WO2012114683A1 - Wireless communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

This wireless communication device is provided with a wireless unit which converts an input signal to a signal in a predetermined frequency band so that the signal can be transmitted as a radio wave through an antenna. In order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna at the final step, the wireless unit is provided with a first output unit and a second output unit provided in accordance with the frequency band. Each of the first output unit and the second output unit comprises an output terminal for outputting an input signal to the antenna, and the number of bands acceptable by the first output unit and the second output unit is larger than the number of output terminals. At least one band is contained in the range at which the frequency range of the input signal acceptable by the first output unit and the frequency range of the input signal acceptable by the second output unit are superimposed.

Description

Wireless communication device

The present invention relates to an amplifier circuit used for power amplification of a high-frequency signal, and a radio communication apparatus having the same, and in particular, an amplifier circuit used for a multiband radio communication apparatus that communicates in a plurality of communication schemes and a plurality of frequency bands, and It is related with the radio | wireless part provided with it.

In recent years, mobile phones have been improved in performance and functionality. In order to further enhance the performance and functions and expand the use, new reservation of frequency bands used for communication and methods of using the frequency bands are provided. Is being considered.

Currently, there are many wireless communication systems used by wireless communication devices, and these wireless communication systems employ different communication methods.

Therefore, there is a demand for wireless communication devices that can be adapted to such various communication systems and compatible with various frequency bands. Note that adapting the wireless communication device to various communication systems is referred to as multi-mode, and responding to various frequency bands is referred to as multi-band.

In the following, Conventional Example 1 is shown as a conventional example of a wireless communication device that can be adapted to various communication systems and compatible with various frequency bands.

(Conventional example 1)
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a wireless unit included in a conventional UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and GSM (registered trademark) (Global System for Mobile communications) compatible multiband multimode mobile phone.

In the wireless communication device of Conventional Example 1, as shown in FIG. 19, in order to realize this multi-mode and multi-band, a wireless unit of the wireless communication device, particularly a high-frequency power amplifier (hereinafter referred to as “PA”). Are mounted in correspondence with each communication method or frequency band used for communication. And according to the frequency band used for communication, it switches and uses several PA. Note that FIG. 19 shows a configuration from the antenna to the input / output of an RFIC (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit) in the radio unit. Further, GSM and UMTS described in FIG. 19 indicate communication methods. GSM is a standard for second-generation mobile phones (hereinafter referred to as “2G”) implemented by the FDD-TDMA system, and is currently used in a wide range of areas around the world. On the other hand, UMTS is a standard for third-generation mobile phones (hereinafter referred to as “3G”).

In addition, GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800 (Digital Communications System), PCS1900 (Personal Communications System), UMTS Band1, UMTS Band4, UMTS Band8, and UMTS Band8 are used for GSM reception. These used frequency bands are commonly called bands (hereinafter referred to as “bands”). These bands are defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). Specifically, the frequency of each band is defined as shown in FIGS. FIG. 20 is a table showing frequency allocation in GSM. FIG. 21 is a table showing frequency allocation in UMTS.

For example, in an area where UMTS is adopted as a communication method and the frequency of UMTS Band 1 is used, the radio unit shown in FIG. 19 operates as follows. That is, a path passing through the terminals 1121a and 1131a of the RFIC 111, the UMTS PA 121a and the preamplifier 122a, and the duplexer 113a is selected and used by the antenna switch module (hereinafter referred to as “ANT-SW”) 161.

On the other hand, in an area where the frequency of UMTS Band 4 is used, a route passing through the terminals 1121b and 1131b of the RFIC 111, the UMTS PA 121b, the preamplifier 122b, and the duplexer 113b is selected and used by the ANT-SW 161.

In an area where the frequency of UMTS Band 5 is used, a route passing through terminals 1121c and 1131c of RFIC 111, PA 121c for UMTS and preamplifier 122c, and duplexer 113c is selected and used by ANT-SW 161.

Also, in an area where the frequency of UMTS Band 8 is used, a route passing through terminals 1121d and 1131d of RFIC 111, PA 121d for UMTS and preamplifier 122d, and duplexer 113d is selected and used by ANT-SW 161. For example, output terminals to which different bands are assigned such as UMTS Band 1 and USMT Band 5 may be used while being switched at high speed, but they are not used at the same time.

Also, as shown in FIG. 19, the conventional radio unit is for UMTS PAs 121a, 121b, 121c, 121d, preamplifiers 122a122b, 122c, 122d, duplexers 113a, 113b, 113c, 113d, and GSM depending on the communication method and band. The PA module 123 and GSM reception filters 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d are individually installed. The GSM850 and GSM900, DCS1800, and PCS1900 in the GSM transmission PA module 123 are the only members that are shared by the radio unit for different communication systems and bands. In some cases, since the frequency settings of GSM850 and UMTS Band 5 are the same, the duplexer 113c and the GSM reception filter 151a may be shared. Further, since the frequency settings of GSM900 and UMTS Band 8 are the same, the duplexer 113b and the GSM reception filter 151b can be shared.

By the way, further expansion of the use of wireless communication devices such as mobile phones is expected in the future, and since mobile phones that can be used all over the world are required, the number of bands that mobile phones should support is increasing.

More specifically, there are different communication methods such as GSM and UMTS as the communication method of the mobile phone. In each standard, a band corresponding to the used frequency band is assigned. For example, in the case of GSM, a band is allocated for each use frequency band such as GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900. Also, for example, in the case of UMTS, a band is allocated for each frequency band used, such as UMTS Band 1, UMTS Band 2, UMTS Band 3, UMTS Band 4,. The specific relationship between the frequency assignment and the band is defined as shown in FIGS.

Furthermore, even now, with regard to communication methods such as UMTS and the subsequent standard LTE (Long Term Evolution), the number of bands to be gradually increased. As the number of bands to be dealt with increases, the number of parts such as PAs and duplexers increases in the wireless unit included in the wireless communication device such as a mobile phone. As a result, the manufacturing cost and mounting area of the wireless unit are increased. The increase is a problem.

To address this issue, efforts have been made to reduce manufacturing costs and mounting areas by sharing PAs for multiple UMTS bands. A PA that can be shared by a plurality of UMTS bands is referred to as a UMTS shared PA.

Next, Conventional Example 2 will be described as a conventional example of this approach.

(Conventional example 2)
As a conventional example 2, a wireless communication device that reduces the manufacturing cost and the mounting area with the following configuration has also been devised. The configuration of this wireless communication device is shown in FIG. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a radio unit included in a conventional UMTS and GSM-compatible multiband / multimode mobile phone. In FIG. 22, the same members as those of the wireless unit shown in FIG. Further, in FIG. 22, a description will be given focusing on UMTS as a corresponding band in the wireless communication device. Therefore, the antenna switch module 161, the antenna 102, the GSM PA module 123, and the GSM reception filters 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d illustrated in FIG. 19 are not particularly illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 22, the wireless communication device shown in Conventional Example 2 is a combination of PA 221a, preamplifier 222a and output changeover switch 253a that covers the frequency bands of PA 121a and preamplifier 122a and PA 121b and preamplifier 122b in Conventional Example 1. Is provided. Furthermore, the wireless communication device according to Conventional Example 2 includes a combination of PA 221b, preamplifier 222b, and output changeover switch 253b that covers the frequency bands of PA 121c, preamplifier 122c, PA 121d, and preamplifier 122d in Conventional Example 1. These two systems are configured as one module. With this configuration, the wireless communication device shown in Conventional Example 2 can reduce the manufacturing cost and the mounting area as compared with the wireless communication device shown in Conventional Example 1.

However, the wireless communication device according to the above-described conventional example 2 is configured to reduce the manufacturing cost and the mounting area by sharing the PA in different bands, but the duplexers 113a, 113b, 113c, and 113d are shared. Is not configured. The duplexers 113a to 113d have the following functions, and are therefore difficult or impossible to share.

In a FDD wireless communication device, when a transmission antenna and a reception antenna are shared by a single antenna 102, a strong transmission wave flows into the receiver and prevents reception. Therefore, the duplexers 113a to 113d are used to electrically separate the transmission path and the reception path. That is, the duplexers 113a to 113d function so as to supply only the mobile phone reception frequency component to the mobile phone reception system as much as possible with respect to the signal input from the antenna 102 side. Furthermore, the duplexers 113a to 113d supply only the transmission frequency component of the signal entering from the transmission system of the wireless communication device, that is, the PA side, to the antenna 102 side as much as possible without loss. At the same time, the duplexers 113a to 113d function as much as possible to prevent the transmission frequency component of the signal entering from the transmission system, that is, the PA side, from being supplied to the reception system.

This will be described more specifically by taking the duplexer 113c shown in FIG. 22 as an example. For example, the duplexer 113c supplies only the reception frequency component of the signal input from the antenna-side terminal 311c to the terminal 1131c as much as possible without loss. Further, only the transmission frequency component of the signal entering from the terminal 261c is supplied to the terminal 311c with as little loss as possible. Further, it has a function of preventing transmission frequency components from being supplied to the terminal 1131c as much as possible.

Here, consider a case where the duplexer 113c and the duplexer 113d are integrated. In this case, the duplexer 113c needs to separate the transmission frequency 824-849 MHz from the reception frequency 869-894 MHz. On the other hand, the duplexer 113d needs to separate the transmission frequency 880-915 MHz from the reception frequency 925-960 MHz. However, since the reception frequency of the duplexer 113c and the transmission frequency of the duplexer 113d overlap, it becomes impossible to integrate them. Therefore, in the conventional example 2, the PA 121 is shared, but the duplexer 113 cannot be shared.

In addition, as what aims at reduction of the above manufacturing costs and mounting areas, the high frequency power amplification apparatus as shown to patent document 1 is mentioned, for example. More specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a high frequency power amplifying apparatus having the following configuration, taking as an example the case of amplifying PCS1900, DCS1800, UMTS Band 4, 9, UMTS Band 1, and UMTS Band 2. Yes. That is, the high-frequency power amplifier disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes two high-frequency power amplifiers that amplify PCS1900, DCS1800, UMTS Band 4, and 9, and a high-frequency power amplifier that amplifies UMTS Band 1 and UMTS Band 2. Is provided. Further, a switch circuit is provided for outputting a certain input to a different output destination, that is, a transmission signal input from the first input to the first output or the second output.

That is, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of communication systems and bands are shared by a single high-frequency power amplifier, thereby reducing the number of high-frequency energy amplifiers to be provided and reducing the manufacturing cost and the mounting area.

Further, as a high-frequency power device compatible with multiband and multimode, a high-frequency power device shown in Patent Document 2 is also disclosed. The high frequency power device disclosed in Patent Document 2 discloses a case where signals in different frequency bands of different communication schemes are amplified. More specifically, the arrangement relationship of the power amplifiers is defined so that the high-frequency signal can be prevented from leaking to the reception path of different high-frequency signals in the same mode when transmitting the high-frequency signal.

However, in a configuration in which the number of output terminals is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be supported by the wireless unit, a wireless communication device that improves PA efficiency while considering possible combinations of frequency bands There is a problem that can not be.

Specifically, in the case of the configuration of the conventional example 2 described above, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and the mounting area by sharing the PA, but the configuration includes the output changeover switches 253a and 253b in the subsequent stage of the PAs 221a and 221b. ing. For this reason, the loss by this changeover switch 253a, 253b arises. In other words, by further providing the changeover switches 253a and 253b, the signal power is attenuated from 0.2 dB to 0.3 dB (corresponding to a current loss of about 10 mA). Furthermore, the range of the used frequency band that should be handled by each of PA 221a and PA 221b is increased. That is, since the bandwidth is increased, there is a problem that the operating efficiency with respect to the power supplied to the PA 221a and PA 221b is significantly reduced. For example, when comparing PA 121a, 121b, 121c, and 121d of Conventional Example 1 with PAs 221a and 221b of Conventional Example 2, the corresponding frequency ranges of the PAs are as shown in FIGS. 23 and FIG. 24 show the corresponding frequencies of the PAs 121a, 121b, 121c, 121d included in the radio unit of the conventional example 1 shown in FIG. 19 and the corresponding frequencies of the PAs 221a, 221b included in the radio unit of the conventional example 2 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship.

Since the corresponding band of PA 121a according to Conventional Example 1 is UMTS Band 1, the corresponding frequency range is 1920 MHz to 1980 MHz from FIG. 23, and the frequency bandwidth is 60 MHz. Similarly, the corresponding band of PA 121b is UMTS Band 4, so the corresponding frequency is 1710 MHz to 1755 MHz, and the frequency bandwidth is 45 MHz.

On the other hand, since PA 221a according to Conventional Example 2 needs to cover UMTS Band 1 and UMTS Band 4, the corresponding frequency is 1710 MHz to 1980 MHz and the frequency bandwidth is 270 MHz.

Similarly, the corresponding band of PA 121c according to Conventional Example 1 is UMTS Band 5, so the corresponding frequency range is 824 MHz to 845 MHz from FIG. 24 and the frequency bandwidth is 21 MHz. Similarly, since the corresponding band of PA 121d is UMTS Band 8, the corresponding frequency is 880 MHz to 915 MHz, and the frequency bandwidth is 35 MHz.

On the other hand, since PA 221b according to Conventional Example 2 needs to cover UMTS Band 5 and UMTS Band 8, the corresponding frequency is 824 MHz to 915 MHz and the frequency bandwidth is 91 MHz.

By the way, as a standard indicating the frequency bandwidth of each PA, an index of ratio band = frequency bandwidth / center frequency can be used. If this guideline is used, PA121a has a specific bandwidth of 3.1% and PA121b has a specific bandwidth of 2.6%, while PA221a has 14.6%. I understand that. PA 121c has a specific bandwidth of 3.0% and PA 121d has a specific bandwidth of 3.9%, while PA 221b has a bandwidth of 10.5%. These relationships are shown together in FIG. FIG. 25 is a table showing a comparison of the band ratios of PAs 121a, 121b, 121c, and 121d included in the wireless unit of Conventional Example 1 shown in FIG. 19 and PAs 221a and 221b included in the wireless unit of Conventional Example 2 shown in FIG. It is.

In general, it is a preferable guideline that the specific bandwidth in each PA is about 10%, and the specific bandwidth of PA 221a is as large as 14.6%, and the degradation of efficiency and the feasibility itself are problems.

Further, in the conventional example 1 and the conventional example 2, the band configuration in UMTS is shown for the configuration examples of UMTS Band 1, UMTS Band 4, UMTS Band 5, and UMTS Band 8, but the band to which the wireless unit of the mobile phone should correspond There are various configurations. The band configuration of UMTS often depends on the area where the mobile phone is shipped, and it is necessary to assume a combination as shown in FIG. FIG. 26 is a table showing a combination example of band configurations of UMTS.

Here, in the configuration of the radio unit of Conventional Example 2 shown in FIG. 22, the corresponding frequency range of PAs 221a and 221b is changed, and the correspondence between the band configuration shown in FIG. 26 and these PA 221a and PA 221b is examined. More specifically, each of PA 221a corresponding to High Band (for example, UMTS Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 9) and PA 221b corresponding to Low Band (for example, UMTS Band 5, 8, 13) The band configuration that can be supported is examined while considering the specific bandwidth of the PA. Note that the corresponding output terminals corresponding to the output of PA 221a are output terminals 261a and 261b, and the output terminals corresponding to the output of PA 221b are 261c and 261d.

In this examination, three cases are assumed as shown in FIG. FIG. 27 shows two PAs 221a, 221b, corresponding output terminals 261a, 261b, 261c, 261d corresponding to the respective PAs 221a, 221b, the corresponding bands, the corresponding frequency ranges, and the ratios for the three cases. It is a table | surface which shows the relationship with a zone | band.

First, Case 1 is a case where any of the band configurations shown in FIG. 26 by PAs 221a and 221b can be handled. In this case 1, it is possible to cope with the band configuration shown in FIG. 26, but the ratio band of each PA 221a, 221b has become large.

Next, Case 2 and Case 3 are cases where each non-band of PAs 221a and 221b is considered to be up to about 10%. In Case 2, PA221a can support UMTS Bands 1 and 2 in High Band, PA221b can correspond to UMTS Bands 5 and 8 in Low Band, and the specific bandwidth of each PA should be in the range of about 10%. ing.

On the other hand, in case 3, PA221a can correspond to UMTS Bands 2 and 4 in High Band, PA221b can correspond to UMTS Bands 5 and 13 in Low Band, and the specific bandwidth of each PA is in the range of about 10%. I am doing so.

FIG. 28 shows the results of summarizing the ranges that can be handled for the combinations of band configurations shown in FIG. 26 for these cases 1 to 3. FIG. 28 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between UMTS bands that can be assigned to output terminals of the PA module and adaptive destinations.

FIG. 28 shows four examples of adaptation destinations: Japan / US, Japan, US, and Global. The PA module is assumed to include output terminals 261a, 261b, 261c, and 261d corresponding to the band configuration corresponding to each adaptive destination.

The band configuration required for Japan / US is UMTS Band 1, 4, 5, 8. The band configuration required for Japan is 1, 9, 5 and the band configuration required for the US is 2 4, 5, and 13 and the band configurations required for Global correspondence are 1, 2, 5, and 8.

As shown in FIG. 28, the case 1 can correspond to the band configurations of all destinations, but the cases 2 and 3 can support only the band configurations of some destinations. However, in case 1, the relative bandwidths of the PAs 221a and 221b are very large.

From the above examination results, the following two main problems are to be realized when attempting to realize a UMTS shared PA capable of reducing the mounting area and manufacturing cost of the radio unit while satisfying the demand for the combination of band configurations shown in FIG. Becomes clear.

The first problem is that the efficiency of the radio unit deteriorates due to an increase in loss due to the addition of the changeover switch. The second point is that the efficiency of the radio unit deteriorates due to an increase in the PA specific band. Alternatively, when priority is given to the efficiency of the radio unit, the combination of band configurations that can be handled by the radio unit is very limited.

In the wireless part of a mobile phone, PA is the component with the most power consumption, and the efficiency of PA greatly affects the continuous talk time of the mobile phone. Furthermore, as mobile phones become more and more multifunctional, it is assumed that various applications are used during a call, and heat generated by the operation of various components is a problem. For this reason, it is particularly desired to increase the operating efficiency of the PA and reduce the amount of heat generation.

Furthermore, the cellular phone may be configured such that the number of output terminals of the PA is smaller than the number of bands (frequency bands) that can be handled by the PA of the radio unit. For example, the radio unit has only two output terminals, a band output terminal used in the manufacturing area and a global output terminal, but the PA module can support various band configurations shown in FIG. It is a case. In this way, even a configuration having a smaller number of output terminals than the number of bands (frequency bands) that can be supported by the PA module is required to be compatible with all the band configurations shown in FIG.

More specifically, there is a demand that the number of output terminals of the PA cannot be increased from the viewpoint of miniaturization and sharing of the PA. For example, as shown in FIG. 26, there are various bands that must be handled by the mobile phone, but the number of bands is four. However, there are seven types of bands: Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, and so on. Since the number of bands used in mobile phones is four, we want to reduce the number of output terminals of PA to four, minimize the number of output terminals, and reduce the number of output terminals. However, it is required to be able to cope with all the band configurations shown in FIG. Although it is conceivable to develop a PA module for each destination shown in FIG. 26, it should be avoided from the viewpoint of cost reduction by sharing the PA module.

However, the high-frequency power amplifying device of Patent Document 1 is configured to reduce the number of PAs to be provided and reduce the manufacturing cost and the mounting area by sharing a plurality of communication methods and bands with one high-frequency power amplifier. is there. In Patent Document 1, the number of output terminals corresponding to the number of bands that can be supported by the PA module of the wireless unit is provided, and the number of output terminals is larger than the number of bands that can be supported by the PA module of the wireless unit as in the present application. It is not the structure that assumes the case where there are few. Therefore, there is room for further reduction in manufacturing cost and mounting area.

In addition, the high-frequency power device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is provided with a power amplifier for reducing deterioration of reception sensitivity of a high-frequency signal when amplifying signals in different frequency bands of different modes (CDMA and GSM). Is specified. Therefore, assuming that the number of output terminals is smaller than the number of bands that can be handled by the PA module of the wireless unit, the deterioration of reception sensitivity is not reduced.

JP 2008-205821 A JP 2010-273321 A

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and considers combinations of frequency bands that can be handled in a configuration in which the number of output terminals is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be handled by the radio unit. On the other hand, a wireless communication device with improved PA efficiency is realized.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a wireless communication device of the present invention includes a wireless unit that converts an input signal into a signal of a predetermined frequency band so that the signal can be transmitted as a radio wave via an antenna. The final stage includes a first output unit and a second output unit provided in accordance with the predetermined frequency band in order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna. The first output unit has a first output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna, and the second output unit has a second output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna. is doing. The number of radio frequency bands that can be handled by the first output unit and the second output unit is larger than the total number of the first output terminal and the second output terminal. In addition, at least one or more of the frequency bands is included in a range that overlaps the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the first output unit and the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the second output unit. It is configured.

With this configuration, in the configuration where the number of output terminals for outputting the input signal converted by the radio unit is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be handled by the radio unit, the number of output terminals in the frequency band that can be handled is reduced. The input signal can be output in consideration of the corresponding combination, and the efficiency of the radio unit can be increased.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a main part of a radio unit included in the mobile phone illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a corresponding frequency range of each PA in the UMTS PA module included in the wireless unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a corresponding frequency range of each PA in the UMTS PA module included in the wireless unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the corresponding band, the corresponding frequency range, and the ratio band for each PA included in the UMTS PA module shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between the band configuration of the UMTS Band assigned to each output terminal included in the UMTS PA module shown in FIG. 2 and the adaptive destination. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main part configuration of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main part configuration of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the corresponding frequencies of the PA and the preamplifier in the UMTS PA module according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the corresponding frequencies of the PA and the preamplifier in the UMTS PA module according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of corresponding frequencies of PAs in the UMTS PA module included in the wireless unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of corresponding frequencies of PAs in the UMTS PA module included in the wireless unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 15 is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the corresponding band, the corresponding frequency range, and the ratio band for each PA included in the UMTS PA module shown in FIG. FIG. 16 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between the band configuration of the UMTS Band assigned to each output terminal included in the UMTS PA module shown in FIG. 12 and the adaptive destination. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main part configuration of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main part configuration of a radio unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a wireless unit included in a conventional UMTS and GSM-compatible multiband / multimode mobile phone. FIG. 20 is a table showing frequency allocation in GSM. FIG. 21 is a table showing frequency allocation in UMTS. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a radio unit included in a conventional UMTS and GSM-compatible multiband / multimode mobile phone. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the corresponding frequencies of the PAs included in the conventional radio unit illustrated in FIG. 19 and the corresponding frequencies of the PAs included in the conventional radio unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the corresponding frequencies of the PAs included in the conventional radio unit illustrated in FIG. 19 and the corresponding frequencies of the PAs included in the conventional radio unit illustrated in FIG. FIG. 25 is a table showing a comparison of the ratio bands of the PA provided in the conventional radio unit shown in FIG. 19 and the PA provided in the conventional radio unit shown in FIG. FIG. 26 is a table showing a combination example of band configurations of UMTS. FIG. 27 is a table showing the relationship among two PAs, the corresponding output terminals corresponding to the respective PAs, the corresponding bands, the corresponding frequency ranges, and the respective ratio bands for the three cases. FIG. 28 is a table showing a correspondence relationship between UMTS bands that can be assigned to output terminals of the PA module and adaptive destinations.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings, and the description thereof may be omitted.

(Embodiment)
(Configuration of mobile phone)
First, a schematic configuration of a mobile phone 1 will be described as an example of a wireless communication device according to the present embodiment with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment. The cellular phone 1 according to the present embodiment performs wireless communication with other devices using an allocated band (frequency band), and any wireless communication device according to the present invention has such a function. Applicable to the device. Hereinafter, a mobile phone terminal capable of making a call while moving will be exemplified.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 includes an antenna 2, a display panel 3, an audio circuit 4, a baseband unit 5, a radio unit 6, an application unit 7, an interface 8, a camera 9, and a power supply circuit 10.

The wireless unit 6 includes a conversion unit 11 including an RFIC, a UMTS PA module 12, a duplexer 13, a GSM PA module 14, and an ANT-SW 17. The conversion unit 11 includes a control unit 21, a transmission unit 22, and a reception unit 23.

The mobile phone 1 establishes communication with another telephone through a base station (not shown), and realizes a call function with the other telephone as follows.

First, the mobile phone 1 transmits an audio signal input through a microphone (not shown) included in the audio circuit 4 to another phone via the antenna 2. More specifically, in the mobile phone 1, the baseband unit 5 encodes the audio signal input from the audio circuit 4, converts it into a digital signal (baseband signal), and outputs the digital signal to the conversion unit 11 in the radio unit 6. . In the converter 11, the transmitter 22 orthogonally modulates the baseband signal and converts it into an analog signal (RF signal) having a frequency to be transmitted as a radio wave. The converted RF signal is output to the UMTS PA module 12 or the GSM PA module 14.

The UMTS PA module 12 or the GSM PA module 14 amplifies the power to transmit the RF signal converted by the transmitter 22 from the antenna 2. Then, the UMTS PA module 12 outputs the power-amplified RF signal to the antenna 2 via the duplexer 13. Alternatively, the GSM PA module 14 outputs a power amplified RF signal to the antenna 2.

The above-described UMTS PA module 12 is a signal power amplifier whose communication method is UMTS, and the maximum output is +24 dBm. On the other hand, the GSM PA module 14 is a signal power amplifier whose communication method is GSM, and the maximum output is +33 dBm. Note that switching between the transmission path in UMTS and the transmission path in GSM, and switching between the reception path in UMTS and the reception path in GSM are performed by the ANT-SW 17 in accordance with control from the conversion unit 11.

On the other hand, the cellular phone 1 can output radio waves received by the antenna 2 from a speaker (not shown) included in the audio circuit 4 as an audio signal. More specifically, the cellular phone 1 converts the radio wave received by the antenna 2 into an RF signal and outputs it to the radio unit 6. When the communication method is UMTS, the radio unit 6 transmits the RF signal received from the antenna 2 to the reception unit 23 of the conversion unit 11 including the RFIC via the duplexer 13. When the communication method is GSM, the RF signal is transmitted to the receiving unit 23 without using the duplexer 13.

In the conversion unit 11, the reception unit 23 converts the RF signal into a signal having a frequency processed by the baseband unit 5 to generate a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the baseband unit 5. The baseband unit 5 converts the baseband signal into an audio signal and outputs it to the audio circuit 4. Then, the audio signal is converted into physical vibration by the speaker of the audio circuit 4 and a sound is output.

Further, the mobile phone 1 can execute various other functions in addition to the above-described call function. For example, various information such as a menu screen can be displayed on the display panel 3. In addition, the application unit 7 including a wireless communication unit using a short-range wireless communication standard such as a GPS receiver, Bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like can grasp the current position by GPS or perform short-range wireless communication with other terminals. You can also go. Furthermore, still images and moving images can be taken by the camera 9. Various inputs from the user in the mobile phone 1 can be performed using the interface 8 for performing touch panel input, key input, and the like. Each unit included in the mobile phone 1 described above is configured to be variously controlled by the baseband unit 5.

In addition, in the radio | wireless part 6 which concerns on this Embodiment, although the conversion part 11 was the structure which receives the baseband signal of a digital signal from the baseband part 5, it is not limited to this. For example, the conversion unit 11 may include a digital-analog conversion circuit, receive a baseband signal that is a low-frequency analog signal from the baseband unit 5, and convert the baseband signal into a digital signal. .

That is, the baseband unit 5 may have a digital-analog conversion circuit, or the conversion unit 11 may have a configuration.

(Configuration of radio unit)
The cellular phone 1 according to the present embodiment has a configuration characteristic of the transmission system circuit of the wireless unit 6 among the configurations described above. Therefore, with reference to FIG. 2, the configuration of the wireless unit 6 will be described in more detail below. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 included in the mobile phone 1 illustrated in FIG. In FIG. 2, the description of the receiving circuit is omitted for convenience of explanation. Further, the description will be given focusing on the transmission path in which the communication method is UMTS.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the wireless unit 6, the UMTS PA module 12 includes a plurality of PAs (post-amplifier circuits) 41 (41 a, 41 b, 41 c, 41 d) and a plurality of preamplifiers (pre-amplifiers) provided in the preceding stage. Circuit) 42 (42a, 42b, 42c, 42d). Further, the PA 41 and the preamplifier 42 realize the first output unit, the second output unit, the third output unit, the first amplifier circuit, the second amplifier circuit, and the third amplifier circuit of the present invention. That is, in FIG. 2, PA41a and PA42a constitute a first output unit or first amplifier circuit, and PA41b and PA42b constitute a second output unit or second amplifier circuit.

That is, the PA module 12 for UMTS 12 is configured such that the PA 41 and the preamplifier 42 are connected in multiple stages in order to ensure the amplification factor and operate stably at a high frequency.

The amplifier circuit used as the PA 41 and the preamplifier 42 may be a single amplifier circuit or a differential amplifier circuit.

Further, duplexers 13 (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) are provided so as to correspond to the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, respectively. The duplexer 13 is a part that shares the antenna 2 in a mobile phone that performs transmission and reception simultaneously, such as an FDD mobile phone. That is, when the transmission antenna and the reception antenna are shared by one antenna 2, a strong transmission wave flows into the reception side and prevents reception of radio waves. Therefore, the duplexer 13 is used to electrically separate the transmission path and the reception path.

Therefore, the duplexer 13 has a transmission filter having a transmission frequency as a pass band and a reception frequency as a stop band, and a reception filter having a reception frequency as a pass band and the transmission frequency as a stop band. It is the structure which can extract only the signal of the frequency to perform. Note that the duplexer 13 is configured to have three terminals in addition to the terminals on the transmission side because the reception side is input by a differential signal, but the number of terminals the duplexer 13 has is not limited to this.

Moreover, each part of the radio | wireless part 6 mentioned above is connected as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the UMTS PA module 12 includes an input terminal 51 (first input terminal 51a, second input terminal 51b) for receiving an input signal. The input terminal 51a is connected to the input sides of the preamplifier 42a and the preamplifier 42b, and receives an input from the conversion unit 11. The input terminal 51b is connected to the input side of each of the preamplifier 42c and the preamplifier 42d, and receives an input from the conversion unit 11.

The PA 41a is connected to the output terminal 61a on the output side, and the PA 41b is connected to the output terminal 61b on the output side. The output terminal 61a is connected to the duplexer 13a, and the output terminal 61b is connected to the duplexer 13b.

That is, the PA 41a is connected to the duplexer 13a via the output terminal 61a, and the PA 41b is connected to the duplexer 13b via the output terminal 61b in a one-to-one correspondence.

The PA 41c is connected to the output terminal 61c on the output side, and the PA 41d is connected to the output terminal 61d on the output side. The output terminal 61c is connected to the duplexer 13c, and the output terminal 61d is connected to the duplexer 13d. That is, the PA 41c is connected to the duplexer 13c via the output terminal 61c, and the PA 41d is connected to the duplexer 13d via the output terminal 61d in a one-to-one correspondence.

The PA 41a and PA 41b sharing the input terminal 51a are controlled by the control signal from the conversion unit 11 so that one of them becomes active. For this reason, when an RF signal is input from the converter 11 via the input terminal 51a, the RF signal is amplified by either the active PA 41a or PA 41b. Similarly, one of the PA 41c and PA 41d sharing the input terminal 51b is controlled so as to be activated by a control signal from the conversion unit 11.

If there is no need to distinguish between them, PA 41a, 41b, 41c and 41d are PA 41, preamplifiers 42a, 42b, 42c and 42d are preamplifiers 42, duplexers 13a, 13b, 13c and 13d are duplexers 13 and input terminals 51a. , 51b, 51c, 51b are referred to as input terminal 51, and output terminals 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d are referred to as output terminal 61. The output terminal 61 implements the first output terminal, the second output terminal, and the third output terminal of the present invention. The duplexer 13 implements the first duplexer and the second duplexer of the present invention. That is, in FIG. 2, the output terminals 61a and 61b are a first output terminal and a second output terminal, respectively, and the duplexers 13a and 13b are a first duplexer and a second duplexer, respectively.

