Patent ID: 8542769

Claim:
A digital-to-analog upconverter configured to convert a baseband digital value to a radio frequency (RF) analog signal, said digital-to-analog upconverter comprising: a first balanced upconverter configured to convert an In-phase portion of the baseband digital value to a first In-phase analog component (I p ) at a radio frequency and a second In-phase analog component (I n ) at the radio frequency, where I n is phase-shifted relative to I p ; a second balanced upconverter configured to convert a Quadrature portion of the baseband digital value to a first Quadrature analog component (Q p ) at the radio frequency and a second Quadrature analog component (Q n ) at the radio frequency, where Q p is phase-shifted relative to Q n ; a first amplifier configured to amplify I p and I n to generate amplified I p and I n signals at first and second In-phase amplifier outputs; a second amplifier configured to amplify Q p and Q n to generate amplified Q p and Q n signals at first and second Quadrature amplifier outputs; wherein the first and second amplifiers each operate at a 50% duty cycle and in an interleaved fashion such that only one of the first and second amplifiers is active at any time, and such that the first amplifier outputs the amplified I p and amplified I n signals for a first 25% of a cycle, the second amplifier outputs the amplified Q p and amplified Q n signals for a subsequent second 25% of the cycle, the first amplifier outputs the amplified I p and amplified I n signals for a subsequent third 25% of the cycle, and the second amplifier outputs the amplified Q p and amplified Q n signals for a final 25% of the cycle; and a differential combiner configured to combine the amplified signals output by the first and second amplifiers during the cycle to generate the RF analog signal representative of the baseband digital value.