2400 – 2484MHz)
First availability of products is 2010 for laptop system and soon thereafter for handsets with a developed market in 2012-2014 and 2012-2014 respectively for each application. There is only 1 Tx path required and WiFi can be 802.11G. Roger said that the SP is more interested in Consistency than Peak Efficiency. Performance needs to be as good as what is out there for narrow band solutions. Roger said that the drafts of his report are due based on the below schedule: Draft 1: End of February Draft 2: End of March Draft 3: End of April Roger mentioned that Coexistence (in Band C especially) is a big issue. Action Items: Action required Ownership When Send Roger confirmation that this is something that could be supported by ParkerVision
Leach 3/6
A.2: Background ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments from RTT Attn John Stuckey John Many thanks for your time and presentation at Barcelona. It was very much appreciated. We have now had the opportunity to have further discussions with a number of vendors and have had first level responses and so are going round the loop again to establish some additional details.
The context and objectives of this ‘second trawl’ are set out below:
There seems to be a consensus, at least amongst PA vendors, that there are six options for realising an LTE handset that could work from 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz
Option 1 Separate power amplifiers and individually band optimised TX/RX paths Option 2 Three separate modules, one for core bands from Band V 850 MHz up to 2.1 GHz, a second for 2.3 and 2.6 GHz, and a third for US and European DDR at 700/800 MHz Option 3 As option 2 but with the core band module extended down to 700 MHz Option 4 As option 3 but with the core band module extended up to 2.6 GHz Option 5 Three separate modules, one for sub one GHz, one for existing bands between 1GHz and 2.1 GHz, one for 2.3/2.6 GHz Option 6 One broad band architecture across all bands In discussions at our meeting I recollect that Charley thought Option 2 might be a ParkerVision way forward. Similarly companies such as RFMD, Triquint etc. seem to follow this thinking with their products/investments. It would certainly appear to be one of the best Options technically.
The practical difference between each option in terms of performance (including TX efficiency), cost, real estate and risk depends on the practical performance achievable from fixed and adaptive matching circuits and assumes switches have sufficient dynamic range. There are also form factor issues that are directly related to the choice of antenna material and structure.
Superficially it might be argued that Option 1 would deliver the best performance and Option 6 the lowest cost and smallest real estate with the mid way options ranging between these two extremes but we recognize this is over simplistic
The additional R and D investment needed for Option 6 for example is presently hard to quantify (though we need to produce a plausible guesstimate and then set against projected market volume and value as this might more than cancel out any cost advantage).
From ParkerVision’s point of view is there a preferred option other than Option 2 or being more specific do you think Options 3 to 6 can match the performance and or TX efficiency achievable in discrete ‘narrow band’ implementations (option1) as well as delivering cost and real estate benefits.
Your help with this is very much appreciated With thanks Roger Roger Belcher Technical Director RTT Programmes 00 44 208 744 3163