Patent Abstract:
A switching power amplifier of class D has a switching stage for generating a block wave signal by alternately switching the block wave signal between supply voltages. A filter ( 24, 25 ) generates a power output signal ( 22 ) corresponding to an input signal to be amplified, which is coupled to a linear input ( 19 ) that is free of hysteresis. A control circuit ( 27, 28, 29 ) provides feedback between the output power signal and the linear input for controlling both the gain in the operational frequency range and also the alternately switching of the switching stage. Hence, the amplifier oscillates controlled via the same feedback loop that also controls the operational behavior of the amplifier, resulting in low output impedance and low distortion.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a power amplifier for amplifying an electric signal in an operational frequency range, the power amplifier comprising switching means for generating a block wave signal by alternately switching the block wave signal to a first supply voltage or a second supply voltage, filter means for generating a power output signal by low-pass filtering the block wave signal, input means for receiving the electric signal and driving the switching means, and a control circuit coupled to the output power signal and the input means for controlling the power amplifier. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A switching power amplifier is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,692. This patent describes pulse modulation amplifiers, also called pulse-width modulation amplifiers or class D amplifiers. In such amplifiers, there is an input stage for receiving an electrical input signal to be amplified, a modulating/switching stage and a filter. The modulating/switching stage generates a block wave signal having a frequency that is much higher than the highest frequency in the operational frequency range of the electric signal to be amplified. The pulse-width ratio of the block wave is modulated so that the average value of the block wave signal is proportional to the input signal. The filter filters the block wave signal to a power output signal. The modulation frequency may be derived from an oscillator, or the amplifier may be self-oscillating. Further, the power amplifier comprises a control circuit. For achieving a high quality power output signal, the control circuit has to control the amplifier in order to compensate numerous non-ideal features of the components of the class D amplifier. Several prior art options for such control circuits are described, and a cascaded control circuit is proposed in the above U.S. patent. The control circuit has a first feedback loop from the output power signal to the input for controlling the operational frequency behavior of the amplifier. The oscillation is controlled by a second feedback circuit coupled between the block wave signal and an input of the modulation circuit. The cascaded control circuit is complicated and requires both feedback circuits to be designed and tuned accurately. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a power amplifier of high quality which has a less complicated structure. 
     For this purpose, the power amplifier as described in the opening paragraph, is characterized in that the control circuit is connected between the power output signal and a linear input of the input means for controlling both the gain in the operational frequency range and also said alternately switching of the switching means, said linear input being substantially free of hysteresis. The measures have the advantage that a low output impedance of the amplifier is achieved, even at the filter resonance frequency. Further, a large reduction of inductor-related distortion and a very wide loop bandwidth are achieved, resulting in substantially frequency-independent distortion figures. 
     The invention is also based on the following recognition. In some prior art switching amplifiers, self-oscillation is based on the hysteresis of an element in the input stage. Although such “hysteresis-controlled” oscillating amplifiers may appear relatively uncomplicated, Applicant has seen that such hysteresis results in a number of non-linear errors and distortion products. Further, the switching frequency may vary with modulation index, limiting the modulation swing. Efforts by other researchers concentrated on controlling the hysteresis voltage to reduce frequency modulation. Applicant has seen that in a hysteresis-free amplifier according to the invention, a combined feedback loop for both gain and oscillation control can be connected between the output power signal after the filter and the linear input. In addition to the advantages described above, this allows a significantly larger modulation swing before the switching frequency becomes unacceptably low. 
     In an embodiment of the power amplifier, the switching means comprises a first switching unit for switching to the first supply voltage and a second switching unit for switching to the second supply voltage, and the input means comprises a voltage comparator having complementary current outputs for respectively driving the first and second switching units. This has the advantage that due to the symmetrical construction of the circuit, distortion products in the output signal are kept low. In an embodiment of the power amplifier, the voltage comparator comprises a difference amplifier and a switching current mirror providing said complementary current outputs. A result of this is that none of the transistors in this circuit are used in saturation, insuring fast reaction speeds. 
     In an embodiment of the power amplifier, the switching means comprises a first switching unit for switching to the first supply voltage and a second switching unit for switching to the second supply voltage, both switching units being substantially identical. This has the advantage that due to the symmetrical construction of the circuit, distortion products in the output signal are kept low. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated further with reference to the embodiments described, by way of example, in the following description and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a switching power amplifier; 
         FIG. 2  shows an electrical diagram of a switching power amplifier; 
         FIG. 3  shows a switching power amplifier having a comparator having complementary outputs and identical switching units; 
         FIG. 4  shows a comparator having complementary outputs; 
         FIG. 5  shows a switching unit; 
         FIG. 6  shows the gain versus frequency graph; and 
         FIG. 7  shows the output impedance versus frequency graph. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding elements in different Figures have identical reference numerals. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a switching power amplifier. The amplifier has an input circuit  11  which receives a signal from a summing node  16  at a hysteresis-free input  19 . The input circuit  11  is coupled to a driver element  12  for driving a switching power stage  13 . The output of switching power stage  13  is a block wave signal having a frequency well above the operational frequency range of the electrical signal to be amplified. The block wave signal is coupled to a low-pass filter  14 , which removes the high frequency block wave and results in a power output signal  18 . A control circuit  15  provides a feedback loop from the power output signal  18  to the summing node  16  at the input. The summing node further receives the electrical input signal  17  which is to be amplified. Some delay is present in the elements  11 ,  12 ,  13  of the amplifying chain due to the physical nature of the circuits used, e.g., semiconductors. The control circuit  15  is provided with oscillation feedback elements having a high feedback, i.e., a low impedance, at a high frequency. Due to the delay and the phase shift caused by the filter and the oscillation feedback elements in control circuit  15 , the amplifier will be self oscillating at a high frequency. The control circuit  15  also has operational feedback elements for controlling the gain and characteristics of the power amplifier in the operational frequency range. 
       FIG. 2  shows an electrical diagram of the switching power amplifier. The amplifier has an amplifier circuit  23  having a differential input stage, e.g., a positive input and a negative input of a comparator. The inputs are free of hysteresis. The positive input receives an electrical input signal  21  to be amplified. The amplifier circuit  23  comprises driver elements and a switching power stage. The output of switching power stage is a block wave signal which has a frequency well above the operational frequency range of the electrical signal to be amplified. The block wave signal is coupled to a low-pass filter, constituted by an inductor  24  and a capacitor  25 , which removes the high frequency block wave and results in a power output signal  22 . The power output signal  22  is connected to a load  26 , e.g., a loudspeaker having an impedance Z L , this load not being part of the amplifier. A control circuit provides a feedback loop having a feedback function H from the power output signal  22  to the negative input of the amplifier circuit  23 . The negative input of the amplifier circuit  23  is connected to ground via a resistor R g . The control circuit is provided with oscillation feedback elements having a high feedback at a high frequency, i.e., a resistor R L    28  in series with a capacitance C L    29 . The control circuit also has an operational feedback element resistor R f    27  for controlling the gain and characteristics of the power amplifier in the operational frequency range. Due to delay in the amplifier circuit and the phase shift caused by the filter and the oscillation feedback elements in control circuit, the amplifier will be self oscillating at a high frequency. 
     The oscillation condition is met when the total phase shift of the loop gain is 360°, for the small-signal gain of the combined comparator and power stage is undefined but sufficiently large. The feedback function H can be written as: 
               H   ⁡     (   s   )       =       I   +       τ   b     ·   s           (     I   +       τ   b     ·   s       )     +       A   n     ·     (     I   +       τ   a     ·   s       )                     where                 τ   a     =       R   L     ·     C   L         ,     
     ⁢       τ   b     =       (       R   f     +     R   L       )     ·     C   L                   and               A   n     =         R   f       R   g       .           
The output filter function G can be written as:
 
               G   ⁡     (   s   )       =         Z   L           Z   L     ·   C   ·   L   ·     s   2       +     L   ·   s     +     Z   L         .           
Finally, the delay function is written as:
 δ( s )= e   −s·τ     d   ≈1 −s·τ   d    
The system will oscillate at the frequency where the total phase shift becomes 360°. From the above, the switching frequency is found by requiring that:
 Arg(δ( s   SW )· G ( s   SW )· H ( s   SW ))=180°. 
The Low-Frequency Gain is determined as follows. By oscillating, the comparator plus the power stage are linearized and become a gain block. To determine the gain, we need to know what the carrier looks like at the input of the comparator. It is known that the signal at the switching output stage is a square wave of amplitude V CC  and pulsation ω SW . It is also known that the signal at the comparator will be an attenuated and low-pass filtered version. Due to this low-pass filtering action, the wave shape will be approximately sinusoidal, i.e., only the fundamental of the switching waveform needs to be considered. The amplitude of the carrier is thus:
   C=V   CC   |G (s SW )· H (s SW )| 
The linearized gain of a class D output stage is related to the dv/dt of the carrier as:
 
               A   V     =       4   ·     V   cc     ·     f   sw           ∂   V       ∂   t               
which becomes, for a sinusoidal carrier:
 
               A   V     =         4   ·     V   cc     ·     f   sw           ω   sw     ·   C       =     4     2   ·   π   ·            G   ⁡     (     s   sw     )       ·     h   ⁡     (     s   sw     )                          
This makes the LF loop gain:
   A   L ( s )= A   V ·δ( s )· G ( s )· H ( s ) 
and the LF closed loop gain:
 
                 A   CL     ⁡     (   s   )       =         A   V     ·     δ   ⁡     (   s   )       ·     G   ⁡     (   s   )           I   +       A   L     ⁡     (   s   )                 
As expected, the DC closed loop gain reduces to:
 
                 A   CL     ⁡     (   0   )       =         A   V       I   +       A   V     ·     H   ⁡     (   0   )             ≈     I   +       R   f       R   g                 
The output impedance is the parallel impedance of the output filter divided by the loop gain:
 
     
       
         
           
             
               
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       FIG. 3  shows a switching power amplifier having a comparator having complementary outputs and identical switching units. The basic configuration is described above with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The amplifier circuit is shown in more detail as follows. The input stage is constituted by a comparator  32  having a positive and negative differential input. The comparator  32  has two complementary outputs coupled to switching units  33  and  34 . The switching unit  33  drives a MOSFET semiconductor power switch  38  and derives its power supply from a power supply unit  35 . The power supply unit  35  is referenced to the negative power supply voltage −V and may be a capacitor arrangement which derives its positive supply voltage from the ground level or from the positive power supply voltage +V. The switching unit  34  drives a second MOSFET semiconductor power switch  39  and derives its power supply from a power supply unit  36 . The power supply unit  36  is floating and has its reference on the block wave signal output and may be a capacitor arrangement which derives its positive supply voltage via a bootstrap diode  37  from the power supply unit  35 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a comparator having complementary outputs. The comparator has positive and negative inputs In 1  and In 2 . A first comparator branch is constituted by transistor Q 1  in series with Q 5 , and has an output Out 1  from transistor Q 3 . A second comparator branch, in a mirror configuration, is constituted by transistor Q 2  in series with Q 6 , and has an output Out 2  from transistor Q 4 . Both branches have a common current source Ib as a power supply and a common resistor R b  for the mirroring, and two limiting diodes D 1  and D 2  between the collectors of Q 1  and Q 2 . R b  is used to set the output current. The circuit constitutes a very simple yet fast voltage comparator with complementary current outputs. These outputs connect to two MOSFET gate drivers, one of which is floating. Q 1  and Q 2  form a differential amplifier, actually a differential transimpedance stage. All base currents are assumed to be negligible. Equation 1 is:
   I   C,Q1   +I   C,Q2   =I   b   =I   C,Q5   +I   C,Q6    and I C,Q5 ≈I C,Q6    
Note that any deviation will cause a DC offset error. When V in1 &gt;V in2 , then I C,Q1 &lt;I C,Q2 . In order to maintain the equality of the bottom pair, the excess current of Q 2  will be diverted through D 2 . This will cause V B,Q4  to be one diode drop higher than V B,Q3 . Because of that, only Q 4  will conduct to hold the bases of Q 5  and Q 6  at the voltage required to maintain Equation 1.
 
     
       
         
           
             
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     When V in1 &lt;V in2 , the converse goes. The “bottom half” of the circuit can also be seen as a current mirror of which the input and output are swapped depending on the state of the comparator. Hence, the two branches formed by Q 3 –Q 6  and common elements Ib and R b  constitute a switching current mirror. A result of this is that none of the transistors in this circuit are used in saturation, insuring high reaction speeds. 
       FIG. 5  shows a switching unit. The two switching units  33 ,  34  shown in  FIG. 3  are identical. One such switching unit is shown here. A positive drive circuit is constituted by a transistor Q 11  in combination with base resistor R 1 . The collector output of Q 11  is coupled via a resistor R 3  and a diode D 12  to the MOSFET M 1 , power switch  38 . A negative drive circuit is constituted by Q 12  and base resistor R 2  which act as an active pull-up  51 . Q 11  is operated as a switch with baker-clamp D 11  to prevent saturation. When Q 11  is turned on, a gate charge is supplied to M 1  through R 3  and D 12 . When Q 11  is turned off, the gate charge is discharged by Q 12 +R 2  which act as an “active pull-up” to speed up the discharge. Ideally, the discharge current should be about twice as large as the charge current and the circuit dimensioned accordingly. The voltage source  35  is either the supply of the low-side driver or the “bootstrap” capacitor of the high-side driver. In the latter case, charge is replenished through the bootstrap diode every time the low-side MOSFET is turned on. 
       FIG. 6  shows a gain versus frequency graph. The graph has frequency along the X-axis, indicated by arrow  61 , and gain indicated by arrow  62  along the Y-axis. A first gain curve  63  indicates the gain with a load of 600Ω. A second curve  64  indicates the gain with a load of 6Ω. The amplifier circuit has been implemented according to the following requirements/boundary conditions: Power bandwidth: 35 kHz into 6Ω, Gain: 20 and τ d =200 ns. The delay τ d  is given by the implementation of the comparator and driver stage. The output filter is chosen to cut off at 35 kHz with a Q just over 0.7 to insure no attenuation occurs below cut-off by L=30 μH, C=680 nF and Z L =6Ω. A DC gain of approximately 20 is given by R f =4.7 kΩ and R g =220Ω. Switching frequency is chosen as at least ten times power bandwidth: f SW &gt;350 kHz. This requirement is met by the combination R L =910Ω and C L =560 pF. Oscillation frequency f SW  becomes 415 kHz and linearized gain A V  becomes 457. The closed-loop gain against frequency is shown in  FIG. 6 . The gain shows a peak at the switching frequency, but as the amplifier is already oscillating at this frequency, this peak has little meaning. Meaningful is the remaining portion of the graph, which shows that the gain is just over 26 dB and that a 1 st  order roll off occurs at 60 kHz. Regardless of the load impedance, the physical corner frequency of the filter does not manifest itself. 
       FIG. 7  shows the output impedance versus frequency graph. The graph has frequency along the X-axis, indicated by arrow  61 , and output impedance indicated by arrow  71  along the Y-axis. An output impedance curve  72  indicates the output impedance. The output impedance curve  72  shows no trace of the impedance of the output filter, which should be infinite at the cut-off frequency. In fact, at 35 kHz, it is 0.3Ω, and at 20 kHz, it is 0.2Ω, which is a very good result. The output impedance translates into an equivalent output inductance of 1.6 μH. This is less than the inductances commonly inserted at the output of linear amplifiers. It may be said that this control method solves one of the biggest problems in class D, to guarantee a flat frequency response across a wide range of loads. 
     Although the invention has been explained mainly by embodiments using an audio class D amplifier, similar embodiments are suitable for other power control systems, for example, industrial control amplifiers. It is noted, that in this document, the word ‘comprising’ does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed, and the word ‘a’ or ‘an’ preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements, that any reference signs do not limit the scope of the claims, that the invention may be implemented by means of both hardware and software, and that several ‘means’ may be represented by the same item of hardware. Further, the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments, and the invention lies in each and every novel feature or combination of features described above.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7