Reactance cancelling radio frequency circuit array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11705633-B1
Application number	US-202117551603-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 15, 2021
Priority date	Dec 15, 2021
Publication date	Jul 18, 2023
Grant date	Jul 18, 2023

Abstract

A reactance cancelling radio frequency (RF) circuit array is disclosed. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array includes multiple RF circuits each coupled to one or two adjacent RF circuits by one or two pairs of coupling mediums each having a respective length less than one-quarter wavelength. In one aspect, an RF input signal is first split across the RF circuits and then combined to form an RF output signal. As a result, each RF circuit requires a lower power handling capability to process a portion of the RF input signal. In another aspect, each pair of the coupling mediums can cause reactance cancellation in each reactance-cancelling pair of the RF circuits. By coupling the RF circuits via the coupling mediums and enabling splitting-combining among the RF circuits, it is possible to miniaturize the reactance cancelling RF circuit array for improved performance across a wide frequency spectrum.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reactance cancelling radio frequency (RF) circuit array comprising:
at least one input medium comprising a plurality of first coupling mediums;
at least one output medium comprising a plurality of second coupling mediums; and
a plurality of RF circuits provided between the at least one input medium and the at least one output medium, the plurality of RF circuits each coupled to a respective one or two adjacent RF circuits among the plurality of RF circuits via a respective one or two of the plurality of first coupling mediums and a respective one or two of the plurality of second coupling mediums to thereby divide the plurality of RF circuits into one or more reactance-cancelling pairs each comprising a pair of the plurality of RF circuits;
wherein the plurality of first coupling mediums and the plurality of second coupling mediums are configured to cause a reactance cancellation between the pair of the plurality of RF circuits in each of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs.

2. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of RF circuits comprises at least three RF circuits configured to form at least one of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs.

3. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of RF circuits comprises an even number of RF circuits each belonging to a respective one of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs.

4. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of RF circuits comprises an odd number of RF circuits; and
one of the odd number of RF circuits is excluded from any of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs and configured to have an impedance comprising a real resistance.

5. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of first impedance networks each coupled between a respective one of the plurality of RF circuits and the respective one or two of the plurality of first coupling mediums; and
a plurality of second impedance networks each coupled between the respective one of the plurality of RF circuits and the respective one or two of the plurality of second coupling mediums.

6. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one signal input coupled to any one of the plurality of RF circuits and configured to receive an RF input signal; and
at least one signal output coupled to any one of the plurality of RF circuits and configured to output an RF output signal.

7. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 6 , wherein:
each of the plurality of RF circuits is configured to receive a portion of the RF input signal from the at least one signal input and provide the portion of the RF input signal to the at least one signal output; and
the at least one signal output is configured to output the RF output signal comprising a sum of the portion of the RF input signal provided by each of the plurality of RF circuits.

8. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of RF circuits is further configured to receive an equal portion of the RF input signal.

9. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of RF circuits comprises a filter configured to resonate at a respective resonance frequency to pass the portion of the RF input signal to the at least one signal output.

10. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of RF circuits comprises a power amplifier configured to amplify the portion of the RF input signal and provide the amplified portion of the RF input signal to the at least one signal output.

11. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of RF circuits comprises a first RF circuit, a second RF circuit immediately succeeding the first RF circuit, and one or more third RF circuits succeeding the second RF circuit;
the plurality of first coupling mediums comprises a first negative-length lumped element and one or more first transmission lines;
the plurality of second coupling mediums comprises a second negative-length lumped element and one or more second transmission lines;
the first RF circuit is coupled to the second RF circuit via the first negative-length lumped element and the second negative-length lumped element; and
each of the one or more third RF circuits is coupled to a respective one or two of the plurality of RF circuits via a respective one or two of the one or more first transmission lines and a respective one or two of the one or more second transmission lines.

12. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of RF circuits each belong to a respective one of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs.

13. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 11 , wherein one of the one or more third RF circuits is excluded from any of the one or more reactance-cancelling pairs and configured to have an impedance consisting of a real resistance.

14. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of RF circuits comprises a first RF circuit, a second RF circuit immediately succeeding the first RF circuit, and one or more third RF circuits succeeding the second RF circuit;
the plurality of first coupling mediums comprises a first positive-length lumped element and one or more first transmission lines;
the plurality of second coupling mediums comprises a second positive-length lumped element and one or more second transmission lines;
the first RF circuit is coupled to the second RF circuit via the first positive-length lumped element and the second positive-length lumped element; and
each of the one or more third RF circuits is coupled to a respective one or two of the plurality of RF circuits via a respective one or two of the one or more first transmission lines and a respective one or two of the one or more second transmission lines.

15. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of first coupling mediums comprises a plurality of first transmission lines;
the plurality of second coupling mediums comprises a plurality of second transmission lines; and
each of the plurality of RF circuits is coupled to the respective one or two adjacent RF circuits among the plurality of RF circuits via a respective one or two of the plurality of first transmission lines and a respective one or two of the plurality of second transmission lines.

16. The reactance cancelling RF circuit array of claim 1 , further comprising:
a differential input coupler coupled to a first one of the plurality of RF circuits and a last one of the plurality of RF circuits, the differential input coupler is configured to:
convert an RF input signal into a positive RF input signal and a negative RF input signal; and
provide the positive RF input signal and the negative RF input signal to the first one of the plurality of RF circuits and the last one of the plurality of RF circuits; and

a differential output coupler coupled to the first one of the plurality of RF circuits and the last one of the plurality of RF circuits, the differential output coupler is configured to:
receive a positive RF output signal and a negative RF output signal from the first one of the plurality of RF circuits and the last one of the plurality of RF circuits; and
convert the positive RF output signal and the negative RF output signal into an RF output signal.

17. The reactance cancelling RF circui

Assignees

• Qorvo Us Inc

Inventors

• Lear Kelly M
• Galipeau Jeffery
• Klemmer Nikolaus

Classifications

• H01Q5/314 Primary

  using frequency dependent circuits or components, e.g. trap circuits or capacitors · CPC title

• H03F1/565

  using inductive elements · CPC title

• H04B1/40 Primary

  Circuits · CPC title

• H04B1/04

  Circuits · CPC title

• H04B1/0458

  Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages (matching circuits in general H03H) · CPC title