KR102338858B1 - Method and apparatus for transmitter improving transmit power efficiency - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a transmitter and a method for improving transmission power efficiency, wherein the transmitter includes a switching control unit generating a control signal based on transmission output power, and determining a power supply voltage for the transmitter according to the control signal a power converter, a variable impedance converter configured to determine an output impedance of the transmitter according to the control signal; and an impedance matching unit that performs impedance matching based on the determined output impedance and transmits a transmission signal to a power amplifier with the transmission output power based on the matched impedance.

Description

Apparatus and method for improving transmit power efficiency

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for improving transmission power efficiency in a wireless communication system.

Power consumption and battery usage in wireless communication systems are continuously increasing according to the multi-function and high-performance of various IT devices. are making an effort In recent years, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have been rapidly distributed and popularized, and efficient power control and management functions of limited battery resources are becoming important in order to satisfy various service requirements and high-performance multi-functionality of mobile devices. In a wireless communication system, an RF transceiver including a transmitter and a receiver occupies a large proportion in power consumption of a mobile device chipset, and among them, a transmitter occupies a high proportion. The transmitter of the RF transceiver is a device for frequency-converting a baseband signal into an RF band in a wireless communication environment, and then linearly amplifying it and transmitting it. These frequency conversion and amplification operations need to be performed with minimal power consumption.

In general, the power efficiency of the transmitter can be increased by a power converter that supplies different voltages to the transmitter in the RF transceiver and supplies the power of a low voltage to the transmitter. However, since linearity deterioration occurs when the power supply voltage is lowered, a lower voltage should be used in a low output power region.

The prior art is a method of increasing power efficiency by lowering the power supply voltage, and is used in a low output power region where there is no linearity problem as the power supply voltage is lowered. Therefore, in order to satisfy linearity in all available output power and to increase power efficiency, it will be effective to continuously lower the voltage of the transmitter power supply according to the output power.

However, in most cases, the number of power sources provided to the RF transceiver is limited and the voltage is also fixed, so there is a problem in that the voltage of the transmitter cannot be changed according to the desired output power.

Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method for effectively improving the power efficiency of a transmitter.

Various embodiments of the present invention may provide an apparatus and method for improving power efficiency of a transmitter.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide an apparatus and method for linking voltage conversion and impedance conversion of a power source in order to increase power efficiency at a desired output power or a high frequency of use with a limited power source.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide an apparatus and method for increasing the usable area of output power by performing output impedance conversion and power supply voltage conversion.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide an apparatus and method for optimizing power efficiency in a limited power supply by lowering a transmitter power supply voltage at a desired output power to be used.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a transmitter, comprising: a switching control unit generating a control signal based on transmission output power, a power conversion unit determining a power supply voltage for the transmitter according to the control signal; According to the control signal, a variable impedance converter that determines the output impedance of the transmitter and impedance matching is performed based on the determined output impedance, and based on the matched impedance, a transmission signal is converted to a power amplifier with the transmission output power. and an impedance matching unit that transmits, and a voltage for the transmission signal may be smaller than the determined power supply voltage.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in an operating method of a transmitter, generating a control signal based on transmission output power, according to the control signal, at least one of a power supply voltage for the transmitter and an output impedance of the transmitter determining the output impedance, performing impedance matching based on the determined output impedance, and transmitting a transmission signal to a power amplifier with the transmission output power based on the matched impedance; may be less than the determined power supply voltage.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in an electronic device, a modem for processing a baseband signal, a transmitter for converting the baseband signal into a transmission signal of an RF band, and a receiver for converting a received RF signal into the baseband signal An RF transceiver including a power amplifier and a power amplifier for amplifying the transmission signal, wherein the transmitter includes a switching controller configured to generate a control signal based on the transmission output power, and a power supply voltage for the transmitter is determined according to the control signal a power conversion unit that performs impedance matching based on the determined output impedance and a variable impedance conversion unit that determines the output impedance of the transmitter according to the control signal, and transmits the transmission output power based on the matched impedance and an impedance matching unit for transmitting a signal to a power amplifier, wherein a voltage for the transmission signal may be smaller than the determined power supply voltage.

As described above, through the power supply voltage conversion and output impedance conversion of the transmitter, it is possible to increase the output power region using a low voltage without deterioration of linearity even under a limited number of power supply voltage conditions, thereby improving power efficiency. .

