ADVANCED RECEIVER ARCHITECTURES IN RADIOFREQUENCY APPLICATIONS

Abstract

The general principles of several types of receivers fall under the two main headings of TRF (tuned radio frequency)receivers, where the received signal is processed at the incoming frequency right up to the detector stage, and the superhet(supersonic heterodyne) receiver, where the incoming signal is translated (sometimes after some amplification at theincoming frequency) to an intermediate frequency for further processing. There are however, a number of variants of each ofthese two main types. Regeneration (‘reaction’ or ‘tickling’) may be applied in a TRF receiver, to increase both its sensitivityand selectivity. This may be carried to the stage where the RF amplifier actually oscillates – either continuously, so that thereceiver operates as a synchrodyne or homodyne, or intermittently, so that the receiver operates as a super-regenerativereceiver, both of which have been described previously. The synchrodyne or homodyne may be considered alternatively as asuperhet, where the IF (intermediate frequency) is 0 Hz. In this paper we present the new type of receiver architectureswhich work in radiofrequencies.

Keywords: supersonic heterodyne, tuned radio frequency.