KR102717788B1 - Electronic device and wireless communication system thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments includes a network monitor for obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal, a transceiver for generating an envelope signal of the RF transmission signal, a Tx module including a power amplifier for receiving the RF transmission signal from the transceiver and amplifying the RF transmission signal, and an ET modulator for receiving the envelope signal from the transceiver and providing a bias of the power amplifier in response to the envelope signal, wherein the ET modulator can determine a size of a bias provided to the power amplifier based on the network environment information obtained by the network monitor.
There are many other possible embodiments.

Description

ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THEREOF

Various embodiments of the present invention relate to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices including RF-based wireless communication systems.

Portable electronic devices (hereinafter, “electronic devices”) may be equipped with wireless communication functions to provide various functions to users. Wireless communication systems equipped with electronic devices have been developed to support higher data transmission rates in order to meet the continuously increasing traffic demand for data. In order to improve the overall efficiency of wireless communication systems, such as high data transmission rates and power consumption, various technologies such as envelope tracking (ET), digital pre-distortion (DTD), or crest factor reduction (CFR) are being used.

In the 5G network environment currently under development, a higher bandwidth is used than in commercialized networks, and signals from legacy networks and 5G networks can be used in a composite configuration. Accordingly, compared to existing wireless communication systems, signals with a wider bandwidth and more scenarios must be considered in the 5G network environment.

Conventional wireless communication systems do not require high bandwidth, so they have used limited parameters when implementing envelope tracking (ET), digital pre-distortion (DTD), or crest factor reduction (CFR). However, in the 5G network environment, higher bandwidth and scenarios must be considered, so the use of parameters adapted to the network environment is required in terms of power consumption and system stability.

Various embodiments of this document can provide a wireless communication system and an electronic device having the same to support high efficiency and stability by adapting to a network environment.

An electronic device according to various embodiments includes a network monitor for obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal, a transceiver for generating an envelope signal of the RF transmission signal, a Tx module including a power amplifier for receiving the RF transmission signal from the transceiver and amplifying the RF transmission signal, and an ET modulator for receiving the envelope signal from the transceiver and providing a bias of the power amplifier in response to the envelope signal, wherein the ET modulator can determine a size of a bias provided to the power amplifier based on the network environment information obtained by the network monitor.

According to various embodiments, a method for controlling a wireless communication system of an electronic device includes an operation of obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal, an operation of generating an envelope signal of the RF transmission signal, and an operation of providing a bias of a power amplifier that amplifies the RF transmission signal in response to the envelope signal, wherein the operation of providing the bias may include an operation of determining a size of a bias provided to the power amplifier based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments of the present document, a wireless communication system and an electronic device having the same can be provided, which can monitor a network environment in real time and optimize its performance by using parameters adapted to the network environment.

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device within a network environment according to various embodiments.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to various embodiments.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an ET (envelope tracking) system according to various embodiments.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a power amplifier of an ET modulator and a Tx module according to various embodiments.
FIG. 6a is a block diagram of an ET modulator according to various embodiments.
FIG. 6b illustrates current waveforms within an ET modulator according to various embodiments.
Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an ET modulator that performs envelope tracking according to a network environment in various embodiments.
FIG. 8 is a graph showing bias and pass current according to signal bandwidth in an ET modulator performing envelope tracking according to a network environment according to various embodiments.
FIG. 9 illustrates the structure of a linear regulator of an ET modulator according to various embodiments.
FIG. 10 illustrates the structure of a linear regulator of an ET modulator that performs envelope tracking according to a network environment according to various embodiments.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a modem and transceiver for sampling rate control according to various embodiments.
Figures 12a, 12b and 12c illustrate methods for determining a sampling rate according to various embodiments.
FIG. 13a is a graph showing the gain of a power amplifier and the envelope trajectory of an ET system according to various embodiments.
Figure 13b illustrates a method of applying DTD (digital pre-distortion) according to various embodiments.
Figures 14a and 14b illustrate methods of applying DTD (digital pre-distortion) according to various embodiments.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system that applies DTD according to a network environment according to various embodiments.
FIG. 16 illustrates examples of signals clipped through crest factor reduction (CFR) according to various embodiments.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system that controls various parameters according to a network environment according to various embodiments.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an operation method of a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device (101) in a network environment (100) according to various embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1, in the network environment (100), the electronic device (101) may communicate with the electronic device (102) via a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network), or may communicate with the electronic device (104) or a server (108) via a second network (199) (e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may communicate with the electronic device (104) via the server (108). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may include a processor (120), a memory (130), an input device (150), an audio output device (155), a display device (160), an audio module (170), a sensor module (176), an interface (177), a haptic module (179), a camera module (180), a power management module (188), a battery (189), a communication module (190), a subscriber identification module (196), or an antenna module (197). In some embodiments, the electronic device (101) may omit at least one of these components (e.g., the display device (160) or the camera module (180)), or may include one or more other components. In some embodiments, some of these components may be implemented as a single integrated circuit. For example, a sensor module (176) (e.g., a fingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or a light sensor) may be implemented embedded in a display device (160) (e.g., a display).

The processor (120) may control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or software component) of the electronic device (101) connected to the processor (120) by executing, for example, software (e.g., a program (140)), and may perform various data processing or calculations. According to one embodiment, as at least a part of the data processing or calculations, the processor (120) may load a command or data received from another component (e.g., a sensor module (176) or a communication module (190)) into the volatile memory (132), process the command or data stored in the volatile memory (132), and store the resulting data in the nonvolatile memory (134). According to one embodiment, the processor (120) may include a main processor (121) (e.g., a central processing unit or an application processor), and a secondary processor (123) (e.g., a graphics processing unit, an image signal processor, a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor) that may operate independently or together therewith. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary processor (123) may be configured to use less power than the main processor (121), or to be specialized for a given function. The auxiliary processor (123) may be implemented separately from the main processor (121), or as a part thereof.

The auxiliary processor (123) may control at least a portion of functions or states associated with at least one of the components of the electronic device (101) (e.g., the display device (160), the sensor module (176), or the communication module (190)), for example, on behalf of the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or together with the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an active (e.g., application execution) state. In one embodiment, the auxiliary processor (123) (e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) may be implemented as a part of another functionally related component (e.g., a camera module (180) or a communication module (190)).

The memory (130) can store various data used by at least one component (e.g., processor (120) or sensor module (176)) of the electronic device (101). The data can include, for example, software (e.g., program (140)) and input data or output data for commands related thereto. The memory (130) can include volatile memory (132) or nonvolatile memory (134).

The program (140) may be stored as software in memory (130) and may include, for example, an operating system (142), middleware (144), or an application (146).

The input device (150) can receive commands or data to be used in a component of the electronic device (101) (e.g., a processor (120)) from an external source (e.g., a user) of the electronic device (101). The input device (150) can include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

The audio output device (155) can output an audio signal to the outside of the electronic device (101). The audio output device (155) can include, for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker can be used for general purposes such as multimedia playback or recording playback, and the receiver can be used to receive an incoming call. According to one embodiment, the receiver can be implemented separately from the speaker or as a part thereof.

The display device (160) can visually provide information to an external party (e.g., a user) of the electronic device (101). The display device (160) can include, for example, a display, a holographic device, or a projector and a control circuit for controlling the device. According to one embodiment, the display device (160) can include touch circuitry configured to detect a touch, or a sensor circuitry configured to measure a strength of a force generated by the touch (e.g., a pressure sensor).

The audio module (170) can convert sound into an electrical signal, or vice versa, convert an electrical signal into sound. According to one embodiment, the audio module (170) can obtain sound through an input device (150), or output sound through an audio output device (155), or an external electronic device (e.g., an electronic device (102)) (e.g., a speaker or a headphone) directly or wirelessly connected to the electronic device (101).

The sensor module (176) can detect an operating state (e.g., power or temperature) of the electronic device (101) or an external environmental state (e.g., user state) and generate an electric signal or data value corresponding to the detected state. According to one embodiment, the sensor module (176) can include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an IR (infrared) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The interface (177) may support one or more designated protocols that may be used to directly or wirelessly connect the electronic device (101) with an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (102)). In one embodiment, the interface (177) may include, for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an SD card interface, or an audio interface.

