LINEAR ANTENNA SWITCH ARM AND A FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR

• US 20080012782A1
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Filtronic Compound Semiconductors Ltd. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Arnold, Ronald
• Granted Patent: US 7,532,094 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 343/876
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/102 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/161 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/693 Switching arrangements with several input- or output-terminals, e.g. multiplexers, distributors logic circuits H03K19/00; code converters H03M5/00, H03M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2017/6878 using multi-gate field-effect transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/48 in circuits for connecting transmitter and receiver to a common transmission path, e.g. by energy of transmitter H04B1/46 takes precedence

Abstract

A linear antenna switch arm comprising

• • a field effect transistor comprising a source, a drain and a plurality of gates;
  • a signal line connected between source and drain, the signal line comprising at least one signal line resistor;
  • at least one gate being connected to the signal line by a connection line, the join between connection line and signal line comprising a node;
  • the at least one gate being selected from the plurality of gates such that the adjacent gates on each side of the connected gates are not connected to the signal line.

Claims

1. A linear antenna switch arm comprising:

a field effect transistor comprising a source, a drain and a plurality of gates;

a signal line connected between the source and the drain, the signal line comprising at least one signal line resistor;

at least one gate being connected to the signal line by a connection line, a join between the connection line and the signal line comprising a node;

the at least one gate being selected from the plurality of gates such that adjacent gates on each side of the connected gate are not connected to the signal line.

2. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection line comprises a resistor.

3. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the at least one signal line resistor is arranged between the source and the node.

4. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the at least one signal line resistor is arranged between the drain and the node.

5. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of gates are connected to the signal line by connection lines, the signal line and the connection lines joining at nodes, the plurality of gates being selected such that each connected gate has adjacent gates on each side not connected to the signal line.

6. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least some of the connection lines comprise resistors.

7. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the connection lines comprises a resistor.

8. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one of the at least one signal line resistor is arranged between the nodes in the signal line.

9. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 5, wherein the nodes are short circuited together by the signal line.

10. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the source and the drain comprise a plurality of source and drain fingers respectively, the source and drain fingers beings interdigitated and spaced apart to define a meandering path therebetween, each gate comprising a gate strip extending along the meandering path.

11. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of gates of the field effect transistor include at least five gates.

14. A linear antenna switch arm as claimed in claim 3, wherein one of the at least one signal line resistor is arranged between the drain and the node.

12-13. -13. (canceled)