A mirror translation loop upconverter that is capable of upconverting both
constant envelope and non-constant envelope modulation formats is
disclosed. Embodiments of the invention provide the ability to upconvert
a transmit signal that includes only a phase-modulated component, only an
amplitude-modulated component, or both a phase-modulated component and an
amplitude-modulated component. If the transmit signal includes both a
phase-modulated signal component and an amplitude-modulated signal
component, the phase-modulated signal component and the
amplitude-modulated signal component are supplied to a pair of phase
shifters. The phase shifters alter the phase of the phase-modulated
signal by an amount related to the amplitude of the amplitude-modulated
signal. The phase shifters oppositely alter the phase of the
phase-modulated signal, and therefore supply complementary phase versions
of the phase-modulated signal. The phase-altered phase-modulated signals
from the phase shifters are then supplied to a pair of translation loops.
The translation loops are arranged in mirror architecture so that each
translation loop receives the phase-altered phase-modulated signals. Each
translation loop upconverts the signals and supplies a vector. The
vectors supplied by the two translation loops are constant in magnitude,
and have complementary phase. The two vectors are added together to
provide a signal to a power amplifier. The signal represents both the
phase and amplitude information to be transmitted.