The connection terminal (178) may include a connector through which the electronic device (101) may be physically connected to an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (102)). According to one embodiment, the connection terminal (178) may include, for example, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or an audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module (179) can convert an electrical signal into a mechanical stimulus (e.g., vibration or movement) or an electrical stimulus that a user can perceive through a tactile or kinesthetic sense. According to one embodiment, the haptic module (179) can include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electrical stimulation device.

The camera module (180) can capture still images and moving images. According to one embodiment, the camera module (180) can include one or more lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, or flashes.

The power management module (188) can manage power supplied to the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, the power management module (188) can be implemented as, for example, at least a part of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

A battery (189) may power at least one component of the electronic device (101). In one embodiment, the battery (189) may include, for example, a non-rechargeable primary battery, a rechargeable secondary battery, or a fuel cell.

The communication module (190) may support establishment of a direct (e.g., wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel between the electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (102), the electronic device (104), or the server (108)), and performance of communication through the established communication channel. The communication module (190) may operate independently from the processor (120) (e.g., the application processor) and may include one or more communication processors that support direct (e.g., wired) communication or wireless communication. According to one embodiment, the communication module (190) may include a wireless communication module (192) (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) communication module) or a wired communication module (194) (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module, or a power line communication module). Any of these communication modules may communicate with an external electronic device via a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, WiFi direct, or infrared data association (IrDA)) or a second network (199) (e.g., a long-range communication network such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., a LAN or WAN)). These various types of communication modules may be integrated into a single component (e.g., a single chip) or implemented as multiple separate components (e.g., multiple chips). The wireless communication module (192) may use subscriber information stored in the subscriber identification module (196) (e.g., an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) to identify and authenticate the electronic device (101) within a communication network such as the first network (198) or the second network (199).

The antenna module (197) can transmit or receive signals or power to or from an external device (e.g., an external electronic device). According to one embodiment, the antenna module can include one antenna including a radiator formed of a conductor or a conductive pattern formed on a substrate (e.g., a PCB). According to one embodiment, the antenna module (197) can include a plurality of antennas. In this case, at least one antenna suitable for a communication method used in a communication network, such as the first network (198) or the second network (199), can be selected from the plurality of antennas by, for example, the communication module (190). A signal or power can be transmitted or received between the communication module (190) and the external electronic device through the selected at least one antenna. According to some embodiments, in addition to the radiator, another component (e.g., an RFIC) can be additionally formed as a part of the antenna module (197).

At least some of the above components may be interconnected and exchange signals (e.g., commands or data) with each other via a communication method between peripheral devices (e.g., a bus, a general purpose input and output (GPIO), a serial peripheral interface (SPI), or a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI)).

In one embodiment, a command or data may be transmitted or received between the electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (104) via a server (108) connected to a second network (199). Each of the external electronic devices (102, 104) may be the same or a different type of device as the electronic device (101). In one embodiment, all or part of the operations executed in the electronic device (101) may be executed in one or more of the external electronic devices (102, 104, or 108). For example, when the electronic device (101) is to perform a certain function or service automatically or in response to a request from a user or another device, the electronic device (101) may, instead of executing the function or service itself or in addition, request one or more external electronic devices to perform at least a part of the function or service. One or more external electronic devices that have received the request may execute at least a part of the requested function or service, or an additional function or service related to the request, and transmit the result of the execution to the electronic device (101). The electronic device (101) may process the result as is or additionally and provide it as at least a part of a response to the request. For this purpose, for example, cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computing technology may be used.

Electronic devices according to various embodiments disclosed in this document may be devices of various forms. The electronic devices may include, for example, portable communication devices (e.g., smartphones), computer devices, portable multimedia devices, portable medical devices, cameras, wearable devices, or home appliance devices. Electronic devices according to embodiments of this document are not limited to the above-described devices.

It should be understood that the various embodiments of this document and the terminology used herein are not intended to limit the technical features described in this document to specific embodiments, but rather to encompass various modifications, equivalents, or substitutes of the embodiments. In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related components. The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the items, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this document, each of the phrases "A or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B", "A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C" and "at least one of A, B, or C" can include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase, or all possible combinations thereof. Terms such as "first", "second", or "first" or "second" may be used merely to distinguish one component from another, and do not limit the components in any other respect (e.g., importance or order). When a component (e.g., a first) is referred to as "coupled" or "connected" to another (e.g., a second) component, with or without the terms "functionally" or "communicatively," it means that the component can be connected to the other component directly (e.g., wired), wirelessly, or through a third component.

The term "module" as used in this document may include a unit implemented in hardware, software or firmware, and may be used interchangeably with terms such as logic, logic block, component, or circuit, for example. A module may be an integrally configured component or a minimum unit of the component or a portion thereof that performs one or more functions. For example, according to one embodiment, a module may be implemented in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Various embodiments of the present document may be implemented as software (e.g., a program (140)) including one or more instructions stored in a storage medium (e.g., an internal memory (136) or an external memory (138)) readable by a machine (e.g., an electronic device (101)). For example, a processor (e.g., a processor (120)) of the machine (e.g., an electronic device (101)) may call at least one instruction among the one or more instructions stored from the storage medium and execute it. This enables the machine to operate to perform at least one function according to the at least one called instruction. The one or more instructions may include code generated by a compiler or code executable by an interpreter. The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, ‘non-transitory’ simply means that the storage medium is a tangible device and does not contain signals (e.g. electromagnetic waves), and the term does not distinguish between cases where data is stored semi-permanently or temporarily on the storage medium.

According to one embodiment, the method according to various embodiments disclosed in the present document may be provided as included in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a commodity. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or may be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) via an application store (e.g., Play StoreTM) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smartphones). In the case of online distribution, at least a part of the computer program product may be at least temporarily stored or temporarily generated in a machine-readable storage medium, such as a memory of a manufacturer's server, a server of an application store, or an intermediary server.

According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., a module or a program) of the above-described components may include a single or multiple entities. According to various embodiments, one or more of the components or operations of the above-described components may be omitted, or one or more other components or operations may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality of components (e.g., a module or a program) may be integrated into a single component. In such a case, the integrated component may perform one or more functions of each of the components of the plurality of components identically or similarly to those performed by the corresponding component of the plurality of components prior to the integration. According to various embodiments, the operations performed by the module, program or other component may be executed sequentially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

The illustrated wireless communication system (200) may constitute at least a portion of a wireless communication module (192) of an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 2, the wireless communication system (200) may include a modem (220), a transceiver (230), a Tx module (240), and an envelope tracking modulator (ET modulator) (250). The illustrated configurations only represent some of the configurations forming a transmission path (Tx path) in the wireless communication system (200), and various configurations not illustrated may further be included. According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system (200) may further include various configurations for processing an RF reception signal received from an antenna (not illustrated).

The wireless communication system (200) of FIG. 2 performs envelope tracking (ET), digital pre-distortion (DPD), or crest factor reduction (CFR) on an RF transmission signal, but may not include a network monitor (e.g., network monitor (360) of FIG. 3) that monitors network environment information described below in FIG. 3.

According to various embodiments, the modem (220) can perform modulation and demodulation of a signal in the wireless communication system (200). The modem (220) can use various modulation and demodulation methods, such as a phase shift keying (PSK) method such as BPSK or QPSK, a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) method such as 64-QAM or 256-QAM, and the like, but is not limited to the above examples.

The modem (220) can transmit and receive digital baseband I/Q signals to and from the transceiver (230) using each channel.

According to various embodiments, the transceiver (230) may perform functions of performing digital/analog conversion, up/down conversion of baseband signals to RF signals, and transmitting/receiving RF signals with an RF front end module based on a signal transmitted from the modem (220).

Referring to FIG. 2, the transceiver (230) may include a CFR (crest factor reduction) block (231), a DAC (digital to analog converter)/ADC (analog to digital converter) block (232), a Tx operator (233), an Rx operator (234), an ET DSP (envelope tracking digital signal processor) (235), a DPD (digital pre-distortion) block (236), and an analyzer/calibration block (237).

According to various embodiments, the analyzer/calibration block (237) can check the output power of the Tx signal and adjust the Tx signal. The analyzer/calibration block (237) can obtain information related to the output power of the Tx signal in real time from the Tx module (240) through the FBRx (feedback Rx) path.

According to various embodiments, the CFR (crest factor reduction) block (231) may perform CFR on the I/Q signal of the digital baseband transmitted from the modem (220) for high output, high efficiency, and high linearity of the power amplifier (PA) (241) of the Tx module (240). CFR is a technology used to reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the power amplifier, and CFR will be described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 16.

