Input drive control for switcher regulated power amplifier modules
First Claim
1. A control system for a transmitter of a wireless device, the transmitter having a pre-amplifier and a power amplifier coupled to an output of the pre-amplifier, the control system comprising:
- a switching regulator control block configured to generate a switching supply control signal based on a pre-amplified transmission signal detected at the output of the pre-amplifier, the switching supply control signal comprising control values for controlling a switched mode power supply to generate a supply voltage signal for the power amplifier; and
a compensating control block configured to generate a gain correction signal based on the supply voltage signal and a rate of change of the supply voltage signal, the gain correction signal being used to adjust a gain control signal provided to the pre-amplifier for controlling gain in the pre-amplifier,wherein the compensating control block has a compensating transfer function adapted to produce the gain correction signal to maintain a substantially linear relationship between the gain control signal and power of an amplified transmission signal produced by the power amplifier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments described herein relate to a power management block and an amplification block used in the transmitter of a communication subsystem. The power management block provides improved control for the gain control signal provided to a pre-amplifier and the supply voltage provided to a power amplifier which are both in the amplification block. The power expended by the power amplifier is optimized by employing a continuous control method in which one or more feedback loops are employed to take into account various characteristics of the transmitter components and control values.
120 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A control system for a transmitter of a wireless device, the transmitter having a pre-amplifier and a power amplifier coupled to an output of the pre-amplifier, the control system comprising:
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a switching regulator control block configured to generate a switching supply control signal based on a pre-amplified transmission signal detected at the output of the pre-amplifier, the switching supply control signal comprising control values for controlling a switched mode power supply to generate a supply voltage signal for the power amplifier; and a compensating control block configured to generate a gain correction signal based on the supply voltage signal and a rate of change of the supply voltage signal, the gain correction signal being used to adjust a gain control signal provided to the pre-amplifier for controlling gain in the pre-amplifier, wherein the compensating control block has a compensating transfer function adapted to produce the gain correction signal to maintain a substantially linear relationship between the gain control signal and power of an amplified transmission signal produced by the power amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19)
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11. A method of controlling a transmitter of a wireless device using a control system, the transmitter having a pre-amplifier and a power amplifier coupled to an output of the pre-amplifier, the method comprising:
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generating a switching supply control signal based on a pre-amplified transmission signal detected at the output of the pre-amplifier, the switching supply control signal comprising control values for controlling a switched mode power supply; providing the switching supply control signal to the switched mode power supply to generate a supply voltage signal for the power amplifier; generating a gain correction signal based on the supply voltage signal and a rate of change of the supply voltage signal; adjusting a gain control signal using the gain correction signal, the gain control signal for controlling gain in the pre-amplifier; and providing the gain control signal to the pre-amplifier, wherein the gain correction signal is generated using a compensating transfer function to maintain a substantially linear relationship between the gain control signal and power of an amplified transmission signal produced by the power amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
generating the gain control signal based on the modified automatic gain control signal, the pre-amplified transmission signal, and a transmit power limit signal for limiting transmission power of the transmitter.
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15. The method of claim 14, further comprising anticipating an over-power condition and modifying the pre-amplifier gain to correct for the over-power condition.
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16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
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detecting an output of the pre-amplifier to provide a detected pre-amp output signal; producing a power error signal by subtracting the transmit power limit signal from the detected pre-amp output signal; clipping the power error signal to produce a clipped power error signal by converting negative values of the power error signal to zero and multiplying positive values of the power error signal by an adjustment factor; integrating the clipped power error signal to produce an integrated power error signal; processing the integrated power error signal with a power limiting transfer function to detect the over-power condition before this condition occurs and to generate an error signal; and generating the gain control signal by subtracting the error signal from the modified automatic gain control signal.
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17. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the switching supply control signal and the gain correction signal are generated in a processor.
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18. The method of claim 11, further comprising defining the transfer function in the processor using one or more look-up tables.
Specification