Method and apparatus for improving leakage performance of a multi-port amplifier

An amplifier system comprising:

• an input network configured to receive a plurality of signals and combine the plurality of signals to form a plurality of composite signals;
• a plurality of equalizers configured to apply an adjustment to each of the plurality of composite signals to form a plurality of adjusted composite signals;
• a plurality of amplifiers configured to amplify the plurality of adjusted composite signals to form a plurality of amplified composite signals;
• an output network configured to deconstruct the plurality of amplified composite signals into a plurality of amplified signals;
• and
• a controller configured to send a plurality of adjustments to the plurality of equalizers to improve leakage performance of a multi-port amplifier, wherein the controller comprises:
• an output control network configured to receive the plurality of amplified signals and form a plurality of first control signals using the plurality of amplified signals;
• and
• a comparator system having a plurality of comparators configured to receive a plurality of first control signals from an output control network, to receive a plurality of second control signals and to compare the plurality of first control signals based on the plurality of amplified signals to the plurality of second control signals based on the plurality of signals to form the plurality of control adjustments for the plurality of equalizers.

A method for managing a multi-port amplifier, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of signals;
• amplifying the plurality of signals using the multi-port amplifier to form a plurality of amplified signals;
• comparing a plurality of first control signals based on the plurality of amplified signals to a plurality of second control signals based on the plurality of signals using a comparator system having a plurality of comparators to form a comparison;
• and
• identifying a plurality of control adjustments based on the comparison to be sent to a plurality of equalizers in the multi-port amplifier to improve leakage performance of the multi-port amplifier.

An apparatus comprising:

• a multi-port amplifier configured to amplify a plurality of signals to form a plurality of amplified signals, wherein the multi-port amplifier comprises:
• an input network configured to receive the plurality of signals and combine the plurality of signals to form a plurality of composite signals;
• a plurality of equalizers configured to apply an adjustment to each of the plurality of composite signals to form a plurality of adjusted composite signals;
• a plurality of amplifiers configured to amplify the plurality of adjusted composite signals to form a plurality of amplified composite signals;
• and an output network configured to deconstruct the plurality of amplified composite signals into the plurality of amplified signals;
• and
• a controller configured to send a plurality of control adjustments to a plurality of equalizers in the multi-port amplifier to improve leakage performance of the multi-port amplifier, wherein the controller comprises:
• an output control network configured to substantially represent an inverse of an ideal version of the output network in the multi-port amplifier and generate a plurality of first control signals based on the plurality of amplified signals output from the output network;
• an input control network configured to represent an ideal version of the input network in the multi-port amplifier and generate a plurality of second control signals based on the plurality of signals received at the input network;
• and a comparator system configured to compare the plurality of first control signals to a plurality of second control signals to form the plurality of control adjustments for the plurality of equalizers.

A method for managing a multi-port amplifier, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of signals by an input network of the multi-port amplifier;
• combining the plurality of signals by the input network to form a plurality of composite signals;
• applying an adjustment to each of the plurality of composite signals by a plurality of equalizers to form a plurality of adjusted composite signals;
• amplifying the plurality of adjusted composite signals by a plurality of amplifiers to form a plurality of amplified composite signals;
• deconstructing the plurality of amplified composite signals by an output network into a plurality of amplified signals;
• generating a plurality of first control signals based on the plurality of amplified signals output from the output network, wherein the plurality of first control signals is generated by an output control network configured to substantially represent an inverse of an ideal version of the output network in the multi-port amplifier;
• generating a plurality of second control signals based on the plurality of signals received at the input network, wherein the plurality of first control signals is generated by an input control network configured to represent an ideal version of the input network in the multi-port amplifier;
• and
• comparing the plurality of first control signals to the plurality of second control signals to form the plurality of control adjustments for the plurality of equalizers.