PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10778345-B2
Application Number: US-201815862279-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Dynamic look up table measurements for transmitter with envelope tracking systems

Abstract:
The representative embodiments discussed in the present disclosure relate to techniques in which the operating characteristics (e.g., gain and/or efficiency) of a power amplifier in a transmitter may be regulated according to an operation mode of the transmitter. More specifically, in some embodiments, different look-up tables (LUTs) may be employed for each mode of operation to suitably adjust the supply voltage to the power amplifier and modulate its operating characteristics based on power input to the power amplifier. Further, in some embodiments, a method to calibrate a LUT for uplink carrier aggregation (ULCA) operation mode of the transmitter may be employed to populate a LUT used to suitably adjust the supply voltage during ULCA.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A transmitter, comprising:
 a power amplifier configured to receive an input signal and amplify the input signal based on a transfer function characterizing the power amplifier; and 
 a control circuit operably coupled to the power amplifier, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the power amplifier to generate an output signal while tracking an envelope of the input signal at least in part by:
 applying a first set of variable supply voltages to the power amplifier to operate the power amplifier in a non-linear region of the transfer function; and 
 applying a second set of variable supply voltages to the power amplifier to operate the power amplifier in a linear region of the transfer function, wherein the second set of variable supply voltages vary over time to adjust the linear region of the transfer function to be more linear. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein applying the first set of variable supply voltages corresponds to a normal operation mode, and wherein applying the second set of variable supply voltages corresponds to an uplink carrier aggregation mode. 
     
     
       3. The transmitter of  claim 2 , wherein, in the uplink carrier aggregation mode, the output signal comprises two to five baseband signals aggregated into a single baseband signal, wherein a total frequency of the two to five baseband signals is 100 (megahertz) MHz. 
     
     
       4. The transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the first set of variable supply voltages, the second set of variable supply voltages, or both based in part on an envelope of an unprocessed signal in the transmitter, wherein the power amplifier is configured to generate the output signal based in part on the first set of variable supply voltages, the second set of variable supply voltages, or both. 
     
     
       5. The transmitter of  claim 4 , wherein the control circuit comprises:
 an envelope shaping circuit having a first look up table corresponding to a first mode of operation and a second look up table corresponding to a second mode of operation, the envelope shaping circuit being configured to:
 receive the unprocessed signal; 
 in the first mode of operation, generate an unprocessed supply signal based in part on an envelope of the unprocessed signal and the first look up table; and 
 in the second mode of operation, generate the unprocessed supply signal based in part on the envelope of the unprocessed signal and the second look up table; 
 
 an envelope tracking digital-to-analog converter (DAC) operably coupled to the envelope shaping circuit, the envelope tracking DAC being configured to convert the unprocessed supply signal to an analog signal; and 
 an envelope modulator circuit operably coupled to the envelope tracking DAC, the envelope modulator circuit being configured to receive the analog signal and configured to generate the first set of variable supply voltages or the second set of variable supply voltages. 
 
     
     
       6. The transmitter of  claim 4 , wherein the control circuit comprises:
 a first look up table corresponding to a first mode of operation, the first look up table having a first mapping of data representative of the envelope to data representative of the first set of variable supply voltages; and 
 a second look up table corresponding to a second mode of operation, the second look up table having a second mapping of the data representative of the envelope to the data representative of the second set of variable supply voltages. 
 
     
     
       7. The transmitter of  claim 6 , wherein, in the second mode of operation, the control circuit is configured to cause the power amplifier to generate the output signal by applying the constant gain to the input signal based at least in part on the second mapping of the data representative of the envelope to the data representative of the second set of variable supply voltages. 
     
     
       8. The transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is configured to receive an unprocessed input signal and configured to generate the input signal based in part on the unprocessed input signal. 
     
     
       9. The transmitter of  claim 8 , comprising a digital pre-distortion circuit configured to introduce distortion to the unprocessed input signal to generate a distorted signal, wherein the distortion offsets distortion generated by the power amplifier. 
     
     
       10. The transmitter of  claim 9 , comprising a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) configured to convert the distorted signal from a digital signal to an analog signal to generate a distorted analog signal. 
     
