Qualcomm Incorporated

Namsoo Kim

Vladimir Aparin

Joseph Patrick Burke

Prasad S Gudem

Kenneth Charles Barnett

Junxiong Deng

Joung Won Park

Aleksandar Miodrag Tasic

Lennart Karl Mathe

Christian Holenstein

Jose Cabanillas

Anup Savla

Cristian Marcu

An apparatus includes a first amplifier having a first feedback resistance and an output configured to be coupled to a first input of a second amplifier having a second feedback resistance. The apparatus includes a third amplifier coupled to an input of the first amplifier and having an output configured to be coupled to a second input of the second amplifier.

Noise cancelling baseband amplifier

A current filtering current buffer amplifier includes: a first port and a second input port configured to be coupled to and receive input current; a first output port and a second output port configured to be coupled to and provide current to a load; a buffer configured to transfer the received input current to the first and second output ports as an output current, the buffer having an input impedance and an output impedance where the output impedance is higher than the input impedance, the buffer including first and second amplifiers, the first amplifier being a common mode feedback amplifier; and a filter coupled to the first and second input ports and coupled to the first and second amplifiers, the filter having a complex impedance and being configured to notch filter the received input current.

Current buffer

A Positive Feedback Common Gate Low Noise Amplifier (PFCGLNA) has positive feedback transistors and input transistors that are of the same conductivity type. Making the positive feedback and input transistors of the same conductivity type reduces sensitivity to process variations. Noise generated by the positive feedback transistors is used to cancel noise generated by the input transistors. In one embodiment, the PFCGLNA: 1) is tunable to have a substantially constant input impedance for any frequency in a wideband frequency range from 680 MHz to 980 MHz, and 2) has a noise figure less than 2.2 dB over the entire wideband frequency range. The input impedance of the PFCGLNA can be tuned to match a source that drives the PFCGLNA by setting a multi-bit digital control value supplied to a digitally-programmable tank load of the LNA.

Positive feedback common gate low noise amplifier

A communication channel has a highly linear switched current mixer that incorporates passive filtering (e.g., low pass, notch) for improved transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) with adding external filtering components. A high IIP(input referenced second order intercept point) of the receiver at the Tx offset is essential to avoid corrupting the system's sensitivity performance, and a high triple beat (TB) is required to avoid sensitivity degradation due to transmitter leakage. Thanks to the embedded filtering in the mixer and the active post-distortion (APD) method in a low noise amplifier (LNA), the required high linearity is achieved with low noise figure and power consumption, overcoming transmitter power leakage without the use of a SAW (surface acoustic wave) filter.

Highly linear embedded filtering passive mixer

Exemplary embodiments of the invention disclose signal filtering. In an exemplary embodiment, a filter device may comprise a subtractor operably coupled between an input and an output and configured to receive an input signal comprising a desired component and at least one undesired frequency component. The filter device may further include a feedback loop configured to receive at least one of the input signal and an output signal from the subtractor and convey a feedback signal comprising at least one undesired component to the subtractor. Each undesired component of the feedback signal corresponds to an associated undesired component of the input signal. Furthermore, the subtractor subtracts the feedback signal from the input signal and convey the output signal.

Spur attenuation devices, systems, and methods

A differential low noise amplifier (LNA) involves two main amplifying transistors biased in saturation, and two cancel transistors biased in sub-threshold. In one example, the gates of the cancel transistors are coupled to the drains of main transistors, in a symmetrical and cross-coupled fashion. The main transistors are source degenerated. Because the gates of cancel transistors are not coupled to the differential input leads of the LNA, the input capacitance of the LNA is reduced. Noise introduced into the LNA output due to the cancel transistors being biased in the sub-threshold region is reduced because there are two stages. The first stage involves the main transistors, and the second stage involves the cancel transistors. By increasing the gain of the first stage and decreasing the gain of the second stage, overall LNA gain is maintained while reducing the noise that the sub-threshold biased transistors contribute to the LNA output.

Low noise and low input capacitance differential MDS LNA

An amplifier, which has good linearity and noise performance, includes first, second, third, and fourth transistors and an inductor. The first and second transistors are coupled as a first cascode pair, and the third and fourth transistors are coupled as a second cascode pair. The third transistor has its gate coupled to the source of the second transistor, and the fourth transistor has its drain coupled to the drain of the second transistor. The first transistor provides signal amplification. The second transistor provides load isolation and generates an intermediate signal for the third transistor. The third transistor generates distortion components used to cancel third order distortion component generated by the first transistor. The inductor provides source degeneration for the first transistor and improves distortion cancellation. The sizes of the second and third transistors are selected to reduce gain loss and achieve good linearity for the amplifier.

Amplifier with active post-distortion linearization

In a SAW-less receiver involving a passive mixer, novel degenerative impedance elements having substantial impedances are disposed in incoming signal paths between the differential signal output leads of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and the differential signal input leads of the passive mixer. The passive mixer outputs signals to a transimpedance amplifier and baseband filter (TIA). Providing the novel degenerative impedance elements decreases noise in the overall receiver as output from the TIA, with only minimal degradation of other receiver performance characteristics. In some examples, the passive mixer receives local oscillator signals having duty cycles of substantially less than fifty percent. In some examples, the degenerative impedance elements can have one of several impedances.

Degenerated passive mixer in saw-less receiver

A differential amplifier, which has good linearity and noise performance, includes a first side that includes first, second, third, and fourth transistors and an inductor. The first and second transistors are coupled as a first cascode pair, and the third and fourth transistors are coupled as a second cascode pair. The third transistor has its gate coupled to the source of the second transistor, and the fourth transistor has its drain coupled to the drain of the second transistor. The first transistor provides signal amplification. The second transistor provides load isolation and generates an intermediate signal for the third transistor. The third transistor generates distortion components used to cancel third order distortion component generated by the first transistor. The inductor provides source degeneration for the first transistor and improves distortion cancellation. The sizes of the second and third transistors are selected to reduce gain loss and achieve good linearity for the amplifier. The differential amplifier also may include a second side that functions similarly to the first side.

Differential amplifier with active post-distortion linearization

A differential low noise amplifier (LNA) is operable in a selectable one of two modes. The LNA includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor and a fourth transistor. In the first mode (PDC mode), the four transistors are configured to operate as a post-distortion cancellation (PDC) LNA. The third and fourth transistors operate as cancel transistors that improve linearity, but reduce LNA gain somewhat. In the second mode (high gain mode), the third and fourth transistors are configured so that amplified versions of the LNA input signal that they output are added to amplified versions of the LNA input signal that are output by the first and second main transistors, resulting in increased gain. Multiplexing circuits are provided within the LNA so that the LNA is configurable into a selectable one of the two modes by controlling a digital mode control signal supplied to the LNA.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Namsoo Kim