1 is a graph showing power loss when only a power supply voltage is used according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;
2 is a graph showing power loss when a power supply voltage and impedance conversion are used according to various embodiments of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
4 is a block diagram of a transmitter of an RF transceiver in an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
5 is a block diagram of a transmitter of an RF transceiver in an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
6 is a block diagram of a transmitter of an RF transceiver of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
7 is a circuit diagram constituting a power conversion unit of a transmitter according to various embodiments of the present invention.
8A is a block diagram of a switching control unit of a transmitter according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 8(b) shows an output control signal according to the operation of the switching control unit of FIG. 8(a) according to various embodiments of the present invention.
9 is a view comparing the power efficiency of the present invention and the prior art according to various embodiments of the present invention.
10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a known function or configuration related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the content throughout this specification.

Various embodiments of the present invention can have various changes and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and related detailed description is described. However, this is not intended to limit the various embodiments of the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all changes and/or equivalents or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of various embodiments of the present invention. In connection with the description of the drawings, like reference numerals have been used for like components.

Expressions such as “include” or “may include” that may be used in various embodiments of the present invention indicate the existence of a disclosed corresponding function, operation, or component, and may include one or more additional functions, operations, or Components, etc. are not limited. In addition, in various embodiments of the present invention, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, It should be understood that this does not preclude the possibility of addition or existence of one or more other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, expressions such as “or” include any and all combinations of words listed together. For example, “A or B” may include A, may include B, or include both A and B.

Expressions such as “first,” “second,” “first,” or “second,” used in various embodiments of the present invention may modify various components of various embodiments, but limit the components. I never do that. For example, the above expressions do not limit the order and/or importance of corresponding components. The above expressions may be used to distinguish one component from another. For example, both the first user device and the second user device are user devices, and represent different user devices. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may also be referred to as a first component.

When a component is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another component, the component may be directly connected to or connected to the other component, but the component and It should be understood that other new components may exist between the other components. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, it will be understood that no new element exists between the element and the other element. should be able to

Terms used in various embodiments of the present invention are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the various embodiments of the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meanings as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which various embodiments of the present invention pertain. Terms such as those defined in a commonly used dictionary should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in various embodiments of the present invention, ideal or excessively formal terms not interpreted as meaning

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with respect to an apparatus and method for improving transmission power efficiency. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving transmission power efficiency through power supply voltage conversion and output impedance conversion of a transmitter in a wireless communication system.

1 is a graph illustrating power loss of a transmitter when only a power supply voltage is used according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; A method of increasing power efficiency by lowering the power supply voltage should operate in a low output power region where there is no linearity problem as the power supply voltage is lowered. Referring to FIG. 1 , the frequency of use of an output power region of a transmitter in a wireless communication system may be expressed in the form of a Gaussian distribution. Here, in order to prevent linearity deterioration from occurring, when the output power is less than the threshold, a first voltage is supplied to the transmitter ( 100 ), and when the output power is greater than the threshold, a second voltage greater than the first voltage is supplied to the transmitter It is preferable to be (102, 104). In other words, the voltage supplied to the transmitter must be higher than the output voltage signal so that linearity degradation does not occur.

If, in order to increase power efficiency, when the second voltage is lowered to the first voltage in an output power region with high frequency of use or a desired output power region (102), since the power supply voltage is lower than the output voltage signal, deterioration of linearity may occur. can

Accordingly, in order to provide the desired output power at the point of the highest frequency of use, a second voltage greater than the output voltage signal must be supplied to the transmitter. However, since the second voltage higher than the first voltage is supplied more than necessary, the power loss of the transmitter increases. Therefore, there may be a limit in increasing the power efficiency of the transmitter only with a limited power supply voltage.

Therefore, in various embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus and method for improving power efficiency of a transmitter by using a power supply voltage conversion and an impedance conversion of the transmitter are proposed.

2 is a graph illustrating power loss of a transmitter when a power supply voltage and impedance conversion are used according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

When the output power is in the low region 210 , the first voltage is supplied to the transmitter 200 , and when the output power is in the high region 230 , the second voltage may be supplied to the transmitter 204 .

