Amplifier arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10749478-B2
Application number	US-201616098348-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2016
Priority date	May 3, 2016
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

An amplifier arrangement ( 200 ) for amplifying input signals and a method for operating the amplifier arrangement are disclosed. The amplifier arrangement ( 200 ) comprises a main amplifier circuit ( 210 ) having an input and an output; a first ( 221 ) and second ( 222 ) auxiliary amplifier circuits each having an input and an output, wherein each of the first ( 221 ) and second ( 222 ) auxiliary amplifier circuits being selectively operable to operate in combination with the main amplifier circuit ( 210 ). The amplifier arrangement ( 200 ) further comprises a single hybrid coupler circuit ( 230 ) having a first port ( 221 ) being coupled to the output of the main amplifier circuit ( 210 ), a second port ( 232 ) being coupled to the output of the first auxiliary amplifier circuit ( 221 ), a third port ( 233 ) being coupled to the output of the second auxiliary amplifier circuit ( 222 ) and a fourth port ( 234 ) being coupled to the load ( 240 ) of the amplifier ( 200 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An amplifier apparatus for amplifying input signals to an output signal for delivery to a load, the amplifier apparatus comprising:
a main amplifier circuit having an input for receiving an input signal and an output;
a first auxiliary amplifier circuit and a second auxiliary amplifier circuit, each one of the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits having an input for receiving an input signal and an output, and wherein each one of the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits being selectively operable to operate in combination with the main amplifier circuit;
a single hybrid coupler circuit having a first port being coupled to the output of the main amplifier circuit, wherein the hybrid coupler circuit further has a second port coupled to the output of the first auxiliary amplifier circuit, a third port coupled to the output of the second auxiliary amplifier circuit and a fourth port coupled to the load; and
a signal processing component configured to control power of drive signals and selectively apply the drive signals with a specific gain with respect to the input signals to the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits such that the drive signal to the main amplifier circuit has a higher gain for higher level input signals than a gain for lower level input signals, and each of the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits is selectively operable to operate in combination with the main amplifier circuit.

2. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing component comprises variable gain amplifiers configured to provide the drive signals to the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits.

3. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal processing component comprises a power detector, wherein the power detector is configured to sense power of the input signals and output from the power detector is used to control power of the driving signals to the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits.

4. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drive signals to the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits are delayed by 0, 90 and 180 degrees respectively with respect to the input signal.

5. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the amplifier apparatus is a single-input-single-output amplifier and further comprises a power splitter configured to split an input signal received by the power splitter into the input signals and to feed each split input signal to the respective input of the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits.

6. The amplifier apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the power splitter is an uneven 3-way Wilkinson splitter.

7. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid coupler circuit comprises any one of a Branch-line coupler, a lumped elements coupler, a coupled-line coupler or a Lange coupler.

8. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid coupler circuit comprises a 3-dB quadrature hybrid combiner.

9. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising one or more output matching networks, each output matching network is coupled to a respective one of the four ports of the hybrid coupler circuit to perform impedance transformation.

10. The amplifier apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said one or more output matching networks comprise transmission lines or lumped elements.

11. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a characteristic impedance of the hybrid coupler circuit is configured to match a loading impedance of the load.

12. The amplifier apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any one of the main amplifier circuit, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits comprises any of
a. a high electron mobility transistor, HEMT;
b. a heterojunction bipolar transistor, HBT; or
c. a laterally-defused metal-oxide-semiconductor, LDMOS, transistor made of semiconductor materials from any of
a. Gallium nitride, GaN;
b. Silicon, Si;
c. Gallium arsenide, GaAs; or
d. Indium phosphide, InP.

13. An electronic device comprising the amplifier apparatus of claim 1 .

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the electronic device is a monolithic integrated circuit, a radio transmitter, or a radio base station.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the radio transmitter comprises a digital pre-distortion apparatus connected to the amplifier apparatus.

16. A method for operating a power amplifier apparatus to amplify input signals to an output signal for delivery to a load, wherein the power amplifier apparatus comprises a main amplifier circuit, a first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits and a single hybrid coupler circuit comprising a first port being coupled to the output of the main amplifier circuit, a second port being coupled to the output of the first auxiliary amplifier circuit, a third port being coupled to the output of the second auxiliary amplifier circuit and a fourth port being coupled to the load, the method comprising:
monitoring power of the input signals;
when the input signal is in a first power range, operating the main amplifier circuit by applying a first drive signal having a first gain with respective to the input signal;
when the input signal is in a second power range, operating the main amplifier circuit by applying the first drive signal having the first gain and operating the first auxiliary amplifier circuit by applying a second drive signal having a second gain with respective to the input signal;
when the input signal is in a third power range, operating the main, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits by applying the first drive signal with a third gain to the main amplifier circuit, applying the second drive signal with a fourth gain to the first auxiliary amplifier circuit and applying a third drive signal with a fifth gain to the second auxiliary amplifier circuit; and
combining output power from the main, the first and second auxiliary amplifier circuits in the hybrid coupler circuit and delivering an output power to the load from the fourth port of the hybrid coupler circuit.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the input signal in the first power range has lower power compared to the input signal in the second power range, the input signal in the third power range has higher power compared to the input signal in the second power range, and the third gain is higher than the first gain.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Hou Rui
• Bleker Andre
• Ridell Virtanen Lars

Classifications

• H03F1/0266

  by using a signal derived from the input signal · CPC title

• H03F2200/411

  the output amplifying stage of an amplifier comprising two power stages · CPC title

• H03F2203/21106

  An input signal being distributed in parallel over the inputs of a plurality of power amplifiers · CPC title

• H03F2200/451

  the amplifier being a radio frequency amplifier · CPC title

• H03F2200/387

  A circuit being added at the output of an amplifier to adapt the output impedance of the amplifier · CPC title