     
       11. A method of operating a power amplifier of a transmitter having a normal operation mode and an uplink carrier aggregation mode to perform envelope tracking, comprising:
 receiving an input signal at the power amplifier; 
 in the uplink carrier aggregation mode, generating an output signal having an iso-gain relative to the input signal by applying a first set of variable supply voltages to the power amplifier to adjust a linear portion of a transfer function of the power amplifier to be more linear; and 
 in the normal operation mode, generating the output signal having a variable gain relative to the input signal by applying a second set of variable supply voltages to the power amplifier to operate the power amplifier in a non-linear region of the transfer function. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , comprising:
 in the uplink carrier aggregation mode:
 receiving a supply signal at the power amplifier, wherein the supply signal is based in part on an envelope of the input signal; and 
 generating, via the power amplifier, the output signal based in part on the supply signal and the input signal. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , comprising:
 in the uplink carrier aggregation mode:
 generating, via the power amplifier, the output signal based in part on contents of a first look up table; and 
 
 in the normal operation mode:
 generating, via the power amplifier, the output signal based in part on contents of a second look up table. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein, in the uplink carrier aggregation mode, the output signal comprises a plurality of baseband signals, wherein each of the plurality of baseband signals comprise a frequency of 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz. 
     
     
       15. The transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to calibrate the power amplifier at least in part by:
 generating, via the power amplifier, a first output signal based on a first input signal and a supply signal; 
 generating, via the power amplifier, a second output signal based on a second input signal and the supply signal; 
 measuring a first change in power between a power level corresponding to the first input signal and a power level corresponding to the second input signal; 
 measuring a second change in power between a power level corresponding to the first output signal and a power level corresponding to the second output signal; and 
 adjusting the supply signal so that the first change in power corresponds to the second change in power. 
 
     
     
