Digital tunable inter-stage matching circuit
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorsYu Zhao, Babak Nejati, Nathan M Pletcher, Aristotele Hadjichristos
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tunable inter-stage matching circuit that can improve performance is described. In an exemplary design, an apparatus comprises a driver amplifier and a power amplifier. The apparatus may further include an inter-stage matching circuit tunable in discrete steps for matching impedances between the driver amplifier and the power amplifier. The tunable inter-stage matching circuit may include a bank of capacitors, each capacitor of the bank coupled in series with a switch for coupling the capacitor to a ground voltage.
Claims19
An apparatus comprising:
- a driver amplifier;
- a power amplifier;
- an inter-stage matching circuit tunable in discrete steps for matching impedances between the driver amplifier and the power amplifier, the tunable inter-stage matching circuit including a bank of capacitors, a fixed capacitor coupled in series between the driver amplifier and the bank of capacitors, and a first inductor coupled to and in series between the power amplifier and the bank of capacitors, each capacitor of the bank coupled in series with a switch for coupling the capacitor to a ground voltage;
- and
- a second inductor coupled between the driver amplifier and the inter-stage matching circuit and the first inductor coupled between the inter-stage matching circuit and the power amplifier.
A method, comprising:
- receiving a signal from a first circuit and conveying another signal to a second circuit;
- and
- matching an impedance between the first circuit and the second circuit with an inter-stage matching circuit tunable in discrete steps and comprising a plurality of switchable capacitors in a parallel configuration, a fixed capacitor coupled in series between the first circuit and the bank of capacitors, and a first inductor coupled to and in series between the second circuit and the plurality of switchable capacitors, each switchable capacitor configured to be coupled to a ground voltage via a switchable element, and a second inductor coupled between the first circuit and the inter-stage matching circuit and the first inductor coupled between the inter-stage matching circuit and the second circuit.
A device comprising:
- means for receiving a signal from a first circuit and conveying another signal to a second circuit;
- and
- means for matching an impedance between the first circuit and the second circuit with an inter-stage matching circuit tunable in discrete steps and comprising a plurality of switchable capacitors in a parallel configuration, a fixed capacitor coupled in series between the first circuit and the bank of capacitors, and a first inductor coupled to and in series between the second circuit and the plurality of switchable capacitors, each switchable capacitor configured to be coupled to a ground voltage via a switchable element, and a second inductor coupled between the first circuit and the inter-stage matching circuit and the first inductor coupled between the inter-stage matching circuit and the second circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.