Radio frequency low noise amplifier with on-chip matching and built-in tunable filter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9712195-B2
Application number	US-201514711623-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2015
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

An amplifier includes a gain transistor including a control terminal to receive an input signal. A degeneration inductor is coupled between the first terminal of the gain transistor and ground. A shunt inductor and a capacitor are coupled in series between the control terminal of the gain transistor and ground, and form a filter to attenuate frequencies of the input signal within a frequency range. The degeneration inductor and the shunt inductor form a transformer to provide impedance matching.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wireless device including a number of transceiver chains, each of the transceiver chains including an amplifier that comprises:
at least one gain transistor including a first terminal, and including a control terminal to receive an input signal;
a degeneration inductor coupled between the first terminal of the at least one gain transistor and ground; and
a shunt inductor and a first capacitor coupled in series between the control terminal of the at least one gain transistor and ground, wherein the degeneration inductor and the shunt inductor form a transformer that is to provide impedance matching for the amplifier.

2. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein the shunt inductor and the first capacitor form a first filter to attenuate frequencies of the input signal within a first frequency range.

3. The wireless device of claim 2 , wherein the first capacitor comprises a first variable capacitor having a control terminal to receive a first tuning signal to select the first frequency range.

4. The wireless device of claim 3 , further comprising a second capacitor coupled in parallel with the degeneration inductor, wherein the second capacitor and the degeneration inductor form a second filter to attenuate frequencies of the input signal within a second frequency range.

5. The wireless device of claim 4 , wherein the second capacitor comprises a second variable capacitor having a control terminal to receive a second tuning signal to select the second frequency range.

6. The wireless device of claim 5 , further comprising:
a control circuit to generate the first and second tuning signals based, at least in part, on a frequency of the input signal.

7. The wireless device of claim 6 , wherein the control circuit is to generate the first and second tuning signals also based, at least in part, on a frequency of another signal.

8. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein the input signal is associated with a first of the number of transceiver chains, and the other signal is associated with a second of the number of transceiver chains.

9. The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein the input signal is a member of the group consisting of a 5G Wi-Fi signal and an LTE-U signal, and the other signal is a member of the group consisting of a 2.4G Wi-Fi signal and an LTE-L signal.

10. The wireless device of claim 5 , further comprising a third variable capacitor coupled between the control terminal and the first terminal of the at least one gain transistor, wherein the third variable capacitor is to select a resonant frequency of the amplifier based, at least in part, on a third tuning signal.

11. The wireless device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one gain transistor is to receive the input signal without a series input inductor.

12. A method of operating a wireless device including a number of transceiver chains each including an amplifier, the method comprising:
receiving an input signal at an input terminal of the amplifier;
amplifying the input signal with at least one gain transistor;
generating a current flowing from an output terminal of the amplifier to ground through the at least one gain transistor and a degeneration inductor; and
shunting the input signal to ground through a shunt inductor and a first capacitor coupled together in series between the input terminal and ground, wherein the degeneration inductor and the shunt inductor form a transformer.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
providing impedance matching for the input signal using the transformer.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
attenuating frequencies of the input signal within a first frequency range using a first filter formed by the shunt inductor and the first capacitor; and
selecting the first frequency range by tuning the first capacitor with a first tuning signal.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
attenuating frequencies of the input signal within a second frequency range using a second filter formed by a second capacitor coupled in parallel with the degeneration inductor; and
selecting the second frequency range by tuning the second capacitor with a second tuning signal.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating the first and second tuning signals based, at least in part, on a frequency of the input signal.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
generating the first and second tuning signals also based, at least in part, on a frequency of another signal.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the input signal is associated with a first of the number of transceiver chains, and the other signal is associated with a second of the number of transceiver chains.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the input signal is a member of the group consisting of a 5G Wi-Fi signal and an LTE-U signal, and the other signal is a member of the group consisting of a 2.4G Wi-Fi signal and an LTE-L signal.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
selecting a resonant frequency of the amplifier using a third capacitor coupled between a control terminal and a first terminal of the at least one gain transistor.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a wireless device including an amplifier, cause the wireless device to perform operations comprising:
receiving an input signal at an input terminal of the amplifier;
amplifying the input signal with at least one gain transistor;
generating a current flowing from an output terminal of the amplifier to ground through the at least one gain transistor and a degeneration inductor; and
shunting the input signal to ground through a shunt inductor and a first capacitor coupled together in series between the input terminal and ground, wherein the degeneration inductor and the shunt inductor form a transformer.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the wireless device to perform operations further comprising:
providing impedance matching for the input signal using the transformer.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the wireless device to perform operations further comprising:
attenuating frequencies of the input signal within a first frequency range using a first filter formed by the shunt inductor and the first capacitor; and
selecting the first frequency range by tuning the first capacitor with a first tuning signal.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the wireless device to perform operations further comprising:
attenuating frequencies of the input signal within a second frequency range with a second filter formed by a second capacitor coupled in parallel with the degeneration inductor; and
selecting the second frequency range by tuning the second capacitor with a second tuning signal.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein execution of the instructions causes the wireless device to perform operations further comprising:
generating the first and second tuning signals based, at least in part, on a frequency of the input signal and on a frequency of another signal.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the input signal is a member o

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Wang Cheng-Han
• Donovan Conor
• Richmond Jesse Aaron
• Ko Jin-Su

Classifications

• H04B2001/0408

  with power amplifiers · CPC title

• H03F2200/294

  the amplifier being a low noise amplifier [LNA] · CPC title

• H03F3/245

  with semiconductor devices only · CPC title

• H04B1/3827

  Portable transceivers · CPC title

• H03F3/211

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