Technology

Reconfigurable Radio Architecture

Kaben's unique radio architecture enables transceiver front ends to be reconfigurable, and thereby to support multiple standards. This innovative technology occurs in the Intermediate Frequency (IF) range between the RF and the digital.

The Reconfigurable IF is built around three novel circuit cores; a Sampling IF Filter (SIF) which converts an IF of choice directly to digital, a Digital-to-IF (DIF) up-converter which converts a digital baseband directly to an IF of choice, and an ultra-low phase noise and spur level synthesizer.

The field programmable flexibility of the Reconfigurable IF not only provides a multi-standard transceiver capability, it also relaxes the associated component specifications, such as the carrier frequency up- and down-converters, the low noise amplifier, and the external power amplifier, for both single standard and multi-standard application. The Reconfigurable IF also removes the need for external SAW filters, while providing all the strengths of a classic super heterodyne architecture. The combination of field programmable flexibility and lower component count, results in a quick time-to-market and a reduced BOM.

When using a super heterodyne approach, the Reconfigurable IF eliminates the analog baseband of traditional transceiver design, by converting directly between IF and digital. For the receiver, this avoids DC offset and IP2 problems, and removes the need for compensation loops in the digital back-end. The elimination of the analog baseband also removes issues associated with 1/f noise. Avoiding the integrated excess noise (of approximately 12 dB) allows a reduced gain requirement for the LNA, and reduced RF power levels at all points in the receiver. Reduced RF power levels provide higher linearity, which ultimately yields higher performance (lower bit error rate).

 

The Kaben transceiver front end based on the three key technologies of the SIF, the DIF, and the synthesizer is truly versatile. It is capable of performing with radio standards ranging from Bluetooth (narrow band and low dynamic range) through WiMax and Wireless USB (wide band and high dynamic range).