Patents by Inventor Lance Todd Mucenieks

Lance Todd Mucenieks has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6407635
    Abstract: RF power amplifier distortion can be accurately measured in the presence of multi-frequency input signals, by using a swept local oscillator to tune RF input and output receivers. The power detected by the input receiver is compared with a threshold associated with the carrier. Whenever the power detected by the input receiver exceeds the threshold—indicating that the input receiver is tuned on carrier energy—the signal path through the output receiver is blanked. The sweeping action combined with selective blanking of the output receiver creates an adaptive notch filter, which allows for the direct measurement of low level distortion power in the presence of high power carriers. This distortion power is digitized and can be processed to control pre-distortion correction circuitry or gain/phase adjustment circuitry of a feed-forward error correction loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2002
    Assignee: Spectrian Corporation
    Inventors: Lance Todd Mucenieks, David Kent Bonds
  • Patent number: 6359508
    Abstract: RF power amplifier distortion can be accurately measured in the presence of multi-carrier input signals, by using a common swept local oscillator to tune RF input and output receivers, whose outputs are monitored for distortion correction purposes. In carrier cancellation and feedforward cancellation mode, when the power detected by the input receiver exceeds a power threshold, the processor accumulates a digital representation of uncancelled carrier energy detected by the output receiver when sampling the signal at the output of the carrier cancellation combiner. It otherwise accumulates uncancelled IMD sampled at the output of the amplifier downstream of the feedforward cancellation coupler. In predistortion mode, the output receiver monitors only the output of the carrier cancellation combiner. When the power detected by the input receiver does not exceed the carrier power threshold, any energy measured by the output receiver corresponds to residual distortion energy from the predistorted main amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Spectrian Corporation
    Inventor: Lance Todd Mucenieks
  • Publication number: 20020008579
    Abstract: RF power amplifier distortion can be accurately measured in the presence of multi-frequency input signals, by using a swept local oscillator to tune RF input and output receivers. The power detected by the input receiver is compared with a threshold associated with the carrier. Whenever the power detected by the input receiver exceeds the threshold—indicating that the input receiver is tuned on carrier energy—the signal path through the output receiver is blanked. The sweeping action combined with selective blanking of the output receiver creates an adaptive notch filter, which allows for the direct measurement of low level distortion power in the presence of high power carriers. This distortion power is digitized and can be processed to control pre-distortion correction circuitry or gain/phase adjustment circuitry of a feed-forward error correction loop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Publication date: January 24, 2002
    Applicant: Spectrian Corporation
    Inventors: Lance Todd Mucenieks, David Kent Bonds
  • Patent number: 5949283
    Abstract: A digitally implemented, look-up table-based, predistortion and feed-forward correction signal processing mechanism compensates for distortion generated in the RF power amplifier. The input signal to the RF amplifier is stored for comparison with the measured the RF output. In each of predistortion and feed-forward signal processing paths, the magnitude of the complex waveform of the input signal is extracted to derive a read-out address to a dual-port RAM which stores weights to be multiplied by the input signal. In the predistortion signal processing path, the product is coupled to the RF power amplifier. In the feed-forward correction loop, the product is amplified by an auxiliary feed-forward RF amplifier and coupled into the amplified output signal path of the RF power amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Spectrian
    Inventors: James A. Proctor, Lance Todd Mucenieks
  • Patent number: 5929704
    Abstract: An RF power amplifier has an RF input port to which an RF input signal is coupled, an RF output port from which an amplified RF output signal is derived. An RF carrier cancellation combiner has a first input coupled to the RF input port and a second input coupled to the RF output port. The carrier cancellation combiner produces an RF error signal representative of RF distortion of a signal flow path through the RF amplifier between the RF input port and the RF output port. To reduce a residual carrier signal in the RF error signal, a wideband autocalibrating correlator correlates a reference signal, representative of the RF input signal, with the RF error signal, producing a control signal, which is coupled to a vector modulator to modify the signal flow path through the RF amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: Spectrian
    Inventors: James Arthur Proctor, Jr., Lance Todd Mucenieks
  • Patent number: 5898338
    Abstract: A digitally implemented, look-up table-based, predistortion and feed-forward correction signal processing mechanism compensates for distortion generated in the RF power amplifier. The input signal to the RF amplifier is stored for comparison with the measured the RF output. In each of predistortion and feed-forward signal processing paths, the magnitude of the complex waveform of the input signal is extracted to derive a read-out address to a dual-port RAM which stores weights to be multiplied by the input signal. In the predistortion signal processing path, the product is coupled to the RF power amplifier. In the feed-forward correction loop, the product is amplified by an auxiliary feed-forward RF amplifier and coupled into the amplified output signal path of the RF power amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Assignee: Spectrian
    Inventors: James A. Proctor, Lance Todd Mucenieks
  • Patent number: 5742201
    Abstract: Linearity of an RF/microwave power amplifier is enhanced by an amplitude and phase distortion correction mechanism based upon signal envelope feedback, that operates directly on the RF signal passing through the power amplifier. A phase-amplitude controller responds to changes in gain and phase through the RF/microwave power amplifier signal path caused by changes in RF input power, DC power supply voltages, time, temperature and other variables, and controls the operation of a gain and phase adjustment circuit, so as to maintain constant gain and transmission phase through the RF/microwave power amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1998
    Assignee: Spectrian
    Inventors: John A. Eisenberg, Brian L. Baskin, Charles Stuart Robertson, III, Dieter Werner Statezni, Lance Todd Mucenieks, David Lee Brubaker
  • Patent number: RE37407
    Abstract: Linearity of an RF/microwave power amplifier is enhanced by an amplitude and phase distortion correction mechanism based upon signal envelope feedback, that operates directly on the RF signal passing through the power amplifier. A phase-amplitude controller responds to changes in gain and phase through the RF/microwave power amplifier signal path caused by changes in RF input power, DC power supply voltages, time, temperature and other variables, and controls the operation of a gain and phase adjustment circuit, so as to maintain constant gain and transmission phase through the RF/microwave power amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2001
    Assignee: Spectrian Corporation
    Inventors: John A. Eisenberg, Brian L. Baskin, Charles Stuart Robertson, III, Dieter Werner Statezni, Lance Todd Mucenieks, David Lee Brubaker