       16. The transmitter of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to be operated in a second mode of operation to apply the second set of variable supply voltages to the power amplifier.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The application is a Non-Provisional application claiming priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/556,821, entitled “Dynamic Look Up Table Measurements for Transmitter with Envelope Tracking Systems,” filed Sep. 11, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to cellular and wireless devices and, more particularly, to cellular and wireless devices having transmitters capable of regulating the operating characteristics of a power amplifier corresponding to operating modes of the transmitter. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     Transmitters are commonly included in various electronic devices, and particularly, portable electronic devices such as, for example, phones (e.g., mobile and cellular phones, cordless phones, personal assistance devices), computers (e.g., laptops, tablet computers), internet connectivity routers (e.g., Wi-Fi routers or modems), radios, televisions, or any of various other stationary or handheld devices. Certain types of transmitters, known as wireless transmitters, may be used to generate wireless signals to be transmitted by way of an antenna coupled to a power amplifier in the transmitter. The power amplifier of the transmitter may apply a suitable gain to a signal to increase the signal&#39;s strength for better transmission over a channel (e.g., air). Further, the power amplifier may function at an optimum level of efficiency based on a power output of the power amplifier and a supply voltage used to power the power amplifier. As such, for a given power input to the power amplifier, there may exist a supply voltage that may result in the optimum level of efficiency and/or gain characteristics for the power amplifier. Thus, envelope tracking (ET) techniques may be used to track the amplitudes and shape of an input power signal so that the envelope of the supply voltage signal may be shaped to supply a suitable voltage level to the power amplifier at each amplitude of the input power signal&#39;s envelope. However, as transceivers become more complex and provide different modes of operation, it may be difficult to maintain optimum performance of the power amplifier. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     As described in greater detail below, the transmitter may employ different modes of operation (e.g., normal operation and uplink carrier aggregation (ULCA)). A normal operation mode may be used to transmit a single baseband signal, having a narrow bandwidth, across a channel, while a ULCA mode may transmit multiple baseband signals aggregated into a single signal with a broader bandwidth. As such, ULCA may be used to transmit more information at once compared to the normal operation mode, and because of the differences between the two modes of operation and their transmitted signals, the power amplifier may operate differently in each mode of operation. To that end, the power amplifier may have desirable optimization conditions (i.e., voltage supply and power output) for each mode of operation in the transmitter. For example, during uplink carrier aggregation, in order to achieve a suitable adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR), the power amplifier may function in a linear region of its transfer function, or its iso-gain region. That is, to reduce distortion caused by the mixing (i.e., channel leakage) of the adjacent signals that are aggregated together in the ULCA transmitted signal, the power amplifier may apply constant gain to each power input. In the normal operation mode, however, the power amplifier may function in the non-linear region of its transfer function, or the constant compression region. That is, variable gain may be applied to the signal transmitted by the power amplifier in normal operation mode. To facilitate desirable functionality of the power amplifier, a distinct set of supply voltages mapped to power input levels may be utilized by each operation mode. Thus, a transmitter capable of suitably shaping the supply voltage of the power amplifier across multiple modes of operation may be desirable. 
     The representative embodiments discussed in the present disclosure relate to techniques in which the operating characteristics (e.g., gain and/or efficiency) of a power amplifier in a transmitter may be regulated according to an operation mode of the transmitter. More specifically, in some embodiments, different look up tables (LUTs) may be employed for each mode of operation to suitably adjust the supply voltage to the power amplifier and control its operating characteristics based on power input to the power amplifier. Further, in some embodiments, a method to calibrate a LUT for ULCA, an operation mode of the transmitter, may be employed to populate a LUT that may be used to suitably adjust the supply voltage during ULCA. 
     Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device including a transceiver, in accordance with an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of another hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a desktop computer representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view and side view of a wearable electronic device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the transceiver of  FIG. 1  including a power amplifier; 
         FIG. 8A  is an embodiment of a plot of the transfer function of the power amplifier of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 8B  is another embodiment of the plot of the transfer function of the power amplifier of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a plot of the gain of the power amplifier of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram of a method to calibrate the transceiver of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment; and 
