# US 11,909,385 B2 · Fast-switching power management circuit and related apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,909,385 B2 - Document ID: US11909385B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/073,764 - Filed: 2020-10-19 - Published: 2022-04-21 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2020-10-19 - Assignees: Qorvo US, Inc. - Applicants: Qorvo US, Inc. - Inventors: Nadim Khlat - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11909385B2 ## CPC - H03F 1/0222: {by using a signal derived from the input signal} - H03K 17/302: {in field-effect transistor switches} - G06F 1/3203: Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode - G06F 1/3296: by lowering the supply or operating voltage - H02J 1/082: DC supplies with two or more different DC voltage levels - H02J 50/10: using inductive coupling - H03F: AMPLIFIERS - H03K: PULSE TECHNIQUE (measuring pulse characteristics G01R; modulating sinusoidal oscillations with pulses H03C; transmission of digital information H04L; discriminator circuits detecting phase difference between two signals by counting or integrating cycles of oscillation H03D3/04; automatic control, starting, synchronisation or stabilisation of generators of electronic oscillations or pulses where the type of generator is irrelevant or unspecified H03L; coding, decoding or code conversion, in general H03M) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY ## Abstract A fast-switching power management circuit is provided. The fast-switching power management circuit is configured to generate an output voltage(s) based on an output voltage target that may change on a per-frame or per-symbol basis. In embodiments disclosed herein, the fast-switching power management circuit can be configured to adapt (increase or decrease) the output voltage(s) within a very short switching interval (e.g., less than one microsecond). As a result, when the fast-switching power management circuit is employed in a wireless communication apparatus to supply the output voltage(s) to a power amplifier circuit(s), the fast-switching power management circuit can quickly adapt the output voltage(s) to help improve operating efficiency and linearity of the power amplifier circuit(s). ## Claims ### Claim 1 A fast-switching power management circuit comprising: a multi-level voltage circuit configured to simultaneously generate a plurality of output voltages at different voltage levels based on a supply voltage; a supply voltage circuit configured to generate the supply voltage based on a battery voltage, wherein the supply voltage differs from the battery voltage by a non-zero headroom; a switch circuit and a second switch circuit each coupled to the multi-level voltage circuit to receive the plurality of output voltages, wherein: the switch circuit is further coupled to a first power amplifier circuit configured to amplify a Wi-Fi signal transmitted in a 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band based on one of the plurality of output voltages outputted by the switch circuit; and the second switch circuit is further coupled to a second power amplifier circuit configured to amplify a Wi-Fi signal transmitted in a 5 GHz ISM band based on one of the plurality of output voltages outputted by the second switch circuit; and a control circuit configured to: determine an output voltage target and a second output voltage target; control the switch circuit to output a lowest one of the plurality of output voltages that is greater than or equal to the output voltage target; control the second switch circuit to output a lowest one of the plurality of output voltages that is greater than or equal to the second output voltage target; and control the supply voltage circuit to adjust the supply voltage to minimize the headroom in response to a change of the battery voltage. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The fast-switching power management circuit of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to receive the output voltage target and the second output voltage target from a transceiver circuit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The fast-switching power management circuit of claim 1 wherein the supply voltage circuit comprises a low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulator circuit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The fast-switching power management circuit of claim 1 wherein the supply voltage circuit comprises an inductor-based direct-current (DC) to DC (DC-DC) voltage converter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The fast-switching power management circuit of claim 1 wherein: the multi-level voltage circuit is further configured to generate each of the plurality of output voltages from the supply voltage based on a respective one of a plurality of scaling factors; and each of the plurality of scaling factors is a function of a voltage ratio. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The fast-switching power management circuit of claim 5 wherein the control circuit is further configured to: dynamically determine the voltage ratio based on a higher one of the output voltage target and the second output voltage target; and dynamically adjust the plurality of scaling factors based on the determined voltage ratio. ### Claim 7 A wireless communication apparatus comprising: a fast-switching power management circuit comprising: a multi-level voltage circuit configured to simultaneously generate a plurality of output voltages at different voltage levels based on a supply voltage; a supply voltage circuit configured to generate the supply voltage based on a battery voltage, wherein the supply voltage differs from the battery voltage by a non-zero headroom; a switch circuit and a second switch circuit each coupled to the multi-level voltage circuit to receive the plurality of output voltages; and a control circuit configured to: determine an output voltage target and a second output voltage target; control the switch circuit to output a lowest one of the plurality of output voltages that is greater than or equal to the output voltage target; control the second switch circuit to output a lowest one of the plurality of output voltages that is greater than or equal to the second output voltage target; and control the supply voltage circuit to adjust the supply voltage to minimize the headroom in response to a change of the battery voltage; a first power amplifier circuit coupled to the switch circuit and configured to amplify a first radio frequency (RF) signal based on the one of the plurality of output voltages outputted by the switch circuit, wherein the first RF signal is a Wi-Fi signal transmitted in a 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band; and a second power amplifier circuit coupled to the second switch circuit and configured to amplify a second RF signal based on the one of the plurality of output voltages outputted by the second switch circuit, wherein the second RF signal is a Wi-Fi signal transmitted in a 5 GHz ISM band. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine the output voltage target and the second output voltage target based on a target voltage signal received from a transceiver circuit. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 7 wherein the supply voltage circuit comprises a low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulator circuit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 7 wherein the supply voltage circuit comprises an inductor-based direct-current (DC) to DC (DC-DC) voltage converter. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 7 wherein: the multi-level voltage circuit is further configured to generate each of the plurality of output voltages from the supply voltage based on a respective one of a plurality of scaling factors; and each of the plurality of scaling factors is a function of a voltage ratio. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 11 wherein the control circuit is further configured to: dynamically determine the voltage ratio based on a higher one of the output voltage target and the second output voltage target; and dynamically adjust the plurality of scaling factors based on the determined voltage ratio. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8, further comprising the transceiver circuit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8, wherein the transceiver circuit is further configured to generate the first RF signal and the second RF signal. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control circuit is further configured to receive the target voltage signal from the transceiver circuit via an RF frontend (RFFE) bus. ### Claim 16 (depends on 7) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a second fast-switching power management circuit. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The wireless communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein the fast-switching power management circuit is collocated with an antenna mounted on an upper edge of the wireless communication apparatus and the second fast-switching power management circuit is collocated with a second antenna mounted on a lower edge of the wireless communication apparatus.