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:
Jul. 13, 2004
Filed:
May. 19, 2000
Russell W. Bell, Freehold, NJ (US);
Luke J. Smithwick, Monmouth Beach, NJ (US);
Globespanvirata, Inc., Red Bank, NJ (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a signal processing and amplifying system that uses advance knowledge of a digital signal, before it is converted to analog form and applied to the input stage of the amplifier stage, to “intelligently” amplify the signal with the maximum power efficiency and minimal distortion. This advance knowledge of the digital signal allows a switch control logic (SCL) unit to open and close solid state switches and seamlessly turn off and on the low and high power stages correctly to minimize the amplifier distortion while conserving power. In one embodiment, the system comprises a shift register, which receives the supplied digital signal to be amplified and delays the digital signal by a known amount, a digital to analog converter, an amplifying circuit, which is made up of at least two amplifiers, and an SCL unit. The SCL unit comprises control logic, and multiple solid state switches. The SCL unit monitors the digital signal determine when to activate/deactivate amplifier stages and open/close switches for the most power efficient operation. This system and method efficiently amplifies signals with low distortion due to the intelligent use of solid state switches, via the SCL unit to monitor exactly when to enable/disable amplifier stages. This system achieves low distortion and power efficient amplification—necessary to a variety of systems from cellular phones, mobile electronics, and high-density line cards for DSL and other communications services.