In the output power region 220 that is frequently used, the second voltage may be supplied to the transmitter. However, the power supply voltage and output impedance may be varied in order to improve power efficiency in the frequently used output power region 220 ( 202 ). For example, a voltage lower than the second voltage is supplied to the transmitter and the output impedance is reduced. can be In addition, since the output power can be increased by reducing the output impedance without increasing the output voltage signal, the output voltage signal is not higher than the first voltage. Accordingly, it is possible to use the first voltage lower than the second voltage without deterioration of linearity, thereby reducing power loss.

3 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the electronic device 300 includes a battery 350 , a power management unit 310 , an RF transceiver 320 , a power amplifier 330 , and a duplexer 340 .

The battery 350 supplies power necessary for the overall operation of the electronic device 300 .

The power management unit 310 receives main power from the battery 350, converts it into stable and efficient power required by the system, and then supplies power to the corresponding module. For example, the power management unit 310 may supply driving power required to the RF transceiver 320 by converting the power of the battery 350 . The power management unit 310 may also serve to supply and drive power to displays such as LCD and AMOLED, and lighting devices (not shown) such as keypads and flashes. In the case of displays and lighting, high voltage is used, so efficient power management is required in situations that require a low-power system.

In addition, the power management unit 310 has a temperature protection function to protect the circuit above a certain temperature, an I2C interface function to communicate with the processor, an overvoltage protection function, an overcurrent protection function, and to protect the circuit when the battery electrode is incorrectly connected. It can perform reverse battery protection function for

The RF transceiver 320 converts the baseband signal from the modem (not shown) into an RF signal and outputs it to the power amplifier 330 , or converts the RF signal from the duplexer 340 into a baseband signal and converts it into a baseband signal for the modem ( not shown) can be printed.

The RF transceiver 320 may include a transmitter 325 , a receiver 326 , and a mixer 327 .

The transmitter 325 receives the baseband signal from the modem, linearly amplifies the signal, and transmits it to the antenna through the power amplifier 330 and the duplexer 340 .

The transmitter 325 includes a switching control unit 322 that provides a switching control signal to the power conversion unit 321 and the variable impedance conversion unit 324 according to the output power of the transmitter 325 , from the power management unit 310 . A power conversion unit 321 that receives at least one power source and selectively provides power to the transmitter 323 in order to increase the power efficiency of the transmitter 325 according to a first control signal of the switching control unit 322, the A variable impedance conversion unit 324 for converting the output impedance of the transmitter 325 according to the second control signal of the switching control unit 322, and a power supply voltage conversion and variable impedance conversion unit by the power conversion unit 321 ( Based on the output impedance conversion of 324 , it may include a transmitter 323 that processes and outputs the RF signal. For example, the transmitter 323 filters the RF signal from the mixer 327 to remove unnecessary band signals, and then converts the filtered RF signal to the power amplifier ( 330) can be printed. The output power of the transmitter 325 based on the power supply voltage and output impedance may be smaller than the output power of the power amplifier 330 .

Although not shown, as shown in FIG. 4 below, a component for matching impedance between the transmitter 323 and the variable impedance converter 324 may be added.

The receiver 326 amplifies the RF signal received through the antenna 360 and the duplexer 340 using a low-noise amplifier and provides it to the mixer 327, and the synthesizer ( mixer) 327 may provide a baseband signal to a modem (not shown).

The mixer 327 provides a signal for frequency synthesis to the transmitter 325 and the receiver 326 . For example, the mixer 327 converts (upconverts) a baseband signal into an RF signal, outputs it to the transmitter 325, and downconverts the RF signal from the receiver 326 into a baseband signal to the receiver (326) can be output.

Depending on the implementation, the mixer 327 may exist separately as a transmit combiner and a receive combiner.

The power amplifier 330 amplifies the RF signal from the transmitter 325 to a predetermined output power and outputs it to the duplexer 340 . The predetermined output power may be a transmission power of the electronic device determined based on power control.

The duplexer 340 may be electrically connected to the antenna 360 to perform a function of separating transmission/reception frequencies of the electronic device 300 . The duplexer 340 may radiate the RF signal amplified by the power amplifier 330 through the antenna 360 . Also, the duplexer 340 may output the RF signal received from the antenna 360 to the receiver 326 .

