Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080261650 | Radio integrated circuit with integrated power amplifier - A radio system includes a radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (IC), a baseband digital signal processing (DSP) IC, and a serial digital interface coupling data there-between. In one embodiment of the invention, the RF IC has an input receiver to receive a serial digital transmission bit stream from a digital signal processing integrated circuit; a data recoverer coupled to the input receiver to recover digital data bits from the serial digital transmission bit stream; a low pass filter coupled to the data recoverer convert the digital data bits into an analog transmission signal; a mixer coupled to the low pass filter to up-convert the analog transmission signal from a baseband frequency to a second selectable carrier frequency as a transmit radio frequency signal; and an amplifier coupled to the mixer and an antenna, the amplifier to amplify the transmit radio frequency signal for broadcast over the antenna. | 10-23-2008 |
20080284510 | ERROR DRIVEN RF POWER AMPLIFIER CONTROL WITH INCREASED EFFICIENCY - A power amplifier controller for adjusting a supply voltage to a power amplifier. The power amplifier controller adjusts the supply voltage so that distortion in an RF output signal corresponds to a predetermined limit. An amplitude error signal is generated by the power amplifier controller which represents a difference between an RF output signal and an attenuated RF output signal. The AC components of the amplitude error signal are processed to generate a deviation signal that represents the distortion in the RF output signal. The supply voltage to the power amplifier is increased when the deviation signal exceeds a distortion level control signal, and decreased when the deviation signal drops below the distortion level control signal. | 11-20-2008 |
20090021303 | Distortion-Driven Power Amplifier Power Supply Controller - A power amplifier controller measures the distortion of a power amplifier output. Based upon the distortion measured, the supply voltage to the PA is adjusted in a control loop. In one embodiment, distortion is measured by computing the ratio of the measured power in the output frequencies outside the desired output channel to the measured power in the output frequencies within the desired channel. If the distortion measured from the PA is higher than a target distortion level, the power supply voltage is raised. If the distortion measured from the PA is lower than the target distortion level, the power supply voltage is reduced. Thus, the supply voltage to the PA is maintained at the lowest possible voltage level, improving the efficiency of the PA. | 01-22-2009 |
20090044031 | POWER COMBINING POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM - A power supply system comprises a low-speed power supply and a high-speed power supply configured to operate in first and second frequency ranges, respectively, and generate first and second outputs, respectively. The lower end of the second frequency range is at least higher than a lower end of the first frequency range. A frequency blocking power combiner circuit combines the power from the first output with the power from the second output to generate a combined, third output for driving a load, while providing frequency-selective isolation between the first and second outputs. A feedback circuit is coupled to receive the combined, third output through a global feedback loop. The feedback circuit generates first and second power supply control signals for controlling the low-speed power supply and the high-speed power supply, respectively, based on a difference between the third output and the predetermined control signal. | 02-12-2009 |
20090068966 | Error Driven RF Power Amplifier Control with Increased Efficiency - A power amplifier controller for adjusting a supply voltage to a power amplifier. The power amplifier controller adjusts the supply voltage so that distortion in an RF output signal corresponds to a predetermined limit. An amplitude error signal is generated by the power amplifier controller which represents a difference between an RF output signal and an attenuated RF output signal. The AC components of the amplitude error signal are processed to generate a deviation signal that represents the distortion in the RF output signal. The supply voltage to the power amplifier is increased when the deviation signal exceeds a distortion level control signal, and decreased when the deviation signal drops below the distortion level control signal. | 03-12-2009 |
20090081968 | Power Amplifier Controller With Polar Transmitter - A power amplifier controller controls a power amplifier and is coupled to a polar modulator. The polar modulator generates an amplitude component and a phase-modulated component of the desired RF modulated signal, and outputs to the power amplifier controller. The power amplifier controller regenerates a combined phase and amplitude modulated RF signal to generate an input signal to a power amplifier by adjusting the gain of a VGA based on the amplitude component of the desired RF modulated signal. Concurrently, the power amplifier controller both controls an adjusted supply voltage to the PA and adjusts the gain of the VGA based upon an amplitude correction signal or amplitude error signal. | 03-26-2009 |
