Resonant power converter for radio frequency transmission and method
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsSteven R. Norsworthy, Ross W. Norsworthy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A resonant power converter for ultra-efficient radio frequency transmission and associated methods. In one exemplary embodiment, the invention is digitally actuated and uses a combination of a noise-shaped encoder, a charging switch, and a high-Q resonator coupled to an output load, typically an antenna or transmission line. Energy is built up in the electric and magnetic fields of the resonator, which, in turn, delivers power to the load with very little wasted energy in the process. No active power amplifier is required. The apparatus can be used in literally any RF signal application (wireless or otherwise), including for example cellular handsets, local- or wide-area network transmitters, or even radio base-stations.
Claims30
A resonant power converter comprising:
- a pulse input source adapted to generate a plurality of pulses;
- a resonator operatively coupled to said pulse input source and having a resonant frequency;
- and
- a load impedance operatively coupled to an output of said resonator;
- wherein the pulse input source comprises:
- a noise-shaping encoder capable of receiving and encoding data;
- and
- a charging switch capable of receiving encoded data from the noise-shaping encoder, sampling at least one of a voltage and a current of a power supply, and delivering the power supply samples to the resonator.
A method of processing a plurality of data in a radio frequency (RF) communications system, comprising:
- filtering said data;
- and
- encoding said data, wherein the encoding comprises:
- receiving and encoding the data using noise-shaping encoding;
- and
- receiving encoded data, sampling at least one of a voltage and a current of a power supply, and delivering the power supply samples to a resonator.
A resonant power converter, comprising:
- a pulse input source capable of generating a plurality of pulses;
- and
- a resonator coupled to the pulse input source and capable of being coupled to a load impedance;
- wherein the pulse input source comprises:
- a first order noise-shaping encoder capable of receiving and encoding data and further capable of suppressing quantization noise at least at one frequency;
- and
- a charging switch capable of receiving encoded data from the noise-shaping encoder, sampling at least one of a voltage and a current of a power supply, and delivering the power supply samples to the resonator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.