Reconfigurable power amplifier
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorsMarco Cassia, Jose Cabanillas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power amplifier circuit, including: an input node configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal; an output node configured to output an amplified RF signal; a main path switchably coupled between the input node and the output node, and including a first plurality of amplification stages to generate a first amplified RF signal; a bypass path switchably coupled between the input node and the output node, and including at least one second amplification stage to generate a second amplified RF signal; and a coupling switch configured to reuse at least a portion of the bypass path to drive the main path to generate a third amplified RF signal.
Claims27
A power amplifier circuit, comprising:
- an input node configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal;
- an output node configured to output an amplified RF signal;
- a main path switchably coupled between the input node and the output node, and including a first plurality of amplification stages to generate a first amplified RF signal;
- a bypass path switchably coupled between the input node and the output node, and including at least one second amplification stage to generate a second amplified RF signal;
- and
- a coupling switch configured to reuse at least a portion of the bypass path to drive at least a portion of the main path to generate a third amplified RF signal, the at least a portion of the main path including at least one amplification stage of the first plurality of amplification stages.
A power amplification method, comprising:
- receiving an RF signal at an input node;
- amplifying the RF signal by selecting at least one path from both (1) at least a portion of a main path of a first plurality of amplification stages and (2) at least a portion of a bypass path of at least one second amplification stage, the at least a portion of the main path comprising a first amplifier and the at least a portion of the bypass path comprising a second amplifier;
- routing the RF signal from the input node through the second amplifier, a coupling switch, and the first amplifier, and out to an output node;
- and
- outputting an amplified RF signal amplified by the selected at least one path from the output node.
A power amplifier system comprising:
- a plurality of power amplifier (PA) circuits, each PA circuit including
- an input node configured to receive an RF signal;
- an output node configured to output an amplified RF signal;
- and
- a main path coupled between the input node and the output node, and including a first plurality of amplification stages to generate a first amplified RF signal;
- a shared bypass path configured to be shared among main paths of the plurality of PA circuits, the shared bypass path including at least one second amplification stage to generate a second amplified RF signal;
- and
- a coupling switch configured to reuse the shared bypass path to drive one of the main paths of the plurality of PA circuits to generate a third amplified RF signal, the coupling switch configured to couple an output of the shared bypass path to an input of the first plurality of amplification stages of the one main path.
An apparatus comprising:
- means for receiving an RF signal at an input node;
- means for amplifying the RF signal using means for selecting at least one path from both (1) at least a portion of a main path of a first plurality of amplification stages and (2) at least a portion of a bypass path of at least one second amplification stage, the at least a portion of the main path comprising a first means for amplifying and the at least a portion of the bypass path comprising a second means for amplifying;
- means for routing the RF signal from the input node through the second means for amplifying, a coupling switch, and the first means for amplifying, and out to an output node;
- and
- means for outputting an amplified RF signal amplified by the selected at least one path from the output node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.