Circuit and method for controlling charge injection in radio frequency switches
First Claim
1. A radio-frequency (RF) signal switching circuit implemented as a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) on a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, including:
- (a) a plurality of N signal switching MOSFET ACC transistors, each ACC transistor including (A) a gate coupled to a gate resistor configured to be coupled to a gate control signal, (B) a gate-controlled channel, and (C) an accumulated charge sink (ACS) electrically coupled to remove or control accumulated charge in the ACC transistor, wherein the plurality of ACC transistors are coupled in series through their respective gate-controlled channels between an input node and an output node to selectively convey an RF signal between the input node to the output node in response to the gate control signal, the ACC transistors further including at least one resistively-isolated inner node, each inner node located between adjacent pairs of the ACC transistors and receiving injected charge when the plurality of ACC transistors is switched from an ON state to an OFF state; and
(b) a plurality of charge injection control resistors, each charge injection control resistor operatively coupled between a corresponding one of the at least one resistively-isolated inner nodes and at least one of the input node or the output node to convey received injected charge from the corresponding resistively-isolated inner node to the input node and/or the output node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit and method for controlling charge injection in a circuit are disclosed. In one embodiment, the circuit and method are employed in a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) Radio Frequency (RF) switch. In one embodiment, an SOI RF switch comprises a plurality of switching transistors coupled in series, referred to as “stacked” transistors, and implemented as a monolithic integrated circuit on an SOI substrate. Charge injection control elements are coupled to receive injected charge from resistively-isolated nodes located between the switching transistors, and to convey the injected charge to at least one node that is not resistively-isolated. In one embodiment, the charge injection control elements comprise resistors. In another embodiment, the charge injection control elements comprise transistors. A method for controlling charge injection in a switch circuit is disclosed whereby injected charge is generated at resistively-isolated nodes between series coupled switching transistors, and the injected charge is conveyed to at least one node of the switch circuit that is not resistively-isolated.
652 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A radio-frequency (RF) signal switching circuit implemented as a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) on a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, including:
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(a) a plurality of N signal switching MOSFET ACC transistors, each ACC transistor including (A) a gate coupled to a gate resistor configured to be coupled to a gate control signal, (B) a gate-controlled channel, and (C) an accumulated charge sink (ACS) electrically coupled to remove or control accumulated charge in the ACC transistor, wherein the plurality of ACC transistors are coupled in series through their respective gate-controlled channels between an input node and an output node to selectively convey an RF signal between the input node to the output node in response to the gate control signal, the ACC transistors further including at least one resistively-isolated inner node, each inner node located between adjacent pairs of the ACC transistors and receiving injected charge when the plurality of ACC transistors is switched from an ON state to an OFF state; and (b) a plurality of charge injection control resistors, each charge injection control resistor operatively coupled between a corresponding one of the at least one resistively-isolated inner nodes and at least one of the input node or the output node to convey received injected charge from the corresponding resistively-isolated inner node to the input node and/or the output node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A radio-frequency (RF) signal switching circuit implemented as a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) on a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, including:
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(a) a plurality of N signal switching MOSFETs, each MOSFET including (A) a gate coupled to a gate resistor configured to be coupled to a gate control signal, and (B) a gate-controlled channel, wherein the plurality of MOSFETs are coupled in series through their respective gate-controlled channels between an input node and an output node to selectively convey an RF signal between the input node to the output node in response to the gate control signal, the MOSFETs further including at least one resistively-isolated inner node, each inner node located between adjacent pairs of the MOSFETs and receiving injected charge when the plurality of MOSFETs is switched from an ON state to an OFF state; and (b) a plurality of charge injection control resistors, each charge injection control resistor operatively coupled between a corresponding one of the at least one resistively-isolated inner nodes and at least one of the input node or the output node to convey received injected charge from the corresponding resistively-isolated inner node to the input node and/or the output node, each charge injection control resistor having an impedance sufficiently low to effectively remove the received injected charge. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A radio-frequency (RF) signal switching circuit implemented as a monolithic integrated circuit (IC) on a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, including:
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(a) a plurality of N signal switching MOSFET transistors, each transistor including (A) a gate coupled to a gate resistor configured to be coupled to a gate control signal, and (B) a gate-controlled channel, wherein the plurality of transistors are coupled in series through their respective gate-controlled channels between an input node and an output node to selectively convey an RF signal between the input node to the output node in response to the gate control signal, the transistors further including at least one resistively-isolated inner node, each inner node located between adjacent pairs of the transistors and receiving injected charge when the plurality of transistors is switched from an ON state to an OFF state; and (b) a plurality of charge injection control resistors, each charge injection control resistor operatively coupled between a corresponding one of the at least one resistively-isolated inner nodes and at least one of the input node or the output node to convey received injected charge from the corresponding resistively-isolated inner node to the input node and/or the output node, wherein each gate resistor has a resistance of approximately Rg, and the impedance of each charge injection control resistor is in the range of about Rg/10N to about 10×
Rg/N. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification