What does a downconverter do?

What does a downconverter do?

In digital signal processing, a digital down-converter (DDC) converts a digitized, band-limited signal to a lower frequency signal at a lower sampling rate in order to simplify the subsequent radio stages. The input and output signals can be real or complex samples. …

What is down conversion meaning?

downconversion (countable and uncountable, plural downconversions) (physics) The interaction of a photon with a medium in which it is converted into two photons of lower frequencies such that energy is conserved. (electronics) The conversion of a high radio frequency to a lower frequency.

How do RF mixers work?

A mixer takes an RF input signal at a frequency fRF, mixes it with a LO signal at a frequency fLO, and produces an IF output signal that consists of the sum and difference frequencies, fRF ± fLO.

What is an RF downconverter?

an RF downconverter is a device which converts high radio frequency signal to low radio frequency signal is known as RF downconverter. Like RF upconverter, an RF downconverter will also have either one or two stages of mixing. Often RF downconverter is used in combination with RF LNA (Low Noise Amplifier).

What is up and down converter?

An up-down converter and mixer is a device that is intended to convert an analog signal between a lower frequency and a higher frequency. When converting to a higher frequency, the device is said to up-convert, and when it converts a high frequency to a lower one it is said to down-convert.

What is the difference between IF and RF?

In order to clarify the difference between RF and IF amplifiers, we need to know that in most radio receiver topologies the incoming high-frequency signal is not shifted down to the baseband in a single step. RF amplifiers used at those lower frequencies are referred to as intermediate frequency (IF) amplifiers.

Can you convert RF to IF?

RF to IF conversion is achieved using a RF device called Down-converter. Heterodyne and homodyne receiver architectures are used to convert modulated RF signal to IF signal. Superheterodyne uses 10.7MHz as first IF and 470KHz as second IF.

What is the difference between up converter and down converter?

When converting to a higher frequency, the device is said to up-convert, and when it converts a high frequency to a lower one it is said to down-convert. They are typically used in receiver front-ends or in the transmitter signal path to generate the RF signal for subsequent amplification.

How does a DDC improve dual down conversion?

We saw that a DDC can improve the performance of the basic dual-down-conversion receiver: It can eliminate imbalance-related distortion created by an analog IF mixer and it avoids phase distortion from analog filters. After the DDC]

What is the purpose of a digital down converter?

Digital down converter. In digital signal processing, a digital down-converter (DDC) converts a digitized, band limited signal to a lower frequency signal at a lower sampling rate in order to simplify the subsequent radio stages.

What are the limitations of a dual down conversion receiver?

We can consider three main limitations of the dual-down-conversion receiver shown in Figure 1: The two baseband paths must be highly matched. The IF mixer, LPF, and ADC in the blue path must be matched with the corresponding components in the green path.

How is information preserved in a down converter?

The process preserves all the information in the original signal less that which is lost to rounding errors in the mathematical processes. The input and output signals can be real or complex samples. Often the DDC converts from the raw radio frequency or intermediate frequency down to a complex baseband signal.