This technology is a direct radiofrequency-to-information converter (DRFIC) for data reception and rapid wideband signal detection in a single reconfigurable structure.
As more electronic devices rely on access to the wireless network, spectrum congestion is expected to intensify and will need to be managed by more flexible spectrum use and access. Current solutions are not suited for mass-market applications, as they are often implemented as signal reception and signal detection (aka sensing) in separate and bulky hardware blocks. There is a need for wireless terminals (cell phones and AR/VR/XR headsets), infrastructure equipment (base stations and access points), and consumer electronics (game consoles and other set top boxes) with a compact unified system architecture capable of signal reception and rapid wideband signal detection. Therefore, a compact and cost-effective, energy-efficient, and reconfigurable architecture could unify signal reception and detection.
The DRFIC is a flexible architecture that combines data reception, narrowband detection, and rapid wide-bandwidth signal detection in one system. In addition to achieving the three critical functions of a cognitive radio receiver (interferer-robust and high-sensitivity information reception, rapid wideband spectrum sensing and high-sensitivity narrowband spectrum sensing), the technology has flexible local oscillator modulation, allowing opportunistic signal information transmission and reception from a wider RF input spectrum to become accessible. The DRFIC is compact and does not consume high amounts of electricity. This technology can be used to alleviate the increasing issue of RF spectrum congestion.
IR CU17085, CU18364
Licensing Contact: Greg Maskel