Envelope tracking power management circuit

• US 10,439,557 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2018
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Khlat, Nadim, Kay, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Choe, Henry
• Application Number:
  US15/984,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20190222175A1
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 330127, 330297
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/07 using capacitors charged and discharged alternately by semiconductor devices with control electrode , e.g. charge pumps
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/02 Modifications of amplifiers to raise the efficiency, e.g. gliding Class A stages, use of an auxiliary oscillation
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/0227 using supply converters
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/102 A non-specified detector of a signal envelope being used in an amplifying circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/451 the amplifier being a radio frequency amplifier
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/189 High-frequency amplifiers, e.g. radio frequency amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/20 Power amplifiers, e.g. Class B amplifiers, Class C amplifiers H03F3/26 - H03F3/30 take precedence

Abstract

An envelope tracking (ET) power management circuit is provided. The ET power management circuit includes a number of tracker circuits each configured to operate based on a respective input voltage. In various operation scenarios, one or more selected tracker circuits may be configured to provide ET modulated voltages to a number of amplifier circuits. In examples discussed herein, each of the selected tracker circuits is configured to draw the respective input voltage from a single voltage circuit (e.g., an inductor-based buck-boost circuit) in the ET power management circuit. By utilizing the single voltage circuit to power the selected tracker circuits, as opposed to employing multiple voltage circuits, it is possible to reduce the footprint of the ET power management circuit, thus helping to reduce cost and power consumption of the ET power management circuit.

Claims

1. An envelope tracking (ET) power management circuit comprising:

a voltage circuit comprising a voltage output and configured to generate a supply voltage at the voltage output;

a plurality of tracker circuits comprising a plurality of voltage inputs configured to receive a plurality of input voltages, the plurality of tracker circuits configured to generate a plurality of ET modulated voltages based on the plurality of input voltages, respectively; and

control circuitry configured to couple the voltage output to at least one selected voltage input among the plurality of voltage inputs to provide the supply voltage to at least one selected tracker circuit among the plurality of tracker circuits as a selected input voltage among the plurality of input voltages.

2. The ET power management circuit of claim 1 wherein the voltage circuit comprises an inductor-based buck-boost circuit configured to generate a constant voltage as the supply voltage at the voltage output.

3. The ET power management circuit of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of amplifier circuits.

4. The ET power management circuit of claim 3 wherein at least two selected amplifier circuits among the plurality of amplifier circuits are configured to amplify at least two radio frequency (RF) signals concurrently based on at least two selected ET modulated voltages among the plurality of ET modulated voltages.

5. The ET power management circuit of claim 4 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to configure at least two selected tracker circuits among the plurality of tracker circuits to generate the at least two selected ET modulated voltages based on at least two input voltages among the plurality of input voltages and provide the at least two selected ET modulated voltages to the at least two selected amplifier circuits, respectively.

6. The ET power management circuit of claim 5 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to couple the voltage output to at least two selected voltage inputs of the at least two selected tracker circuits to provide the supply voltage to the at least two selected tracker circuits as the at least two input voltages.

7. The ET power management circuit of claim 6 wherein the voltage circuit is further configured to generate the supply voltage based on a maximum input voltage among the at least two input voltages.

8. The ET power management circuit of claim 3 wherein a selected amplifier circuit among the plurality of amplifier circuits is configured to amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal based on a selected ET modulated voltage among the plurality of ET modulated voltages.

9. The ET power management circuit of claim 8 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to configure a selected tracker circuit among the plurality of tracker circuits to generate the selected ET modulated voltage based on an input voltage among the plurality of input voltages and provide the selected ET modulated voltage to the selected amplifier circuit.

10. The ET power management circuit of claim 9 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to couple the voltage output to a selected voltage input of the selected tracker circuit to provide the supply voltage to the selected tracker circuit as the input voltage.

11. The ET power management circuit of claim 10 wherein the voltage circuit is further configured to generate the supply voltage based on a maximum input voltage among the plurality of input voltages.

12. The ET power management circuit of claim 9 wherein the selected amplifier circuit is further configured to amplify the RF signal based on the selected ET modulated voltage and a current.

13. The ET power management circuit of claim 12 wherein the current comprises a direct current and an alternating current.

14. The ET power management circuit of claim 12 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to configure the selected tracker circuit to provide half of the current to the selected amplifier circuit.

15. The ET power management circuit of claim 14 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to configure a second selected tracker circuit different from the selected tracker circuit among the plurality of tracker circuits to generate and provide an other half of the current to the selected amplifier circuit.

16. The ET power management circuit of claim 15 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to configure the selected tracker circuit and the second selected tracker circuit to each generate the half of the current in response to determining that the selected amplifier circuit is required to amplify the RF signal to a power level of at least 33 dBm.

17. The ET power management circuit of claim 15 wherein each of the selected tracker circuit and the second selected tracker circuit includes a charge pump and a parallel amplifier.

18. The ET power management circuit of claim 17 wherein the charge pump and the parallel amplifier in the selected tracker circuit are configured to generate the half of the current and the selected ET modulated voltage, respectively.

19. The ET power management circuit of claim 17 wherein the charge pump in the second selected tracker circuit is configured to generate the other half of the current.

20. The ET power management circuit of claim 19 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to deactivate the parallel amplifier in the second selected tracker circuit.

21. The ET power management circuit of claim 3 wherein:

two selected amplifier circuits among the plurality of amplifier circuits are configured to amplify two radio frequency (RF) signals concurrently based on two selected ET modulated voltages among the plurality of ET modulated voltages;

the control circuitry is further configured to;

configure two selected tracker circuits among the plurality of tracker circuits to generate the two selected ET modulated voltages based on two input voltages among the plurality of input voltages and provide the two selected ET modulated voltages to the two selected amplifier circuits, respectively; and

couple the voltage output to two selected voltage inputs of the two selected tracker circuits to provide the supply voltage to the two selected tracker circuits as the two input voltages; and

the voltage circuit is further configured to generate the supply voltage based on a maximum input voltage among the two input voltages.