According to various embodiments, the DAC (digital to analog converter)/ADC (analog to digital converter) block (232) may perform a function of converting a CFR processed signal into an analog signal and converting a reception signal received from an external device through an antenna into a digital signal. In FIG. 2, the DAC/ADC is illustrated as one block (232), but independent DAC blocks and ADC blocks may be placed in the Tx path and the Rx path, respectively.

According to various embodiments, the Tx operator (233) may process an analog transmission signal processed in the DAC/ADC block (232) and transmit it to the Tx module (240).

According to various embodiments, the Rx operator (234) may process an analog reception signal received through an antenna and transmit it to a modem (220) through a DAC/ADC block (232).

According to various embodiments, the ET DSP (235) (envelope tracking digital signal processor) may perform a function of generating and processing an envelope signal input to the ET modulator (250). For example, the ET DSP (235) may perform a function of generating an envelope signal of an RF signal, controlling a shape of the envelope signal, and/or controlling a delay.

According to various embodiments, the DPD (digital pre-distortion) block can perform DPD to compensate for signal compression when applying ET technology. The DPD block (236) can perform pre-distortion using coefficients of a stored DPD LUT (lookup table) before the I/Q signal is applied to the Tx module (240). The I/Q signal input from the modem (220) to the transceiver (230) can be converted into a digital signal after applying CFR and DPD. The DPD will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15.

In FIG. 2 and the above description, the DAC/ADC block (232), the CFR block (231), and the DPD block (236) are described as being included in the transceiver (230), but according to various embodiments, some of the DAC/ADC block (232), the CFR block (231), or the DPD block (236) may be included in the modem (220). In this case, the modem (220) may convert the I/Q signal into a digital signal after performing DPD and CFR processing on the signal and transmit the converted signal to the transceiver (230).

According to various embodiments, the ET modulator (250) may receive an envelope signal generated from a transmitted RF signal from the transceiver (230), amplify the envelope signal, and apply the amplified envelope signal to the input power of the power amplifier of the Tx module (240). The ET modulator (250) may include a linear regulator (251) and a switching converter (252). The linear regulator (251) may linearly amplify the envelope signal through a sourcing/sinking process. The switching converter (252) may output a switching current, which is a DC current.

ET technology using an ET modulator (250) is intended to reduce the current consumption of a wireless communication system (200). The details of the ET technology and the configuration of the ET modulator (250) will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10.

According to various embodiments, the Tx module (240) is a module for amplifying and transmitting an RF signal to an antenna. Referring to FIG. 2, the Tx module (240) may include a power amplifier (PA) (241) for amplifying a signal input from a transceiver (230) (or a Tx operator (233)), a duplexer (242) for filtering a Tx signal and an Rx signal, an antenna switching module (243) for selecting each band signal, a coupler (244) for coupling a transmitted Tx signal and transmitting it to the transceiver (230) through an FBRx path, a low noise amplifier (LNA) (245) for amplifying a received signal applied to the antenna and transmitting it to the transceiver (230), and at least one MIPI (mobile industry processor interface) controller (246) for controlling each sub-block.

The RF signal amplified in the Tx module (240) can be transmitted to an external device (e.g., a base station) via an antenna.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3, the electronic device (300) may include a wireless communication system (310) and an application processor (390).

According to various embodiments, the electronic device (300) may be a portable electronic device (300) having a wireless communication function, such as a smart phone or a tablet PC, and may include at least some of the configurations and/or functions of the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1.

According to various embodiments, the application processor (390) is a component capable of performing calculations or data processing related to control and/or communication of each component of the electronic device (300), and may include at least some of the configurations and/or functions of the processor (120) of FIG. 1. The application processor (390) may be operatively, electrically, and/or functionally connected to internal components of the electronic device (300), such as a modem (320), a transceiver (330), or a network monitor (360) of a wireless communication system (310).

The application processor (390) can execute instructions including various arithmetic and logical operations, data movement, or control commands such as input/output stored in memory (e.g., memory (130) of FIG. 1).

According to various embodiments, there may be no limitation to the computational and data processing functions that the application processor (390) may implement within the electronic device (300), but this document describes a function for checking a network environment in real time and, based on the network environment, adjusting various parameters used in the wireless communication system (310) to optimize power consumption and data transmission rate consumed by the wireless communication system (310).

According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system (310) may include a modem (320), a transceiver (330), a Tx module (340), an ET modulator (350), and a network monitor (360). The wireless communication system (310) may support at least one of various wireless communication protocols, such as 4G communication (or long term evolution (LTE)) or 5G communication (or new radio (NR)).

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (360) can check the network environment while the wireless communication system (310) performs wireless communication with an external device (e.g., a base station). When the electronic device (300) is powered on, when a data transmission event occurs, or according to a set cycle, the application processor (390) can cause the network monitor (360) to check the network environment and provide the checked information to the application processor (390) and/or other modules (e.g., a CFR block, a sampling rate control block, a DPD block, and an ET control block) within the wireless communication system (310). The network monitor (360) can check the network environment information through an FBRx (feedback Rx) path and/or an Rx path (or an Rx chain). The Rx path (or Rx chain) is a path for demodulation of RF reception signals received from an external device through an antenna (not shown), or processing such as an ADC. The network monitor (360) can check various network environment information used for RF signals received through the Rx path (or Rx chain). The network monitor (360) may be configured as an independent block, but may also be provided on a modem (320) or an application processor (390).

According to various embodiments, the network environment information may include at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation code and scheme.

More specifically, bandwidth refers to the bandwidth of a transmitting RF signal, and the wireless communication system (310) can communicate with the base station using a portion of the bandwidth determined by the base station and/or the communication processor (e.g., the auxiliary processor (123) of FIG. 1) among a set bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz for LTE, 100 MHz for NR). The network monitor (360) can check the bandwidth currently used for wireless communication.

A resource block is a unit of resources allocated based on frequency and time in OFDM, and a wireless communication system (310) can perform wireless communication using some of the resource blocks determined by a base station and/or a communication processor (e.g., auxiliary processor (123) of FIG. 1) among the entire resource blocks (e.g., 12 subcarriers * 7 symbols). A network monitor (360) can check the resource blocks currently used for wireless communication.

SCS(sub-carrier spacing) (or sub-channel spacing) is the spacing of the bandwidth of the sub-carrier used. Each network may use a fixed SCS (e.g., 15 kHz for LTE) or a variable SCS (e.g., 15/30/60 kHz for NR). The network monitor (360) can check the SCS currently used for wireless communication.

The modulation method refers to a method of modulating a signal, such as QPSK, 160-AM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM, and the wireless communication system (310) can support various modulation methods depending on the wireless network situation. The network monitor (360) can check the modulation method currently used for wireless communication.

According to various embodiments, the modem (320), the transceiver (330), the Tx module (340), and the ET modulator (350) each include at least some of the configurations and/or functions of the modem (220), the transceiver (230), the Tx module (240), and the ET modulator (250) of FIG. 2, and may further include at least one configuration and/or function for controlling each function based on network environment information acquired from the network monitor (360) in addition to the configurations and/or functions described in FIG. 2.

According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system (310) may perform control of the ET modulator (350), adjustment of the sampling rate, adjustment of the DPD order and application of real-time DPD coefficients, or clipping determination of the CFR based on network environment information acquired from the network monitor (360).

According to various embodiments, the ET modulator (350) can determine the bias and pass current (or I _shoot- through) by adjusting the drive stage within the linear regulator based on network environment information (e.g., modulation scheme, bandwidth, resource block, or SCS). This will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10.

According to various embodiments, the sampling rate control block (not shown) can determine the sampling rate by adjusting the sampling frequency of the multiplier in the sampling rate control block based on the network environment information and adjusting the cutoff frequency of the BB LPF to remove the image/harmonic signal. This will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

According to various embodiments, a DPD block (e.g., DPD (236) of FIG. 2) can determine appropriate coefficients in a DPD LUT based on network environment information and perform DPD in real time using the determined coefficients. This will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15.

According to various embodiments, the CFR control block (e.g., CFR (231) of FIG. 2) can adjust the clipping level during CFR by adjusting X _max and the weighting coefficient p[n] based on network environment information. This will be described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 16.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device (300) may include only some of the configurations and/or functions of the ET modulator (350), the sampling rate control block, the DPD block, or the CFR control block described above.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an ET (envelope tracking) system according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates configurations (e.g., an ET system (400) and a power amplifier (441)) for implementing envelope tracking in a wireless communication system (e.g., the wireless communication system (200) of FIG. 2).

