Freescale Semiconductor,inc.

Philippe Riondet

Gilles Montoriol

Jacques Trichet

Walid Karoui

Giles Montoriol

A radio frequency device comprises a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) operably coupled to a protection circuit for minimising voltage standing wave ratio effects, wherein the protection circuit comprises a current limiter indexed to a power supplied to the RF PA. In this manner, the protection circuit combines detection of both current and voltage increase in order to provide a direct feedback on the final RF PA stage via a bias control.

Adaptive protection circuit for a power amplifier

An arrangement and method for impedance matching (e.g., for a power amplifier) comprising a first node () for receiving an output current to be impedance matched; a second node () for receiving output current from the first node; a first current conductor () for carrying current from the first node to the second node; a third node () for receiving output current from the second node; and a second current conductor () for carrying current from said second node to said third node, whereby the first and second current conductors are closely positioned so that their inductance is the sum of their self-inductances and the negative sum of their mutual inductance. The current conductors may be wire bonds, the arrangement may include a capacitor integrated in a power amplifier IC module, in which the capacitor may be provided in a separate IC from the power amplifier, the arrangement may utilize a plurality of impedance matching cells, and the wire bonds may be interdigitated across the semiconductor die. This provides the following advantages: easy to implement; increased accuracy of matching; requires few external components; easy to manufacture; no need for dedicated design flow; requires only standard IC production and test tools; uses low loss matching networks; involves only a small increase in die size (due to integration of capacitor), but the total size of the solution may be significantly reduced (e.g., by 50%) because of the reduced number of external components.

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Ramonville St Agne, France

Philippe Riondet