The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 27, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2000
Earl W. McCune, Jr., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Tropion, Inc. Corp., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention, generally speaking, provides for the effective use of dynamic bias control in a switch-mode RF amplifier to achieve an output signal having wide dynamic range. In one aspect, a method is provided of amplifying an RF signal to produce a variable output signal using an amplifier including a final amplification stage having a control terminal. The method includes: applying to the control terminal of the final amplification stage a drive signal and a bias signal; and varying the bias signal as a function of a desired output power of the variable output signal. The drive signal and the bias signal together cause the final amplification stage to be driven repeatedly between two states, a hard-on state and a hard-off state, without operating in a linear operating region for an appreciable percentage of time, and the final amplification stage is controlled without continuous or frequent measurement and feedback adjustment of the variable output signal.