In order to support high data rates in wireless networks such as 5G NR, the bandwidth of a signal may be widened and the modulation method of the signal may become complex, which may increase the peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Accordingly, a power amplifier (441) (e.g., a power amplifier (241) of FIG. 2) of a Tx module (e.g., a Tx module (240) of FIG. 2) that consumes a large amount of power in a wireless communication system may need to have high efficiency and high linearity. ET technology can be applied to signals that require wideband and high PAPR.

Referring to FIG. 4, digital I/Q signals are input to a transceiver (430) (e.g., transceiver (230) of FIG. 2) through each channel from a modem (e.g., modem (220) of FIG. 2) of an ET system (400), and the I/Q signals can be input to an envelope generator (438) and an IQ modulator (439).

The I/Q signal modulated by the IQ modulator (439) can be mixed with the LO (local oscillator) signal and transmitted to the power amplifier (441) of the Tx module.

The envelope generator (438) can generate an envelope signal from the I/Q signal. The envelope signal can include maximum values of a predetermined cycle of the I/Q signal. The ET DSP (435) can adjust the shape of the generated envelope signal and output it to the ET modulator (450) after signal processing such as delay adjustment.

The ET modulator (450) can apply the input envelope signal to the input power of the power amplifier (441) of the Tx module. Accordingly, the power amplifier (441) does not use a fixed voltage input power, but uses the envelope signal of the input signal (RFIN) applied to the power amplifier (441) as the input power, so that the power consumed by the power amplifier (441) can be reduced.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a power amplifier of an ET modulator and a Tx module according to various embodiments.

The ET modulator (550) may be the ET modulator (450) of Fig. 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, the ET modulator (550) may include a linear regulator (551) and a switching converter (552). The linear regulator (551) may linearly amplify an envelope signal through a sourcing/sinking process. The switching converter (552) may output a switching current, which is a DC current, according to a switching frequency.

The linear regulator (551) may be an LDO (low drop-out) regulator that operates at a high speed but has low efficiency, and the switching converter (552) may be an SMPS (switching mode power supply) DC-DC converter that operates at a low speed but has high efficiency.

The ET modulator (550) is a hybrid structure composed of a linear regulator (551) and a switching converter (552), and can track a wide bandwidth envelope signal while simultaneously amplifying the envelope signal with high efficiency.

FIG. 6a is a block diagram of an ET modulator according to various embodiments.

FIG. 6b illustrates current waveforms within an ET modulator (650) according to various embodiments.

The ET modulator (650) may be the ET modulator (450) of FIG. 4 and/or the ET modulator (550) of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the ET modulator (650) may include a hybrid structure composed of a linear regulator (651) and a switching converter (652). Referring to FIG. 2, the input power (Vcc) of a power amplifier (e.g., a power amplifier (241) of FIG. 2) of a Tx module (e.g., a Tx module (240) of FIG. 2) may be generated according to the output current (I _out ) of the ET modulator (650), and the output current (I _out ) may be output according to the source current (I _source ) and sink current (I _sink ) of the linear regulator (651) and the switch current (I _switch ) of the switching converter (652). More specifically, the switching converter (652) may generate a switch current (I _switch ), which is a DC current (direct current), and output it at a predetermined switching frequency through a coil, and the output current (I _out ) may be generated through the sourcing and sinking process of the linear regulator (651).

In Fig. 6a, the linear regulator (651) can use a fixed bias. The bias of the linear regulator (651) can be a bias voltage input to a buffer (not shown) of the linear regulator (651).

During the sourcing and sinking process of the linear regulator (651), crossover distortion noise may occur as two transistors operate crosswise. Referring to the graph of Fig. 6b, crossover distortion noise may occur in the crossing section of the source current and sink current.

In order to reduce this crossover distortion noise, a pass-through current (I _{shoot-through} ) is required, and the size of the pass-through current can be determined by the bias condition of the linear regulator (651). In order to reduce the crossover distortion noise, the pass-through current can be increased by increasing the bias (in the class-A direction), but in this case, the power efficiency is reduced. On the other hand, if the pass-through current is reduced by decreasing the bias (in the class-B direction) considering the power efficiency, the problem of crossover distortion noise may occur. Therefore, in order to optimize the crossover distortion noise and power efficiency, a deep class-AB bias linear regulator can be used as the linear regulator (651).

In order to increase the operating speed of the linear regulator (651), the current consumption of the drive stage in the linear regulator (651) may increase. In addition, as the bandwidth of the signal increases, the crossover distortion noise of the linear regulator (651) performing sourcing and sinking operations increases, so the bias of the linear regulator (651) must be increased to solve this problem. At this time, if the bias of the linear regulator (651) increases, the amount of passing current also increases, which may lower the power efficiency of the ET modulator (650).

As described above, even when the linear regulator (651) is configured with a fixed bias, there is no major problem in the ET modulator (650) tracking the envelope signal in a network environment with a low maximum bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz of LTE). However, in a network environment with a high maximum bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz of NR), the operating speed of the linear regulator (651) must be increased. To this end, the current consumption and the bias (or passing current) of the drive stage of the linear regulator (651) must also be increased. In this case, if the current consumption is increased in consideration of the maximum bandwidth, current may be unnecessarily consumed in low-band signals that are frequently used in actual network environments, or in partial RBs (resource blocks) of 4G (or LTE) communications that use only a part of the allocatable resource blocks, or in inner RB situations of 5G (or NR) communications.

Additionally, the switching converter (652) in Fig. 6a can use a fixed switching frequency.

Switching converter (652) is a DC-DC converter that can generate switching current (Iswitch) with high efficiency through switching operation. One of the important factors that determines the efficiency of the DC-DC converter is the switching frequency. When the switching frequency increases, the ripple decreases, but the switching loss increases, which lowers the efficiency, and conversely, when the switching frequency decreases, the efficiency increases, but the ripple may increase. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain an optimized switching frequency according to the input envelope signal.

Even when the switching converter (652) operates at a fixed switching frequency as described above, there may be no efficiency problem in a network environment with a low maximum bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz of LTE). However, in a network environment with a high maximum bandwidth (e.g., 100 MHz of NR), the dynamic range of the envelope signal bandwidth to be amplified increases, so operating at a fixed switching frequency may have limitations in optimizing efficiency.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an ET modulator that performs envelope tracking according to a network environment according to various embodiments.

Figure 8 is a graph showing bias and pass current according to signal bandwidth according to various embodiments.

The ET modulator (650) according to the embodiments of FIGS. 6a and 6b may have low efficiency because it includes a linear regulator (651) of a fixed bias and a switching converter (652) of a fixed switching frequency. However, the ET modulator (750) according to various embodiments described below controls the operations of the linear regulator (751) and the switching converter (752) by considering the network environment, so that it can have higher efficiency than when using the linear regulator (651) of a fixed bias and the switching converter (652) of a fixed switching frequency.

Referring to FIG. 7, an ET modulator (750) according to various embodiments may include a linear regulator (751), a switching converter (752), and an ET control block (755).

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (755) may obtain network environment information including at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), and modulation scheme from a network monitor (e.g., network monitor (360) of FIG. 3).

The ET control block (755) can determine the bias of the linear regulator (751) and/or the switching frequency of the switching converter (752) according to the input network environment information.

Referring to Fig. 8, when the bias of the linear regulator (751) is increased (in the class-A direction (801)) and the pass-through current (I _{shoot-through} ) is increased, the operating speed of the linear regulator (751) becomes faster, and accordingly, envelope tracking can be implemented even in a high-bandwidth network. Conversely, when the bias of the linear regulator (751) is decreased (in the class-B direction (802)) and the pass-through current (I _{shoot-through} ) is lowered, the operating speed of the linear regulator (751) becomes slower, but the power consumption can be reduced.

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (755) may increase the bias of the linear regulator (751) when communicating with a high bandwidth (or at least one of the resource blocks, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation schemes) based on network environment information, and may decrease the bias of the linear regulator (751) for power efficiency when communicating with a low bandwidth (or at least one of the resource blocks, SCS, or modulation schemes).

According to various embodiments, the ET modulator (750) may include a bias control circuit (not shown) capable of adjusting the bias of the linear regulator (751). The ET control block (755) may drive at least a part of the bias control circuit based on network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (755) stores a table that maps the size of the bias of the linear regulator (751) to be used and/or a part of the bias control circuit to be driven according to network environment information (e.g., at least one of bandwidth, resource block, SCS (sub-carrier spacing), or modulation method), and can control using the table.

FIG. 9 illustrates the structure of a linear regulator of an ET modulator according to various embodiments.

Figure 9 illustrates a case in which a fixed bias is used in a linear regulator (950).

Referring to FIG. 9, the linear regulator (950) may include a class-AB bias circuit (951), a buffer (952), and an OTA (operational trans-conductance amplifier) (953).

The class-AB bias circuit (951) adjusts the bias of the output source current (I _source ) and (I _sink ) to class-AB, thereby allowing the linear regulator (950) to operate with high efficiency and lower crossover distortion noise.

The buffer (952) is the final stage of the linear regulator (950), and outputs I _source and I _sink to form an output current (I _out ) together with a switching current (I _switch ) output from a switching converter (e.g., switching converter (752) of FIG. 7).

OTA (953) is an amplifier that outputs input voltage as output current in proportion to trans-conductance, and can differentially amplify the applied envelope signal and the output envelope signal.

The linear regulator (950) of Fig. 9 can use a fixed current to the class-AB bias circuit (951) through a fixed current mirror. Accordingly, the common drain transistor in the class-AB bias circuit (951) has the same V _GS regardless of the bandwidth of the RF transmission signal, so that the linear regulator (950) can output I _source and I _sink according to the fixed bias.

FIG. 10 illustrates the structure of a linear regulator of an ET modulator that performs envelope tracking according to a network environment according to various embodiments.

Figure 10 illustrates a case where a variable bias is used in a linear regulator (1050).

According to various embodiments, the linear regulator (1050) may include a bias control circuit (1055) for variably controlling the bias. Referring to FIG. 10, the bias control circuit (1055) may include a plurality of transistors that are connected in parallel with each other and can be switched independently.

An ET control block (e.g., an ET control block (755) of FIG. 7) of an ET modulator (e.g., an ET modulator (750) of FIG. 7) can obtain network environment information (e.g., at least one of a bandwidth, a resource block, a sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or a modulation method) obtained from a network monitor (e.g., a network monitor (360) of FIG. 3). The ET control block can adjust the ratio of switching or current mirroring of a transistor of a bias control circuit (1055) based on the network environment information.

Since the current received through the BGR (bandgap reference) circuit is constant, the current flowing in the class-AB bias circuit (1051) can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of the current mirror differently. For example, when no current is output from the bias control circuit (1055) to the class-AB bias circuit (1051), the class-AB bias circuit (1051) generates a bias by the current input from the BGR circuit, and when at least a part of the bias control circuit (1055) is switched and current is output to the class-AB bias circuit (1051), the class-AB bias circuit (1051) can generate a higher bias.

The ET control block controls the ratio of the current mirror of the bias control circuit (1055), thereby also controlling the V _GS value of the common drain transistor, and ultimately controlling the bias of the buffer (1052) that generates the I _source and I _sink . Accordingly, the size of the through current (I _{shoout-through} ) can be determined.

For example, if the bias control circuit (1055) includes at least one (e.g., four) switch, it can output a thermal code including a binary code corresponding to on/off of each switch. If the bandwidth currently used for the RF transmission signal is 20 MHz, the ET control block outputs 0000 as the thermal code, and accordingly, the bias control circuit (1055) does not output current to the class-AB bias circuit (1051), and the bias can be determined by the output current of the BGR circuit. In contrast, if the bandwidth used for the RF transmission signal increases to 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 80 MHz, or 100 MHz, the ET control block can output 0001, 0011, 0111, or 1111 as the thermal code to the bias control circuit (1055), respectively. The transistor of the bias control circuit (1055) is switched and input to class-AB like the current of the BGR circuit, and accordingly, a higher bias can be generated in the linear regulator (1050).

According to various embodiments, a switching converter (e.g., switching converter (752) of FIG. 7) that generates the DC current of the ET modulator with high efficiency can also adjust the switching frequency that determines the efficiency of the DC-DC converter based on network environment information (e.g., bandwidth of an RF transmission signal).

The switching converter may include the same circuit as the bias control circuit (1055) of the linear regulator (1050) of Fig. 10, and the circuit may be controlled according to a control signal of the ET control block. Accordingly, the switching frequency of the drive stage of the switching converter (e.g., the drive stage (752a) of Fig. 7) may be adjusted according to the control signal of the ET control block.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a modem and transceiver for sampling rate control according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 11, a wireless communication system (1100) may include a modem (1120) (e.g., modem (320) of FIG. 3) and a transceiver (1130) (e.g., transceiver (330) of FIG. 3).

An application processor (e.g., application processor (390) of FIG. 3) processes data to be transmitted to an external device into a digital signal, and an RF signal transmitted through an antenna is an analog signal. Accordingly, a wireless communication system (1100) (e.g., wireless communication system (310) of FIG. 3) can perform conversion between digital signals and analog signals through a DAC/ADC block (1132).

In order to convert an analog signal into a digital signal, sampling, quantization, and coding processes are required. In the sampling process, the sampling rate (f _s ) must be at least twice the bandwidth of the transmission and reception baseband channel according to the Nyquist theorem. Here, the interval between sampling points (T _d ) is inversely proportional to the sampling rate (f _s ). Therefore, as the sampling rate (f _s ) increases, the interval between sampling points (T _d ) decreases, and accordingly, the signal can be modulated in detail and controlled in a shorter time unit. However, if the clock speed is increased to increase the sampling rate, the current consumption may increase, which may lead to heat generation and battery consumption.

Higher performance through increased clock speeds can have a more significant impact on wideband ET (envelope tracking) operations. For example, when the same sampling rate used for low-bandwidth wireless communications (e.g., LTE) is used for wideband wireless communications (e.g., NR), the delay control between the RF signal and the envelope signal in the ET system may be limited, resulting in degradation of characteristics such as output power, efficiency, or linearity. On the other hand, using a high sampling rate for wideband wireless communications may result in wasted power consumption when transmitting low-bandwidth signals.

Accordingly, electronic devices according to various embodiments can determine a sampling rate optimized for communication quality and current consumption based on network environment information.

Referring to FIG. 11, a wireless communication system (1100) according to various embodiments may include a sampling rate control block (1138) for determining a sampling rate according to network environment information. The sampling rate control block (1138) may include a clock generator (1138a) for generating a clock signal of a specific frequency and a multiplier (1138b) for determining a coefficient to be multiplied by the clock signal for determining the sampling rate.

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (1190) may obtain network environment information including at least one of bandwidth, resource block, or sub-carrier spacing (SCS), and provide it to the sampling rate control block (1138).

The sampling rate control block (1138) can select an optimized coefficient according to the current bandwidth, resource block, or SCS through the modeling and algorithm of the multiplier (1138b) using the network environment information received from the network monitor (1190). Accordingly, the sampling rate of the DAC/ADC block (1132) can be adjusted by multiplying the clock signal generated by the clock generator (1138a) by the coefficient selected according to the bandwidth, resource block, or SCS.

When the sampling rate changes, the BB LPF (baseband low pass filter) (1133a) of the Tx operator (1133) that rejects the image signal or the harmonic signal also needs to be varied. According to various embodiments, the sampling rate control block (1138) can adjust the cutoff frequency of the BB LPF (1133a) in response to the sampling rate adjusted according to the bandwidth, the resource block, or the SCS.

Figures 12a, 12b and 12c illustrate methods for determining a sampling rate according to various embodiments.

Figure 12a shows an embodiment in which the sampling rate is determined based only on the bandwidth.

Referring to Fig. 12a, the sampling rate can operate at 30.72 Mbps for 10 MHz bandwidth, 61.44 Mbps for 20 MHz bandwidth, and 307.2 Mbps for 100 MHz bandwidth. In this case, since only the bandwidth is considered, the same sampling rate can operate whether only 1 RB (resource block) is used in 10 MHz bandwidth or whether full RB is used. This can be inefficient because the same sampling rate is operated even though the bandwidth required for actual communication is different depending on the number of resource blocks even with the same bandwidth.

Figure 12b illustrates an embodiment of determining a sampling rate based on a resource block.

