Abstract: The invention relates to the field of electronics, more particularly to the wire bonds incorporated into an integrated circuit package such as a quad flat pack, a ball grid array or hybrid style module. The present invention takes the normally undesirable wire bond inductance and uses it in an operational circuit where positive inductance is required. The circuit in which the wire bond inductance is used is located primarily in the integrated circuit die housed in the integrated circuit package, but may also include off-die components. In one example, a wire bond is used as the required series inductance in a discrete circuit impedance inverter which consists of two shunt-to-ground negative inductances and one series positive inductance. One of the negative inductances is located on-die, while the other is located off-die.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of electronics, more particularly to the wire bonds incorporated into an integrated circuit package such as a quad flat pack, a ball grid array or hybrid style module. The present invention takes the normally undesirable wire bond inductance and uses it in an operational circuit where positive inductance is required. The circuit in which the wire bond inductance is used is located primarily in the integrated circuit die housed in the integrated circuit package, but may also include off-die components. In one example, a wire bond is used as the required series inductance in a discrete circuit impedance inverter which consists of two shunt-to-ground negative inductances and one series positive inductance. One of the negative inductances is located on-die, while the other is located off-die.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of electronics, more particularly to the wire bonds incorporated into an integrated circuit package such as a quad flat pack. a ball grid array or hybrid style module. The present invention takes the normally undesirable wire bond inductance and uses it in an operational circuit where positive inductance is required. The circuit in which the wire bond inductance is used is located primarily in the integrated circuit die housed in the integrated circuit package, but may also include off-die components. In one example, a wire bond is used as the required series inductance in a discrete circuit impedance inverter which consists of two shunt-to-ground negative inductances and one series positive inductance. One of the negative inductances is located on-die, while the other is located off-die.

Abstract: Improved methods and systems for amplifying a signal are provided. Specifically, systems and methods for amplifying a signal through a lossy switch element tied to two or more voltage sources are provided. In the preferred embodiment, envelope information from the signal is used to smoothly transition between the two or more voltage sources to provide signal amplification over an increased range.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of electronics, more particularly to the wire bonds incorporated into an integrated circuit package such as a quad flat pack, a ball grid array or hybrid style module. The present invention takes the normally undesirable wire bond inductance and uses it in an operational circuit where positive inductance is required. The circuit in which the wire bond inductance is used is located primarily in the integrated circuit die housed in the integrated circuit package, but may also include off-die components. In one example, a wire bond is used as the required series inductance in a discrete circuit impedance inverter which consists of two shunt-to-ground negative inductances and one series positive inductance. One of the negative inductances is located on-die, while the other is located off-die.

Abstract: Improved methods and systems for amplifying a signal are provided. Specifically, systems and methods for amplifying a signal through a lossy switch element tied to two or more voltage sources are provided. In the preferred embodiment, envelope information from the signal is used to smoothly transition between the two or more voltage sources to provide signal amplification over an increased range.

Abstract: A switched-mode Class F power amplifier is provided for parallel connection with at least one other like amplifier, within a Chireix architecture, for combining the signals output therefrom. An input component includes at least one active device configured to be alternately switched by a signal input thereto to present an amplified signal corresponding to the input signal and constituting a low output impedance voltage source. A lumped element impedance inverter is provided between the input component and an output resonator component, the impedance inverter being configured for transforming the low output impedance voltage source to instead constitute a high output impedance current source configured for said parallel connection. In accordance with the invention, the negative reactive component values required by the impedance inverter are eliminated and effectively provided by incorporating those values into pre-selected reactive components of the input and output components.

Abstract: A switched-mode power amplifier is configured for performing power amplification of a plurality of signals input thereto and integrally summing (combining) those signals. Conceptually, this is achieved by replacing the input winding of the transformer component of a transformer-coupled voltage switching amplifier with separate input components, one for each input signal, in similar manner to the configuration of the input components of a three-port combiner (trifilar). In a first transformer-containing category of embodiments of the invention, the input winding of the amplifier's transformer is comprised of a plurality of series-coupled windings, one for each of the plurality of input components/signals such that the input components constitute a series connection of low output impedance sources applied to the amplifier's resonator and load. This, in turn, provides a high level of isolation between the amplifier input components and results in a low level of loss.

