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US 6,509,799 B1Granted
Electrically tuned integrated amplifier for wireless communications
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorLuiz M. Franca-Neto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrically tunable radio frequency (RF) amplifier includes a resonant circuit having a voltage variable capacitance as one of its elements. In one approach, a drain diffusion capacitance of one of the transistors within the amplifier is used as the voltage variable capacitance. A voltage adjustment unit is provided to adjust a bias voltage on the voltage variable capacitance to change the capacitance value thereof and thus modify the operating frequency range of the amplifier. In one embodiment, the voltage adjustment unit also provides a power supply noise blocking function.
Claims27
A radio frequency (RF) amplifier comprising:
- a resonant circuit having a plurality of circuit elements, said plurality of circuit elements including a voltage variable capacitance, said resonant circuit having a resonant frequency that depends upon a present value of said voltage variable capacitance;
- and
- a voltage adjustment unit in communication with said voltage variable capacitance to vary a bias voltage on said voltage variable capacitance to modify a capacitance value thereof;
- wherein said voltage variable capacitance is a diffusion capacitance associated with a first transistor within the RF amplifier, and wherein said voltage adjustment unit includes a third transistor having an input terminal to receive a control signal, said third transistor to vary a voltage drop between a supply node and said first transistor in response to variations in said control signal.
1 more element
A radio frequency (RF) amplifier comprising:
- an output node to carry an output signal;
- a resonant circuit connected to said output node;
- at least one transistor coupled between said output node and a ground node, said at least one transistor including a first transistor connected to said output node, said first transistor having a voltage variable diffusion capacitance;
- and
- a voltage adjustment unit in communication with said output node to adjust a bias voltage thereon to change a capacitance value of said voltage variable diffusion capacitance of said first transistor to adjust a resonant frequency of said RF amplifier;
- wherein said voltage adjustment unit includes a transistor coupled between a supply node and said output node, said transistor including an input terminal to receive a control signal.
3 more elements
A radio frequency (RF) amplifier comprising:
- a resonant circuit having a plurality of circuit elements, said plurality of circuit elements including a voltage variable capacitance, said resonant circuit having a resonant frequency that depends upon a present value of said voltage variable capacitance;
- and
- a voltage adjustment unit in communication with said voltage variable capacitance to vary a bias voltage on said voltage variable capacitance to modify a capacitance value thereof;
- wherein said voltage adjustment unit includes an input port to receive a control signal, said RF amplifier further including control circuitry coupled to said input port of said voltage adjustment unit to generate said control signal, said control circuitry including circuitry for automatically tuning an operational frequency range of said RE amplifier in the field to compensate for component aging.
1 more element
A radio frequency (RF) amplifier comprising:
- a resonant circuit having a plurality of circuit elements, said plurality of circuit elements including a voltage variable capacitance, said resonant circuit having a resonant frequency that depends upon a present value of said voltage variable capacitance;
- and
- a voltage adjustment unit in communication with said voltage variable capacitance to vary a bias voltage on said voltage variable capacitance to modify a capacitance value thereof;
- wherein said resonant circuit and said voltage adjustment unit are integrated on a common semiconductor chip, said RF amplifier further comprising an integrated circuit package housing said common semiconductor chip, said integrated circuit package having a first pin connected to a supply node on said chip to connect said RF amplifier to an external power supply, a second pin connected to a ground node on said chip to connect said RF amplifier to an external ground, and a third pin connected to an input terminal of said voltage adjustment unit to connect said RF amplifier to an external control signal source.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.