Providing pre-distortion to an input signal

• US 7,872,528 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2008
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Javelin Semiconductor, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bockelman, David E., Srinivasan, Vishnu
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Patricia
• Application Number:
  US12/082,311
• Publication Number:
  US 20090256631A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,013 Days
• Field of Search: 330/149, 330/124.R, 330/165
• US Class Current: 330/149
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/3211 in differential amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/3276 using the nonlinearity inherent to components, e.g. a diode
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/451 the amplifier being a radio frequency amplifier
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/537 A transformer being used as coupling element between two amplifying stages
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2203/45138 Two or more differential amplifiers in IC-block form are combined, e.g. measuring amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/211 using a combination of several amplifiers H03F3/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/245 with semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/45475 using IC blocks as the active amplifying circuit

Abstract

In one implementation, the present invention includes a diode device to receive an incoming radio frequency (RF) signal to be amplified in a gain device of an amplifier and to provide a pre-distorted signal. Based on this pre-distorted signal, the gain device can output an amplified RF signal having substantial linearity to the incoming RF signal.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a diode device to receive an incoming radio frequency (RF) signal to be amplified in a gain device of an amplifier and to provide a pre-distorted signal;

the gain device to receive the pre-distorted signal and to output an amplified RF signal, wherein the diode device is to pre-distort the incoming signal with a substantially inverse distortion of a non-linearity of the gain device such that the amplified RF signal is a substantially linear version of the incoming RF signal; and

a second diode device to receive the incoming RF signal and to provide a second pre-distorted signal to a second gain device, wherein the second diode device and the second gain device are connected to a supply voltage, and wherein the gain device and the second gain device form a complementary gain stage, and the diode device is coupled between a reference voltage and a gate terminal of the gain device and the second diode device is coupled between the supply voltage and a gate terminal of the second gain device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the diode device is forward biased, and is coupled in shunt with an input terminal of the gain device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the diode device is a diode-connected transistor having a common polarity with a transistor corresponding to the gain device, and is to provide a gate voltage corresponding to the pre-distorted signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising an inductor to resonate a capacitance at a frequency of the incoming RF signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising means for reducing harmonics at an output of the gain device, wherein the harmonics are caused by filtering of the incoming RF signal by the inductor.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a diode device to receive an incoming radio frequency (RF) signal to be amplified in a gain device of an amplifier and to provide a pre-distorted signal;

the gain device to receive the pre-distorted signal and to output an amplified RF signal, wherein the diode device is to pre-distort the incoming signal with a substantially inverse distortion of a non-linearity of the gain device such that the amplified RF signal is a substantially linear version of the incoming RF signal; and

a helper circuit coupled to the diode device to control the pre-distorted signal at a common terminal of the diode device and the gain device, wherein the diode device comprises a transistor having a gate terminal coupled to a gate terminal of the gain device, and an output terminal coupled to an input of the helper circuit and an output of the helper circuit coupled to the gate terminals.

7. A power amplifier comprising:

a first driver stage to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal and provide a first RF driver signal;

a second driver stage to receive the RF signal and provide a second RF driver signal;

a first complementary pair of diode devices coupled to at least one of the first and second driver stages to pre-distort the first and second RF driver signals into a first pair of pre-distortion signals to compensate for non-linearity of a first gain stage;

the first gain stage including a complementary amplifier to receive the first pair of pre-distortion signals and to output a first amplified RF signal;

a second complementary pair of diode devices coupled to at least one of the first and second driver stages to pre-distort the first and second RF driver signals into a second pair of pre-distortion signals to compensate for non-linearity of a second gain stage; and

the second gain stage including a complementary amplifier to receive the second pair of pre-distortion signals and to output a second amplified RF signal.

8. The power amplifier of claim 7, further comprising a transformer coupled between the first and second driver stages and the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices, the transformer having a first secondary coil coupled to a first diode device of the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices and a second secondary coil coupled to a second diode device of the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices, wherein the transformer is to at least partially resonate with a capacitance of the first and second driver stages and parasitic capacitances of the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices and the first and second gain stages.

9. The power amplifier of claim 7, wherein the first and second gain stages and the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices form a first parallel signal path, and further comprising a second parallel signal path including third and fourth gain stages and third and fourth complementary pairs of diode devices, wherein the second parallel signal path is switchably coupled to the first and second driver stages.

10. The power amplifier of claim 7, further comprising:

an inductance coupled in parallel between outputs of the first and second driver stages; and

coupling capacitors to serially couple the corresponding first and second RF driver signals to the first and second gain stages.

11. The power amplifier of claim 7, wherein the first complementary pair of diode devices are cross-coupled to the input of the second gain stage, and the second complementary pair of diode devices are cross-coupled to the input of the first gain stage.

12. The power amplifier of claim 11, further comprising:

a first resistance coupled in shunt between a first diode device of the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices; and

a second resistance coupled in shunt between a second diode device of the first and second complementary pairs of diode devices.

13. A power amplifier comprising:

a first parallel gain stage to receive a first input current on a first input signal line and to generate a first amplified output current, the first parallel gain stage including a first pre-distortion device coupled to the first input signal line to generate a pre-distortion voltage, a first filter coupled to the first pre-distortion device and tuned to a fundamental frequency, and a first gain device driven by the pre-distortion voltage and to generate the first amplified output current; and

a second parallel gain stage to receive a second input current on a second input signal line and to generate a second amplified output current, the second parallel gain stage including a second pre-distortion device coupled to the second input signal line to generate a second pre-distortion voltage, a second filter coupled to the second pre-distortion device and tuned to a harmonic of the fundamental frequency, and a second gain device driven by the second pre-distortion voltage and to generate the second amplified output current, wherein the first amplified output current and the second amplified output current are provided to a load to generate an amplified voltage, and wherein the second parallel gain stage is to reduce at least one harmonic generated in the first parallel gain stage.

14. The power amplifier of claim 13, wherein an output current formed of the first amplified output current and the second amplified output current is a substantially linear version of an input current formed of the first input current and the second input current.

15. The power amplifier of claim 13, wherein the second parallel gain stage is sized with respect to the first parallel gain stage according to coefficients of a series expansion, and the first and second parallel gain stages are each differential gain stages, and wherein the second parallel gain stage is to substantially cancel a third harmonic of the fundamental frequency.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a diode device to receive an incoming radio frequency (RF) signal to be amplified in a gain device of an amplifier and to provide a pre-distorted signal, wherein the diode device is a diode-connected CMOS transistor having a common polarity with a CMOS transistor corresponding to the gain device; and

the gain device to receive the pre-distorted signal and to output an amplified RF signal, wherein the diode device is to pre-distort the incoming signal with a substantially inverse distortion of a non-linearity of the gain device such that the amplified RF signal is a substantially linear version of the incoming RF signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a helper circuit coupled to the diode device to control the pre-distorted signal at a common terminal of the diode device and the gain device.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for reducing harmonics at an output of the gain device, wherein the harmonics are caused by filtering of the incoming RF signal by an inductor that resonates a capacitance at a frequency of the incoming RF signal.