RF amplifier architecture and related techniques
AssigneeEta Devices, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Briffa, Joel L. Dawson, John E. DeRoo, Krenar Komoni, David J. Perreault, Oguzhan Uyar
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Abstract
A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier system or transmitter includes one or more power amplifiers and a controller that is configured to adjust amplitudes and phases of RF input signals of the one or more power amplifiers and supply voltages applied to the one or more power amplifiers. In embodiments where multiple power amplifiers are used, a combiner may be provided to combine outputs of the power amplifiers. In at least one implementation, amplitude adjustment of the RF input signals of the one or more power amplifiers may be used to provide transmit power control and/or power backoff.
Claims31
A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier system, comprising:
- an RF power amplifier;
- a digital-to-RF modulator to generate an RF input signal for the RF power amplifier based on input information indicative of amplitude values and phase values;
- a voltage control unit to provide a variable supply voltage to the RF power amplifier in response to a control signal, the variable supply voltage being selected from a plurality of discrete voltage levels;
- and
- a controller to provide the input information to the digital-to-RF modulator and the control signal to the voltage control unit based, at least in part, on data to be transmitted from the RF transmitter, the controller being configured to make decisions about voltage level changes for the RF power amplifier based, at least in part, on a window of data samples representing data to be transmitted by the RF transmitter.
A machine implemented method for operating an RF transmitter having a digital-to-radio frequency (RF) modulator driving a power amplifier, the method comprising:
- obtaining transmit data to be transmitted from the RF transmitter,
- providing input information for the digital-to-RF modulator based, at least in part, on the transmit data, the input information to control an amplitude and a phase of an RF output signal of the digital-to-RF modulator;
- and
- selecting a supply voltage for the power amplifier based, at least in part, on the transmit data, wherein selecting a supply voltage includes making decisions about voltage level changes for the RF power amplifier based, at least in part, on a window of data samples representing data to be transmitted by the RF transmitter.
An apparatus comprising a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, perform a method for operating an RF transmitter having a digital-to-radio frequency (RF) modulator driving a power amplifier, the method comprising:
- obtaining transmit data to be transmitted from the RF transmitter;
- providing input information for the digital-to-RF modulator based, at least in part, on the transmit data, the input information to control an amplitude and a phase of an RF output signal of the digital-to-RF modulator;
- and
- selecting a supply voltage for the power amplifier based, at least in part, on the transmit data, the supply voltage being selected from a plurality of discrete voltage levels, wherein selecting a supply voltage includes making a decision about supply voltage level for the RF power amplifier based, at least in part, on a window of data samples representing data to be transmitted by the RF transmitter.
A machine implemented method for selecting a voltage level for a power amplifier within a radio frequency (RF) transmitter based on input data to be transmitted, the voltage level being selected from a plurality of discrete voltage levels, the method comprising:
- identifying a window of samples to be transmitted from the transmitter;
- and
- if all samples in the window of samples can use a lower voltage level than a previous sample to achieve a desired instantaneous output power, selecting a new voltage level that is lower than that used for the previous sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.