         FIG. 11  is another embodiment of the transceiver of  FIG. 1 ; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. These described embodiments are only examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. 
     A transmitter may employ different modes of operation to send a signal across a channel. For example, a normal operation mode may be used to transmit a single baseband signal, having a narrow bandwidth, across a channel, while a ULCA mode may transmit multiple baseband signals aggregated into a single signal with a broader bandwidth. Each of these and other modes of operation of the transmitter may impact the manner in which a power amplifier in the transmitter is employed (e.g., the gain and/or efficiency characteristics of the power amplifier). For example, a signal transmitted in ULCA mode may benefit from a power amplifier that has constant gain and decreased efficiency, while a signal transmitted in normal operation mode may benefit from a power amplifier with variable gain and increased efficiency. 
     To meet the desirable operation conditions of the power amplifier in each mode of operation of the transmitter, the supply voltage of the power amplifier may suitably be modified. In some embodiments, the supply voltage may adjust based on the envelope of an input signal in the transmitter. As such, envelope tracking may be employed in the transmitter to monitor the shape of the input signal. Further, in some embodiments, the adjustment made to the supply voltage based on the input signal&#39;s envelope may map to a different LUT based on the mode of operation of the transmitter. That is, the transmitter may include different LUTs for each of its modes of operation in order to suitably regulate the power amplifier and its operating characteristics. 
     As such, in order to apply constant gain in a power amplifier during ULCA mode, a LUT may be calibrated by determining suitable supply voltage levels to apply constant gain to each power input level at the power amplifier. Because the transfer function of an actual power amplifier, even in its most linear regions, may not be exactly linear (i.e., constant gain), the calibration of the LUT for ULCA mode may involve determining supply voltage levels that may linearize the transfer function of the power amplifier. In the case of a power amplifier with a linear transfer function (i.e., constant gain), a difference between two power input levels (ΔPin) may match the difference between their corresponding output levels (ΔPout). Thus, to determine the suitable supply voltages for the LUT calibration, a supply voltage suitable to cause ΔPin=ΔPout for each power input level may be determined. 
     With the foregoing in mind, a general description of suitable electronic devices that may employ a transmitter capable of suitably shaping a supply voltage of a power amplifier across multiple modes of operation will be provided below. Turning first to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more processor(s)  12 , memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , a network interface  26 , a transceiver  28 , and a power source  29 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 1  may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that  FIG. 1  is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in electronic device  10 . 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in  FIG. 2 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 3 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 4 , the desktop computer depicted in  FIG. 5 , the wearable electronic device depicted in  FIG. 6 , or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s)  12  and other related items in  FIG. 1  may be generally referred to herein as “data processing circuitry.” Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device  10 . 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , the processor(s)  12  may be operably coupled with the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor(s)  12  may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media at least collectively storing the instructions or routines, such as the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16 . The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. Also, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor(s)  12  to enable the electronic device  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may allow users to view images generated on the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the electronic device  10 . Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display  18  may include one or more organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and OLED panels. 
     The input structures  22  of the electronic device  10  may enable a user to interact with the electronic device  10  (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable electronic device  10  to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface  26 . The network interface  26  may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, for a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as a 3 rd  generation (3G) cellular network, 4th generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE) cellular network, long term evolution enhanced license assisted access (LTE-eLAA) cellular network, or long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) cellular network, which may involve ULCA. The network interface  26  may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (WiMAX), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WiMAX), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H), ultra Wideband (UWB), alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth. 
