Amplifier with varying supply voltage and input attenuation based upon supply voltage

• US 20060128324A1
• Filed: 12/14/2004
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tan, Danilo O., Tan, Geroncio O., Heffield, Timothy W., Leizerovich, Gustavo D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,539,466 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/127.100
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/3042 in modulators, frequency-changers, transmitters or power amplifiers transmission power control in bidirectional transmission systems H04W52/04
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/3047 for intermittent signals, e.g. burst signals

Abstract

A radio frequency amplifier module (500) has a voltage monitor (546) that monitors an input supply voltage of an input power supply (534) and an adjustable power supply (512) that accepts power from the input power supply (534) and produces an adjustable power supply output that has a controllable voltage. The radio frequency amplifier module (500) further has an amplifier (402) that is supplied by the adjustable power supply output and that amplifies a radio frequency signal. The radio frequency amplifier module (500) also has an output controller (546) that is communicatively coupled to the voltage monitor and the adjustable power supply (512). The output controller (546) controls, in response to the input source voltage, the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output.

Claims

1. A radio frequency amplifier module, comprising:

a voltage monitor that monitors an input supply voltage of an input power supply;

an adjustable power supply that produces, from the input power supply, an adjustable power supply output that has a controllable voltage;

an amplifier, supplied by the adjustable power supply output, that amplifies a radio frequency signal; and

an output controller, communicatively coupled to the voltage monitor and the adjustable power supply, that controls, in response to the input source voltage, the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output.

2. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 1, wherein the input power supply comprises a battery.

3. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 1, wherein the adjustable power supply comprises a buck or boost circuit.

4. The radio frequency amplifier module of claim 1, further comprising an adjustable attenuator, communicatively coupled to the output controller, that attenuates an input signal used to produce the radio frequency signal and wherein the output controller further controls the adjustable attenuator in response to the input source voltage.

5. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 4, further comprising a signal envelope monitor that monitors a power envelope of the input signal and wherein the output controller controls the adjustable attenuator in response to the power envelope to substantially operate the amplifier at a pre-determined output power compression level.

6. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 1, wherein the output controller comprises pre-determined parameters, wherein the output controller controls the controllable voltage based upon the pre-determined parameters.

7. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 6, wherein a subset of the pre-determined parameters is selected based upon measurements made during calibration processing.

8. The radio frequency amplifier of claim 6, wherein the subset of the pre-determined parameters is selected to cause the amplifier to operate at a specified RF output level relative to a specified RF output power compression point.

9. A method for controlling an amplifier, the method comprising:

monitoring an input supply voltage of an input power supply;

producing, from the input power supply, an adjustable power supply output that has a controllable voltage;

amplifying a radio frequency signal with an amplifier supplied by the adjustable power supply output; and

controlling, in response to an input source voltage, the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising controlling, in response to an input source voltage, the radio frequency signal level.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the input power supply comprises a battery.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the adjustable power supply comprises a buck or boost circuit.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising monitoring a power envelope of the input signal and wherein the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output is further performed in response to the power envelope.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, the machine readable instructions further comprising instructions for controlling, in response to an input source voltage, the radio frequency signal level.

14. A computer program product comprising machine readable instructions for controlling an amplifier, the machine readable instructions comprising instructions for:

monitoring an input supply voltage of an input power supply;

producing, from the input power supply, an adjustable power supply output that has a controllable voltage;

amplifying a radio frequency signal with an amplifier supplied by the adjustable power supply output; and

controlling, in response to a input source voltage, the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output.

16. A wireless communication device, comprising:

an antenna;

an input power supply;

a circuit supporting substrate; and

a radio frequency amplifier circuit disposed on the circuit supporting substrate and electrically coupled to the antenna, and wherein the radio frequency amplifier circuit including;

a voltage monitor that monitors an input supply voltage of the input power supply;

an adjustable power supply that produces, from the input power supply, an adjustable power supply output that has a controllable voltage;

an amplifier, supplied by the adjustable power supply output, that amplifies a radio frequency signal; and

an output controller, communicatively coupled to the voltage monitor and the adjustable power supply, that controls, in response to the input source voltage, the controllable voltage of the adjustable power supply output.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 16, wherein the input power supply comprises a battery.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 16, wherein the adjustable power supply comprises a buck or boost circuit.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 16, further comprising an adjustable attenuator, communicatively coupled to the output controller, that attenuates an input signal used to produce the radio frequency signal and wherein the output controller further controls the adjustable attenuator in response to the input source voltage.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 19, further comprising a signal envelope monitor that monitors a power envelope of the input signal and wherein the output controller controls the adjustable attenuator in response to the power envelope to substantially operate the radio frequency amplifier circuit at a pre-determined RF output power compression level.