Power amplification apparatus and method therefor
First Claim
1. An amplifier circuit comprising:
- an input and an output;
a first amplifier having a first gate bias, a first drain bias, a first signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a first signal output, said first amplifier comprising means for amplifying a lower power portion of a signal;
a second amplifier having a second gate bias, a second drain bias, a second signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a second signal output, said second amplifier comprising means for amplifying a higher power portion of said signal;
a first impedance inverter coupled between the first output of the first amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit; and
a second impedance inverter coupled between the second output of the second amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for efficiently amplifying input signals includes multiple amplifiers (20, 30). Each amplifier receives a signal from a power divider (12) where the input signal is split with substantially equal phase. Each amplifier drives a load (40) through a parallel coupled line pair (26, 36). The parallel coupled line pairs are preferably implemented in micro-strip or strip line technology. Each amplifier includes gate bias inputs (24, 34) and drain bias inputs (22, 32). The gate bias inputs can be biased equally and the drain bias inputs can be biased equally, resulting in a parallel, power combined, amplifier configuration. Alternately, the drain bias inputs can be staggered, or the gate bias inputs can be staggered to increase efficiency.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An amplifier circuit comprising:
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an input and an output; a first amplifier having a first gate bias, a first drain bias, a first signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a first signal output, said first amplifier comprising means for amplifying a lower power portion of a signal; a second amplifier having a second gate bias, a second drain bias, a second signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a second signal output, said second amplifier comprising means for amplifying a higher power portion of said signal; a first impedance inverter coupled between the first output of the first amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit; and a second impedance inverter coupled between the second output of the second amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An amplifier circuit comprising:
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an input and an output; a first amplifier having a first gate bias, a first drain bias, a first signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a first signal output; a second amplifier having a second gate bias, a second drain bias, a second signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a second signal output; a third amplifier having a third gate bias, a third drain bias, a third signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a third signal output; a fourth amplifier having a fourth gate bias, a fourth drain bias, a fourth signal input coupled to the input of the amplifier circuit, and a fourth signal output; a first impedance inverter coupled between the first output of the first amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit; a second impedance inverter coupled between the second output of the second amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit; a third impedance inverter coupled between the third output of the third amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit; and a fourth impedance inverter coupled between the fourth output of the fourth amplifier and the output of the amplifier circuit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of amplifying an input signal, said method comprising the steps of:
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amplifying a first portion of said input signal with a first amplifier having a first drain bias, thereby producing a first amplified signal; phase shifting the first amplified signal with a first parallel coupled line, thereby producing a first phase shifted signal; amplifying a second portion of said input signal with a second amplifier having a second drain bias, wherein the second drain bias is set to a higher voltage than the first drain bias, thereby producing a second amplified signal; phase shifting the second amplified signal with a second parallel coupled line, thereby producing a second phase shifted signal; and combining the first phase shifted signal and the second phase shifted signal to produce an amplified replica of the input signal.
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Specification