     In certain embodiments, to allow the electronic device  10  to communicate over the aforementioned wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, WiMAX, mobile WiMAX, 4G, LTE, and so forth), the electronic device  10  may include a transceiver  28 . The transceiver  28  may include any circuitry the may be useful in both wirelessly receiving and wirelessly transmitting signals (e.g., data signals). Indeed, in some embodiments, as will be further appreciated, the transceiver  28  may include a transmitter and a receiver combined into a single unit, or, in other embodiments, the transceiver  28  may include a transmitter separate from the receiver. For example, the transceiver  28  may transmit and receive OFDM signals (e.g., OFDM data symbols) to support data communication in wireless applications such as, for example, PAN networks (e.g., Bluetooth), WLAN networks (e.g., 802.11x Wi-Fi), WAN networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, and LTE, LTE-eLAA, and LTE-A cellular networks), WiMAX networks, mobile WiMAX networks, ADSL and VDSL networks, DVB-T and DVB-H networks, UWB networks, and so forth. As further illustrated, the electronic device  10  may include a power source  29 . The power source  29  may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. 
     In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device. Such computers may include computers that are generally portable (such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) as well as computers that are generally used in one place (such as conventional desktop computers, workstations and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  in the form of a computer may be a model of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. By way of example, the electronic device  10 , taking the form of a notebook computer  10 A, is illustrated in  FIG. 2  in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The depicted computer  10 A may include a housing or enclosure  36 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , and ports of an I/O interface  24 . In one embodiment, the input structures  22  (such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may be used to interact with the computer  10 A, such as to start, control, or operate a GUI or applications running on computer  10 A. For example, a keyboard and/or touchpad may allow a user to navigate a user interface or application interface displayed on display  18 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts a front view of a handheld device  10 B, which represents one embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 B may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 B may be a model of an iPod® or iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The handheld device  10 B may include an enclosure  36  to protect interior components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure  36  may surround the display  18 . The I/O interfaces  24  may open through the enclosure  36  and may include, for example, an I/O port for a hard wired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc., a universal service bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. 
     User input structures  22 , in combination with the display  18 , may allow a user to control the handheld device  10 B. For example, the input structures  22  may activate or deactivate the handheld device  10 B, navigate user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device  10 B. Other input structures  22  may provide volume control, or may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. The input structures  22  may also include a microphone may obtain a user&#39;s voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker may enable audio playback and/or certain phone capabilities. The input structures  22  may also include a headphone input may provide a connection to external speakers and/or headphones. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a front view of another handheld device  10 C, which represents another embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device  10 , which may be, for example, a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , a computer  10 D may represent another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The computer  10 D may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer  10 D may be an iMac®, a MacBook®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. It should be noted that the computer  10 D may also represent a personal computer (PC) by another manufacturer. A similar enclosure  36  may be provided to protect and enclose internal components of the computer  10 D such as the display  18 . In certain embodiments, a user of the computer  10 D may interact with the computer  10 D using various peripheral input devices, such as the keyboard  22 A or mouse  22 B (e.g., input structures  22 ), which may connect to the computer  10 D. 
     Similarly,  FIG. 6  depicts a wearable electronic device  10 E representing another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  that may be configured to operate using the techniques described herein. By way of example, the wearable electronic device  10 E, which may include a wristband  43 , may be an Apple Watch® by Apple, Inc. However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device  10 E may include any wearable electronic device such as, for example, a wearable exercise monitoring device (e.g., pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other device by another manufacturer. The display  18  of the wearable electronic device  10 E may include a touch screen display  18  (e.g., LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display, and so forth), as well as input structures  22 , which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the wearable electronic device  10 E. 
