Telecommunications – Receiver or analog modulated signal frequency converter – Frequency modifying or conversion
Patent
1997-07-16
2000-02-22
Chin, Wellington
Telecommunications
Receiver or analog modulated signal frequency converter
Frequency modifying or conversion
330227, 323315, H04B 116
Patent
active
060290609
ABSTRACT:
A multi-stage mixer circuit has two or more mixer stages, each stage having a mixer core and successive mixer cores being separated by one or more current mirrors. By using current mirrors to process the currents generated by the mixer cores, instead of current-to-voltage and voltage-to-current converters as in the prior art, the present invention provides a mixer circuit with reduced signal distortion and power dissipation. In one embodiment, the two mixer cores of a two-stage mixer circuit are implemented using the same type of transistor devices (e.g., N-type), and there are two current mirrors between the mixer cores. In another embodiment, the two mixer cores of a two-stage mixer circuit are implemented using different types of transistor devices (i.e., one N-type and the other P-type), and there is only one current mirror between the mixer cores. A mixer circuit of the present invention may have an initial voltage-to-current converter to convert an input voltage signal into a current for the first mixer core. A mixer circuit of the present invention may also have a current-to-voltage converter to convert the current generated by the last mixer core into an output voltage signal. Alternatively, the last mixer core could be followed by a final current mirror that mirrors the current generated by the last mixer core.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3838262 (1974-09-01), Plassche
patent: 4739282 (1988-04-01), Scheinberg
patent: 5414383 (1995-05-01), Cusdin et al.
patent: 5512816 (1996-04-01), Lambert
patent: 5630228 (1997-05-01), Mittel
patent: 5652743 (1997-07-01), Bien et al.
patent: 5847556 (1998-12-01), Kothandaraman et al.
"A DC to 1-GHz Differential Monolithic Variable-Gain Amplifier," by Robert G. Meyer and William D. Mack, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 26, No. 11, Nov. 1991, pp. 1673-1680.
"A Direct-Conversion Receiver for 900MHz (ISM Band) Spread-Spectrum Digital Cordless Telephone," by Christopher Dennis Hull, Robert Ray Chu, and Joo Leong Tham, ISSCC96/Session21/Wireless Systems/Paper SP 21.3, 1996 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 5 pages.
Chin Wellington
Jama Isaak R.
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
LandOfFree
Mixer with current mirror load does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Mixer with current mirror load, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Mixer with current mirror load will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-528257