In addition, regarding the PAs 41a to 41d described above, the relationship between the compatible frequency range (used frequency) and the compatible band is as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the PA 41a is a power amplification circuit that has a corresponding frequency range of 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz and can be shared by UMTS Band 1 and UMTS Band 2. The PA 41b is a power amplifier circuit that has a corresponding frequency range of 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz and can be shared by UMTS Band 2, and UMTS Bands 3, 4, and 9. The PA 41c is a power amplification circuit that has a corresponding frequency range of 824 MHz to 915 MHz and can be shared by UMTS Band 5 and UMTS Band 8. The PA 41d is a power amplification circuit that has a corresponding frequency range of 777 MHz to 845 MHz and can be shared by UMTS Band 13 and UMTS Band 5. 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating examples of the corresponding frequency ranges of the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d in the UMTS PA module 12 included in the wireless unit 6 illustrated in FIG.

In the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment, the corresponding frequency range overlaps in the frequency range of 1850 MHz to 1910 MHz of UMTS Band 2 in the set of PA 41a and PA 41b. Further, in the set of PA41c and PA41d, the corresponding frequency ranges overlap in the frequency range of 824 MHz to 845 MHz of UMTS Band 5. Each set of PAs (a set of PA41a and PA41b or a set of PA41c and PA41d) can handle three bands.

In the present embodiment, bands in which the used frequency bands are substantially similar, that is, bands in which the used frequency bands overlap (UMTS Band 3, UMTS Band 4, and UMTS Band 9 in FIG. 3) are regarded as one band.

Also, in the high-frequency circuit, if impedance matching is not achieved, the output power is not completely discharged from the antenna 2 and a problem that a part of the output flows back to the circuit occurs. Therefore, in the cellular phone 1, the power amplifying element (transistor) used for the PA 41 is provided with an input matching circuit and an output matching circuit for impedance matching with components connected to the front and rear. Such a matching circuit usually uses a combination of a coil and a capacitor, and the power source side and the load side can be matched by adjusting the impedance ratio of the capacitor and the coil. However, since the matching is achieved by the combination of the coil and the capacitor, the impedance depends on the frequency, and the frequency dependence occurs in the output power characteristic and the efficiency characteristic. For this reason, as described above, the matching circuit is different for each PA 41 corresponding to a predetermined use frequency band.

(Relationship between supported frequency range and specific bandwidth)
In addition, if the configuration is such that one PA 41 can handle a plurality of bands, such as the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment, the use that the PA 41 should support compared to a configuration in which a PA is provided for each band. The frequency band becomes wider. If the use frequency band to be supported by PA 41 is too wide, the operation efficiency for the supplied power is reduced.

Therefore, an index called a specific band (= frequency bandwidth / center frequency) is provided as a guideline indicating the width of the corresponding frequency range that can satisfy the performance of PA41. The relative bandwidth of PA41 is up to about 10%, and if it is larger than this standard, the reduction of the operational efficiency of PA41 becomes a problem. Note that the performance of the PA 41 includes distortion characteristics, operational efficiency, in-band output deviation, and the like of the PA 41.

By the way, since the frequency used is different depending on each region (for example, for each country), there are various band configurations to be handled by the wireless unit 6 of the mobile phone 1. An example of such a band configuration is a combination of band configurations shown in FIG.

Here, regarding the UMTS PA module 12 configured from the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d according to the present embodiment, the correspondence between the specific band and the band configuration is as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the corresponding band, the corresponding frequency range, and the ratio band for each PA 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d provided in the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between the band configuration of the UMTS Band assigned to each of the output terminals 61a, 61b, 61c, and 61d provided in the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment and the adaptive destination. In FIG. 6, four types of adaptation destinations are assumed: Japan and the United States, Japan, the United States, and worldwide (global).

UMTS Band bands required for Japan and the United States are UMTS Band 1, 4, 5, and 8 bands. The band structure of UMTS Band required for Japan is UMTS Band1, 9, 5, 3 bands. The band configuration of UMTS Band required for the US is UMTS Band 2, 4, 5, and 13 bands. The band configuration of UMTS Band required for the worldwide application is four bands of UMTS Band 1, 2, 5, and 8.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, the relative bandwidth of the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d built in the UMTS PA module 12 is generally in the range of 11.0 to 6.8%, and is approximately around 10%. It is settled. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that it can be applied to all UMTS Band band configurations. That is, it can be seen that the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment can realize various band configurations while suppressing the band ratio.

As shown in FIG. 6, although the band configuration allocated by each destination differs, the band configuration is a high frequency band group, that is, High Band ( UMTS Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 9). It can be roughly divided into a low frequency band group, that is, Low Band ( UMTS Band 5, 8, 13). And, it is possible to correspond to the band configuration without increasing the specific band of PA by corresponding to High Band with PA 41a and PA 41b and corresponding to Low Band with PA 41c and PA 41d.

In the cellular phone 1, the PA 41 is the component with the most power consumption, and the decrease in the efficiency of the PA 41 affects the time during which the cellular phone 1 can continuously talk, and also causes a problem of heat generation. As the number of functions of the mobile phone 1 is increasing, various applications are being used during a call, and there is a problem of heat generation not only by the PA 41 but also by other components. Is very expensive. Therefore, a configuration that can realize various band configurations while suppressing the specific band of the PA 41, such as the wireless unit 6 of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment, is particularly advantageous.

That is, the wireless communication apparatus of the present invention includes a wireless unit 6 that converts an input signal into a signal of a predetermined frequency band so that it can be transmitted as a radio wave via the antenna 2. The radio unit 6 includes a first output unit and a second output unit provided in accordance with a predetermined frequency band in order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna 2 at the final stage. . The first output unit has a first output terminal for outputting an input signal to the antenna 2, and the second output unit has a second output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna 2. The number of radio frequency bands that can be handled by the first output unit and the second output unit is larger than the total number of the first output terminal and the second output terminal. As a configuration in which at least one or more of the above frequency bands are included in the overlapping range between the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the first output unit and the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the second output unit. Yes.

With this configuration, in the configuration in which the number of output terminals for outputting the input signal converted by the wireless unit 6 is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be supported by the wireless unit 6, the output terminal of the frequency band that can be supported An input signal can be output in consideration of a combination corresponding to the number, and the efficiency of the wireless unit 6 can be increased.

Here, the predetermined frequency band is a usable frequency band that can be used for communication defined by the communication method in the wireless communication apparatus. For example, when the communication method is UMTS, a plurality of use frequency bands such as UMTS Band 1, UMTS Band 2, UMTS Band 3, UMTS Band 4, and so on are set.

According to the above-described configuration, at least one frequency band is included in the overlapping range between the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the first output unit and the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the second output unit. Yes.

For this reason, when the same number of first output terminals and second output terminals are taken out from the frequency bands of radio waves that can be handled by the first output unit and the second output unit, they are made to correspond to possible frequency band combinations. be able to.

Therefore, the wireless communication apparatus of the present invention can be used in a configuration in which the number of output terminals for outputting the input signal converted by the wireless unit 6 is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be supported by the wireless unit 6. An input signal can be output in consideration of a combination corresponding to the number of output terminals in a certain frequency band.

Furthermore, the frequency ranges that can be handled by each of the first output unit and the second output unit partially overlap, but the frequency ranges that include all the frequency bands that should be handled by the first output unit and the second output unit. Can be covered. That is, the frequency ranges that should be shared by the first output unit and the second output unit are covered, and the frequency ranges that should be handled individually by the first output unit and the second output unit can be suppressed. . Thus, since the frequency range which should correspond in the 1st output part and the 2nd output part can be controlled, these operation efficiency can be raised and the operation efficiency of radio part 6 increases as a result.

Therefore, the wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the number of output terminals is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be supported by the wireless unit 6, while considering the combinations of frequency bands that can be handled, There is an effect that the efficiency can be increased.

In the wireless communication device of the present invention, the first output unit and the first output terminal correspond to each other on a one-to-one basis, and the second output terminal of the second output unit corresponds to the one-to-one basis. It may be configured.