     As previously noted above, each embodiment (e.g., notebook computer  10 A, handheld device  10 B, handheld device  10 C, computer  10 D, and wearable electronic device  10 E) of the electronic device  10  may include a transceiver  28 . With the foregoing in mind,  FIG. 7  depicts a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a transmitter  50  within the transceiver  28 . In the illustrated embodiment, the transmitter  50  is separate from the receiver within the transceiver  28 , but in some embodiments, the transceiver  28  may include a transmitter  50  and a receiver combined into a single unit. Further, the various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 7  may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should also be noted that  FIG. 7  is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the transmitter  50 . As such, functional blocks may be added or omitted, and their arrangement within the transmitter  50  may be modified. 
     In some embodiments, the transmitter  50  may receive an input signal  52  that, after some modifications, may be transmitted wirelessly via an antenna (not shown) operably connected to an output  78  of the power amplifier (PA)  76 . The input signal  52  and the modifications made to input signal  52  to prepare it for transmission may vary depending on an operation mode of the transmitter  50 . In some embodiments, the operation modes of the transmitter  50  may include a normal operation mode and an uplink carrier aggregation mode (ULCA). 
     During the ULCA mode, the input signal  52  may include multiple component carriers, or baseband signals. That is, the input signal  52  may include several signals aggregated into one or more frequency bands. In some embodiments, for example, the input signal  52  may include two to five component carriers, each with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, aggregated contiguously into a signal with a single frequency band with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 80 MHz, or 100 MHz. In other embodiments, the input signal  52  may include a number of component carriers aggregated non-contiguously within the same frequency band and/or across a number of different frequency bands. Due to the nature of the input signal  52  in ULCA mode of the transmitter  50 , the transmitter  50  may take certain precautions to transmit a more reliable signal. That is, the input signal  52  may be susceptible to a number of types of distortion whose effects may desirably be reduced by the transmitter  50 . For example, the contiguously aggregated component carriers in the input signal  52  may be susceptible to mixing (i.e., adjacent channel leakage) due to their proximity to each other. Further, non-contiguously aggregated signals may suffer from intermodulation products. As such, to limit distortion and to meet requirements specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as adjacent channel leakage ratios, the transmitter  50  may implement techniques to hold the gain of the power amplifier  76  constant (i.e., iso-gain), as will be discussed in further detail. 
     In contrast, during normal operation mode, the input signal  52  may include a single baseband signal. Further, in some embodiments, the transmitter  50  may regulate the power amplifier  76  to apply variable gain to the input signal  52 . More specifically, in such embodiments, the transmitter  50  may maintain the power amplifier  76  in a state of constant compression (i.e., gain compression) in which the gain applied to an input power signal is reduced compared to the gain applied to an input power signal within the constant gain operating region of the power amplifier  76 . The use of constant compression in the power amplifier  76  during normal operation mode may improve the efficiency of the power amplifier, and the techniques the transmitter may implement to operate the power amplifier  76  in constant compression will be discussed in further detail. 
     Before transmission of a transmitted signal from the output  78  in either normal operation mode or ULCA mode, a pre-digital pre-distortion (pre-DPD) gain control  54  may apply a gain to the input signal  52 . The pre-DPD gain control  54 , as well as other gain control elements (i.e., post-DPD digital gain control  68  and analog gain control  72 ) in the transmitter  50  may apply gain to a signal so that the amplitude of an output signal of the gain control element is within a suitable operating range of the functional block that may receive the output signal of the gain control element as an input. As such, the digital pre-distortion (DPD) block  56  may apply distortion to the output of the pre-DPD gain control  54  to offset distortion the power amplifier  76  may introduce. That is, the DPD block  56  may introduce distortion intended to have the opposite effect on the signal compared to the distortion the power amplifier  76  may introduce. The output of the DPD block  56  may then have additional gain applied to it by a post-DPD digital gain control  68 . A digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  70  may convert the output of the post-DPD digital gain control  68  from a digital to an analog signal to prepare the signal for transmission across an analog channel (e.g., air). An analog gain control  72  may apply an analog gain to the analog signal output from the DAC  70 . A mixer  74  may receive an output of the analog gain control  72  as an input and adjust (i.e., shift) the frequency of the signal to a suitable frequency for the channel the signal will be transmitted on. The mixer  74  may additionally or alternatively perform frequency modulation (FM) or amplitude modulation (AM) to modify the frequency or amplitude of the signal, respectively. The output of the mixer  74  may then feed into an input of the power amplifier  76  for amplification to an output signal  78  suitable for transmission across a channel. 
