US2017170851A1PendingUtilityA1

Power tracker for multiple transmit signals sent simultaneously

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Assignee: QUALCOMM INCPriority: Feb 11, 2013Filed: Feb 27, 2017Published: Jun 15, 2017
Est. expiryFeb 11, 2033(~6.5 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Alexander Dorosenco
H03F 3/195H04W 52/52H03F 1/0227H03F 3/211H03F 3/68H03F 3/245H03F 2200/462H03F 2200/105H03F 2200/451H04B 1/04H03F 2200/336H03F 1/3205H03F 2200/294
52
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Claims

Abstract

Techniques for generating a power tracking supply voltage for a circuit (e.g., a power amplifier) are disclosed. The circuit may process multiple transmit signals being sent simultaneously on multiple carriers at different frequencies. In one exemplary design, an apparatus includes a power tracker and a power supply generator. The power tracker determines a power tracking signal based on inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of a plurality of transmit signals being sent simultaneously. The power supply generator generates a power supply voltage based on the power tracking signal. The apparatus may further include a power amplifier (PA) that amplifies a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal based on the power supply voltage and provides an output RF signal.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a power tracker configured to determine a power tracking signal based on inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of a plurality of transmit signals being sent simultaneously; and   a power supply generator configured to generate a power supply voltage based on the power tracking signal.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the power tracker is configured to:
 determine an overall power of the plurality of transmit signals based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals, and   determine the power tracking signal based on the overall power of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the power tracker is configured to:
 determine a power of each transmit signal in the plurality of transmit signals based on I and Q components of the transmit signal, and   determine the power tracking signal based on powers of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the power tracker is configured to:
 determine a power of each transmit signal in the plurality of transmit signals based on I and Q components of the transmit signal,   determine a voltage of each transmit signal based on the power of the transmit signal, and   determine the power tracking signal based on voltages of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a power amplifier (PA) configured to amplify a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal based on the power supply voltage and provide an output RF signal.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a plurality of transmit circuits configured to receive the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals and provide a plurality of upconverted RF signals, each transmit circuit configured to upconvert I and Q components of one of the plurality of transmit signals and provide a corresponding upconverted RF signal, and   a summer configured to sum the plurality of upconverted RF signals and provide the modulated RF signal.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a transmit circuit configured to receive a modulated intermediate frequency (IF) signal for the plurality of transmit signals and provide the modulated RF signal, the modulated IF signal being generated based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the power supply generator comprising:
 a power tracking amplifier configured to receive the power tracking signal and generate the power supply voltage.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the power supply generator further comprising:
 a switcher configured to sense a first current from the power tracking amplifier and provide a second current for the power supply voltage based on the sensed first current.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the power supply generator further comprising:
 a boost converter configured to receive a battery voltage and provide a boosted voltage for the power tracking amplifier.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the power tracking amplifier operates based on the boosted voltage or the battery voltage. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmit signals are sent on a plurality of carriers at different frequencies. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the power tracking signal has a bandwidth that is smaller than an overall bandwidth of the plurality of carriers. 
     
     
         14 . A method comprising:
 determining a power tracking signal based on inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of a plurality of transmit signals being sent simultaneously; and   generating a power supply voltage based on the power tracking signal.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the determining the power tracking signal comprises
 determining an overall power of the plurality of transmit signals based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals, and   determining the power tracking signal based on the overall power of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the determining the power tracking signal comprises
 determining a power of each transmit signal in the plurality of transmit signals based on I and Q components of the transmit signal, and   determining the power tracking signal based on powers of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 generating a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals; and   amplifying the modulated RF signal with a power amplifier (PA) operating based on the power supply voltage to obtain an output RF signal.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the generating the modulated RF signal comprises
 upconverting I and Q components of each of the plurality of transmit signals to obtain a corresponding upconverted RF signal, and   summing a plurality of upconverted RF signals for the plurality of transmit signals to obtain the modulated RF signal.   
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for determining a power tracking signal based on inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of a plurality of transmit signals being sent simultaneously; and   means for generating a power supply voltage based on the power tracking signal.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the means for determining the power tracking signal comprises
 means for determining an overall power of the plurality of transmit signals based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals, and   means for determining the power tracking signal based on the overall power of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the means for determining the power tracking signal comprises
 means for determining a power of each transmit signal in the plurality of transmit signals based on I and Q components of the transmit signal, and   means for determining the power tracking signal based on powers of the plurality of transmit signals.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 means for generating a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal based on the I and Q components of the plurality of transmit signals; and   means for amplifying the modulated RF signal using the power supply voltage to obtain an output RF signal.   
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the means for generating the modulated RF signal comprises
 means for upconverting I and Q components of each of the plurality of transmit signals to obtain a corresponding upconverted RF signal, and   means for summing a plurality of upconverted RF signals for the plurality of transmit signals to obtain the modulated RF signal.   
     
     
         24 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
 code for causing at least one computer to direct determination of a power tracking signal based on inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of a plurality of transmit signals being sent simultaneously; and 
 code for causing the at least one computer to direct generation of a power supply voltage based on the power tracking signal.

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