Cree Gmbh

William Pribble

James Milligan

Simon Maurice Wood

Raymond Sydney Pengelly

A gallium nitride (GaN) radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) is configured to receive and amplify a low-level WiFi signal to generate a WiFi transmit signal. By using a GaN RFIC, the performance of the RFIC is significantly improved when compared to conventional RFICs for WiFi signals. In one exemplary embodiment, the RFIC has an error vector magnitude less than 29 dBc, an average power output around 29 dBm, and an average power added efficiency of greater than 25%. In additional embodiments, the RFIC has a gain greater than about 32 dB and a peak output power around &#x2212;37 dB.

GaN amplifier for WiFi applications

A microwave integrated circuit includes a substrate and a power amplifier on the substrate. The power amplifier includes a power divider circuit having an input configured to receive an input RF signal, a base amplifier having an input coupled to a first output of the power divider circuit and a peaking amplifier having an input coupled to a second output of the power divider circuit and an output coupled to an output combining node. The power amplifier further includes an impedance inverter circuit coupling the output of the base amplifier to the output combining node and a load matching circuit having an input coupled to the output combining node and an output configured to be coupled to a load.

MMIC power amplifier

A switch mode power amplifier includes a transistor responsive to input signals above 1.0 GHz and which includes one terminal coupled to ground and another terminal conductively coupled to a power source. A resonant circuit coupled the second terminal to an output with a resistive load coupled across the output and ground. When the transistor is turned on the second terminal is coupled to ground and when the transistor is turned off, current from the power supply to the second terminal is steered into internal capacitance of the transistor and causes voltage on the second terminal to rise to a maximum value and then decrease, the voltage at the second terminal being coupled to the output terminal through the resonant circuit. In preferred embodiments, the transistor comprises a compound semiconductor field effect transistor with the first terminal being a source terminal and the second terminal being a drain terminal. The field effect transistor is preferably a compound high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) or compound MESFET, but in other embodiments the transistor can be the compound LDMOS, compound bipolar transistor, or compound MOSFET.

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Apex, NC, United States of America

William Pribble