4 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 325 of an RF transceiver in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the transmitter 325 may include a transmitter 323 , a power converter 321 , a variable impedance converter 324 , an impedance matcher 400 , and a switching controller 322 . The impedance matching unit 400 may be configured as a transformer, but in the present invention, the impedance matching circuit is not limited to a transformer and may be implemented as various types of impedance matching circuits.

When the impedance matching unit 400 is configured as a transformer, the power conversion unit 321 may be connected to the center-tap (P3) of the primary side coil of the transformer. In addition, the transmitter 323 may be connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary side coil of the transformer. At this time, the first power or the second power of the power conversion unit 321 is supplied to the transmitting unit 323 connected to the primary P1 and P2 terminals of the transformer through the center-tap (P3). Here, since the first power or the second power is a DC component, it is not transmitted to the secondary coil of the transformer. Instead, the RF signal from the transmitter 323 may flow into the secondary coil through terminals P1 and P2 of the primary coil of the transformer and may be transferred to the variable impedance converter 324 .

The variable impedance converter 324 may be connected between the secondary side of the transformer and the output terminal of the transmitter 325 to change the impedance. In addition, the power converter 321 may provide a desired power voltage to the transmitter 323 according to the control signal of the switching controller 322 .

In various embodiments, the variable impedance converter 324 changes the impedance by varying the capacitor value (refer to FIG. 6 below) or changing the turns ratio of the transformer (refer to FIG. 7 below) according to the control signal of the switching control unit 322. can be changed

5 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 325 of an RF transceiver in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the transmitter 325 may include a transmitter 323 , a power converter 321 , a variable impedance converter 324 , an impedance matcher 400 , and a switching controller 322 . The impedance matching unit 400 may be configured as a transformer.

Here, the variable impedance converter 324 is connected between the secondary coil S1 terminal of the transformer and an output terminal (a terminal connected to the input terminal of the power amplifier), and may be configured as a capacitor bank. For example, the capacitor bank may be composed of a plurality of capacitors 502 , 506 , 510 and a plurality of transistors 500 , 504 , 508 . Here, a plurality of capacitors 502 , 506 , and 510 may be connected in parallel, and each of the transistors 500 , 504 , 508 may be connected in series with each of the capacitors 502 , 506 , 510 . In addition, each of the transistors 500 , 504 , and 508 may be turned off/on according to a control signal of the switching controller 322 . Depending on whether the transistors 500 , 504 , and 508 are turned on/off, an output capacitor value of the capacitor bank may be determined. In addition, the transistor may be configured as an N-channel MOSFET, but is not limited thereto.

To change the impedance, a capacitor and a switch pair are connected in parallel to change the capacitor value as the switch is turned on/off. As the value of the capacitor connected to the output terminal increases, the total output impedance may decrease. Conversely, as the value of the capacitor connected to the output terminal decreases, the total output impedance may increase.

6 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 325 of an RF transceiver in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the transmitter 325 may include a transmitter 323 , a power converter 321 , a variable impedance converter 324 , an impedance matcher 400 , and a switching controller 322 . The impedance matching unit 400 may be configured as a transformer.

Here, the variable impedance converter 324 may include switches 602 and 604 for turning on/off terminals S3 and S2 of the secondary coil of the transformer. S3 may be the center-tap of the secondary coil. Depending on the implementation, the variable impedance converter 324 may be implemented with two or more switches. In addition, the capacitor 600 may be connected between the secondary coil S1 terminal of the transformer and the output terminal (the terminal connected to the input terminal of the power amplifier).

Meanwhile, the switch 602 connected to S3 of the secondary coil of the transformer and the switch 604 connected to S2 are turned on/off by the control signal of the switching controller 322 . Accordingly, the inductance of the secondary side coil is changed and the turn ratio (or turns ratio) of the transformer is changed according to the inductance of the secondary side coil, so that the output impedance may be changed.

In various embodiments, the two methods (ie, a method of varying a capacitor and a method of changing a turns ratio of a transformer) may be applied simultaneously or separately.

7 is a circuit diagram constituting a power conversion unit of a transmitter according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the power conversion unit 321 may include a first switch block 710 and a second switch block 720 including transistors.