Providing a plurality of output terminals in the output unit may reduce the efficiency due to loss in a changeover switch or the like for branching, and the efficiency can be improved by making the output unit and the output terminal 1: 1. it can.

The wireless communication device of the present invention is provided at a stage subsequent to the first output terminal, extracts a signal of a predetermined frequency from the input signal received from the first output terminal, and outputs the signal to the antenna 2; It may be configured to further include a second duplexer 13b that is provided at the subsequent stage of the two output terminals, extracts a signal of a predetermined frequency from the input signal received from the second output terminal, and outputs the signal to the antenna 2.

Generally, the efficiency of a high output amplifier such as the wireless communication apparatus of the present invention largely depends on the input impedance of a device connected to the high output amplifier. Therefore, the efficiency can be optimized by specifying the duplexer connected to the output terminal in the present invention and adjusting the connection.

Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described.

[Modification 1]
In the UMTS PA module 12 of the wireless unit 6 shown in FIG. 2, the input side of the preamplifiers 42a and 42b is connected to the input terminal 51a, and the input side of the preamplifiers 42c and 42d is connected to the input terminal 51b. However, the number of input terminals is not limited to these two. As shown in FIG. 7, the preamplifiers 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d and the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d may be connected to the input terminals 51a, 51b, 51c, 51d of the UMTS PA module 12, respectively. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the configuration in which the input terminals 51a, 51b, 51c, 51d are provided according to the preamplifiers 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d is advantageous in the following points. That is, the frequency range to be supported by each PA provided on the conversion unit 11 side can be suppressed as compared with the configuration shown in FIG.

Even if configured in this way, the ratio bands that are the corresponding frequency ranges of the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d can be 11% or less. In this way, it is possible to cope with various band configurations while suppressing the ratio band and realizing high efficiency of operation with respect to supplied power (DC power supply).

[Modification 2]
The UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which PA 41a, PA 41b, PA 41c, and PA 41d are built in one electronic circuit board. However, as shown in FIG. 8, a configuration in which an electronic circuit board (UMTS PA module 12a) incorporating PA41a and PA41b and an electronic circuit board (UMTS PA module 12b) incorporating PA41c and PA41d are provided separately. It is good. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Thus, by separately providing the electronic circuit board, it is possible to easily replace the electronic circuit board (UMTS PA module) incorporating another PA combination. For this reason, the combination of the UMTS PA module 12a and the UMTS PA module 12b can be easily changed, and the relative bandwidth of each PA is suppressed, and the efficiency of the operation for the supplied power (DC power supply) is improved. In addition, various band configurations can be supported.

[Modification 3]
In the radio unit 6 shown in FIG. 2, the UMTS PA module 12 includes four PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and P41d and four preamplifiers 42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d. However, the number of preamplifiers 42 included in the UMTS PA module 12 is not limited to this. For example, not only the input terminal 51a or 51b is shared as in the UMTS PA module 12 shown in FIG. 2, but also a preamplifier 42 that is an amplifier in the previous stage connected to the input terminal 51a or 51b may be shared. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a preamplifier 42a is provided as a preamplifier output to the PAs 41a and 41b. In addition, a preamplifier 42b is provided as a preamplifier that outputs to the PAs 41c and 41d. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

That is, in the UMTS PA module 12, the input of the preamplifier 42a is connected to the input terminal 51a, and the inputs of the PA41a and PA41b in the subsequent stage are connected to the preamplifier 42a. The output of the PA 41a is connected to the output terminal 61a, and the output of the PA 41b is connected to the output terminal 61b. The output terminal 61a is connected to the duplexer 13a, and the output terminal 61b is connected to the duplexer 13b.

Also, the input of the preamplifier 42b is connected to the input terminal 51b, and the inputs of the PA41c and PA41d in the subsequent stage are connected to the preamplifier 42b. The output of the PA 41c is connected to the output terminal 61c, and the output of the PA 41d is connected to the output terminal 61d. The output terminal 61c is connected to the duplexer 13c, and the output terminal 61d is connected to the duplexer 13d.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the corresponding frequency ranges of the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d and the preamplifiers 42a, 42b are as follows. FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing examples of corresponding frequency ranges of the PAs 41a to 41d and the preamplifiers 42a and 42b in the UMTS PA module 12 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the corresponding frequency range of the preamplifier 42a is 1710 MHz to 1980 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 1, UMTS Band 2, UMTS Band 3, 4, and 9. On the other hand, the corresponding frequency range of PA 41a is 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 1 and UMTS Band 2. The corresponding frequency range of PA41b is 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 2, and UMTS Band 3, 4, and 9. That is, the corresponding frequency ranges of PA 41a and PA 41b overlap in the frequency range of 1850 MHz to 1910 MHz of UMTS Band 2.

As shown in FIG. 11, the corresponding frequency range of the preamplifier 42b is 777 MHz to 915 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 13, UMTS Band 5, and UMTS Band 8. On the other hand, the corresponding frequency range of PA41c is 824 MHz to 915 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 5 and UMTS Band 8. The corresponding frequency range of PA41d is 777 MHz to 845 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 13 and UMTS Band 5. That is, the corresponding frequency ranges of PA 41c and PA 41d overlap in the frequency range of 824 MHz to 845 MHz of UMTS Band 5.

In this way, in the UMTS PA module 12 having the configuration shown in FIG. 9, the ratio band becomes large as described above, so that the operation efficiency with respect to the power supplied (DC power supply) by the preamplifiers 42a and 42b is lowered. However, when the operational efficiency of the entire UMTS PA module 12 is taken into consideration, the preamplifiers 42a and 42b, which are the amplifier circuits in the previous stage, contribute to the operational efficiency of PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d. It is considerably smaller than

For this reason, the UMTS PA module 12 according to the modification 3 shown in FIG. 9 is smaller in mounting size and the loss caused by input than the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. This is advantageous.

[Modification 4]
In the wireless unit 6 shown in FIG. 2, the UMTS PA module 12 includes four PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d and four preamplifiers 42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d. However, the number of PAs 41 and preamplifiers 42 included in the UMTS PA module 12 is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the number of PAs 41 and preamplifiers 42 connected to one input terminal may be increased, and a configuration corresponding to more frequency bands, that is, bands may be adopted. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, in the UMTS PA module 12, the input sides of the preamplifiers 42a, 42b, and 42c are connected to the input terminal 51a.

Then, the output of the PA 41a in the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42a is connected to the output terminal 61a. Further, the output of the PA 41b at the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42b is connected to the output terminal 61b. Further, the output of the PA 41c at the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42c is connected to the output terminal 61c. The output terminals 61a, 61b, and 61c are connected to the duplexers 13a, 13b, and 13c, respectively.

Furthermore, the input sides of the preamplifiers 42d, 42e, and 42f are connected to the input terminal 51b.

Then, the output of the PA 41d at the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42d is connected to the output terminal 61d. Further, the output of the PA 41e at the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42e is connected to the output terminal 61e. Further, the output of the PA 41f in the subsequent stage of the preamplifier 42f is connected to the output terminal 61f. The output terminals 61d, 61e, and 61f are connected to the duplexers 13d, 13e, and 13f, respectively.

When the UMTS PA module 12 in the wireless unit 6 is configured in this way, the corresponding frequency range and band of each PA 41 are as shown in FIGS. FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams illustrating examples of the corresponding frequency ranges of PA 41a, PA 41b, PA 41c, PA 41d, PA 41e, and PA 41f in the UMTS PA module 12 included in the wireless unit 6 illustrated in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the corresponding frequency range of PA 41a is 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 1 and UMTS Band 2. Further, the corresponding frequency range of PA 41b is 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 2, and UMTS Band 3, 4, and 9. Further, the corresponding frequency range of PA41c is 1427.9 to 1785 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 3, 4, 9 and UMTS Band 11, 21. Also, the corresponding frequency range of PA41a and PA41b overlaps in the frequency range of 1850 MHz to 1910 MHz of UMTS Band 2, and the corresponding frequency range of PA41b and PA41c is in the frequency range of 1710 to 1785 MHz of UMTS Band 3, 4, 9 It overlaps.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the corresponding frequency range of PA41d is 824 to 915 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 5 and UMTS Band 8. The corresponding frequency range of PA41e is 777 MHz to 845 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 13 and UMTS Band 5. The corresponding frequency range of PA41f is 698 MHz to 787 MHz, and covers the range of UMTS Band 12 and UMTS Band 13. Also, the corresponding frequency range of PA41d and PA41e overlaps in the frequency range of 824 MHz to 845 MHz of UMTS Band 5, and the corresponding frequency range of PA41e and PA41f overlaps in the frequency range of 777 MHz to 787 MHz of UMTS Band 13 Yes.