     Further, in some embodiments, to control the gain of the power amplifier  76 , envelope tracking techniques may be used. That is, the gain of the power amplifier  76  may respond to changes in a smooth curve tracking the crests and/or troughs of the amplitude (i.e., envelope) of the input signal  52 . In such embodiments, an envelope path  57 , which may include an envelope shaping block  58 , an envelope tracking DAC  64 , an envelope modulator  66 , or any suitable combination of these components may be used to track the envelope of the input signal  52  and modulate the supply voltage to the power amplifier  76  based on shape of the input signal&#39;s  52  envelope. That is, the supply voltage input to the power amplifier  76  may vary depending on the envelope of the input signal  52 . As such, the gain of the power amplifier  76  may also vary depending on the envelope of the input signal  52 , as the gain of the power amplifier  76  may depend, in part, on the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76 . 
     In some embodiments, the envelope shaping block  58  may receive the output of the DPD block  56  as an input signal, determine the amplitude of the input signal  52 , and output a digital signal corresponding to a supply voltage or change in supply voltage that may suitably control the gain of the power amplifier  76 . To do so, the envelope shaping block  58  may include a set of LUTs (i.e.,  60  and  62 ) that may map the input signal  52  to the appropriate digital signal output by the envelope shaping block  58 . The envelope tracking DAC  64  may convert the digital signal supplied by the envelope shaping block  58  to an analog voltage signal that an envelope modulator  66  may receive. The envelope modulator  66  may receive the analog voltage signal from the envelope tracking DAC  64  and may feed a suitable supply voltage into the power amplifier  76  based in part on the analog signal and the envelope tracking of the input signal  52 . 
     Further, in some embodiments, the behavior of the envelope shaping block  58  may depend on the operation mode of the transmitter  50 . That is, in certain operation modes of the transmitter  50 , certain gain and/or efficiency characteristics from the power amplifier  76  may be desirable, while in other operation modes of the transmitter  50 , different gain and/or efficiency characteristics from the power amplifier  76  may be desirable. Thus, in some embodiments, each LUT in the set of LUTs (i.e.,  60  and  62 ) may correspond to an operation mode of the transmitter  50 . For example, a first LUT  60  may correspond to the normal operation mode of the transmitter  50 , and a second LUT  62  may correspond to the ULCA mode of the transmitter  50 . During the normal operation mode, the first LUT  60  may receive the input signal  52  and/or the signal output by the DPD block  56  and determine a suitable supply voltage to feed into the power amplifier  76  to enable constant compression and increased efficiency characteristics of the power amplifier  76  during the generation of output signal  78 . In some embodiments, during the ULCA mode of the transmitter  50 , the second LUT  62  may receive the input signal  52  and/or the same signal output by DPD block  56  and may determine a different suitable supply voltage to feed into the power amplifier  76  to enable iso-gain at the power amplifier  76 . In some embodiments, the transceiver  28  may send a signal to the transmitter  50  from the processor  12  to specify the mode of operation to be used so that the correct LUT is selected from the set of LUTS (i.e.,  60  and  62 ) to enable the correct power amplifier  76  behavior. 
     The illustrated embodiment of the envelope shaping block  58  includes a set of LUTs (i.e.,  60  and  62 ). However, it should be appreciated that in some embodiments the LUTs  60  and  62  may not be stored in the envelope shaping block  58 ; rather, the LUTs  60  and  62  may be stored in non-volatile memory and loaded into the envelope shaping block  58  before they are used. Further, while two LUTs (i.e.,  60  and  62 ) are illustrated, any suitable number of LUTs may be used. In some embodiments, for example, a single LUT may be used across every operation mode of the transmitter  50 . In such embodiments, for example, the LUT may include data for each operation mode of the transmitter  50  organized into different sections within the table that may each map to a respective operation mode. 
     To facilitate discussion of the gain characteristics of the power amplifier  76 ,  FIG. 8A  illustrates a plot  100  of a power amplifier&#39;s  76  input power (i.e., Pin) along a horizontal axis  104  versus its output power (i.e., Pout) along a vertical axis  102  for a given supply voltage. The slope of the curve  106  represents the gain of the power amplifier 
               (       i   .   e   .     ,           ⁢     Pin   Pout       )     .         
The curve  106  may represent the transfer function of an actual power amplifier  76 . As such, the curve  106  includes a linear region  108  and a non-linear (or compression) region  110 , while the transfer function of an ideal power amplifier may only include a linear region  108 . In the linear region  108 , the slope of the curve  106  is generally linear, and as such, the gain of the power amplifier  76  may be relatively constant (i.e., iso-gain). That is, the power amplifier  76  may apply the same gain to each input power level within the linear region  108  (i.e., up until the input power level Pti) to generate an output power level. The input power level Pti may represent the input power level at which the curve  106  transitions from the linear region  108  to the non-linear region  110 . The output power level Pto may represent the corresponding output level for the point on the curve  106  marking the transition between regions. As such, the power amplifier  76  may apply variable gain to power input levels greater than Pti. The non-linear region  110  may approach a constant value, or saturate, so that the output powers may remain generally the same for input power levels falling in the constant region. Further, in the non-linear region  110 , the gain of the power amplifier  76  may be applied in constant compression. That is, the gain applied to the power input may decrease as the power input level increases.
 