20090117865 | RF POWER AMPLIFIER CONTROLLED BY ESTIMATED DISTORTION LEVEL OF OUTPUT SIGNAL OF POWER AMPLIFIER - A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier system is provided, in which a distortion of the RF output signal from the power amplifier is estimated by comparing the RF output signal with reference modulation information. The supply voltage to the power amplifier is adjusted so that the estimated distortion of the RF output signal corresponds to a predetermined distortion level. The predetermined distortion level is set to represent an acceptable distortion level at the RF output signal. | 05-07-2009 |
20100060357 | RF POWER AMPLIFIER SYSTEM WITH IMPEDANCE MODULATION - A power amplifier controller circuit controls an adjustable impedance matching network at the output of a power amplifier to vary its load line to improve the efficiency of the RF PA. The PA controller circuit comprises an amplitude control loop that determines an amplitude correction signal. The amplitude loop is configured to control or correct for distortion from the adjustable matching network based upon the amplitude correction signal. | 03-11-2010 |
20100194440 | Phase Error De-Glitching Circuit and Method of Operating - A system including a phase comparator to compare a first signal and a second signal to generate a phase error signal, and a controller to generate an adjusted phase error signal from the phase error signal in response to an amplitude of at least one of the first signal and the second signal. | 08-05-2010 |
20100194476 | AMPLIFIER COMPRESSION ADJUSTMENT CIRCUIT - An RF power amplifier system adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon an amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the RF input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the RF output signal of the power amplifier. A variable gain amplifier (VGA) adjusts the amplitude of the RF input signal, thus providing a second means of adjusting the amplitude of the output of the power amplifier. The gain of the VGA or the supply voltage to the power amplifier is controlled based on the AC components of the amplitude correction signal, while the DC components of the amplitude correction signal are blocked from controlling the VGA or the supply voltage to the power amplifier. The DC level of the gain control of the VGA, the average supply voltage to the power amplifier, or the closed loop gain of the overall amplitude correction loop is controlled separately by a compression control signal. | 08-05-2010 |
20100201402 | Phase Error De-Glitching Circuit and Method of Operating - A system including a phase comparator to compare a first signal and a second signal to generate a phase error signal, and a controller to generate an adjusted phase error signal from the phase error signal in response to an amplitude of at least one of the first signal and the second signal. | 08-12-2010 |
20100301934 | RF POWER AMPLIFIER CONTROLLER CIRCUIT WITH COMPENSATION FOR OUTPUT IMPEDANCE MISMATCH - A power amplifier controller circuit controls a power amplifier based upon an amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the output signal. The power amplifier controller circuit comprises an amplitude control loop and a phase control loop. The amplitude control loop adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon the amplitude correction signal. The amplitude control loop may also compensate for impedance mismatch with the load by increasing the power delivered from the power amplifier to the load, or decrease the output power of the power amplifier upon detection of excessive power dissipation in the power amplifier. The phase control loop adjusts the phase of the input signal based upon a phase error signal indicating a phase difference between phases of the input signal and the output signal to reduce phase distortion generated by the power amplifier. | 12-02-2010 |
20100311365 | Power Amplifier Controller With Polar Transmitter - A power amplifier controller controls a power amplifier and is coupled to a polar modulator. The polar modulator generates an amplitude component and a phase-modulated component of the desired RF modulated signal, and outputs to the power amplifier controller. The power amplifier controller regenerates a combined phase and amplitude modulated RF signal to generate an input signal to a power amplifier by adjusting the gain of a VGA based on the amplitude component of the desired RF modulated signal. Concurrently, the power amplifier controller both controls an adjusted supply voltage to the PA and adjusts the gain of the VGA based upon an amplitude correction signal or amplitude error signal. | 12-09-2010 |