When the UMTS PA module 12 in the wireless unit 6 is configured in this way, the corresponding bands, the corresponding frequency ranges, and the ratio bands of each PA ( PA 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f) are as shown in the table of FIG. become. The band configuration that can be configured by the UMTS PA module 12 according to the present embodiment is as shown in the table of FIG. FIG. 15 is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the corresponding band, the corresponding frequency range, and the ratio band for each PA ( PA 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f) included in the UMTS PA module 12 shown in FIG. It is. FIG. 16 is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the band configuration of the UMTS Band assigned to each output terminal 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d, 61e, and 61f included in the UMTS PA module 12 shown in FIG. 12 and the adaptive destination. is there.

Here, referring to the table shown in FIG. 15, the specific band of PA41c is 22.2%, which exceeds the standard of 10%. However, if it is attempted to cover the frequency range 1427.9 MHz to 1980 MHz covered by the PA 41a, PA 41b, and PA 41c with a single PA, the specific band becomes 32.4%. However, by configuring the UMTS PA module 12 as shown in FIG. 12, it is possible to suppress the specific bandwidth of 32.4%, which should be supported by the PA, to 22.2% at the maximum. I can say that. Further, in addition to the suppression of the ratio band, various band configurations as shown in the table of FIG. 16 can be supported. In other words, PA 41a, 41b, 41c supports all possible combinations when selecting three bands from the four types of bands, UMTS Band1, UMTS Band2, UMTS Band4, 9, and UMTS Band11, 21. be able to. Similarly, PA41d, 41e, and 41f can support all combinations that can occur when three bands are selected from the four types of bands UMTS Band8, UMTS Band5, UMTS Band13, and UMTS Band12. .

[Modification 5]
Further, in the configuration of the wireless unit 6 shown in FIG. 2, the isolators 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d and the detector elements 16a, 16b, 16c are provided between the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d and the duplexers 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d. , 16d may be provided as shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment (Modification 5) of the present invention. The detection elements 16a, 16b, 16c, and 16d can be realized by, for example, a coupler or a detection diode.

The isolators 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d are non-reciprocal circuit elements to which the gyromagnetic phenomenon of microwave ferrite is applied. The isolators 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d are configured such that reflected waves returning from the antenna 2 side affect the PAs 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d and become unstable in operation. 41b, 41c, and 41d are prevented and intermodulation distortion (IMD) is prevented from being generated. In other words, the isolators 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d have non-reciprocal characteristics that transmit forward signals but not reverse signals, and thus protect the power amplifier mainly from load fluctuations of the antenna 2. Introduced for the purpose.

[Modification 6]
Furthermore, the configuration of the UMTS PA module 12 in the wireless unit 6 shown in FIG. 2 may be changed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 18, instead of providing the multi-stage PA 41d and the preamplifier 42d, the switch circuit 43 can be provided in the subsequent stage of the PA 41c. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the wireless unit 6 according to another embodiment (Modification 6) of the present invention.

More specifically, in the UMTS PA module 12 shown in FIG. 18, the preamplifier and PA connected to the input terminal 51b are only the preamplifier 42c and PA41c, and this PA41c can be shared by UMTS Bands 5, 8, and 13. To do. That is, it is assumed that the used frequency band of PA 41c corresponds to UMTS Band 5, 8, and 13. Then, the switch circuit 43 connected to the output side of the PA 41c switches each band in the desired combination of bands to the separate output terminals 61c and 61d and outputs them.

Here, the switch circuit 43 included in the UMTS PA module 12 according to the modified example 6 illustrated in FIG. 18 has a smaller mounting size than the PA 41d and the preamplifier 42d included in the UMTS PA module 12 illustrated in FIG. Inexpensive. For this reason, the configuration of the UMTS PA module 12 according to FIG. 18 is more than the configuration including two sets of PA and preamplifier connected to the input terminal 51b as in the UMTS PA module 12 according to FIG. This is advantageous in that the manufacturing cost and mounting size can be reduced.

However, the corresponding frequency range of the PA 41c becomes a range corresponding to the UMTS Band 5, 8, 13 and the ratio band is increased, and the operation efficiency of the PA 41c is lowered. Further, the provision of the switch circuit 43 causes a loss. Therefore, in view of the operational efficiency of the PA 41c, the configuration of the UMTS PA module 12 disclosed in FIG. 2 is more advantageous than the configuration of the UMTS PA module 12 disclosed in FIG.

In addition, in the radio | wireless part 6 which concerns on this Embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the PA module 12 for UMTS and the conversion part 11 were each provided separately. Further, the duplexer 13 and the UMTS PA module 12 are separately provided. However, it is not limited to these configurations.

For example, the duplexer 13 may be built in the UMTS PA module 12. Furthermore, a configuration in which the UMTS PA module 12 is incorporated in the conversion unit 11 may be adopted. When the conversion unit 11 includes the UMTS PA module 12, an input terminal that receives an input signal transmitted as a radio wave via the antenna 2 may be a connection part with the baseband unit 5.

In this way, when the connection portion between the baseband unit 5 and the conversion unit 11 is an input terminal that receives an input signal, the input signal becomes a digital baseband signal as described above. In the case where the conversion unit 11 includes a digital-analog conversion circuit, an input signal received at the input terminal is an analog signal baseband signal.

As described above, in the wireless communication device of the present invention, the wireless unit 6 further includes the input terminal 51 that receives an input signal as a digital signal and the conversion unit 11, and at least the first output unit and the second output unit. The first output terminal 61a, the second output terminal 61b, the input terminal 51, and the conversion unit 11 may be configured by one integrated circuit. Here, the conversion unit 11 converts the signal format of the input signal input from the input terminal 51 from a digital signal to an analog signal, and converts the input signal converted into the analog signal into a high-frequency electric signal.

As in this configuration, even when the degree of integration is very high from digital signal input to analog signal conversion and frequency conversion, the efficiency of the radio unit can be increased, and the present invention is effective.

The wireless unit 6 further includes an input terminal 51 that receives an input signal as an analog signal, and a conversion unit 11, and includes at least a first output unit, a second output unit, a first output terminal 61a, and a second output terminal. 61b, the input terminal 51, and the conversion unit 11 may be configured by one integrated circuit. Here, the converter 11 converts the input signal in the analog signal format input from the input terminal 51 into an electric signal having a high frequency.

As in this configuration, the efficiency of the radio unit can be increased even when the degree of integration is considerably high from analog signal input to frequency conversion, and the present invention is effective.

The first output unit and the second output unit are configured to transmit an input signal as a radio wave via the antenna 2, and include a first amplifier circuit and a second amplifier circuit for amplifying the voltage of the input signal. May be included.

With this configuration, it is possible to optimize the efficiency by adjusting from each output unit to the antenna.

The radio unit 6 further includes a third amplifier circuit as a third output unit provided in accordance with the predetermined frequency band in order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna 2 at the final stage. The third amplifier circuit has a third output terminal for outputting an input signal to the antenna 2. The number of radio frequency bands that can be handled by the first amplifier circuit, the second amplifier circuit, and the third amplifier circuit is the total number of the first output terminal 61a, the second output terminal 61b, and the third output terminal 61c. Is in a greater relationship. Furthermore, at least one or more frequency bands may be included in the overlapping range between the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the second amplifier circuit and the frequency range of the input signal that can be handled by the third amplifier circuit.

With this configuration, it is possible to cope with more frequency bands without lowering the efficiency as compared with the case where there are only the first and second output units and output terminals.

The frequency ranges that can be supported by the first amplifier circuit, the second amplifier circuit, and the third amplifier circuit are 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and 1427.9 MHz to 1785 MHz, 824 MHz to 915 MHz, and 777 MHz to 845 MHz, respectively. , And 698 MHz to 787 MHz.