For example, when the switch block is implemented as a P-channel MOSFET, according to the first and second switching control signals of the switching control unit 322 , the switch of the first switch block 710 is turned on/off, and a desired voltage is applied to the transformer It may be supplied to the transmitter 323 through the center-tap of the primary side coil of 730 .

In addition, the second switch block 720 of the P-channel MOSFET cross-coupled with different power sources is connected to the first switch block 710 so that the switch of the first switch block 710 operates. It serves to always maintain the voltage of the first switch block 710 at a high voltage. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which an overcurrent flows into the first switch block 710 and the switch is damaged. In addition, a resistor is connected to the gate of the cross-coupled P-channel MOSFET to prevent damage to the MOSFET due to overvoltage.

8A is a block diagram of a switching control unit 322 of a transmitter according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 8A , the switching control unit 322 may include two NAND gates 810 and 820 , a switching delay time control unit 830 , and a power slope control unit 840 .

The switching control unit 322 serves to prevent overcurrent from flowing in the circuit by controlling the switches connected to different power sources not to be turned on at the same time. The delay time adjusting unit 830 may adjust the switching delay time so that the switches are not turned on at the same time, and the delay time may be adjusted by varying the value of the capacitors connected in parallel or by varying the number of inverters connected in parallel. Also, the voltage slope adjusting unit 840 may adjust the voltage rising slope and the voltage falling slope by varying the number of inverters connected in parallel.

FIG. 8(b) shows an output switching control signal according to the operation of the switching controller of FIG. 8(a) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8(b), the first switching control voltage signal is output according to the adjusted delay time and the voltage rising slope and the voltage falling slope, and the second switching control voltage signal is inverted to the first switching control voltage signal. can be output.

9 is a view comparing the power efficiency of the present invention and the prior art according to various embodiments of the present invention.

9 (a) is a graph showing power efficiency according to output power when only the power supply voltage is used.

Referring to FIG. 9A , power efficiency may be reduced when a low voltage is converted to a high voltage.

9 (b) is a graph showing power efficiency according to output power when the power supply voltage and output impedance are used.

Referring to (b) of FIG. 9 , when the impedance is converted without converting the power voltage, power efficiency may be reduced as shown in (a) of FIG. 9 . However, the size at which the power efficiency decreases is smaller than the size at which the power efficiency decreases in FIG. 9A .

Thereafter, when the voltage is converted from a low voltage to a high voltage, the power efficiency may be decreased, but the magnitude of the decrease in the power efficiency is smaller than the magnitude of the decrease in the power efficiency of FIG. 9( a ).

FIG. 9(c) is a graph showing comparison results of power efficiency according to the output power of FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b).

As described above, the size at which the power efficiency of FIG. 9(b) decreases is smaller than the size at which the power efficiency of FIG. 9(a) decreases (800). Therefore, the power efficiency of Fig. 9 (b) is better than the power efficiency of Fig. 9 (a).

10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the electronic device 300 checks the transmission output power required in operation 900 . Here, the transmission output power may be the first output power of the RF transmission signal provided to the input terminal of the power amplifier. It may be different from the second output power of the RF transmission signal amplified and output by the power amplifier. That is, the first output power may be power output from the transmitter 325 , and the second output power may be power output from the power amplifier 330 . In general, the first output power may be less than the second output power.

In various embodiments, the transmission output power may be determined based on the second output power of the RF transmission signal amplified and output by the power amplifier. For example, when the output power of the power amplifier is determined based on the power control, the transmission output power corresponding to the output power of the power amplifier may be determined.

In operation 902 , the electronic device 300 may determine a signal amplification degree, a power supply voltage, and an output impedance according to the transmit output power level and the output power through a table as shown in Table 1 below.

Transmission output power -12dB -9dB -6dB -3dB max (max) power supply voltage first voltage first voltage first voltage first voltage second voltage output impedance D C B A D

Here, the first voltage is less than the second voltage. For example, the first voltage may be 1.2V and the first voltage may be 1.8V. And, the magnitude of the output impedance may be A<B<C<D.

For example, within the first range of the transmit output power, that is, in -9dB to -3dB, when the first power voltage is used, the higher the transmit output power, the lower the output impedance (C>B>A), As the transmission output power decreases, the output impedance may increase (A<B<CA).

Within the second range of the transmit output power, that is, at -3 dB or more, a second power supply voltage higher than the first power supply voltage and a specific output impedance (D) may be selected.

Within the third range of the transmit output power, that is, below -12 dB, the first power supply voltage and the specific output impedance D may be selected.

The electronic device 300 may provide a switching control signal to the power converter and the variable impedance converter through the switching controller in operation 904 .

In operation 906 , the electronic device 300 may set a power voltage corresponding to the transmission output power through the power conversion unit and set an output impedance corresponding to the transmission output power through the variable impedance conversion unit.

In operation 908 , the electronic device 300 may transmit the RF transmission signal to the power amplifier based on the power supply voltage and output impedance corresponding to the transmission output power.

In this case, impedance matching may be performed on the RF transmission signal so that the transmission output power is transmitted to the output impedance to the maximum. For example, impedance matching can be done by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer.

11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11 , in operation 1100 , the electronic device 300 may transmit an RF transmission signal to the power amplifier based on the second power voltage. In this case, the output impedance may be set to a predetermined impedance value. In operation 1102 , the electronic device 300 may determine whether to convert to a first power voltage lower than the second power voltage in order to increase power efficiency.

In operation 1104 , the electronic device 300 may convert or change the first power voltage to a lower first power voltage than the second power voltage in order to increase power efficiency.

When the electronic device 300 is converted to the first power voltage lower than the second power voltage in operation 1106 , it is determined whether the output impedance can be converted within an allowable range.

If the electronic device 300 can convert the output impedance within an allowable range, in operation 1108 , the electronic device 300 converts the output impedance corresponding to the first power voltage, and converts the output impedance to the second power supply voltage and the first power voltage. An RF transmission signal may be output based on the converted output impedance.

When the electronic device 300 cannot convert the output impedance within an allowable range, the electronic device 300 may perform operation 1100 .

For example, it is possible to ensure linearity by lowering the power supply voltage and thereby lowering the output impedance, but if the converted output impedance is out of the allowable range, impedance matching is not performed and improved power efficiency cannot be expected. Therefore, when the converted output impedance is outside the allowable range, it may be better to use a higher power supply voltage than to lower the power supply voltage and lower the output impedance.

As described above, when the output impedance value Rtank is made small, the AC AC voltage Vac, that is, the output voltage signal, does not increase to a range in which the output impedance can be adjusted. Based on the following <Equation 1>, It is possible to increase the transmission output power (Pout).

Methods according to the embodiments described in the claims and/or the specification of the present invention may be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

When implemented in software, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (software modules) may be provided. One or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium are configured to be executable by one or more processors in an electronic device (device). The one or more programs include instructions that cause the electronic device to execute methods according to embodiments described in the claims and/or specification of the present invention.

Such programs (software modules, software) include random access memory, non-volatile memory including flash memory, read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), magnetic disc storage device, Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM, Compact Disc-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs, Digital Versatile Discs), or any other form of It may be stored in an optical storage device or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, it may be stored in a memory composed of a combination of some or all thereof. In addition, each configuration memory may be included in plurality.

In addition, through a communication network consisting of a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide LAN (WLAN), or a storage area network (SAN) to the electronic device, or a combination thereof, It may be stored on an attachable storage device that can be accessed. Such a storage device may be connected to the electronic device through an external port.

Also, a separate storage device on the communication network may be connected to the portable electronic device.

Meanwhile, although specific embodiments have been described in the detailed description of the present invention, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments and should be defined by the claims described below as well as the claims and equivalents.

300: electronic device, 350: battery 350,
310: power management unit, 320: RF transceiver,
325 transmitter, 326 receiver,
327: synthesizer, 330: power amplifier,
340: duplexer, 360: antenna;
400: impedance matching unit

Claims (20)

