Shared integrated DC-DC supply regulator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10177838-B2
Application number	US-201514868949-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

The systems and processes described herein can reduce the footprint of the internal devices of a wireless device by combining the DC-DC supply regulator with a FEM. Further, the device footprint can be further reduced by sharing the integrated DC-DC supply regulator among multiple FEMs reducing or eliminating the use of a separate DC-DC supply regulator for each FEM of a wireless device. Moreover, in certain embodiments, by integrating the DC-DC supply regulator into a 2G FEM, power efficiency can be improved for some wireless devices. For example, the DC-DC supply regulator may be used to supply power to a PA used for high-band 2G transmission functions. Using the DC-DC supply regulator can improve power efficiency compared to systems that supply the power for the high-band 2G PA directly from the power supply (e.g., the battery).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A front-end module for use in a wireless device, the front-end module comprising:
an integrated circuit die having a plurality of signal pins including one or more radio frequency transmit signal pins, one or more radio frequency receive signal pins, and a regulated supply output pin;
a first power amplifier on the integrated circuit die of the front-end module, the first power amplifier one of a plurality of power amplifiers within the front-end module and which are located on the integrated circuit die; and
an integrated DC-DC converter circuit with at least a portion within the front-end module, located on the integrated circuit die, and configured to regulate a first supply voltage, the regulated first supply voltage provided to the first power amplifier, the integrated DC-DC converter circuit further configured to regulate a second supply voltage, the regulated second supply voltage provided to a second power amplifier via the regulated supply output pin, the second power amplifier located on a second integrated circuit die of a second front end module, the second integrated circuit die separate from the integrated circuit die and external to the front-end module, and the integrated DC-DC converter circuit including a capacitor and an inductor external to the front-end module; and
a bias circuit within the front-end module and combined with the integrated DC-DC converter circuit located on the integrated circuit die, the bias circuit configured to supply a bias current to the first power amplifier.

2. The front-end module of claim 1 wherein the front-end module is configured for 2G communication and the second power amplifier is included in a different front-end module than the first power amplifier, the different front-end module configured for non-2G communication.

3. The front-end module of claim 1 further comprising a switch configured to supply a signal from one of the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier to an antenna.

4. The front-end module of claim 1 further comprising a third power amplifier that receives a third supply voltage, the third supply voltage received from a power source and not the DC-DC converter circuit, the third power amplifier configured to provide low band 2G communication, the first power amplifier configured to provide high band 2G communication.

5. The front-end module of claim 1 wherein the integrated DC-DC converter circuit regulates the first supply voltage and the second supply voltage based on a voltage received from a power source.

6. The front-end module of claim 1 further comprising one or more impedance matching networks configured to match an impedance value of the first power amplifier to an impedance value of an antenna.

7. A multi-chip module comprising:
a first front-end module implemented on a first integrated circuit die having a plurality of signal pins including one or more radio frequency transmit signal pins, one or more radio frequency receive signal pins, and a regulated supply output pin, the first front-end module including a first power amplifier, at least a portion of an integrated DC-DC converter circuit configured to regulate a first supply voltage, and a bias circuit within the front-end module and combined with the integrated DC-DC converter circuit, the bias circuit configured to supply a bias current to the first power amplifier, the regulated first supply voltage provided to the first power amplifier, the first power amplifier one of a plurality of power amplifiers within the front-end module, and the integrated DC-DC converter circuit including a capacitor and an inductor external to the front-end module; and
a second front-end module implemented on a second integrated circuit die that is separate from the first integrated circuit die and includes a second power amplifier, the second power amplifier configured to receive a second regulated supply voltage provided by the integrated DC-DC converter circuit of the first front-end module implemented on the first integrated circuit die via the regulated supply output pin of the first integrated circuit die.

8. The multi-chip module of claim 7 wherein the first front-end module is configured for 2G communication and the second front-end module is configured for non-2G communication.

9. The multi-chip module of claim 7 wherein the first front-end module further includes a switch configured to supply a signal from one of the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier to an antenna.

10. The multi-chip module of claim 7 wherein the first front-end module includes a third power amplifier that receives a supply voltage from a source other than the integrated DC-DC converter circuit, the first power amplifier configured to provide high band 2G communication and the third power amplifier configured to provide low band 2G communication.

11. The multi-chip module of claim 7 wherein the integrated DC-DC converter circuit regulates the first supply voltage and the second supply voltage based on a voltage received from a power source.

12. The multi-chip module of claim 7 wherein the first front-end module further includes one or more impedance matching networks configured to match an impedance value of the first power amplifier to an impedance value of an antenna.

13. A wireless device comprising:
a multi-chip module including a first front-end module implemented on a first integrated circuit die and a second front-end module implemented on a second integrated circuit die, at least the first integrated circuit die having a plurality of signal pins including one or more radio frequency transmit signal pins, one or more radio frequency receive signal pins, and a regulated supply output pin, the first front-end module including a first power amplifier, at least a portion of an integrated DC-DC converter circuit configured to regulate a first supply voltage, and a bias circuit within the front-end module and combined with the integrated DC-DC converter circuit, the bias circuit configured to supply a bias current to the first power amplifier, the regulated first supply voltage provided to the first power amplifier, the first power amplifier one of a plurality of power amplifiers within the front-end module, the integrated DC-DC converter circuit including a capacitor and an inductor external to the front-end module, and the second front-end module including a second power amplifier, the second power amplifier configured to receive a second regulated supply voltage provided by the integrated DC-DC converter circuit of the first integrated circuit die via the regulated supply output pin of the first integrated circuit die; and
an antenna configured to provide a signal and/or receive a signal from the multi-chip module.

14. The wireless device of claim 13 wherein the first front-end module further includes a switch configured to supply a signal from one of the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier to the antenna.

15. The wireless device of claim 13 wherein the first front-end module includes a third power amplifier that receives a supply voltage from a source other than the integrated DC-DC converter circuit, the first power amplifier configured to provide high band 2G communication and the third power amplifier configured to provide low band 2G communication.

16. The wireless device of claim 13 further comprising a power source, the integrated DC-DC converter circuit further configured to regulate the first supply voltage and the second supply voltage based on a voltage received from the power source.

17. The wireless d

Assignees

• Skyworks Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Ripley David Steven

Classifications

• H04B2001/0416

  having gain or transmission power control · CPC title

• H04B1/0475

  with means for limiting noise, interference or distortion (H04B1/0483 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B1/1607

  Supply circuits (converters H02M; filters therefor H02M1/14; voltage stabilisers G05F1/46) · CPC title

• H04B7/26 Primary

  at least one of which is mobile · CPC title

• Y02D70/449

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic