Semiconductor device and method thereof
AssigneeFreescale Semiconductor, Inc.
InventorDarrell Hill
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A signal along a voltage reference bus of an RF device is rectified to provide an indication of the amplitudes of the RF voltage swings that are the result of rapidly varying RF currents. The indication is proportional to the peak RF currents through the RF device and is proportional to the output power under matched load conditions.
Claims28
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a voltage reference node;
- a voltage reference bus coupled to the voltage reference node;
- a first diode having a first electrode coupled to a first location of the voltage reference bus and a second electrode coupled to a second location of the voltage reference bus, wherein the first location is closer to the voltage reference node than the second location.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a voltage reference node;
- a voltage reference bus coupled to the voltage reference node;
- a first diode having a first electrode of a first polarity type coupled to a first location of the voltage reference bus, and a second electrode of a second polarity type;
- a second diode having a first electrode of the first polarity type, and a second electrode of the second polarity type coupled to a second location of the voltage reference bus;
- and
- a capacitive element having a first capacitor electrode coupled to the first diode's second electrode, and a second capacitor electrode coupled to the second diode's first electrode.
A packaged power amplifier for providing greater than one-half watt of power at an operating frequency of greater than 500 MHz, said packaged power amplifier comprising:
- a current output;
- a control node to receive an input signal to be amplified as an output signal at the current output;
- and
- a first power detect output to provide a signal indicative of a power output level of the output signal.
A method comprising the steps of:
- rectifying a first signal between a first location of a conductive structure and a second location of the conductive structure, wherein the conductive structure couples a plurality of transistor nodes in parallel as part of a power transistor;
- and
- determining a peak voltage between the first location and the second location, based on the rectifying, to monitor an RF power level.
A method comprising the steps of:
- determining a first location of a voltage reference bus to be coupled to a first electrode of a diode;
- determining a second location of the voltage reference bus to be coupled to a second electrode of the diode;
- and
- storing a manufacturing description to facilitate manufacturing a device having the diode coupled between the first and second locations.
A method comprising:
- providing an oscillating signal to a voltage reference structure at a frequency greater than approximately 500 MHz;
- determining a voltage between two locations of a ground structure;
- and
- detecting a radio frequency power level based upon the voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.