Amalfi Semiconductor Corporation

Qorvo Us, Inc.

Altera Corporation

3com Corporation

Pelikan Technologies, Inc.

Programmable Silicon Solutions

Chong Woo

Lawrence M Burns

George Adrian Maxim

Baker P Scott

Ting-Wah Wong

Clement Szeto

Nadim Khlat

Wendell B Sander

Stephen James Franck

David A Fisher

Scott William Mitchell

Ravi Ramachandran

David I Sorensen

Theresa A Bradshaw

Jungmin Park

Dongmei Cao

Stephen Frank

Nicholas Mitchell

A power amplifier system is disclosed having an N number of transistors coupled together drain-to-source between a supply node and a fixed voltage node, wherein a first one of the N number of transistors coupled nearest to the fixed voltage node is configured to operate as an amplifying device in an ON-mode, and remaining ones of the N number of transistors are configured to operate as cascode devices in the ON-mode and to operate as turned-off switches in an OFF-mode. A controller is configured to place the N number of transistors in the first mode when a radio frequency (RF) signal is to be amplified by the first one of the N number of transistors and to place the N number of transistors in the second mode when the RF signal is not to be amplified by the first one of the N number of transistors.

Power amplifier system

A power amplifier system having a power amplifier stage with dynamic bias circuitry is disclosed. Also included is bias control circuitry having a compression sensor having a sensor input coupled to a RF signal output and a sensor output, wherein the compression sensor is configured to generate a gain deviation signal in response to a sensed deviation from a flat gain profile of the power amplifier stage. Further included is a bias driver that is configured to drive dynamic bias circuitry to adjust bias to the power amplifier stage to maintain the flat gain profile in response to the gain deviation signal.

A power amplifier includes an over-current protection loop and/or an over-voltage protection loop to assist in preventing operation outside a safe operation zone. In a further exemplary aspect, triggering of the over-current protection loop adjusts a threshold voltage for the over-voltage protection loop. In further exemplary aspects, the over-current protection loop may adjust not only a bias regulator, but also provide an auxiliary control signal that further limits signals reaching the power amplifier. In still further exemplary aspects, the over-voltage protection loop may operate independently of the over-current protection current loop or the over-voltage protection loop contribute to an over-current protection signal.

Power amplifier with protection loop

A power amplifier system is disclosed having a first amplifier with a high-power input and a high-power output. A second amplifier has a low-power input and a low-power output. A reconfigurable mode switch network has a first series switch branch coupled between the high-power output and an RF output, a first shunt branch is coupled between the RF output and a fixed voltage node, and a second series switch branch is coupled between the low-power output and a shared node of the first shunt branch. The shared node separates the first shunt branch into a first shared section that is between the RF output and the shared node and a second shared section that is between the shared node and the fixed voltage node.

Power amplifier with protection loops

A device having device function circuitry configured to receive a device signal and output a modified device signal is disclosed. The device includes a device temperature sensor configured to generate a device temperature signal that is proportional to a temperature of the device function circuitry. The device function circuitry is further configured to maintain power dissipation of the device function circuitry to below a predetermined safe power dissipation level in response to a control signal that is generated based upon the device temperature signal.

Device and device protection system

A power amplifier system is provided with a signal path including driver stages and output stages. A power control element has one or more control ports and uses one or more nonlinear control characteristics.

Power amplifier with back-off efficiency

A plurality of devices, such as devices that are utilized for implementing radio frequency applications, can be formed in the same substrate. Each of these devices may be formed over a triple well that includes at least one well capable of being biased. Each of the wells is coupled to a well bias through a resistor. In some embodiments, a plurality of wells operating at a relatively high frequency may be connected to the same bias potential, each through separate resistors. The noise coupling may be reduced through the use of the bias resistors.

Integrated radio frequency circuits

An amplifier system is provided that has a first balun with an input and an output, and a second balun with an input and an output. A first set of amplifiers is coupled in series and to the output of the first balun. A second set of amplifiers is coupled in series and to the output of the second balun. The first and second sets of amplifiers are in series or parallel. A load impedance of the first and second sets of amplifiers does not substantially change at an output of any amplifier that is switched on when another amplifier is switched off.

Method and apparatus for an improved power amplifier

A power amplifier assembly has a first power amplifier with a first input conditioning circuit. At least first and second amplifiers are in parallel with each other and having inputs and outputs. An input signal is coupled to the inputs of the first and second amplifiers. A first multi-input power combiner is provided. The outputs of the at least first and second parallel amplifiers are combined by the first multi-input power combiner to add signals of the outputs constructively. A second power amplifier has a first input conditioning circuit. At least first and second amplifiers are in parallel with each other and having inputs and outputs. An input signal is coupled to the inputs of the first and second amplifiers. A second multi-input power combiner is provided. The outputs of the at least first and second parallel amplifiers are combined by the second multi-input power combiner to add signals of the outputs constructively.

An amplifier system is provided,with a first balun that has an input and an output. A second balun has an input and an output. An amplifier assembly is provided with at least a first amplifier in parallel to a second amplifier. The first amplifier provides the input to the first balun, and the second amplifier provides the input to the second balun. The outputs of the first and second baluns add constructively and substantially in series.

A multi-input power combiner includes a balun with a plurality of layers. A plurality of transmission lines are associated with the plurality of layers. The balun has a largest dimension that is less than half of a &#xbc; wavelength in a selected material.

A power amplifier has an input conditioning circuit. At least first and second amplifiers are in parallel with each other and have inputs and outputs. An input signal is coupled to the inputs of the first and second amplifiers. A multi-input power combiner is provided. The outputs of the first and second parallel amplifiers are combined by the multi-input power combiner to add signals of the outputs constructively.

An amplifier system is provided that includes a first balun with an input and an output. A second balun has an input and an output. An amplifier assembly is provided and has at least a first amplifier in parallel to a second amplifier. The first amplifier provides the input to the first balun and the second amplifier provides the input to the second balun. A power combining circuit is provided. The first and second baluns are coupled to a common node of the power combining circuit. A first lumped element circuit is coupled between the output of the first balun and the power combining circuit. A second lumped element circuit is coupled between the output of the second balun and the power combing circuit. The outputs are coupled to the common node.

A power amplifier utilizes cascode arrangements to achieve target performance levels for a power amplifier, such as the type used in wireless communication devices. A negative resistance circuit is provided for the cascode arrangement such that high gain, or oscillation, is promoted during operation of the power amplifier. In one embodiment, the negative resistance circuit includes cross-coupling transistors. Various features are provided in order to reduce the susceptibility of the power amplifier to voltage breakdown while maintaining good performance.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Chong Woo