Referring to FIG. 12b, when the bandwidth is 100 MHz, the sampling rate may operate at 1.2288 Mbps when the resource block is 1 RB, the sampling rate may operate at 153.6 Mbps when the resource block is half RB, and the sampling rate may operate at 307.2 Mbps when the resource block is full RB. Accordingly, even when communicating on a network with the same bandwidth, power consumption may be reduced by operating at a lower sampling rate depending on the number of resource blocks used.

Figure 12c shows an embodiment of determining a sampling rate based on SCS (sub-carrier spacing).

According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system may use variable SCS (e.g., NR of 15/30/60KHz), and accordingly, the bandwidth of 1RB may also be variable. The sampling rate control block according to various embodiments may determine the sampling rate according to the SCS used.

Referring to Fig. 12d, when the SCS used in the bandwidth of 100 MHz is 15 KHz, the sampling rate operates at 0.6144 Mbps, when the SCS is 30 KHz, it operates at 1.2288 Mbps, and when the SCS is 60 KHz, it operates at 2.4576 Mbps.

FIG. 13a is a graph showing the gain of a power amplifier and the envelope trajectory of an ET system according to various embodiments.

Figure 13b illustrates a method of applying DTD (digital pre-distortion) according to various embodiments.

When ET (envelope tracking) technology is applied, the power amplifier (e.g., the power amplifier (241) of FIG. 2) can be operated in a saturation region to optimize the efficiency of the entire system (e.g., the wireless communication system (200) of FIG. 2). When the envelope signal of the RF signal is followed in real time and the power amplifier (1341) is operated in the saturation region, the gain drops as the Vcc decreases due to the characteristics of the power amplifier, and thus the compression characteristic as in FIG. 13a can be obtained. The wireless communication system can use DTD (digital pre-distortion) to compensate for this gain compression characteristic.

DPD is a method of pre-distorting an RF input signal applied to a power amplifier by reflecting the gain characteristic of the power amplifier according to Vcc by considering the envelope trajectory actually used. For example, since the power amplifier has a gain characteristic (1391) in the form of a logarithmic function as illustrated in Fig. 13b, the DPD block (1336) can distort an RF signal into an exponential function form (1392) and input it to the power amplifier. Accordingly, the signal (1393) amplified by the power amplifier (1341) can have linearity.

Figures 14a and 14b illustrate methods of applying DTD (digital pre-distortion) according to various embodiments.

A wireless communication system may include a DPD block that pre-compensates an input signal output from a modem according to gain compression of a power amplifier. The DTD block may store a DPD LUT that may compensate for gain compression. The DPD LUT may be embedded in the DPD block during the manufacturing of an electronic device (or a wireless communication system).

Fig. 14a illustrates a case where the same DPD LUT is used for electronic devices A, B, and C. At this time, even if electronic devices A, B, and C use the same structure and components, there may be a difference in the characteristics of the Tx path between the components. Accordingly, the gain for the input power of the power amplifier may be different. Fig. 14a illustrates that since the same DPD LUT is used for electronic devices A, B, and C, in the case of some electronic devices, the linearity of the output signal by the DPD may not be completely compensated.

Fig. 14b illustrates a case in which different DPD LUTs are used according to the characteristics of electronic devices A, B, and C. For example, when manufacturing an electronic device, the gain characteristics of a power amplifier can be modeled for each model to determine the DPD. In this case, since modeled DPD LUTs for each of electronic devices A, B, and C are used as in Fig. 14b, the linearity of the output signal can be higher than that in the case of Fig. 14a.

However, even in the case of Fig. 14b, since the DPD determination for each model of the electronic device is performed once during the calibration process in the process, and the DPD LUT determined at this time is embedded in the electronic device of the same model, it may be difficult to apply the optimized DPD LUT for each network scenario. In addition, it may be difficult to linearize the Tx characteristics that change depending on the use of the electronic device and to determine the DPD LUT in real time to adapt to various RF signals transmitted in different network environments and apply the DPD.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system that applies DTD according to a network environment according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system (1500) may include a DPD block (1536) that processes DPD for an RF signal to be transmitted based on network environment information acquired in real time from a network monitor (1560). The DPD block (1536) may be provided on the transceiver (1530) and may perform DPD before a signal output from a modem (1520) is input to a power amplifier (1541) of a Tx module (1540). For example, the DPD block (1536) may cause a pre-distorted signal for a signal CFR-processed in a CFR block (1531) to be input to a DAC/ADC block (1532).

The DPD block (1536) can store a DPD lookup table (LUT) that maps DPD coefficients to be used in response to each network environment (e.g., at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation scheme).

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (1560) may check the network environment through operations such as transit antenna selection (TAS) and/or sounding reference signal (SRS) through the Tx operator (1533) and the Rx operator (1534) to provide network environment information (1591) related to RF transmission signals to the DPD block (1536). In addition, the DPD block (1536) may further obtain characteristic information (1592) of the Tx path through the FBRx path.

According to various embodiments, the DPD block (1536) can pre-distort an RF transmission signal in real time by generating an optimized DPD coefficient based on network environment information (1591) acquired through a network monitor (1560) and characteristic information (1592) of a Tx path acquired through an FBRx path.

According to various embodiments, the wireless communication system (1500) can adjust the DPD order according to the network environment and update the DPD coefficient in real time to optimize the performance of the wireless communication system (1500), such as Tx output power, efficiency, EVM (error vector magnitude), or linearity.

The process of performing DPD using network environment information by the DPD block (1536) can be based on equations 1 to 3 below.

[Formula 1]

a _n = f(Tx chain)

In Equation 1, a _n is a DPD coefficient, and Tx chain may mean gain compression from the transceiver (1530) to the antenna port of the Tx module (1540).

[Formula 2]

X(t)' = f(X(t)) = a ₀ + a ₁ X(t) + a ₂ X(t) ² + a ₃ X(t) ³ … + ^a _n

In Equation 2, X(t) can mean the input RF transmission signal, and X(t)’ can mean the pre-distorted RF transmission signal.

[Formula 3]

a _n = f(Tx chain, BW, RB, MCS, SCS)

In Equation 3, BW may represent the bandwidth of the RF transmission signal being used, RB may represent the resource block allocated to the RF transmission signal, MCS may represent the modulation code and scheme, and SCS may represent the sub-carrier spacing.

FIG. 16 illustrates examples of signals clipped through crest factor reduction (CFR) according to various embodiments.

A transceiver (e.g., a transceiver (1530) of FIG. 15) of a wireless communication system (e.g., a wireless communication system (1500) of FIG. 15) can process a CFR of a transmission signal using a CFR block (e.g., a CFR block (1531) of FIG. 15).

CFR (crest factor reduction) technology is a technology used to reduce the PAPR (peak to average power ratio) of a transmission signal so that a power amplifier (e.g., a Tx amplifier (1541) of FIG. 15) of a Tx module (e.g., a Tx module (1540) of FIG. 15) that consumes a large amount of power in a wireless communication system of an electronic device can operate with high efficiency. The CFR technology can be implemented through various algorithms, and representative algorithms among them will be described below. However, the operation of the CFR block described in this document is not limited to the algorithm described below.

CFR can be applied through hard clipping and LPF (low pass filter) to the input signal. Referring to Fig. 16, the part of the input signal that exceeds the clipped point can be fixed to a specific amplitude (A _max ), and the part lower than the clipped point can be maintained the same as the original signal.

This can be applied through Equation 4 below.

[Formula 4]

X _clip [n] = c[n] * X[n]

C[n] = X _max /|X[n]|, |X[n]| _>

1 , |X[n]| > X _max

In Equation 4, X[n] can mean the input signal, X _clip [n] can mean the clipped signal, c[n] can mean the clipping coefficient, and X _max can mean the clipped point.

Referring to Fig. 16, a sharp edge may be generated in the clipped signal (C) when the input signal (A) is hard clipped through the clipped point (B), which may be a high-frequency component of the signal. This high-frequency component may induce adjacent channel power (ACP). In order to reduce such unwanted ACP, the clipped signal (C) may be passed through a LPF to reduce the high-frequency signal corresponding to the sharp edge, and a windowed signal (D) may be generated.

Here, the windowing method is to filter with weighting coefficient p[n] and window function w[n] to remove high-frequency components of the clipped signal. The windowing method can be expressed by Equation 5 below.

[Formula 5]

c’ [n] = 1 - p[n] * w[n]

In Equation 5, p[n] is a weighting coefficient, and w[n] can be a common window function such as a Gaussian function.