Abstract: A switched-mode Class F power amplifier is provided for parallel connection with at least one other like amplifier, within a Chireix architecture, for combining the signals output therefrom. An input component includes at least one active device configured to be alternately switched by a signal input thereto to present an amplified signal corresponding to the input signal and constituting a low output impedance voltage source. A lumped element impedance inverter is provided between the input component and an output resonator component, the impedance inverter being configured for transforming the low output impedance voltage source to instead constitute a high output impedance current source configured for said parallel connection. In accordance with the invention, the negative reactive component values required by the impedance inverter are eliminated and effectively provided by incorporating those values into pre-selected reactive components of the input and output components.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of electronics, more particularly to the wire bonds incorporated into an integrated circuit package such as a quad flat pack, a ball grid array or hybrid style module. The present invention takes the normally undesirable wire bond inductance and uses it in an operational circuit where positive inductance is required. The circuit in which the wire bond inductance is used is located primarily in the integrated circuit die housed in the integrated circuit package, but may also include off-die components. In one example, a wire bond is used as the required series inductance in a discrete circuit impedance inverter which consists of two shunt-to-ground negative inductances and one series positive inductance. One of the negative inductances is located on-die, while the other is located off-die.

Abstract: A switched-mode power amplifier is configured for performing power amplification of a plurality of signals input thereto and integrally summing (combining) those signals. Conceptually, this is achieved by replacing the input winding of the transformer component of a transformer-coupled voltage switching amplifier with separate input components, one for each input signal, in similar manner to the configuration of the input components of a three-port combiner (trifilar). In a first transformer-containing category of embodiments of the invention, the input winding of the amplifier's transformer is comprised of a plurality of series-coupled windings, one for each of the plurality of input components/signals such that the input components constitute a series connection of low output impedance sources applied to the amplifier's resonator and load. This, in turn, provides a high level of isolation between the amplifier input components and results in a low level of loss.

Abstract: There is a manufacturing limit on how small ceramic coaxial resonators can be produced, which leads to a limit on the frequency of resonance for these resonators. One technique to double the effective frequency of a ceramic coaxial resonator is to couple each end of a resonator to a Colpitts oscillator, the oscillators being balanced and out-of-phase by 180°. During operation, the resonator is effectively divided in half with a virtual ground forming in the center. This allows a single resonator to operate as two resonators of half the original size. Hence, the oscillation frequency for each of these balanced oscillators is doubled when compared to the frequency of similar oscillators that have separate ceramic coaxial resonators of similar size. If this technique is further implemented within a push-pull design tuned to the third harmonic, the output oscillation frequency becomes six times that of an oscillator using a separate ceramic coaxial resonator of similar size.

Abstract: The present invention provides a biasing method and apparatus which provides bias circuits of radio frequency (RF) power transistors with a low reactive impedance at low frequencies to reduce hysteresis related distortion without affecting the transistor input or output impedance or any impedance matching network which may be used. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is incorporated in a latteral diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor to reduce hysteresis brought about by a drain bias circuit without any impact on the transistor output impedance By removing the effect of the bias circuit at RF frequencies, the bias circuit can be designed with a low reactive impedance at low frequencies without any material consequences on the transistor output impedance. With a low enough reactive impedance, the hysteresis introduced by the bias circuit is substantially reduced.

