Power amplifier saturation detection and compensation

A method for detecting a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an output, comprising the steps of:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to produce an error signal;
• integrating the error signal to produce a cumulative error signal;
• and
• detecting the saturation condition responsive to the cumulative error signal.

A method for detecting a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an output, comprising the steps of:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to produce an error signal;
• integrating the error signal to produce a cumulative error signal;
• and
• detecting the saturation condition if a cumulative error value derived from the cumulative error signal exceeds a predetermined constant determined during device calibration.

A method for detecting a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an output, comprising the steps of:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to produce an error signal;
• integrating the error signal to produce a cumulative error signal;
• detecting the saturation condition responsive to the cumulative error signal;
• and placing a flag in a first state if a saturation condition is detected, and otherwise placing the flag in a second state.

A method of compensating for a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an input and an output, comprising detecting a saturation condition responsive to cumulative error between a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier, and performing the following steps upon, during or after detecting the saturation condition:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to form an error signal;
• deriving a compensation value from the error signal;
• adjusting the control signal responsive to the compensation value;
• and
• deriving the input to the power amplifier from the adjusted signal.

A method of compensating for a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an input and an output, comprising performing the following steps upon, during or after detecting a saturation condition:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to form an error signal;
• deriving a compensation value responsive to an instantaneous error value derived from the error signal;
• adjusting the control signal responsive to the compensation value;
• and
• deriving the input to the power amplifier from the adjusted signal.

A method of compensating for a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an input and an output, comprising performing steps upon;

• during or after detecting a saturation condition:
• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to form an error signal;
• integrating the error signal to provide a cumulative error signal;
• deriving an average error value from the cumulative error signal, and deriving the compensation value by multiplying the average error value by a predetermined constant;
• adjusting the control signal responsive to the compensation value;
• and
• deriving the input to the power amplifier from the adjusted signal.

A method of compensating for a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an input and an output, comprising performing the following steps upon, during or after detecting a saturation condition:

• differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to form an error signal;
• deriving a compensation value responsive to the error signal;
• adjusting the control signal responsive to the compensation value;
• deriving the input to the power amplifier from the adjusted signal;
• latching the compensation value;
• and
• retrieving the latched compensation value and adjusting the control signal responsive to the latched compensation value after the saturation condition has ceased.

A system for detecting and compensating for a saturation condition in a power amplifier comprising:

• a power amplifier having an input and an output;
• saturation compensation means for adjusting a control signal when a saturation condition is detected;
• comparator means for comparing a signal representative of or derived from the control signal with a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier and producing an error signal representing the difference between the two;
• integrator means for integrating the error signal to provide a cumulative error signal;
• and
• saturation detection means for detecting, responsive to the cumulative error signal, a saturation condition of the power amplifier where a signal derived from the adjusted control signal is input to the power amplifier.

A method for detecting a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an output, comprising the steps of:

• a step for differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to produce an error signal;
• a step for integrating the error signal to produce a cumulative error signal;
• and
• a step for detecting the saturation condition responsive to the cumulative error signal.

A method of compensating for a saturation condition of a power amplifier having an input and an output, comprising a step for detecting saturation condition responsive to cumulative error between a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier, and performing the following steps upon, during or after detecting the saturation condition:

• a step for differencing a signal representative of or derived from a control signal and a signal representative of or derived from the output of the power amplifier to form an error signal;
• a step for deriving a compensation value from the error signal;
• a step for adjusting the control signal responsive to the compensation value;
• and
• a step for deriving the input to the power amplifier from the adjusted signal.