Tubis Technology Inc.

Kyocera International, Inc.

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

James June-Ming Wang

Kenny Kun-Long Wu

Kun-Long Wu

Yuh-Min Lin

Chak-Ming Chie

Saleh Alsaif

Powei Chen

Jin-Fu Yeh

Abdulelah Alshehri

Hamed Alsuraisry

A novel frequency tunable bi-directional phased array processing consisting of variable phase shifting and amplitude adjustment which employs a vector modulator and active combiner and splitter is proposed. Advantages of the proposed bi-directional a phased array processing includes the following 1) compact size; 2) high efficiency; 3) reduced passive trace loss and power consumption; 4) active current combining; 5) high input-output isolation; 6) high resolution and precise gain control and unequal combining or splitting; 7) phase-invariant amplifier design; 8) high accuracy and high-resolution phase shifter; 9) frequency tunability, within a small frequency range and/or a large frequency range; and 10) optimal unequal combining or splitting.

Frequency tunable bi-directional active phased-array processing

A wideband power amplifier (PA) linearization technique is proposed. A current interpolation technique is proposed to linearize power amplifiers over a wide bandwidth. The wideband power amplifier linearization technique employs a novel transconductance Gm linearizer using a current interpolation technique that achieves improvement in the third order intermodulation over wide bandwidth for a sub-micron CMOS differential power amplifier. By using a small amount of compensating bias into an opposite phase differential pair, linearization over wide bandwidth is achieved and can be optimized by adjusting the compensating bias.

Wideband amplifier linearization techniques

Radio Frequency (RF) circuit (amplifiers, mixer, etc.) design with RFIC, e.g., implemented in CMOS, CaAs, SiGe, or other silicon processes, suffers performance variations (gain phase, frequency, bandwidth, nonlinearity) due to wafer process variations, temperature changes, and supply voltage changes, and random variations. In this invention, methods are proposed to precisely calibrate the bias current of all active devices in the system, and to precisely calibrate the gain of individual path leading to each amplifiers such that the same Pout is achieved for all antenna elements in the system.

Phased-array antenna precision self-calibration

A power amplifier (PA) linearization technique with a wider linearized power range is proposed. Proposed two types of linearizers with cross-coupled PMOS and NMOS configuration. The idea is to use a complimentary device compared with the PA core device, and the behavior of Cgs of the linearizer are also complimentary to the PA itself. In the other words, the overall Cgs of the PA with the linearizer would be constant without leading to non-linear waveform. Both linearizers can effectively compensate not only AMAM but also AMPM. First type of linearizer can be integrated with PA cores, and second type of linearizer can be used in the IMN. Both linearizers have effective IM3 reduction in different corner.

Peripheral for amplifier linearization with complimentary compensation

A novel bi-directional vector modulator to be used as an active phase shifter is proposed. The advantages of the active phase shifter include: 1) Compact size&#x2014;By active current combining technique, short transmission lines are used to perform signal combining rather than using area-consuming Wilkinson combiner or splitter; 2) High phase resolution and flexibility&#x2014;phase interpolation can be performed by vector addition through m-path vector modulators; 3) High efficiency&#x2014;no signal switch loss, only switched matching capacitor; 4) Simplified signal interconnection; 5) No passive combiner needed&#x2014;eliminate large size and losses in the passive combiner); 6) Can have unequal combining and/or splitting by changing the gain of vector modulator, which is difficult to realize with passive combining and/or splitting network; and 7) Can combine different signals.

Bi-directional vector modulator/active phase shifter

A bi-directional active combiner and splitter using bi-directional variable gain amplifiers (BD_VGAs) is proposed. Advantages of the proposed bi-directional active combiner and splitter includes the following 1) compact size&#x2014;for each BD_VGA, cascode transistor pair is small and the same matching network is used by the cascode transistor pair for both directions; 2) high efficiency&#x2014;no switching loss in signal path, only switched matching; 3) reduced passive trace loss and power consumption&#x2014;simplified signal interconnection; 4) active current combining&#x2014;eliminates large size in the passive combiner; 5) high input-output isolation&#x2014;cascode and neutralization; 6) precise gain control and unequal combining or splitting&#x2014;changing the gain of the BD_VGA; and 7) phase-invariant amplifier design.

Bi-directional variable gain active combiner and splitter

An apparatus consisting of hierarchically elaborated antenna modules is calibrated by steps. Although the AWV can be calculated mathematically based on the required phase shift values of each antenna element for a beam direction to compensate for signal delay. However, in practice, due to hardware implementation imperfection, coupling in signal path for each antenna element within hardware, inaccuracies of implementations, physical misalignment, the mathematically generated AWV does not necessarily provide alignment between transmit beam and receive beam. This subset is sufficient is all practical operation. The subset of AWVs are typically called codebook and the receiver beam points to different direction by using a AWV within the codebook.

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Pasadena, CA, United States of America

James June-Ming Wang