Multimode voltage tracker circuit

• US 10,476,437 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2018
• Issued: 11/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nag, Manbir Singh, Kay, Michael R., Khlat, Nadim
• Primary Examiner(s): Choe, Henry
• Application Number:
  US16/045,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20190288645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 474 Days
• Field of Search: 330136, 330129, 330285, 330296
• 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 1/0216 Continuous control
• 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 3/24 of transmitter output stages
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/245 with semiconductor devices only

Abstract

A multimode voltage tracker circuit is provided. The multimode voltage tracker circuit is configured to generate a modulated voltage for amplifying a radio frequency (RF) signal(s), which may be modulated in a wide range of modulation bandwidth. In one non-limiting example, the multimode voltage tracker circuit can be configured to operate in a low modulation bandwidth (LMB) mode to generate an average power tracking (APT) modulated voltage for amplifying the RF signal(s) when the RF signal(s) is modulated in a lower modulation bandwidth (e.g., <50 KHz). As such, the multimode voltage tracker circuit can be adapted to support lower bandwidth communications in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) network with improved efficiency, stability, and performance.

Claims

1. A multimode voltage tracker circuit comprising:

an input node configured to receive a modulated target voltage;

an output node configured to output a modulated voltage;

an envelope tracking (ET) tracker circuit coupled between the input node and the output node, the ET tracker circuit is configured to generate the modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage; and

a control circuit configured to;

determine whether the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in a low modulation bandwidth (LMB) mode; and

control the ET tracker circuit to generate an average power tracking (APT) modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage in response to the ET tracker circuit being configured to operate in the LMB mode.

2. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine whether the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in a high modulation bandwidth (HMB) mode; and

control the ET tracker circuit to generate an ET modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage in response to the ET tracker circuit being configured to operate in the HMB mode.

3. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 2 wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine whether the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in the LMB mode or the HMB mode based on pre-stored configuration information.

4. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 2 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine that the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in the LMB mode when a modulation bandwidth associated with the modulated voltage is less than a predefined threshold; and

determine that the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in the HMB mode when the modulation bandwidth associated with the modulated voltage is greater than or equal to the predefined threshold.

5. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 4 wherein the predefined threshold is 50 KHz.

6. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 2 wherein the ET tracker circuit comprises:

a charge pump circuit configured to generate the APT modulated voltage and a current;

an amplifier circuit configured to generate the ET modulated voltage; and

an ET controller and an APT controller coupled to the charge pump circuit.

7. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is further configured to activate the APT controller and the charge pump circuit in the LMB mode to generate the APT modulated voltage based on the modulated target voltage.

8. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 7 wherein the charge pump circuit is further configured to generate the current at the output node in the LMB mode based on the APT modulated voltage.

9. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 7 wherein the control circuit is further configured to deactivate the ET controller and the amplifier circuit in the LMB mode.

10. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is further configured to activate the amplifier circuit in the HMB mode to generate the ET modulated voltage at the output node.

11. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is further configured to activate the ET controller and the charge pump circuit in the HMB mode to generate the current based on a battery voltage.

12. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 6 wherein:

the ET tracker circuit further comprises an output switching circuit configured to couple the charge pump circuit and the amplifier circuit to the output node; and

the control circuit is further configured to;

in the LMB mode, control the output switching circuit to couple the charge pump circuit to the output node to provide the APT modulated voltage and the current to the output node; and

in the HMB mode, control the output switching circuit to couple the amplifier circuit to the output node to provide the ET modulated voltage and the current to the output node.

13. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 12 wherein the amplifier circuit is coupled to the output switching circuit via an offset capacitor.

14. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 6 further comprising an input switching circuit coupled to a transceiver circuit and configured to receive the modulated target voltage from the transceiver circuit.

15. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 14 wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the input switching circuit to provide the modulated target voltage to the APT controller in the LMB mode.

16. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 15 further comprising an APT voltage adapter coupled between the input switching circuit and the APT controller.

17. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 14 wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the input switching circuit to provide the modulated target voltage to the ET controller and the amplifier circuit in the HMB mode.

18. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 17 further comprising an ET voltage adapter coupled between the input switching circuit, the ET controller, and the amplifier circuit.

19. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 6 further comprising:

a second charge pump circuit configured to generate a second APT modulated voltage and a second current;

a second amplifier circuit configured to generate a second ET modulated voltage; and

a second ET controller coupled to the second charge pump circuit.

20. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 19 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine whether the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in a LMB very high power (VHP) mode based on a predefined power threshold; and

activate the charge pump circuit and the second charge pump circuit to provide the APT modulated voltage and the second APT modulated voltage to the output node in response to determining the ET tracker circuit being configured to operate in the LMB VHP mode.

21. The multimode voltage tracker circuit of claim 20 wherein the control circuit is further configured to deactivate the ET controller, the second ET controller, the amplifier circuit, and the second amplifier circuit in the LMB VHP mode.

22. A multimode voltage tracker circuit comprising:

an input node configured to receive a modulated target voltage;

an output node configured to output a modulated voltage;

an envelope tracking (ET) tracker circuit coupled between the input node and the output node, the ET tracker circuit is configured to generate the modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage; and

a control circuit configured to;

determine whether the ET tracker circuit is configured to operate in a low modulation bandwidth (LMB) mode or in a high modulation bandwidth (HMB) mode based on a predefined threshold;

control the ET tracker circuit to generate an average power tracking (APT) modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage in response to the ET tracker circuit being configured to operate in the LMB mode; and

control the ET tracker circuit to generate an ET modulated voltage at the output node based on the modulated target voltage in response to the ET tracker circuit being configured to operate in the HMB mode.