Power amplifier bias signal multiplexing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9621119-B2
Application number	US-201615018145-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 8, 2016
Priority date	Feb 13, 2015
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A power amplifier (PA) system includes an amplifying transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter. The PA system further includes a radio-frequency (RF) input configured to receive an RF input signal having an RF component and a DC bias component, a bias circuit coupled to the base of the amplifying transistor, and a bias tee circuit configured to receive the RF input signal and pass at least a portion of the DC component to the bias circuit and at least a portion of the RF component to the base of the amplifying transistor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power amplifier system comprising:
an amplifying transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter;
a radio-frequency input configured to receive a radio-frequency input signal having a radio-frequency component and a DC bias component;
a bias circuit coupled to the base of the amplifying transistor; and
a bias tee circuit configured to receive the radio-frequency input signal and pass at least a portion of the DC component to the bias circuit and at least a portion of the radio-frequency component to the base of the amplifying transistor.

2. The power amplifier system of claim 1 wherein the bias tee circuit operates to at least partially decouple the radio-frequency component from the DC bias component.

3. The power amplifier system of claim 1 wherein the bias tee includes an inductor and a resistor.

4. The power amplifier system of claim 1 further comprising a voltage supply input configured to receive a supply voltage for amplifying an output of the amplifying transistor.

5. The power amplifier system of claim 1 wherein the DC bias component of the radio-frequency input signal includes a bias current.

6. The power amplifier system of claim 1 wherein the DC bias component of the radio-frequency input signal includes a bias voltage.

7. The power amplifier system of claim 1 wherein the bias circuit includes current mirror circuitry.

8. A method for biasing a power amplifier, the method comprising:
providing a radio-frequency input signal to a power amplifier module, the radio-frequency input signal having a radio-frequency component and a DC bias component;
decoupling the DC bias component of the radio-frequency input signal from the radio-frequency component;
providing the decoupled DC bias component to a bias circuit coupled to a base of an amplifying transistor of the power amplifier module;
providing the decoupled radio-frequency component to the base of the amplifying transistor; and
generating a radio-frequency output signal using the amplifying transistor.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said decoupling the DC bias component from the radio-frequency component is performed using a bias tee including an inductor and a resistor.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing a supply voltage to the amplifying transistor.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the DC bias component of the radio-frequency input signal includes a bias current.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the DC bias component of the radio-frequency input signal includes a bias voltage.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the bias circuit includes current mirror circuitry.

14. A radio-frequency module comprising:
a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components;
a power amplifier die mounted on the packaging substrate, the power amplifier die including a first semiconductor substrate having formed thereon an amplifying transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter;
a radio-frequency input to the power amplifier die configured to receive a radio-frequency input signal having a radio-frequency component and a DC bias component;
a bias circuit implemented on the first semiconductor substrate, the bias circuit coupled to the base of the amplifying transistor;
a first bias tee circuit implemented on the first semiconductor substrate, the first bias tee circuit configured to receive the radio-frequency input signal and at least partially pass the DC bias component to the bias circuit and the radio-frequency component to the base of the amplifying transistor; and
a plurality of connectors configured to provide electrical connections between the power amplifier die and the packaging substrate.

15. The radio-frequency module of claim 14 further comprising:
a controller die mounted on the packaging substrate, the controller die including a second semiconductor substrate and a bias signal generator configured to transmit a bias signal on a bias channel of the radio-frequency module; and
a radio-frequency transmission channel configured to transmit a radio-frequency signal within the radio-frequency module.

16. The RF module of claim 15 further comprising:
a second bias tee circuit coupled to the bias channel and the radio-frequency transmission channel, the second bias tee circuit configured to couple the bias signal with the radio-frequency signal to form the radio-frequency input signal at least in part.

17. The radio-frequency module of claim 15 wherein the bias signal generator is a current generator.

18. The radio-frequency module of claim 15 wherein the bias signal generator is a voltage generator.

19. The radio-frequency module of claim 15 wherein the controller die includes an input switching module implemented on the second semiconductor substrate.

20. The radio-frequency module of claim 15 wherein the first semiconductor substrate is a GaAs substrate and the second semiconductor substrate is a silicon-on-insulator die.

Assignees

• Skyworks Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Lehtola Philip John

Classifications

• H03F3/195

  in integrated circuits · CPC title

• H03F3/211 Primary

  using a combination of several amplifiers (H03F3/60 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H03F3/19

  with semiconductor devices only · CPC title

• H03F3/72

  Gated amplifiers, i.e. amplifiers which are rendered operative or inoperative by means of a control signal · CPC title

• H03F2200/111

  the amplifier being a dual or triple band amplifier, e.g. 900 and 1800 MHz, e.g. switched or not switched, simultaneously or not · CPC title