Method and apparatus for multilevel power amplification
First Claim
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1. A radio frequency (RF) system having an input and an RF output, the system comprising:
- one or more RF amplifiers each having an RF input, an RF output, and a power supply input; and
a voltage control unit coupled to provide a power supply voltage to the power supply input of at least one of the one or more RF amplifiers, wherein the voltage control unit is configured to dynamically select the power supply voltage from among 3 or more discrete voltage levels based at least in part upon one or more signal characteristics of a signal to be amplified and upon a window of data related to one or more signal characteristics of the signal to be amplified, the window corresponding to a set of data samples; and
a pulse cancellation system, coupled to at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the pulse cancellation system configured to receive at least a portion of an RF signal and to generate one or more cancellation signals wherein the one or more cancellation signals are based, at least in part, upon the portion of the RF signal and at least partially cancel variations at the RF output of the RF system caused by switching among the discrete voltage levels, the one or more cancellation signals introduced at the RF input of at least one of the one or more RF amplifiers.
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Abstract
Circuits and methods for performing multilevel power amplification using multiple different supply voltages or states are disclosed. In some embodiments, power amplifiers are provided that switch between three or more supply voltages or states.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A radio frequency (RF) system having an input and an RF output, the system comprising:
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one or more RF amplifiers each having an RF input, an RF output, and a power supply input; and a voltage control unit coupled to provide a power supply voltage to the power supply input of at least one of the one or more RF amplifiers, wherein the voltage control unit is configured to dynamically select the power supply voltage from among 3 or more discrete voltage levels based at least in part upon one or more signal characteristics of a signal to be amplified and upon a window of data related to one or more signal characteristics of the signal to be amplified, the window corresponding to a set of data samples; and a pulse cancellation system, coupled to at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the pulse cancellation system configured to receive at least a portion of an RF signal and to generate one or more cancellation signals wherein the one or more cancellation signals are based, at least in part, upon the portion of the RF signal and at least partially cancel variations at the RF output of the RF system caused by switching among the discrete voltage levels, the one or more cancellation signals introduced at the RF input of at least one of the one or more RF amplifiers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19)
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10. A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier system having an input and an RF output, comprising:
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one or more power amplifiers each having an RF input, an RF output, and a power supply input, wherein a power supply voltage provided to the power supply input of at least one of the one or more power amplifiers is dynamically selected from among 3 or more different voltage levels based at least in part upon one or more signal characteristics of a signal to be amplified and upon a window of data related to one or more signal characteristics of the signal to be amplified, the window corresponding to a set of data samples; and a pulse cancellation system, coupled to at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the pulse cancellation system configured to receive at least a portion of an RF signal and in response thereto to generate one or more cancellation signals to at least partially cancel variations in RF signals at the RF output of the power amplifier system caused by switching among the discrete voltage levels, the one or more cancellation signals introduced at the RF input of at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the one or more cancellation signals based, at least in part, on the portion of the RF signal received by said pulse cancellation system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 20)
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13. A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier system having a data input and an RF output, comprising:
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one or more power amplifiers that are switched among a discrete set of 3 or more operating states based at least in part upon data provided to the data input of the power amplifier system, the data comprising one or more signal characteristics of the signal to be amplified, and a window of data related to the one or more signal characteristics of the signal to be amplified, the window corresponding to a set of data samples; and a pulse cancellation system, coupled to at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the pulse cancellation system coupled to receive at least a portion of an RF signal and configured to generate one or more cancellation signals to at least partially cancel variations at RF output of the RF power amplifier system caused by switching among the discrete operating states, the one or more cancellation signals introduced at an input of at least one of the one or more power amplifiers, the one or more cancellation signals based, at least in part, on the portion of the RF signal receive by said pulse cancellation system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification