WO2016191984A1

WO2016191984A1 - Radio frequency power amplifier and radio frequency power amplification method

Info

Publication number: WO2016191984A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/080414
Authority: WO
Inventors: 游飞; 韦前华; 赵延青
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司; 电子科技大学
Priority date: 2015-05-29
Filing date: 2015-05-29
Publication date: 2016-12-08

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of wireless communications. Disclosed is a radio frequency power amplifier, capable of guaranteeing that a radio frequency power amplifier has a large working bandwidth and has a highe efficiency. The radio frequency power amplifier comprises: an input segmentation unit, a power amplification unit, and an output signal combining unit, wherein the input segmentation unit is configured to enable, according to an instantaneous envelope amplitude of a detected input signal, the input signal to pass through a corresponding power amplification branch; the power amplification unit is configured to amplify the input signal segmented by the input segmentation unit, so as to obtain an amplified signal; and the output signal combining unit is configured to output the amplified signal by means of a combining matching network. The present invention is applied to a radio frequency power amplifier.

Description

Radio frequency power amplifier and RF power amplification method

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a radio frequency power amplifier and a radio frequency power amplification method.

Background technique

The RF power amplifier is an energy converter that converts the DC signal into a RF signal output, thereby amplifying the low-power RF signal and is one of the key components of the wireless communication network system. Generally, the RF power amplifier is measured by the output power, efficiency, and operating bandwidth of the RF power amplifier. However, the output power, efficiency, and operating bandwidth are mutually constrained when they are upgraded. To achieve wider bandwidth, it is necessary to sacrifice certain efficiency and power. To achieve the best power under the same bandwidth, Sacrifice efficiency.

In the prior art, a single-tube RF power amplifier is usually used to meet the broadband demand, but according to the efficiency characteristics of the power tube, the efficiency of the single-tube RF power amplifier drops sharply with the power back-off. The use of power modulation or load modulation technology, although can reduce the impact of the amount of back-off on efficiency, but the applicable bandwidth is small, and can not meet the bandwidth requirements of future wireless communication systems. Therefore, how to improve bandwidth while ensuring that efficiency is not affected is an urgent problem to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The radio frequency power amplifier provided by the embodiment of the invention can ensure that the radio frequency power amplifier has a large working bandwidth and has high efficiency.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a radio frequency power amplifier, where the radio frequency power amplifier includes: an input segment unit, a power amplifying unit, and an output signal combining unit;

An input segmentation unit connected to the signal input.

And a power amplifying unit connected between the input segment unit and the output signal combining unit.

Connecting the output signal to the power amplifying unit and the signal output terminal yuan.

The input segmentation unit is configured to pass the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the detected input signal.

The output signal combining unit is configured to output the amplified signal through a combined matching network.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the input segmentation unit includes at least: an amplitude detection module and an envelope segmentation control module;

The amplitude detecting module is connected between the signal input end and the envelope segmentation control module, configured to detect an instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal, and determine the input signal according to an envelope amplitude of the input signal. The power is amplified by the branch.

The envelope segmentation control module is coupled between the amplitude detection module and the power amplification unit for passing the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch.

In conjunction with the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, the envelope segmentation control module includes an input end and an output end; the input end and the amplitude The detecting module is connected to the power amplifying unit; wherein the output terminal and the power amplifying unit are provided with a first switch, and the first switch is connected at one end to the output end, The other end of the switch is grounded.

In conjunction with the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the power amplifying unit includes: an input matching network, a broadband power amplifier, and an output matching network; An input of the input matching network is coupled to an output of the envelope control module, an output of the input matching network being coupled to an input of the wideband power amplifier; an output of the power amplifier and the output matching network The input terminals are connected; the input matching network, the wideband power amplifier and the output matching network are connected to form one branch of the power amplifying unit; the number of branches in the power amplifier and the envelope The segmentation module has the same number of segments.

In conjunction with the third possible implementation of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the output signal combining unit includes: a sub-output matching network and a second switch; The input end of the sub-output matching network is connected to the output end of the output matching network, and the output end of the sub-output matching network is an output end of the radio frequency power amplifier; one end of the second switch is connected to The sub-output matches an input of the network, and the other end of the second switch is grounded.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a power amplification method applied to a power amplifier, the power amplifier comprising: an input segmentation unit connected to a signal input end; connected to the input segmentation unit and an output a power amplifying unit between the signal combining units; the output signal combining unit connected to the power amplifying unit and the signal output end; wherein the method comprises:

The input segmentation unit determines a power amplification branch through which the input signal passes based on an envelope amplitude of the input signal.

The power amplifying unit performs power amplification on the segmented input signal by a segment, wherein the power amplifying unit includes at least two branches, each branch corresponding to one amplitude interval, and the sum of the amplitude ranges covers the entire input signal The maximum value of the envelope amplitude to the minimum value, and each amplitude interval does not overlap each other;

The output signal combining unit combines the amplified signals and outputs the signals.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the power amplifier further includes: an amplitude detection module, an envelope segmentation control module, and a first switch, where the power amplification method further includes:

The amplitude detection module detects an instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal.

When the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal is within the segmentation interval, the envelope segmentation control module turns off the first switch, and causes the input signal to pass through a power amplifying unit corresponding to the first switch The branch in the middle is enlarged.

When the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal is outside the segmentation interval, the envelope segmentation control mode closes the first switch, so that the input signal does not pass through the power amplification unit corresponding to the first switch .

With reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the power amplifier The device further includes: a second switch, the power amplification method further comprising:

When one of the branches of the power amplifying unit is operated, the second switch corresponding to the branch is disconnected, and the second switch of the other branch is closed.

An RF power amplifier and a radio frequency power amplification method according to the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein the RF power amplifier has the characteristics of operating at the same time and only one power amplifier, and the input signal is input according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude by the input segmentation unit. Different power amplification branches are allocated for amplification, and at the time of output, the output signal combining unit directly connects the branch power amplifier output matching networks according to the characteristics of time-sharing operation of each branch power amplifier. Ensure that the RF power amplifier has a large operating bandwidth and high efficiency.

DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any creative work.

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of another radio frequency power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of another RF power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another RF power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a radio frequency power amplifier. As shown in FIG. 1 , the radio frequency power amplifier includes an input segmentation unit 10, a power amplification unit 20, and an output signal combining unit 30.

An input segmentation unit 10 connected to the signal input.

Connected to the power amplifying unit 20 between the input segmentation unit 10 and the output signal combining unit 30.

The output signal combining unit 30 is connected to the power amplifying unit 20 and the signal output end.

The input segmentation unit 10 is configured to pass the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the detected input signal.

The output signal combining unit 30 is configured to output the amplified signal through a combined matching network.

The radio frequency power amplifier provided by the above embodiments of the present invention utilizes the characteristics that the radio frequency power amplifier has both one and only one power amplifier operating, and the input signal is distributed by the input segmentation unit according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude to be amplified by different power amplification branches. And at the time of output, the output signal combining unit directly connects the branch power amplifier output matching networks according to the characteristics of each branch power amplifier having time-sharing operation, thereby ensuring a large working bandwidth of the RF power amplifier. At the same time, it has higher efficiency.

In another embodiment provided by the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the input segmentation unit includes at least an amplitude detection module 11 and an envelope segmentation control module 12.

The amplitude detecting module 11 is connected between the signal input end and the envelope segmentation control module 12 for detecting an instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal, and determining according to an envelope amplitude of the input signal. The power amplification branch through which the input signal passes.

The envelope segmentation control module 12 is connected between the amplitude detection module 11 and the power amplification unit 20 for passing the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch.

In another embodiment provided by the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the envelope segmentation control module includes an input end and an output end; the input end is connected to the amplitude detecting module; the output end is The power amplifying unit is connected; wherein the output terminal and the power amplifying unit are provided with a first switch, one end of the first switch is connected to the output end, and the other end of the first switch is grounded.

Taking FIG. 4 as an example, FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a radio frequency power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention. The following is an example.

In FIG. 4, the RF power amplifier is divided into two paths, a sub-input matching network 1 and a sub-input matching network 2, and a first switch connected between the sub-input matching network 1 and the power amplifying unit is S1, where The sub-input matching network 1 and the first switch S1 form a branch 1; the switch connected between the sub-input matching network 2 and the power amplifying unit is S2. The sub-input matching network 2 and the second switch S2 form a branch 2. For example, the envelope of an existing input signal is 0 to A _max , and the input segmentation unit divides the envelope of the input signal from 0 to Amax to 0 to D1 and D1 to Amax, where the D1 value Amax is a high power segment, 0 To D1 is a low power section. When the amplitude of the input signal is between 0 and D1, the RF signal is amplified by the branch 2 wideband power amplifier, and when the input signal is at D1 to Amax, the input signal is amplified by the sub-input matching network 1. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to using only two branches, and may be arbitrarily expanded according to actual conditions. This embodiment is for illustrative purposes only, and does not limit the correspondence between each branch and the divided power segment.

In another embodiment provided by the present invention, the power amplifying unit comprises: an input matching network, a broadband power amplifier, and an output matching network.

The input end of the input matching network is connected to the output end of the envelope control module, and the output end of the input matching network is connected to the input end of the broadband power amplifier.

An output of the power amplifier is coupled to an input of the output matching network.

The input matching network, the broadband power amplifier, and the output matching network are connected to form one branch of the power amplifying unit.

The number of branches in the power amplifier is the same as the number of segments of the amplitude.

It is worth noting that the broadband power amplifier should use a power amplifier with a high bandwidth and corresponding to the envelope segment power.

It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 4, the first switch includes: S1, S2. The switches S1 and S2 are controlled by the envelope segmentation algorithm, and the branch one and the branch two amplifiers are switched, and all the branch power amplifiers are not turned on at the same time. When a branch switch is disconnected, the RF signal can pass through and enter the corresponding power amplifier input port to drive the power amplifier into the working state; When closed, the RF signal is short-circuited to the ground, and the power amplifier can no longer be driven into the working state, so that no RF signal enters the path, and the power tube does not work.

The sub-input matching network 1 and the sub-input matching network 2 are at the input ports of the respective branch power amplifiers, and the two input lines are implemented as follows.

For example, when S1 is off and S2 is closed, PA1 is in operation. The sub-input matching network 1 as a terminal short-circuit line and the input matching network of the sub-input matching network 2 and PA1 together constitute a branch 1 transmission such as a matching network. At this time, the sub-input matching network 2 and the sub-input matching network 1 together form the input matching network of the branch 1, but since the sub-input matching network 2 is short-circuited to the ground, in actual work, the sub-input matches the network 2 to the PA1 and No effect. Similarly, when S1 is closed and S2 is disconnected, the sub-input matching network 1 participates as the terminal short-circuit line in the input matching network of PA2. At this time, the sub-input matching network 1 and the sub-input matching network 2 together form the input of the branch 2. Matching the network, but since the sub-input matching network 1 is shorted to ground, in actual operation, the sub-input matching network 1 has no effect on PA2. Thus, the switches S1, S2 and the sub-input matching network 1 and the sub-input matching network 2 participate in the corresponding power amplifier input matching network, compared to the implementation of power allocation using methods of the prior art, such as the Wilkinson splitter, This embodiment can reduce the loss due to input power allocation and does not affect the bandwidth of the input matching network.

In another embodiment provided by the present invention, the output signal combining unit includes: a sub-output matching network and a second switch; wherein an input end of the sub-output matching network is connected to an output end of the output matching network The output end of the sub-output matching network is an output end of the radio frequency power amplifier; one end of the second switch is connected to an input end of the sub-output matching network, and the other end of the second switch is grounded.

When PA2 is not working, the transistor output port impedance when PA2 is off and the output matching network of PA2 are directly connected to the PA1 total load network. Since PA2 is not adjusted to high impedance state when viewed from point B when it is turned off, This network will affect the output network matching performance of PA1. Therefore, the network must be incorporated into the joint design of the output matching network of PA1. Similarly, the output matching network of PA1 must also meet the conditions for output matching network when working as PA2. Since the two power amplifiers always do not work at the same time, this solution is feasible.

In the preferred implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, since the direct access method output network impedance iteration and optimization are complicated, the broadband characteristic of the high-resistance adjustment line may have a certain influence. A switch can be connected in parallel in the output network. When the branch power amplifier is working, the switch is in an off state, which does not affect the original output characteristics of the power amplifier; when the branch power amplifier is not working, the switch is closed. The state can shield the complex power amplifier matching network on the left side of the switch, and form a new short-circuit line on the right side, so that the short-circuit line can be connected to the power amplifier of other working branches through a simple structure, which is convenient for the design and optimization of the matching network. As shown in FIG. 4, the second switch includes: S3, S4. When PA1 is working and PA2 is not working, S1 is turned off and S2 is closed. Since S2 is closed, the signal output through PA2 is short-circuited to ground. At this time, the output matching network of PA1 is composed of the output matching network of PA1, the sub-output matching network 1 and the sub-output matching network 2, so that PA2 will not generate PA1. influences. Similarly, when PA2 works and PA1 does not work, S1 is closed and S2 is disconnected. Since S1 is closed, the signal output through PA1 is short-circuited to ground. At this time, the impedance matching network of PA2 is composed of the output matching network of PA2, the sub-output matching network 1 and the sub-output matching network 2, so that PA1 will not generate PA2. influences.

Preferably, switches S1 and S2 can be implemented using transistors, and the control voltages of the transistors are all grounded and can be compatible with digital circuit level standards. When PA1 is working, the matching network includes the output matching network of PA1, and the sub-output matching network 1 and the sub-output match all parts of the network 2. Since the position of the S2 access is relatively close to the composite output, the short-circuit stub line added is relatively short, which does not significantly affect the complexity of the PA1 output matching network, and is advantageous for optimization and adjustment. The position where the second switch is connected cannot be too close to the output end to avoid the impedance of the point B being too low to perform power output. The position design is achieved by optimizing the length of the sub-input matching network 2, which is equivalent to paralleling a short-circuit stub line in the output network of PA1. The branch where the PA2 is located can be set according to the above principle, and the embodiment is not described herein.

The radio frequency power amplifier provided by the above embodiments of the present invention utilizes the characteristics that the radio frequency power amplifier has both one and only one power amplifier operating, and the input signal is distributed by the input segmentation unit according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude to be amplified by different power amplification branches. And at the time of output, the output signal combining unit will have each branch according to the characteristics of each branch power amplifier having time-sharing operation The power amplifier output matching network is directly connected together to ensure that the RF power amplifier has a large operating bandwidth and high efficiency.

A radio frequency power amplification method is applied to a power amplifier, the power amplifier comprising: an input segmentation unit connected to a signal input end; and a power amplification unit connected between the input segmentation unit and the output signal combining unit The output signal combining unit connected to the power amplifying unit and the signal output end; wherein the method comprises:

The power amplifying unit performs power amplification on the segmented input signal by a segment, wherein the power amplifying unit includes at least two branches, each branch corresponding to one amplitude interval, and the sum of the amplitude ranges covers the entire input signal The maximum value of the envelope amplitude is to the minimum value, and each amplitude interval does not overlap each other.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the power amplifier further includes: an amplitude detection module, an envelope segmentation control module, and a first switch, wherein the power amplification method further includes:

In another embodiment of the present invention, the power amplifier further includes: a second switch, the power amplification method further includes:

The radio frequency power amplification method provided by the above embodiment of the present invention utilizes radio frequency power amplification At the same time, there is only one power amplifier operating characteristic, and the input signal is amplified by the input power splitting unit according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude, and at the time of output, the output signal combining unit according to each The branch power amplifier has the characteristics of time-sharing operation, and the branch power amplifier output matching networks are directly connected together to ensure that the RF power amplifier has a large working bandwidth and high efficiency.

The various embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the various embodiments may be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from the other embodiments. In particular, for the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description of the method embodiment.

A person skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the process of implementing the above embodiment method can be completed by a computer program to instruct related hardware, and the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. When executed, the flow of an embodiment of the methods as described above may be included. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM).

The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention. All should be covered by the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

An RF power amplifier characterized by comprising:

An input segmentation unit connected to the signal input;

a power amplifying unit connected between the input segment unit and the output signal combining unit;

The output signal combining unit connected to the power amplifying unit and the signal output end;

The input segmentation unit is configured to pass the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch according to the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the detected input signal;

The output signal combining unit is configured to output the amplified signal through a combined matching network.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input segmentation unit comprises at least: an amplitude detection module and an envelope segmentation control module; wherein

The amplitude detecting module is connected between the signal input end and the envelope segmentation control module, configured to detect an instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal, and determine the input signal according to an envelope amplitude of the input signal. Passed power amplification branch;

The envelope segmentation control module is coupled between the amplitude detection module and the power amplification unit for passing the input signal through a corresponding power amplification branch.
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said envelope segmentation control module comprises an input end and an output end; said input end being connected to said amplitude detecting module; said output end and said power amplifying unit Connected; wherein a first switch is disposed at the output end and the power amplifying unit, one end of the first switch is connected to the output end, and the other end of the switch is grounded.
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the power amplifying unit comprises: an input matching network, a broadband power amplifier, and an output matching network; wherein an input of the input matching network and the envelope control module An output connected to an input of the broadband matching power amplifier; an output of the power amplifier and the The input matching network is connected to the input; the input matching network, the broadband power amplifier and the output matching network are connected to form one branch of the power amplifying unit; the number of branches in the power amplifier The number of segments of the amplitude detection module is the same.
The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said output combining unit comprises: a sub-output matching network and a second switch; wherein said sub-output matches an input of the network and an output of said output matching network Connected, the output end of the sub-output matching network is an output end of the radio frequency power amplifier; one end of the second switch is connected to an input end of the sub-output matching network, and the other end of the second switch is grounded.
A radio frequency power amplification method, characterized in that it is applied to a power amplifier, the power amplifier comprising: an input segmentation unit connected to a signal input end; connected between the input segmentation unit and an output signal combining unit a power amplifying unit; the output signal combining unit connected to the power amplifying unit and the signal output end; wherein the method comprises:

The input segmentation unit determines a power amplification branch through which the input signal passes according to an envelope amplitude of the input signal;

The power amplifying unit performs power amplification on the segmented input signal by a segment, wherein the power amplifying unit includes at least two branches, each branch corresponding to one amplitude interval, and the sum of the amplitude ranges covers the entire input signal The maximum value of the envelope amplitude to the minimum value, and each amplitude interval does not overlap each other;

The output signal combining unit combines the amplified signals and outputs the signals.
The method of claim 6, wherein the power amplifier further comprises: an amplitude detection module, an envelope segmentation control module, and a first switch, the power amplification method further comprising:

The amplitude detecting module detects an instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal;

When the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal is within the segmentation interval, the envelope segmentation control module turns off the first switch, and causes the input signal to pass through a power amplifying unit corresponding to the first switch The branch in the middle is enlarged;

When the instantaneous envelope amplitude of the input signal is outside the segmentation interval, the envelope segmentation control mode closes the first switch, so that the input signal does not pass the work corresponding to the first switch Rate amplification unit.
The method of claim 6, wherein the power amplifier further comprises: a second switch, the power amplification method further comprising:

When one of the branches of the power amplifying unit is operated, the second switch corresponding to the branch is disconnected, and the second switch of the other branch is closed.