In the transmitter,
Identifies the range of transmission output power based on the amount of power required for signal transmission,
a switching control unit generating a control signal corresponding to the identified range of the transmission output power;
a power conversion unit for determining a power voltage for the transmitter according to the control signal;
a variable impedance converter configured to determine an output impedance of the transmitter according to the control signal; and
Impedance matching is performed based on the output impedance,
and an impedance matching unit configured to transmit a transmission signal to a power amplifier with the transmission output power based on the determined power supply voltage and the impedance matching.
The method according to claim 1,
The variable impedance converter,
In the first range of the transmit output power, when a first power voltage is used, the output impedance is lowered as the transmit output power increases, and the output impedance is adjusted to increase as the transmit output power becomes smaller,
selecting a second power supply voltage and a first output impedance higher than the first power supply voltage within a second range of the transmission output power;
and select a first power supply voltage and a second output impedance within a third range of the transmit output power.
3. The method according to claim 2,
The first range means a range that is greater than or equal to the first value and less than the second value of the magnitude of the transmission output power,
The second range means a range that is less than the first value,
The third range is a transmitter meaning a range equal to or greater than the second value.
The method according to claim 1,
When the impedance matching unit is a transformer,
The power conversion unit is configured to be connected to a primary side center-tap (center-tap) of the transformer.
The method according to claim 1,
When the impedance matching unit is a transformer,
The variable impedance converter is configured such that at least one capacitor is connected in parallel between the secondary side of the transformer and the output terminal of the transmitter.
6. The method of claim 5,
and the output impedance decreases when the capacitor value of the output terminal of the transmitter increases, and the output impedance increases when the capacitor value of the output terminal of the transmitter decreases.
6. The method of claim 5,
The variable impedance converter is configured to further include at least one switch for turning on or off the at least one capacitor.
The method according to claim 1,
When the impedance matching unit is a transformer,
The variable impedance converter is configured to include at least one switch for changing the turns ratio of the transformer.
The method according to claim 1,
The transmitter configured to further include a transmitter configured to generate the transmission signal based on the determined power supply voltage.
In the method of operation of the transmitter,
identifying a range of transmission output power based on the amount of power required for signal transmission;
generating a control signal corresponding to the identified range of transmission output power;
determining at least one of a power supply voltage for the transmitter and an output impedance of the transmitter according to the control signal;
performing impedance matching based on the determined output impedance; and
and transmitting a transmission signal to a power amplifier using the transmission output power based on the determined power supply voltage and the impedance matching.
11. The method of claim 10,
Within the first range of the transmission output power, when a first power voltage is used, the output impedance decreases as the transmission output power increases, and the output impedance increases as the transmission output power decreases,
A second power supply voltage higher than the first power supply voltage and a fixed output impedance are selected within the second range of the transmission output power.
A method in which a first power supply voltage and a fixed output impedance are selected within the third range of the transmission output power.
12. The method of claim 11,
The first range means a range that is greater than or equal to the first value and less than the second value of the magnitude of the transmission output power,
The second range means a range that is less than the first value,
The third range means a range equal to or greater than the second value.
11. The method of claim 10,
The impedance matching is performed by a transformer,
The output impedance is changed based on a ratio of the number of turns of the transformer.
11. The method of claim 10,
The impedance matching is performed by a transformer,
The output impedance is changed based on a value of at least one capacitor connected between the secondary side of the transformer and an output terminal of the transmitter.
In an electronic device,
a modem for processing baseband signals;
an RF transceiver comprising a transmitter for converting the baseband signal into a transmission signal of an RF band and a receiver for converting the RF reception signal into the baseband signal; and
A power amplifier for amplifying the transmission signal,
The transmitter is
Identifies the range of transmission output power based on the amount of power required for signal transmission,
a switching control unit generating a control signal corresponding to the identified range of the transmission output power;
a power conversion unit for determining a power voltage for the transmitter according to the control signal;
a variable impedance converter configured to determine an output impedance of the transmitter according to the control signal; and
Impedance matching is performed based on the determined output impedance,
and an impedance matching unit configured to transmit a transmission signal to a power amplifier with the transmission output power based on the determined power supply voltage and the impedance matching.
16. The method of claim 15,
The variable impedance converter,
In the first range of the transmit output power, when a first power voltage is used, the output impedance is lowered as the transmit output power increases, and the output impedance is adjusted to increase as the transmit output power becomes smaller,
Selecting a second power supply voltage and a fixed output impedance higher than the first power supply voltage within the second range of the transmission output power,
The electronic device is configured to select a first power supply voltage and a fixed output impedance within a third range of the transmission output power.
17. The method of claim 16,
The first range means a range that is greater than or equal to the first value and less than the second value of the magnitude of the transmission output power,
The second range means a range that is less than the first value,
The third range refers to a range equal to or greater than the second value. delete delete delete

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