Abstract: A biasing method and apparatus which provides bias circuits of radio frequency (RF) power transistors with a low reactive impedance at low frequencies to reduce hysteresis related distortion without affecting the transistor input or output impedance or any impedance matching network which may be used. In one embodiment, reduced hysteresis within a lateral diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor is brought about by a drain bias circuit without any impact on the transistor output impedance. By removing the effect of the bias circuit at RF frequencies, the bias circuit can be designed with a low reactive impedance at low frequencies without any material consequences on the transistor output impedance. With a low enough reactive impedance, the hysteresis introduced by the bias circuit is substantially reduced. An auxiliary bias feed external to an RF transistor package is also embodied.

Abstract: There is a manufacturing limit on how small ceramic coaxial resonators can be produced, which leads to a limit on the frequency of resonance for these resonators. One technique to double the effective frequency of a ceramic coaxial resonator is to couple each end of a resonator to a Colpitts oscillator, the oscillators being balanced and out-of-phase by 180°. During operation, the resonator is effectively divided in half with a virtual ground forming in the center. This allows a single resonator to operate as two resonators of half the original size. Hence, the oscillation frequency for each of these balanced oscillators is doubled when compared to the frequency of similar oscillators that have separate ceramic coaxial resonators of similar size.

Abstract: There is a manufacturing limit on how small ceramic coaxial resonators can be produced, which leads to a limit on the frequency of resonance for these resonators. One technique to quadruple the effective frequency of a ceramic coaxial resonator is to couple four resonators into a ring configuration, each of the resonators having an electrical length of 90°. Further, each of the resonators has an amplifier coupled in parallel, these amplifiers having phase shifts approximately equal to 90° and further being controlled by a tuning voltage VTUNE. In operation, four oscillation signals are generated at the same frequency but out-of-phase by a factor of 90°. When combined, the resulting signal is an oscillation signal at four times the frequency of the original oscillation signals. At the same time, one of the oscillation signals used in the combination can be sampled and be used for feedback purposes within a PLL-FS.

Abstract: A feed forward power amplifier has a main amplifier and an error compensation path that compares the input and output of the main amplifier and subsequently adjusts the output signal from the main amplifier. Currently, such a design requires the implementation of a delay apparatus to delay the output of the main amplifier in order to compensate for the delay within the error compensation path. This delay apparatus implemented within a high-power area costs the power amplifier in terms of money, size, and/or efficiency. With the implementation of a phase compensation filter within the error compensation path, the delay apparatus can be removed. The phase compensation filter has a frequency versus phase characteristic with a positive slope for a limited bandwidth and a constant frequency versus gain characteristic. This allows, for the limited bandwidth, the characteristic of the error compensation path to be similar to that of the undelayed output of the main amplifier.

Abstract: There is a manufacturing limit on how small ceramic coaxial resonators can be produced, which leads to a limit on the frequency of resonance for these resonators. One technique to double the effective frequency of a ceramic coaxial resonator is to couple each end of a resonator to a Colpitts oscillator, the oscillators being balanced and out-of-phase by 180°. During operation, the resonator is effectively divided in half with a virtual ground forming in the center. This allows a single resonator to operate as two resonators of half the original size. Hence, the oscillation frequency for each of these balanced oscillators is doubled when compared to the frequency of similar oscillators that have separate ceramic coaxial resonators of similar size. If this technique is further implemented within a push-pull design tuned to the third harmonic, the output oscillation frequency becomes six times that of an oscillator using a separate ceramic coaxial resonator of similar size.

Abstract: A switched-mode power amplifier is configured for performing power amplification of a plurality of signals input thereto and integrally summing (combining) those signals. Conceptually, this is achieved by replacing the input winding of the transformer component of a transformer-coupled voltage switching amplifier with separate input components, one for each input signal, in similar manner to the configuration of the input components of a three-port combiner (trifilar). In a first transformer-containing category of embodiments of the invention, the input winding of the amplifier's transformer is comprised of a plurality of series-coupled windings, one for each of the plurality of input components/signals such that the input components constitute a series connection of low output impedance sources applied to the amplifier's resonator and load. This, in turn, provides a high level of isolation between the amplifier input components and results in a low level of loss.