Telecommunications – Receiver or analog modulated signal frequency converter – Noise or interference elimination
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-19
2003-03-18
Maung, Nay (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Receiver or analog modulated signal frequency converter
Noise or interference elimination
C455S130000, C455S222000, C455S223000, C455S126000, C330S296000, C381S094500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06535724
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to communication equipment, and, more particularly, to a receiver portion of a telephone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The signal received by a telephone of a digital telephone network is processed in digital form, converted into analog form, and finally amplified and applied to an electroacoustic transducer. The receiver portion of a mobile phone can be represented schematically as shown in
FIG. 1. A
demodulated digital signal RX-IN produced by a receiving and demodulation unit
10
is applied to the input of a circuit unit
11
which converts the signal into analog form, and which filters and amplifies the signal. The analog signal output from the unit
11
is applied to the input of a power amplifier stage which can transfer the signal to an electroacoustic transducer
13
, such as an electromagnetic unit or loud speaker, with sufficient electrical power for the operation thereof.
The power amplifier stage comprises an operational amplifier
16
and has a gain determined by the ratio between the resistance of a feedback resistor R
2
disposed between the output and the inverting input of the operational amplifier
16
and the resistance of a resistor R
1
disposed between the output of the unit
11
and the inverting input of the operational amplifier. To prevent power dissipation when the telephone is not in use, a circuit which responds to an external activation or deactivation control is provided both in the unit
11
and in the amplifier
16
. This function is represented by the connection of the unit
11
and of the amplifier
16
to a terminal to which a single-bit digital signal PD (power down) can be applied. By convention, the receiving circuit unit is put in the zero current-consumption state when PD=1, and is enabled to consume current from the supply (power up) when PD=0.
As is known, each time there is a change from the “power down” state to the “power up” state or vice versa, both the signal-processing unit and the power amplifier are subject to an abrupt voltage and current transient before reaching the steady operating state. During this transient, electrical interference with frequency components in the acoustic band are produced and are translated into audible and annoying noises in the electroacoustic transducer.
In an attempt to address these problems, various measures which provide for the connection of active and passive components in series and/or in parallel with the transducer have been adopted to filter out the undesired electrical interference. However, approaches of this type require fairly bulky components outside the power amplifier, which is normally in the form of an integrated circuit.
It has also been proposed to use processing units and amplification units with balanced inputs and outputs to render the electroacoustic transducer insensitive to at least some of the possible interference, particularly so-called common-mode interference. Naturally, however, the use of a balanced amplification unit is possible only when the electroacoustic transducer can be connected between the two balanced outputs of the amplification unit. When this is not possible because one of the terminals of the transducer has to be connected to a fixed power terminal, for example, to the ground of the circuit, the only suitable prior art approach is to use the above-mentioned external filters.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a receiver portion free of the above-described interference in which the electroacoustic transducer has a terminal connected to the ground terminal, but which does not require filtering components.
This object is achieved by the provision of the receiver portion comprising a differential amplifier stage having differential inputs and having an output, and an electroacoustic transducer connected between the output of the differential amplifier stage and a supply voltage reference. The differential amplifier stage may comprise an operational amplifier having an output defining the output of the differential amplifier stage and having first and second inputs, first and second capacitors connected between respective first and second inputs of the operational amplifier and the differential inputs of the differential amplifier stage, a third capacitor connected between the first input and the output of the operational amplifier, and a fourth capacitor connected between the second input of the operational amplifier and a first reference voltage. In addition, the differential amplifier stage may include a fifth capacitor, and at least one first switch for alternatively connecting the fifth capacitor between a second reference voltage and a third reference voltage, or between the first input and the output of the operational amplifier. The differential amplifier stage may also include a sixth capacitor, and at least one second switch for alternatively connecting the sixth capacitor between a fourth reference voltage and a fifth reference voltage, or between the second input of the operational amplifier and the fifth reference voltage.
The receiver may also include a switching unit for interrupting a connection to the differential inputs of the differential amplifier stage responsive to a control signal. In one embodiment, the switching unit may include at least one third switch responsive to the control unit for connecting the differential inputs to one another at a common terminal for a predetermined time based upon activation of the differential amplifier stage. In another embodiment, the switching unit comprises at least one third switch responsive to the control unit for interrupting a connection between the differential inputs of the differential amplifier stage and respective ones of the first and second capacitors, and for connecting the first and second capacitors to one another at a common terminal for a predetermined time based upon activation of the differential amplifier stage.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3916321 (1975-10-01), Morse
patent: 5150075 (1992-09-01), Hietala et al.
patent: 5151942 (1992-09-01), Sasaki
patent: 5249233 (1993-09-01), Kennedy et al.
patent: 5255094 (1993-10-01), Yong et al.
patent: 5278994 (1994-01-01), Black et al.
patent: 5444312 (1995-08-01), Noblett et al.
patent: 5796851 (1998-08-01), Hewitt et al.
patent: 0 570 655 (1993-11-01), None
patent: 2 279 192 (1994-12-01), None
Nicollini Germano
Pernici Sergio
Allen Dyer Doppelt Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A.
Jorgenson Lisa K.
Maung Nay
STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
Trinh Sonny
LandOfFree
Receiver portion of a telephone does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Receiver portion of a telephone, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Receiver portion of a telephone will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3029220