Patent ID: 8204148

Claim:
A space-time digital power amplifier, comprising: an array of transmitter modules, each of the transmitter modules comprising: a digital power amplifier having an input and an output, and configured for generating a signal having an amplification at the output in response to an active state of a digital amplifier control signal; a transmit antenna in communication with the output of the digital power amplifier and configured to transmit an RF signal responsive to the signal at the output of the digital power amplifier; and a control circuit having an output in communication with the input of the digital power amplifier, the control circuit configured to receive a digital phase control signal, a carrier signal and a phase-shifted carrier signal, the control circuit providing one of the carrier signal and the phase-shifted carrier signal to the input of the digital power amplifier in response to a state of the digital phase control signal, wherein the carrier signal and the phase-shifted carrier signal are in-phase carrier signals for a first subset of the transmitter modules and are quadrature carrier signals for a second subset of the transmitter modules, wherein the RF signals propagating from the transmit antennas are spatially-combined to generate a communications signal having a waveform responsive to the digital amplifier control signals and the digital phase control signals.