Thus, the key parameters to be considered in CFR technology are target PAPR, maximum order of LPF, pass frequency, stop frequency, pass ripple and/or stop ripple.

Although the specifications required for QPSK / 16-QAM / 64-QAM / 256-QAM in LTE systems have been established, the actual usage frequency of high-order modulations such as 64-QAM and 256-QAM may not be high. However, various signals including high-order modulations such as 64-QAM and 256-QAM can be actively used for more efficient use of data spectrum and maximum data transmission speed.

The EVM (error vector magnitude) specifications according to the modulation method of the transmission signal are given in Table 1 below as an example.

Modulation Unit Average EVM Level QPSK % 17.5 16QAM % 12.5 64QAM % 8 256QAM % 3.5

High order modulation signals require high quality signals because demodulation is complex. Therefore, the EVM specifications can be more stringent, as shown in Table 1.

When CFR technology is used in a wireless communication system, the power amplifier can be operated with high output and/or high efficiency, but the EVM characteristics may deteriorate because the original signal is modified. For signals using low order modulation (e.g., QPSK, 16-QAM), CFR can be processed by hard clipping because some high-frequency components are allowed. However, in a 5G NR network environment where high order modulation such as 256-QAM is used, it may be difficult to apply hard clipping because strict EVM specifications are required. In addition, when a wireless communication system uniformly applies soft clipping due to the EVM specifications of high order modulation signals, the PAPR cannot be sufficiently lowered when low order modulation is used, making it difficult to achieve high output of the power amplifier that ultimately amplifies the RF transmission signal, which may cause a problem of reduced coverage in an actual network environment.

According to various embodiments, the CFR block of the wireless communication system can identify a modulation scheme being used for an RF transmission signal and perform CFR with a corresponding clipping level. According to various embodiments, the CFR block can obtain information related to a modulation scheme currently being used for an RF transmission signal from a network monitor (e.g., the network monitor (1560) of FIG. 15) in real time or periodically.

Accordingly, while the conventional CFR algorithm performed CFR using the same clipping coefficient regardless of the modulation method, the wireless communication system according to various embodiments can determine the clipping level in real time by the modulation method.

The CFR algorithm according to various embodiments can proceed as in Equations 6 to 8 below.

[Formula 6]

X _max ' [n] = f(MCS)

In Equation 6, X _max '[n] is a clipped point determined by considering the modulation method, and this can be calculated as a function of MCS.

[Formula 7]

c’ [n] = 1 - p[n] * w[n]

In Equation 7, p[n] is a weighting coefficient, and w[n] can be a common window function such as a Gaussian function.

[Formula 8]

p[n] = f(MCS)

In Equation 8, the weighting coefficient p[n] can be calculated as a function of MCS.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system (1700) that controls various parameters according to a network environment according to various embodiments.

FIG. 17 may include a configuration of a wireless communication system (200) of FIG. 2, and compared to FIG. 2, a network monitor (1760) may be used to obtain network environment information, and based on this, various processing may be performed, for example, at least one of control of an ET modulator (1750), adjustment of a sampling rate, adjustment of a DPD order and application of real-time DPD coefficients, or clipping determination of a CFR.

Below, the description of the technical features described through Figures 1 to 16 will be omitted.

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (1760) can check the network environment while the wireless communication system performs wireless communication with an external device (e.g., a base station). When the electronic device is turned on, or according to a set cycle, the application processor can cause the network monitor (1760) to check the network environment and provide the checked information to the application processor and/or the wireless communication system (e.g., the CFR block (1731), the DPD block (1736), the sampling rate control block (1739), and the ET control block (1759)). The network monitor (1760) can check the network environment information through the FBRx (feedback Rx) path and/or the Rx chain. The network monitor (1760) can be configured as an independent block, but can also be provided on the modem (1720) or the application processor (e.g., the application processor (390) of FIG. 3).

According to various embodiments, the network environment information may include at least one of bandwidth, resource blocks, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation scheme.

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (1759) may control the drive stage in the linear regulator (1751) of the ET modulator (1750) based on the network environment information to determine the bias and pass current (or I _{shoot-through} ). The method by which the ET control block (1759) controls the drive stage of the linear regulator (1751) and/or the switching converter (1752) based on the network environment information and the circuit configuration therefor have been described above with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

According to various embodiments, the sampling rate control block (1739) can determine the sampling rate according to network environment information. The sampling rate control block (1739) can receive at least one of information related to a current bandwidth, a resource block, or an SCS from the network monitor (1760) and use the same to determine the sampling rate to be used for sampling an RF transmission signal.

The sampling rate control block (1739) can select an optimized coefficient according to at least one of the current bandwidth, resource block, or SCS through the modeling and algorithm of the multiplier. Accordingly, the sampling rate of the DAC/ADC can be adjusted by multiplying the clock signal generated from the clock generator by the coefficient selected according to the bandwidth, resource block, or SCS. The method for the sampling rate control block (1739) to control the sampling rate based on the network environment information and the circuit configuration therefor have been described above with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

According to various embodiments, the DPD block (1736) can process DPD for an RF signal to be transmitted based on network environment information acquired in real time. The DPD block (1736) can be provided on the transceiver (1730) and can perform DPD before a signal output from the modem (1720) is input to the power amplifier (1741) of the Tx module (1740). The DPD block (1736) can store a DPD LUT that maps DPD coefficients to be used in response to each network environment (e.g., at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation method). The method for the DPD block (1736) to perform DPD based on the network environment information and the circuit configuration therefor have been described above with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15.

According to various embodiments, the CFR block (1731) can check the modulation method being used for the RF transmission signal based on the network environment information received from the network monitor (1760) and perform CFR with a corresponding clipping level. The method by which the DPD block (1736) performs CFR based on the modulation method has been described above with reference to FIG. 16.

Various embodiments of the present document may include only at least some of the configurations of FIG. 17. For example, the electronic device may include only at least some of the CFR block (1731), the DPD block (1736), the sampling rate control block (1739), and the ET control block (1759), which perform predetermined processing in response to a network environment. Alternatively, some of the blocks may operate using fixed parameters without using network environment information.

An electronic device (100) according to various embodiments includes a network monitor (1760) for obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal, a transceiver (1730) for generating an envelope signal of the RF transmission signal, a Tx module (1740) including a power amplifier (1741) for receiving the RF transmission signal from the transceiver (1730) and amplifying the RF transmission signal, and an ET modulator (1750) for receiving the envelope signal from the transceiver (1730) and providing a bias of the power amplifier (1741) in response to the envelope signal, wherein the ET modulator (1750) can determine a size of a bias provided to the power amplifier (1741) based on the network environment information obtained by the network monitor (1760).

According to various embodiments, the ET modulator (1750) includes a linear regulator (1751) that linearly amplifies the envelope signal and a switching converter (1752) that outputs a switching current according to a switching frequency, and can output an output current that is the sum of the passing current output from the linear regulator and the switching current to the Tx module (1740).

According to various embodiments, the ET modulator (1750) may further include an ET control block (1759) that determines the size of the passing current output from the linear regulator (1751) based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (1759) may control the size of the passing current to increase when the RF transmission signal is a high bandwidth signal based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the linear regulator (1751) includes a bias control circuit (1055) including a plurality of transistors that can be switched according to a control signal of the ET control block (1759), and the ET control block (1759) can control the amount of current input from the bias control circuit (1055) to the bias of the linear regulator (1751) based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the ET control block (1759) can determine the switching frequency of the switching converter (1752) based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the present invention may further include a digital to analog converter (DAC) that converts a digital signal into an analog signal and a sampling rate control block (1739) that determines a sampling rate of the DAC based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the sampling rate control block (1739) may determine the sampling rate by multiplying a clock signal generated by a clock generator (1138a) by a coefficient selected according to the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the present invention further includes a DPD (digital pre-distortion) block (1736) that pre-distorts the RF transmission signal according to the gain characteristics of the power amplifier (1741) and outputs a linearized signal, and the DPD block (1736) can distort the RF transmission signal using a DPD coefficient corresponding to the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the apparatus further includes a crest factor reduction (CFR) block (1731) for reducing a PAPR (peak to average power ratio) of the RF transmission signal by clipping at least a portion of the RF transmission signal, and the CFR block (1731) can determine a clipping level for applying the CFR based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the network environment information may include at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation method.

