Method for reducing noise generated in a power amplifier

[0002] The invention is related to the field of power amplifiers, particularly towards noise reduction in the power amplifiers.

[0003] In a full duplex transceiver, both the transmitter and the receiver can operate simultaneously. This results in two forms of interference. The first interference is the T_x(transmit) band power getting into the receiver. The second interference is noise generated in the R_x(Receive) band by the T_xportion of the radio, and leaking into the R_xportion of the transceiver. Both types of interference are mitigated by using a duplexer. In this instance, a duplexer is a three port, passive element consisting of a pair of bandpass filters and supporting components. One filter passes the T_xfrequencies and rejects the R_x, the other passes the R_xand rejects the T_x.

[0004] As the transmit (T_x) power is not completely blocked by the duplexer, the power can enter the receiver thus causing distortion. In a filter-based duplexer, this is a measure of how well the receive (R_x) filter rejects the transmit T_xband power. The T_xfilter has no effect because the leakage is in the pass-band of the T_xfilter.

[0005] The second interference is caused by noise in the R_xband, generated by the T_xcircuitry getting by the duplexer into the receiver. This causes a loss of sensitivity. In a filter-based duplexer, this is a measure of how well the T_xfilter can reject the R_xband power. The R_xfilter has no effect upon this leakage because it is in the pass-band of the R_xfilter. This type of crosstalk drives the design of the T_xchain. The sensitivity required of the receiver dictates how much leakage is acceptable. The rejection of the duplexer dictates how much noise power the T_xchain can be allowed to generate.

[0006] The noise figure of an amplifier is a sum of all of its noise sources, referenced to the input of the amplifier. The noise power at the output of that amplifier is the sum of the gain of the amplifier and the noise figure. Since the sensitivity required by the R_xbranch of the transceiver is set, the allowable noise power out of the T_xbranch effectively sets the maximum gain of the power amplifier.

[0007] In full duplex handsets, there is another constraint. The gain setting routine discussed above relies upon the R_xnoise at the input to the power amplifier be at or near the noise floor available at that temperature. The noise generated in the T_xchain previous to the power amplifier must be sufficiently rejected to not increase the noise power at the output of the power amplifier. This is accomplished by inserting a R_xband reject filter just in front of the power amplifier, in the T_xband signal path. The difficulty of building this type of R_xrejection filter is such that many handsets rely upon two filters in parallel, each filter dealing with half the signal bandwidth, adding half the pass-band to the reject band frequency. This makes each filter of the pair much easier than a full band implementation. The input signal is routed through a switch, then into one of the filter pair. After the filter, the signal is then recombined with a switch.

[0008] One prior art implementation, shown in FIG. 1, includes a R_xrejection filter in front of a two-stage power amplifier. Given that this node is at or near the noise floor, and given the amount of noise generated in the power amplifier, the amount of R_xrejection required in the duplexer can be specified. The duplexer filter that implements the required rejection has an associated insertion loss. This loss is in the T_xband, and is dependent upon the R_xband rejection. Hence, the more rejection required, the higher the loss in the T_xband.

[0009] Since the power output of the handset is constant, higher loss in the duplexer requires more power out of the power amplifier. At the high power levels required, higher power requires more current, thus, reducing battery life.

[0010] Receive band filtering between the last two stages of an N−stage power amplifier can reduce the R_xband noise. There are N−1 interstage matching networks interposing N stage amplifiers, where N greater than or equal to 2. The interstage matching networks and stage amplifiers are electrically connected in series. The N−1^thor ultimate interstage matching network includes a T_xband filter positioned proximate to the output of the penultimate or N−1^thstage power amplifier.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram for a full duplex transceiver of the prior art.

[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram for a full duplex transceiver of the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram for a power amplifier using a prior art interstage matching network.

[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram for a power amplifier/filter 24 shown in FIG. 2.

[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates an interstage matching network of the present invention shown in FIG. 4.

[0016] FIG. 6 illustrates noise reduction for a two-stage power amplifier using a receive band reject filter in the interstage matching network.

[0017] FIG. 7 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the interstage matching network shown in FIG. 4.

[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the interstage matching network shown in FIG. 4.

[0019] In the present invention, the R_xband noise dependency upon the T_xchain is reduced so that the duplexer rejection requirement may be relaxed. As the loss is less, less power is required from the power amplifier. This is turn requires less current and results in longer battery life.

[0020] Filtering between the two stages of the power amplifier can reduce the R_xband noise. In particular, either a band reject or a bandpass filter that rejects the R_xband will reduce the noise power. FIG. 2 illustrates a transceiver 10 using an N−stage power amplifier of the present invention, where N≧2. An antenna 12 is connected to a duplexer 14. The duplexer 14 receives data from antenna 12 and transmits it to low noise amplifier (LNA) 16. A receive R_xfilter 18 is connected between LNA 16 and a downconverter 20. An IF filter 22 receives the output of downconverter 20. The duplexer 12 transmits data received from a power amplifier/filter 24. A transmit T_xfilter 26 connects between power amplifier/filter 24 and an upconverter 28.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a two-stage amplifier of the prior art. The interstage matching network is an RLC network.

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates a novel power amplifier/filter 24, as shown in FIG. 2. While a two-stage power amplifier is illustrated, this concept as will be described is easily extended to cover a N−stage power amplifier. In this illustration, N equals 2. There are N−1 interstage matching networks interposing N stage amplifiers. The interstage matching networks and stage amplifiers are serially connected. The N−1^thinterstage matching network includes a receive band filter positioned proximate to the output of the N−1^thstage power amplifier.

[0023] The N−1^thinterstage matching network has very low impedance. The receive band filter is designed to operate at the required impedance. The illustrative filter operates in a 6Ω network. Approximately, 10 dB of net rejection results in about 10 dB reduction in the output R_xband noise power. The receive band filter may be a surface acoustic wave filter, a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filter, a ceramic filter, or a piezo-electric based filter.

[0024] FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the interstage matching network shown in FIG. 4. A first FBAR 52 is serially connected between the input and a first inductor 54 is tied to ground. A second FBAR 56 is connected between the input and output. A third FBAR 58 is connected between the output and a second inductor 60 that is tied to ground. The first and third FBARS 52, 58 have one resonant frequency while the second FBAR 56 has another resonant frequency.

[0025] FIG. 6 shows the noise reduction for a two stage power amplifier using the receive band filter shown in FIG. 4 in the N−1^thinterstage matching network.

[0026] FIG. 7 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the interstage matching network shown in FIG. 4. At node A, a first FBAR 30 is connected between the input and second FBAR 32 that is connected to the output. A third and a fourth FBAR 34, 36 are connected to node A. An inductor 38 is connected between the third FBAR 34 and ground. Another inductor 40 is connected between the fourth FBAR 36 and ground. The first and second FBARS 30, 32 have one resonant frequency while the third and fourth FBARS 34, 36 have a different resonant frequency.

[0027] FIG. 8 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the interstage matching network shown in FIG. 4. At node A, a first FBAR 42 is connected between the input and second FBAR 44 that is connected to the output. Between node A and ground, a third FBAR 46 is serially connected to an inductor 48. The first and second FBARs 42, 44 have one resonant frequency while the third FBAR 46 has a different resonant frequency.