Differential power amplifier architectures
View Patent ↗In one embodiment, a differential power amplifier structure includes a transceiver module supporting multiple frequency band signals, a plurality of power amplifiers coupled to the transceiver module, each of the plurality of power amplifiers having at least two outputs having 180° phase offset therebetween, and a plurality of filters coupled to the plurality of power amplifiers.
1. A differential power amplifier structure, comprising:
a transceiver module supporting multiple frequency band signals;
a plurality of power amplifiers coupled to the transceiver module, each of the plurality of power amplifiers having at least two outputs having 180° phase offset therebetween;
a plurality of filters coupled to the plurality of power amplifiers;
a plurality of hybrid units coupled to the plurality of filters, each of the hybrid units having two inputs to receive the 180° phase offset signals from a corresponding one of the plurality of filters, each of the hybrid units to generate an in-phase output signal from received signals;
a switch coupled to the plurality of hybrid units to select a transmission path.
2. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 1 , further comprising:
the plurality of hybrid units generate a cancelled output signal from received signals.
3. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hybrid units include at least one rat-race coupler.
4. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hybrid units include at least branch-line coupler with an additional 90° delay line.
5. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of Wilkinson combiners coupled between the plurality of filters and the switch.
6. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 5 , wherein at least one of the plurality of Wilkinson combiners is a Composite Right Left Hand (CRLH) structured device.
7. The differential power amplifier structure of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of Wilkinson combiners includes two transmission lines having phases of 90° and −90°, respectively.
8. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 1 , further comprising:
a diplexer coupled to one of the plurality of power amplifiers, the diplexer having multiple outputs, each coupled to a switch through a filter and a phase shift element.
9. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 1 , wherein the switch is a Wilkinson combiner.
10. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 1 , wherein the differential power amplifier structure includes at least one Composite Right Left Hand (CRLH) structure.
11. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 1 , wherein the switch is an N-way Wilkinson combiner.
12. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 1 , wherein the switch is a duplexer.
13. A differential power amplifier structure, comprising:
a transceiver module supporting multiple frequency band signals;
a power amplifier coupled to the transceiver module, the power amplifier having at least first and second outputs having 180° phase offset therebetween;
a first diplexer coupled to the power amplifier to receive the first output, and coupled to a first and a second antenna element; and
a second diplexer coupled to the power amplifier to receive the second output, and coupled to a third and a fourth antenna element.
14. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 13 , wherein the first and third antenna elements support a first frequency band, and the second and fourth antenna elements support a second frequency band.
15. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 13 , wherein the first and second antenna elements have a 180° phase offset from the third and fourth antenna element.
16. A differential power amplifier structure, comprising:
a transceiver supporting multiple frequency bands;
a power amplifier coupled to the transceiver, the power amplifier having two outputs with a 180° phase offset;
a filter coupled to receive the two outputs of the power amplifier;
a phase shifting element coupled to the filter; and
a switch coupled to the phase shifting element at a first port and having a second port coupled to a receive path, the switch to select between the first port and the second port.
17. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 16 , wherein the switch is adapted for coupling to a plurality of antennas, the plurality of antennas having a phase offset of 180°.
18. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 16 , wherein the differential power amplifier structure includes at least one Composite Right Left Hand (CRLH) structure.
19. The differential power amplifier structure as in claim 18 , wherein the CRLH structure is an Extended-CRLH (E-CRLH) structure.
20. A method for differential power amplification of Radio Frequency (RF) signals, comprising:
providing a plurality of signals to a plurality of power amplifiers;
amplifying a first signal in a first frequency band to provide a first amplified signal having a first phase value;
amplifying a second signal in a second frequency band to provide a second amplified signal having a second phase value, wherein the second phase value has a 180° phase offset from the first amplified signal;
filtering the first and second amplified signals to provide filtered signals; and
selecting transmission paths for each of the filtered signals.
21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising:
providing the filtered signals to a plurality of hybrid units;
generating in-phase output signals from the filtered signals; and'
generating cancelled output signals from the filtered signals.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein amplifying the first and second signals is performed by a Composite Right Left Hand (CRLH) structured differential power amplifier module.