Patent ID: 8854141

Claim:
A radio frequency (RF) amplifier module comprising at least one digitally controllable amplifier arranged to receive: a first biased signal comprising an alternating current (AC) signal to be amplified and a first direct current (DC) bias component; at least one further biased signal comprising the AC signal to be amplified and an at least one further DC bias component; and at least one digital control signal comprising at least one less significant bit (LSB) component and at least one more significant bit (MSB) component, the at least one digitally controllable amplifier comprising: at least one LSB module comprising at least one gain cell arranged to selectively output a load current component corresponding to the first biased signal in accordance with at least one respective bit within the LSB component of the at least one digital control signal; and at least one MSB module comprising at least one gain cell arranged to selectively output a load current component corresponding to the at least one further biased signal in accordance with at least one respective bit within the MSB component of the at least one digital control signal, the at least one RF amplifier module further comprising at least one biasing component arranged to receive the AC signal to be amplified and to output the first and at least one further biased signals to the at least one digitally controllable amplifier, wherein the at least one biasing component is further arranged to: apply a first, operating DC bias voltage to the at least one further biased signal when the at least one digitally controllable amplifier is configured to operate in a higher gain mode and when the at least one MSB module is configured to output a load current component corresponding to the at least one further biased signal in accordance with at least one respective bit within the MSB component of the at least one digital control signal; and apply a second, higher DC bias voltage, which is higher than the first, operating DC bias voltage, to the at least one further biasing signal when the at least one digitally controllable amplifier is configured to operate in a lower gain mode and when the at least one MSB module is not configured to output a load current component corresponding to the at least one further biased signal in accordance with at least one respective bit within the MSB component of the at least one digital control signal.