20100321109 | Amplifier Compression Adjustment Circuit - An RF power amplifier system adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon an amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the RF input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the RF output signal of the power amplifier. A variable gain amplifier (VGA) adjusts the amplitude of the RF input signal, thus providing a second means of adjusting the amplitude of the output of the power amplifier. The gain of the VGA or the supply voltage to the power amplifier is controlled based on the AC components of the amplitude correction signal, while the DC components of the amplitude correction signal are blocked from controlling the VGA or the supply voltage to the power amplifier. The DC level of the gain control of the VGA, the average supply voltage to the power amplifier, or the closed loop gain of the overall amplitude correction loop is controlled separately by a compression control signal. | 12-23-2010 |
20110043282 | RF POWER AMPLIFIER SYSTEM WITH IMPEDANCE MODULATION - A power amplifier controller circuit controls an adjustable impedance matching network at the output of a power amplifier to vary its load line to improve the efficiency of the RF PA. The PA controller circuit comprises an amplitude control loop that determines an amplitude correction signal. The amplitude loop is configured to control or correct for distortion from the adjustable matching network based upon the amplitude correction signal. | 02-24-2011 |
20110140777 | RF Power Amplifier Controller Circuit Including Calibrated Phase Control Loop - An RF power amplifier system comprises an amplitude control loop and a phase control loop. The amplitude control loop adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon the amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the output signal. The phase control loop adjusts the phase of the input signal based upon a phase error signal indicating a phase difference between phases of the input signal and the output signal. The phase control loop may comprise one or more variable phase delays introducing a relative phase delay to allow the phase differences between the input and output signals of the PA circuit to be within a range compatible with a phase comparator generating the phase error signal, and a low frequency blocking module that removes the larger extent, lower frequency components of the phase error signal. | 06-16-2011 |
20110148519 | POWER AMPLIFIER POWER CONTROLLER - A power amplifier power controller in the power amplifier system monitors various operating conditions of the power amplifier, and controls the output transmit power of the power amplifier by coordinated control of both the input drive level to the power amplifier and the gain of the power amplifier. The power amplifier power controller controls the input drive level to the power amplifier so that the input drive level does not change substantially while adjusting the gain of the power amplifier to maximize the transmit power. The power amplifier power controller may also adjust the input drive level by some portion of the overall change required to the power of the power amplifier, while adjusting the gain of the power amplifier by the remaining portion of such overall change. | 06-23-2011 |
20110189966 | Power Amplifier Controller Circuit - A power amplifier controller circuit controls a power amplifier based upon an amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the output signal. The power amplifier controller circuit comprises an amplitude control loop and a phase control loop. The amplitude control loop adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon the amplitude correction signal. The amplitude correction signal may also be split into two or more signals with different frequency ranges and provided respectively to different types of power supplies with different efficiencies to generate the adjusted supply voltage to the power amplifier. The phase control loop adjusts the phase of the input signal based upon a phase error signal indicating a phase difference between phases of the input signal and the output signal to reduce phase distortion generated by the power amplifier. | 08-04-2011 |
20110223963 | MAXIMUM TRANSMIT POWER CONTROLLER - A maximum transmit power controller determines the amount of power available from a host device for powering a radio transmitter of a mobile device, and sets a limit for maximum transmit power in the radio transmitter based upon the determined amount of available power from the host device. As a result, it can be ensured that the radio transmitter does not transmit RF signals at transmit power levels exceeding the amount of power available from the host device. The host device may be a smartphone including the radio. The host device may also be a computer powering the mobile device via a peripheral interface such as a USB interface. | 09-15-2011 |
20120019319 | Amplitude Error De-Glitching Circuit and Method of Operating - A power amplifier controller circuit controls a power amplifier based upon an amplitude correction signal indicating the amplitude difference between the amplitude of the input signal and an attenuated amplitude of the output signal. The power amplifier controller circuit comprises an amplitude control loop and a phase control loop. The amplitude control loop adjusts the supply voltage to the power amplifier based upon the amplitude correction signal. The RF power amplifier system may reduce the corrective action of the amplitude loop during periods of relatively rapid changes in amplitude, and thus distortion can be further reduced. | 01-26-2012 |
20140218106 | Power Amplifier Power Controller - A power amplifier power controller in the power amplifier system monitors various operating conditions of the power amplifier, and controls the output transmit power of the power amplifier by coordinated control of both the input drive level to the power amplifier and the gain of the power amplifier. The power amplifier power controller controls the input drive level to the power amplifier so that the input drive level does not change substantially while adjusting the gain of the power amplifier to maximize the transmit power. The power amplifier power controller may also adjust the input drive level by some portion of the overall change required to the power of the power amplifier, while adjusting the gain of the power amplifier by the remaining portion of such overall change. | 08-07-2014 |
20140266128 | Transient Suppression with Lossless Steady State Operation - A power supply efficiently suppresses transient voltages by storing the maximum charge expected in the transient and releasing it during the transient event at a rate in an equal but opposite amount to the transient, preventing the battery voltage from collapsing. The described power supply provides improved efficiency compared to conventional architectures for transient suppression, thus increasing the length of time between battery charges and creating a better user experience. | 09-18-2014 |
20140266423 | Envelope Tracking System with Internal Power Amplifier Characterization - An RF PA system that generates its own local characterization information. The RF PA system includes a PA to generate a RF output signal from a RF input signal, the PA powered by a supply voltage. A characterization block generates characterization information corresponding to a relationship between the supply voltage and performance (e.g., gain, power efficiency, distortion, receive band noise) of the RF PA system for a plurality of levels of one or more operating conditions (e.g., temperature, operating frequency, modulation format, antennae mismatch, etc.) of the RF PA system. An amplitude estimator block estimates an amplitude of the RF input signal. A supply control block generates a supply voltage control signal for controlling the supply voltage based on the characterization information and the amplitude of the RF input signal. | 09-18-2014 |
20140266426 | SELF SETTING POWER SUPPLY USING NEGATIVE OUTPUT IMPEDANCE - A self-setting power supply monitors a supply current drawn by a power amplifier and sets a supply voltage based on the supply current to achieve efficient power operation. In order to maintain operation of the power amplifier above minimum operating conditions, the self-setting power supply sets the supply voltage to the minimum operating voltage when the supply current drops below a threshold bias current. When the supply current is above the threshold bias current, the self-setting power supply adjusts the supply voltage approximately proportionally to the supply current to maintain approximately constant gain of the power amplifier. | 09-18-2014 |
20140270207 | Reducing Audio Distortion in an Audio System - An audio system comprises an audio driver configured to receive a target audio signal and a feedback signal and to generate an adjusted audio signal responsive to the target audio signal and the feedback signal. A loudspeaker is configured to convert the adjusted audio signal into acoustical sound. A test signal generator is configured to generate a test signal having a higher frequency than the target audio signal. The test signal causes a test current to flow through the loudspeaker. A current sensing circuit is configured to measure the test current flowing through the loudspeaker and to generate a current sense signal indicative of the test current. A feedback circuit is configured generates the feedback signal responsive to the current sense signal. | 09-18-2014 |
20150048883 | Stabilizing a Power Combining Power Supply System - A power supply system comprising a power stabilization stage configured to combine a first reference signal having a first frequency range with a second reference signal having a second frequency range that is different than the first frequency range to generate a combined reference for driving a reference load. A first power supply (e.g. SMPS) is configured to generate a first output based on the first reference signal. A second power supply (e.g. linear regulator) is configured to generate a second output based on the second reference signal. A power combiner circuit is configured to combine the first output with the second output to generate a combined output for driving an output load. | 02-19-2015 |