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (1760) may obtain the network environment information related to the RF transmission signal through at least one of an FBRx (feedback Rx) path and an Rx path.

According to various embodiments, the network monitor (1760) can obtain the network environment information when the electronic device (100) is powered on or at set intervals.

According to various embodiments, the system further includes a modem (1720) for transmitting digital baseband signals to the transceiver (1730), and the network monitor (1760) may be included in the modem (1720).

According to various embodiments, the electronic device (100) can output the RF transmission signal according to the 5G NR communication method.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an operation method of a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

The illustrated method can be performed by the electronic device (or wireless communication system) described above through FIGS. 1 to 17, and the description of the technical features described above will be omitted below.

When an electronic device (e.g., an electronic device (300) of FIG. 3) is powered on in operation 1811, the electronic device can monitor network environment information using a network monitor (e.g., a network monitor (360) of FIG. 3) in operation 1821.

The network monitor can monitor the network environment through the Tx chain calibration path, FBRx (1823) and/or the Rx path (or Rx chain (1822)). The network environment information can include at least one of a bandwidth (1831), a resource block (1832), a sub-carrier spacing (SCS) (1833), or a modulation scheme (1834).

In operation 1841, an ET control block (e.g., an ET control block (755) of FIG. 7) may control a drive stage of a linear regulator (e.g., a linear regulator (751) of FIG. 7) and/or a switching convertor (e.g., a switching converter (752) of FIG. 7) of an ET modulator (e.g., an ET modulator (750) of FIG. 7) based on at least one of the sensed bandwidth, resource block, or SCS information.

In operation 1842, the sampling rate control block (e.g., the sampling rate control block (1138) of FIG. 11) may determine a sampling rate based on at least one of the detected bandwidth, resource block, or SCS information. For example, the sampling rate control block may adjust a sampling frequency of a multiplier (e.g., the multiplier (1138b) of FIG. 11) within the sampling rate control block, and adjust a cutoff frequency of a BB LBF (e.g., the BB LPF (1133a) of FIG. 11) to remove an image/harmonic signal.

In operation 1843, a DPD block (e.g., DPD block (1336) of FIG. 13b) may receive bandwidth, resource block, SCS information, and modulation method information acquired from a network monitor and the characteristics of a Tx signal being transmitted as FBRx, and determine and update a DPD LUT in real time.

The DPD order can be embedded in the DPD LUT decision model to adjust the order used depending on the type of signal. The DPD coefficients can be used to determine the optimal DPD coefficients by using the DPD order suitable for the type of signal by characterizing the Tx path based on the FBRx information detected in real time.

In operation 1844, the CFR block (e.g., the CFR block (1731) of FIG. 17) can adjust the clipping level by adjusting the clipping point and the weighting coefficient p[n] according to the modulation method of the transmitted signal.

According to various embodiments, a method for controlling a wireless communication system (1700) of an electronic device (100) includes an operation (1821) of obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal, an operation of generating an envelope signal of the RF transmission signal, and an operation of providing a bias of a power amplifier (1741) that amplifies the RF transmission signal in response to the envelope signal, wherein the operation of providing the bias may include an operation of determining a size of a bias provided to the power amplifier (1741) based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the operation of determining the magnitude of the bias may include at least one of an operation of determining the magnitude of a passing current output from a linear regulator that linearly amplifies the envelope signal based on the network environment information, and an operation of determining the switching frequency of a switching converter (1752) that outputs a switching current according to a switching frequency based on the network environment information.

According to various embodiments, the operation of determining the magnitude of the passing current may include an operation of increasing the magnitude of the passing current when the RF transmission signal is a high bandwidth signal.

According to various embodiments, the network environment information may include at least one of bandwidth, resource block, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation method.

According to various embodiments, the operation of acquiring the network environment information may include an operation of acquiring the network environment information related to the RF transmission signal through at least one of an FBRx (feedback Rx) path and an Rx path.

Claims (21)

In electronic devices,
A network monitor that obtains network environment information related to RF transmission signals;
A transceiver generating an envelope signal of the above RF transmission signal;
A Tx module including a power amplifier for receiving the RF transmission signal from the transceiver and amplifying the RF transmission signal; and
An ET modulator including a linear regulator that receives the envelope signal from the transceiver, provides a bias of the power amplifier in response to the envelope signal, and a switching converter that outputs a switching current according to a switching frequency,
The above ET modulator is an electronic device that determines the size of the passing current output from the linear regulator and the switching frequency of the switching converter based on network environment information acquired from the network monitor, thereby determining the size of the bias provided to the power amplifier.
delete In paragraph 1,
An electronic device wherein the ET modulator further includes an ET control block that determines the size of the passing current output from the linear regulator based on the network environment information.
In the third paragraph,
The above ET control block is an electronic device that controls the size of the passing current to increase when the RF transmission signal is a high bandwidth signal based on the network environment information.
In the third paragraph,
The above linear regulator,
A bias control circuit including a plurality of transistors that can be switched according to a control signal of the above ET control block,
The above ET control block is an electronic device that controls the size of the current input to the bias of the linear regulator from the bias control circuit based on the network environment information.
delete In paragraph 1,
A DAC (digital to analog converter) that converts digital signals into analog signals, and
An electronic device further comprising a sampling rate control block that determines a sampling rate of the DAC based on the network environment information.
In Article 7,
The above sampling rate control block,
An electronic device that determines the sampling rate by multiplying a clock signal generated by a clock generator by a coefficient selected based on the network environment information.
In paragraph 1,
It further includes a DPD (digital pre-distortion) block that pre-distorts the RF transmission signal according to the gain characteristics of the power amplifier and outputs a linearized signal.
The above DPD block is an electronic device that distorts the RF transmission signal by using a DPD coefficient corresponding to the network environment information.
In paragraph 1,
Further comprising a CFR (crest factor reduction) block for reducing PAPR (peak to average power ratio) of the RF transmission signal by clipping at least a portion of the RF transmission signal,
The above CFR block is an electronic device that determines a clipping level for applying the CFR based on the network environment information.
In paragraph 1,
The above network environment information is:
An electronic device comprising at least one of a bandwidth, a resource block, a sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or a modulation scheme.
In paragraph 1,
The above network monitor,
An electronic device that acquires network environment information related to the RF transmission signal through at least one of an FBRx (feedback Rx) path and an Rx path.
In paragraph 1,
The above network monitor,
An electronic device that acquires the network environment information when the electronic device is powered on or at set intervals.
In paragraph 1,
Further comprising a modem for transmitting digital baseband signals to the transceiver;
The above network monitor is an electronic device included in the modem.
In paragraph 1,
An electronic device that outputs the RF transmission signal according to the 5G NR communication method.
In a method for controlling a wireless communication system of an electronic device,
An operation of obtaining network environment information related to an RF transmission signal;
An operation for generating an envelope signal of the above RF transmission signal; and
Including an operation of providing a bias to a power amplifier that amplifies the RF transmission signal in response to the envelope signal,
The operation of providing the above bias includes an operation of determining the size of the bias provided to the power amplifier based on the network environment information,
The operation to determine the size of the above bias is,
An operation of determining the size of the passing current output from a linear regulator that linearly amplifies the envelope signal based on the above network environment information; and
A method including at least one of the operations of determining the switching frequency of a switching converter that outputs a switching current according to the switching frequency based on the network environment information.
delete In Article 16,
The operation of determining the size of the above-mentioned passing current is:
A method comprising an operation of increasing the size of the passing current when the RF transmission signal is a high bandwidth signal.
In Article 16,
The above network environment information is,
A method comprising at least one of bandwidth, resource blocks, sub-carrier spacing (SCS), or modulation scheme.
In Article 16,
The operation of obtaining the above network environment information is as follows:
A method comprising an operation of acquiring the network environment information related to the RF transmission signal through at least one of an FBRx (feedback Rx) path and an Rx path.
In electronic devices,
A network monitor that obtains network environment information related to RF transmission signals;
transceiver;
A Tx module including a power amplifier for receiving the RF transmission signal from the transceiver and amplifying the RF transmission signal;
A DAC (digital to analog converter) that converts a digital signal into an analog signal; and
Based on the above network environment information, it includes a sampling rate control block that determines the sampling rate of the DAC,
The above sampling rate control block,
An electronic device that determines the sampling rate by multiplying a clock signal generated by a clock generator by a coefficient selected based on the network environment information.

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