This configuration can support all possible combinations when selecting three bands from the four types of bands.

The first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit have a configuration in which a pre-stage amplifier circuit disposed in the preceding stage and a post-stage amplifier circuit disposed in the subsequent stage are coupled in multiple stages. The first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit are A configuration in which the preamplifier circuit is shared may be adopted.

This configuration can reduce the mounting size of the UMTS PA module and the loss caused by input.

The frequency ranges that can be supported by the subsequent amplifier circuit of the first amplifier circuit, the subsequent amplifier circuit of the second amplifier circuit, and the previous amplifier circuit shared by the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit are 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, respectively. 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and 1710 MHz to 1980 MHz, or 824 MHz to 915 MHz, 777 MHz to 845 MHz, and 777 MHz to 915 MHz.

This configuration can support all possible combinations when selecting three bands from the four types of bands.

The wireless unit 6 has, as the input terminal 51, a first input terminal that receives an input signal that amplifies the voltage by the first amplifier circuit, a second input terminal that receives an input signal that amplifies the voltage by the second amplifier circuit, May be provided.

Thus, by separately providing the electronic circuit board, it is possible to easily replace the electronic circuit board (UMTS PA module) incorporating another PA combination. For this reason, it is possible to easily change the combination of PA modules. At the same time, it is possible to suppress the specific bandwidth of each PA, realize high efficiency of operation with respect to the supplied power (DC power supply), and cope with various band configurations.

The control unit 21 controls whether or not each of the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit can be operated. The input terminal 51 has an input signal for amplifying a voltage by the first amplifier circuit and a voltage by the second amplifier circuit. And an input signal for amplifying the signal. Then, the control unit 21 may be configured to control either the first amplifier circuit or the second amplifier circuit in accordance with the input signal received by the input terminal 51.

With this configuration, by controlling the first amplifier circuit or the second amplifier circuit from the control unit 21 while reducing the number of input terminals, the same operation as before sharing the input terminals can be performed.

Alternatively, the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit may be formed on one circuit board.

This configuration makes it possible to reduce the size of the circuit board as compared with the case where the circuit board is formed on a separate circuit board.

Further, the frequency ranges that can be supported by each of the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit may be 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz and 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, or 824 MHz to 915 MHz, and 777 MHz to 845 MHz, respectively.

This configuration can support all possible combinations when selecting three bands from the four types of bands.

The wireless communication apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, and considers combinations of frequency bands that can be supported in a configuration in which the number of output terminals is smaller than the number of frequency bands that can be supported by the wireless unit. There is an effect that the efficiency of the wireless unit can be increased.

As described above, the communication system called UMTS has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this communication system. For example, the radio unit 6 according to the present embodiment can be used in other communication systems such as LTE.

The wireless communication device of the present invention is useful as a multiband wireless communication device that supports a plurality of bands.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 2 Antenna 3 Display panel 4 Audio circuit 5 Baseband part 6 Wireless part 7 Application part 8 Interface 9 Camera 10 Power supply circuit 11 Conversion part (including RFIC)
12, 12a, 12b UMTS PA module 13, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d Duplexer 14 GSM PA module 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d Isolator 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d Detector 17 ANT-SW
21 control unit 22 transmission unit 23 reception unit 41, 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f PA (power amplifier)
42, 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d, 42e, 42f Preamplifier 43 Switch circuit 51, 51a, 51b Input terminal 61, 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d, 61e, 61f Output terminal

Claims (14)

1. A wireless unit that converts an input signal into a signal of a predetermined frequency band so that the signal can be transmitted as an electric wave via an antenna,
   The radio unit includes a first output unit and a second output unit provided in accordance with the predetermined frequency band in order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna at a final stage thereof,
   The first output unit has a first output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna,
   The second output unit has a second output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna,
   The number of radio frequency bands that can be handled by the first output unit and the second output unit is greater than the total number of the first output terminal and the second output terminal,
   Wireless communication in which at least one or more frequency bands are included in a range that overlaps in a frequency range of an input signal that can be handled by the first output unit and a frequency range of an input signal that can be handled by the second output unit. apparatus.
2. The wireless communication according to claim 1, wherein the first output unit and the first output terminal correspond one-to-one, and the second output unit and the second output terminal correspond one-to-one. apparatus.
3. A first duplexer provided at a subsequent stage of the first output terminal, extracting a signal of a predetermined frequency from an input signal received from the first output terminal, and outputting the signal to the antenna;
   The second duplexer provided at a subsequent stage of the second output terminal, extracts a signal of a predetermined frequency from an input signal received from the second output terminal, and outputs the signal to the antenna. The wireless communication device described.
4. The radio unit is
   An input terminal for receiving the input signal as a digital signal;
   A conversion unit that converts the signal format of the input signal input by the input terminal from a digital signal to an analog signal, and converts the input signal converted to the analog signal into a high-frequency electrical signal; and
   4. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least the first output unit, the second output unit, the first output terminal, the second output terminal, the input terminal, and the conversion unit are configured by one integrated circuit. The wireless communication device according to claim 1.
5. The radio unit is
   An input terminal for receiving the input signal as an analog signal;
   A conversion unit that converts an input signal in an analog signal format input by the input terminal into an electric signal having a high frequency; and
   4. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least the first output unit, the second output unit, the first output terminal, the second output terminal, the input terminal, and the conversion unit are configured by one integrated circuit. The wireless communication device according to claim 1.
6. The first output unit and the second output unit are configured to transmit the input signal as a radio wave via the antenna, and a first amplifier circuit and a second amplifier for amplifying the voltage of the input signal The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, comprising a circuit.
7. The wireless unit further includes a third amplifier circuit as a third output unit provided in accordance with the predetermined frequency band in order to output an input signal of a predetermined frequency band to the antenna at the final stage.
   The third amplifier circuit has a third output terminal for outputting the input signal to the antenna;
   The number of radio frequency bands that can be handled by the first amplifier circuit, the second amplifier circuit, and the third amplifier circuit is the sum of the first output terminal, the second output terminal, and the third output terminal. Is greater than the number,
   The frequency band of at least one or more is included in the range which overlaps in the frequency range of the input signal which the said 2nd amplifier circuit can respond, and the frequency range of the input signal which the said 3rd amplifier circuit can support. 7. A wireless communication device according to 6.
8. The first amplifying circuit, the second amplifying circuit, and the third amplifying circuit each have a frequency range that can be supported by 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and 1427.9 MHz to 1785 MHz, or 824 MHz to 915 MHz, respectively. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 7, which has a frequency range of 777 MHz to 845 MHz and 698 MHz to 787 MHz.
9. The first amplifying circuit and the second amplifying circuit have a configuration in which a pre-stage amplifying circuit arranged in a preceding stage and a post-amplifying circuit arranged in a post-stage are coupled in multiple stages,
   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit share the previous amplifier circuit.
10. The frequency ranges that can be handled by each of the latter amplifier circuit of the first amplifier circuit, the latter amplifier circuit of the second amplifier circuit, and the former amplifier circuit shared in the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit are: The wireless communication device according to claim 9, which is 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz, 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, and 1710 MHz to 1980 MHz, or 824 MHz to 915 MHz, 777 MHz to 845 MHz, and 777 MHz to 915 MHz, respectively.
11. The radio unit is
    A first input terminal for receiving an input signal for amplifying a voltage by the first amplifier circuit, as the input terminal;
    The wireless communication device according to claim 6, further comprising: a second input terminal that receives an input signal for amplifying a voltage by the second amplifier circuit.
12. A controller that controls whether or not each of the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit is operable;
    The input terminal receives an input signal for amplifying a voltage by the first amplifier circuit and an input signal for amplifying a voltage by the second amplifier circuit,
    The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit performs control so that either the first amplifier circuit or the second amplifier circuit can be operated according to an input signal received by the first input terminal.
13. The wireless communication device according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit are formed on one circuit board.
14. The frequency range that can be supported by each of the first amplifier circuit and the second amplifier circuit is 1850 MHz to 1980 MHz and 1710 MHz to 1910 MHz, or 824 MHz to 915 MHz and 777 MHz to 845 MHz, respectively. A wireless communication device according to 1.

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