Divided-voltage FET power amplifiers
First Claim
1. A method for rf power amplifying which comprises:
- a) series connecting upper and lower solid-state current devices;
b) said series connecting step comprises connecting a lower-voltage terminal of said upper solid-state current device to an rf choke, and connecting said rf choke to a higher-voltage terminal of said lower solid-state current device;
c) separately amplifying rf signals in said solid-state current devices at a selected operating frequency;
d) rf decoupling said solid-state current devices;
e) said rf decoupling step comprises providing a capacitance between said lower-voltage terminal and an electrical ground; and
f) said rf decoupling step further comprises making an rf effective series resistance of said capacitance lower than that of any porcelain capacitor that resonates at said selected operating frequency.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Divided-voltage FET amplifiers (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 200, or 220) include two or more solid-state current devices, preferably gallium arsenide FETs (Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6, and/or Q8), connected in series or series-parallel for dc operation, and connected in parallel for rf operation, thereby improving power efficiency by using the same current two or more times to develop rf power. Various ones of the embodiments produce separate rf outputs, separately amplify two rf outputs and subsequently combine them into a single rf output, and/or selectively phase shift rf outputs. Isolation between rf frequencies and dc voltages includes using decoupling capacitors with selected resonant frequencies and low effective series resistances (ESRs) and using inductors with selected self-resonant frequencies for rf chokes. Preferably, providing low ESRs includes paralleling two or more decoupling capacitors (Ca-n) with low ESRs, whose resonant frequencies can be distributed for wide-band operation.
26 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method for rf power amplifying which comprises:
-
a) series connecting upper and lower solid-state current devices;
b) said series connecting step comprises connecting a lower-voltage terminal of said upper solid-state current device to an rf choke, and connecting said rf choke to a higher-voltage terminal of said lower solid-state current device;
c) separately amplifying rf signals in said solid-state current devices at a selected operating frequency;
d) rf decoupling said solid-state current devices;
e) said rf decoupling step comprises providing a capacitance between said lower-voltage terminal and an electrical ground; and
f) said rf decoupling step further comprises making an rf effective series resistance of said capacitance lower than that of any porcelain capacitor that resonates at said selected operating frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification