Paragon Communications Ltd.

Qualcomm Incorporated

Avner Elia

Israel Bar-David

Alexander Veinblat

Eli Plotnik

Apparatus and method for reducing the current consumption and increasing the efficiency of an RF power amplifier (PA), according to which the load, connected to the output stage of the PA, tuned dynamically or statically for each level of the desired output power. By doing so, the output impedance of the output stage is essentially matched, such that the dynamic RF load line has a slope that corresponds to the impedance required to provide this level. Whenever a smaller output power is desired in response to reduction in the input signal to the amplifier, the load is further tuned, such that the dynamic or static RF load line has a slope that causes the power amplifier to essentially remain in saturation at the smaller output power.

Method and apparatus for optimizing current consumption of amplifiers with power control

Method and apparatus for sensing the envelope of high level multi frequency band RF signals in power amplifiers. For each frequency band, an RF transistor, such as a FET or a bipolar transistor is operated essentially at a non-linear operating point (e.g., in Class B, AB or C) at the frequency band. The RF transistor is fed by a DC power supply trough an RF filter and terminated by a dummy load that is tuned to the frequency band so as to terminate the RF components in the output signal of the RF transistor. An RF signal of the frequency band is fed into the input of the RF transistors and an output signal representing the envelope is obtained from the fluctuating current drawn from the DC power supply by the RF transistor, during the time period when the RF signal is applied to the input. The output signals obtained from all RF transistors that operate within their corresponding frequency band are combined to a common output, such that the output signal at this common point is essentially equal to the output signal that corresponds to one of the frequency bands.

Method and apparatus for sensing the envelope of high level multi frequency band RF signals

Voltage Enhancement Circuitry (VEC) for amplifiers, suitable of being implemented as an Integrated Circuit (IC), that comprises a VEC driver with a low output resistance (Rdson) while being in its inactive mode and a linearly increasing resistance that is changing linearly with the input control signal, while entering into its active mode, above a determined threshold; external contacts in the VEC, for connecting, whenever required, external feedback elements across the contacts; an external feedback loop connected to an input of the VEC driver, for sensing changes in the enhancement power; a threshold programming module, for externally programming and determining a threshold level for the input signal, above which enhancement is provided shaping the amplified video envelope pulse; an I-Boost module for sampling the amplitude of the video envelope input current and for amplifying the input current up to a pre-defined level; and a current controlled bias circuit for shifting, whenever required, the bias of the lower and/or of the upper valves of the VEC driver.

Method for implementation and parameter settings of a voltage enhancement circuit for amplifiers as an integrated circuit (IC)

The present invention is directed to a method for reducing the current consumption and increasing the efficiency of an RF power amplifier (PA), while maintaining the output power. The desired output power of the PA is determined and for each level of the desired output power, the load that is connected to the output stage of the PA is tuned to essentially match the output impedance of the output stage to provide maximal gain. By doing so, the dynamic RF load line has a slope that causes it to intersect with the drain-source (or emitter-collector, in case of a bipolar transistor) voltage, across the output stage, at a value that corresponds to the voltage swing required to provide the desired output power.

Method and apparatus for increasing the efficiency of low power amplifiers

Apparatus and method for reducing the current consumption and increasing the efficiency of a MIMO system, consisting of one or more RF power amplifiers (PAs) and that is required to provide a desired total output power level. An individual output power level which is a portion of the total output power level is determined for each PA. The load, connected to the output stage of each PA, is dynamically or statically tuned to essentially match the output impedance of its output stage, such that its dynamic or static RF load line has a slope that corresponds to the impedance required to provide this portion. Whenever a smaller output power is desired in response to reduction in the input signal to MIMO system, a reduced portion is determined for each PA and the load is further tuned, such that the dynamic/static RF load line has a slope that causes each PA to essentially remain in saturation while providing the reduced portion.

Method and apparatus for reducing current consumption of MIMO systems

Method and apparatus for efficiently providing DC power enhancement to power amplifiers each of which being arranged in a MIMO system, by suing an enhancement circuitry with a plurality of inputs and outputs. Each input has a corresponding DC enhancement output that is connected to a DC enhancement input of a power amplifier. The DC enhancement output becomes operative whenever the amplitude of the corresponding input signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. The envelope of a plurality of input signals is sampled by sampling circuitries and the sampled envelopes are fed into a summation circuitry, in which they are summed. Whenever one of the sampled envelopes exceeds the threshold, a DC enhancement power is simultaneously provided to all DC enhancement inputs of all power amplifiers.

Method and apparatus for improving the performance of MIMO wireless systems

Method and circuit for stabilizing the output power of a power amplifier, operated with signals having a large peak-to-average ratio and fed by a DC power supply with fluctuating output voltage. An allowable fluctuating range for the voltage output from the DC power supply and a constant voltage level are determined. A controllable voltage enhancement circuitry that can output an enhancement voltage is provided. The input of the voltage enhancement circuitry and a first DC supply path are connected to the output of the DC power supply. The output of the voltage enhancement circuitry is connected to a second DC supply path. While the instantaneous value of the fluctuating output voltage is lower than the constant voltage level, the voltage enhancement circuitry generates an enhancement voltage that causes the sum of the voltages supplied through the first and the second supply paths, to be identical to the constant voltage level.

Method and apparatus for providing a stable power output of power amplifiers, operating under unstable supply voltage conditions

The invention provides methods and apparatus for adaptive adjustment of the phase and amplitude controllers that are needed in Feed Forward Linearized Amplifiers (FFLA) to balance, first, the desired signal component and then the distortion component for the eventual full suppression of the latter. The particular advantage of the methods of the invention is that the adaptive adjustment is achieved without the need for additional RF reference or pilot signals and without RF correlators as proposed in prior art; rather, it is based solely on envelope-detected samples of the signal at two test points and on perturbations of the quiescent operating points of the amplifiers and/or other components, such as vector modulators, by appropriately selected voltage patterns. All these operations are at base band frequencies which makes the apparatus for the adaptive control implementable in simple digital circuitry.

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Ramat Ishai, Israel

Avner Elia