CONFIGURABLE TRANSMITTER

• US 20090163157A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zolfaghari, Alireza
• Granted Patent: US 8,280,325 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/127.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0067 with one or more circuit blocks in common for different bands
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0483 Transmitters with multiple parallel paths

Abstract

According to an example embodiment, an apparatus may be provided that is configurable to operate in either a separate power amplifier configuration or a combined power amplifier configuration.

Claims

1. An apparatus configurable to operate in either a separate power amplifier configuration or a combined power amplifier configuration, the apparatus comprising:

a transformer including;

a first transformer winding coupled to first and second differential inputs; and

a second transformer winding coupled to a first single-ended output and a second single-ended output;

a first switch coupled to the first single-ended output of the transformer;

a second switch coupled to the second single-ended output of the transformer;

wherein the transformer, while configured to operate in the separate power amplifier configuration, is configured to either output a signal associated with a first operating mode onto the first single-ended output of the transformer or output a signal associated with a second operating mode onto the second single-ended output of the transformer; and

wherein the transformer, while configured to operate in the combined power amplifier configuration, is configured to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or the second operating mode onto the first single-ended output of the transformer, and with the second single-ended output being unused.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus further comprises a processor configured to control the first switch and the second switch to configure the transformer to operate in either the separate power amplifier mode or the combined power amplifier mode.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first operating mode comprises a WCDMA (Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) operating mode, and the second mode comprises a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) operating mode.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second operating mode comprises a WCDMA (Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) operating mode, and the first mode comprises a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) operating mode.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first operating mode comprises a WCDMA (Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) operating mode and/or HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) mode, and the second mode comprises a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) operating mode and/or EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) operating mode.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second switches comprise a pair of complimentary transistors.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in the separate power amplifier configuration, the apparatus further comprising:

a first power amplifier having an input coupled to the first single-ended output of the transformer, the first power amplifier configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the first operating mode when present; and

a second power amplifier having an input coupled to the second single-ended output of the transformer, the second power amplifier configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the second operating mode when present.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in the combined power amplifier configuration, the apparatus further comprising:

a power amplifier having an input coupled to the first single-ended output of the transformer, the power amplifier configured to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or the second operating mode, whenever present.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 and further comprising a multimode mixer configured to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or signals associated with the second operating mode, depending on the operating mode that is selected or configured for operation.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the transformer comprises multiple transformers including at least:

a first transformer configured to operate in either the combined power amplifier configuration or the separate power amplifier configuration for a first frequency band; and

a second transformer configured to operate in either the combined power amplifier configuration or the separate power amplifier configuration for a second frequency band.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 and further comprising, when the apparatus is configured in the separate power amplifier configuration:

a first power amplifier coupled to a first output of the first transformer and configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the first operating mode when present;

a second power amplifier coupled to a second output of the first transformer, the second power amplifier configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the second operating mode when present;

a third power amplifier coupled to a first output of the second transformer and configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the first operating mode when present;

a fourth power amplifier coupled to a second output of the second transformer, the second power amplifier configured to receive and amplify the signal associated with the second operating mode when present.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, and further comprising, when the apparatus is configured in the combined power amplifier configuration:

the first power amplifier coupled to the first output of the first transformer, the first power amplifier configured to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or the second operating mode, whenever present, and with the second output of the first transformer being unused; and

the second power amplifier coupled to the first output of the second transformer, the second power amplifier configured to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or the second operating mode, whenever present, and with the second output of the second transformer being unused.

13. A method comprising:

configuring a transformer of a wireless transmitter to operate in either a separate power amplifier configuration or a combined power amplifier configuration, wherein the configuring the transformer to operate in a separate power amplifier configuration includes configuring the transformer to either output a signal associated with a first operating mode onto the first output of the transformer or to output a signal associated with a second operating mode onto a second output of the transformer, wherein the configuring the transformer to operate in a combined power amplifier mode includes configuring the transformer to output signals associated with the first operating mode and/or the second operating mode onto the first output of the transformer, and with the second output of the transformer being unused.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the configuring comprises configuring one or more switches within the transformer.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the first operating mode comprises at least a WCDMA (Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) operating mode, and the second mode comprises at least a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication)/EDGE operating mode.