     During normal mode, constant compression applied by the power amplifier may be suitable to transmit a single broadband signal with high efficiency. As such, in some embodiments, the first LUT  60  may be loaded with a set of high supply voltages that may cause the power amplifier  76  to suitably apply variable gain from the non-linear region  110  of its transfer function to each power input level. 
     In the case of the ULCA mode, constant gain applied by the power amplifier  76  may be suitable to meet the ACLR benchmarks set by the 3GPP and limit distortion in the transmitted signal. In this mode, the standards set by 3GPP specify a maximum power reduction level that may be used to back off (i.e., reduce) the maximum signal power of a power amplifier  76  based on its configuration in an uplink carrier aggregation system. By reducing the maximum power of the power amplifier  76 , the output of the power amplifier  76  may fall in the linear region  108  of its transfer function. Thus, relatively constant gain may be applied to the signal transmitted in ULCA mode. 
     However, the linear region  108  of an actual power amplifier  76  may be generally, but not completely linear, as the close-up plot within the linear region  108  in  FIG. 8B  better illustrates. As such, the power amplifier  76  may apply less than constant gain. Further, during ULCA mode the non-linearity of the linear region  108  may not suitably reduce the transmitted signal&#39;s vulnerability to distortion nor meet the ACLR benchmarks set forth by the 3GPP. Thus, in addition to maintaining the power amplifier&#39;s  76  operation within the linear region by reducing its maximum power, the transmitter  50  may dynamically adjust the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76  to produce a more linear power amplifier  76  transfer function. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 8B , a close-up view of the curve  106  within the linear region  108  alongside a reference linear curve  109  demonstrates the non-linarites of the transfer function of the power amplifier  76 . The reference linear curve  109  represents the transfer function of an ideal power amplifier and may represent the desired shape of the actual power amplifier&#39;s  76  transfer function in order for it to apply constant gain. Thus, in some embodiments, the transmitter  50  may use envelope tracking and second LUT  62  to dynamically adjust the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76  so that each point on curve  106  is shifted onto the reference linear curve  109 . That is, the transmitter  50  may shift the power output levels corresponding to each power input level by suitably adjusting the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76  to apply constant gain. 
     With the adjustments to the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76 , a more constant gain may be applied to a signal by the power amplifier. Accordingly,  FIG. 9  provides context of a variable gain curve  200  that may be applied by an actual power amplifier  76  alongside an iso-gain curve  202 . The power output level Pto corresponds to the same Pto marking the transition from the linear region  108  to the non-linear region  110  in  FIG. 8A . Accordingly, beyond power output level Pto, the variable gain curve  200  may have negative slope, demonstrating gain compression at high power output levels. Further, the gain of the actual power amplifier  76  is generally constant leading up to the power output level Pto. Though, as a result of the non-linarites in the transfer function of the actual power amplifier  46 , as discussed above, the slope of the variable gain curve  200  does not exactly match the slope of the iso-gain curve  202 . In some embodiments, however, by adjusting the supply voltages of the power amplifier  76  according to the second LUT  62 , the gain of the power amplifier  76  may become constant. That is, the variable gain curve  200  may be adjusted to match the shape of iso-gain curve  202 . 
     With the foregoing in mind,  FIG. 10  illustrates a flow chart of a method  300  for calibrating suitable supply voltage values into the second LUT  62  to apply constant gain at the power amplifier  76  during ULCA mode, in accordance with embodiments described herein. The method  300  may be used to calibrate the second LUT  62  when the transmitter  50  is built, reset, reconfigured, and/or in any other suitable scenarios. Further, although the description of the method  300  is described in a particular order, which represents a particular embodiment, it should be noted that the method  300  may be performed in any suitable order, and steps may be added or omitted. Additionally,  FIG. 11  provides a simplified embodiment of a transmitter  50 ′ to better facilitate discussion of the calibration involved in the method  300 . 
     Accordingly, in an embodiment, to calibrate the values of the second LUT  62 , at block  302  of the method  300 , a set of input signals are input into a system. In the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 11 , the system is represented as a simplified transmitter  50 ′. As such, the input signals may include a set of voltages input to the DAC  70  to be converted to analog signals. The analog gain control  72  may apply analog gain to the analog signals before inputting them to the power amplifier  76 . Because the exact relationship of the input power level, supply voltage, and output power level (i.e., gain) of the power amplifier  76  may vary from one power amplifier to another due to imperfections and limitations in their materials and manufacturing, calibrating the second LUT  62  based on measurements of gain may not be efficient. As such, at block  304 , measurements of power input levels and power output levels may be taken for the set of input signals at an input  80  and the output  78  of the power amplifier  76 , respectively. When the power amplifier  76  is operating with iso-gain, the difference between two power input levels (ΔPin) will match the difference between the two power output levels (ΔPout) corresponding to each of the power input levels (i.e., ΔPin=ΔPout). That is, because the gain applied by the power amplifier  76  may be measured in decibels (dB) (i.e., on a logarithmic scale), the gain adds or subtracts into the power input level to generate the power output level. As such, a constant gain term would be removed from power outlet levels subtracted from one another, leaving a difference term (ΔPout) that matches the difference between the corresponding power input levels (i.e., ΔPin=ΔPout). At block  306 , a suitable supply voltage to enable the power amplifier  76  to apply iso-gain may be determined. To do so, in an embodiment, a voltage supply  82  (i.e., voltage generator) may be used to adjust the supply voltage of the power amplifier  76  until the conditions of iso-gain are met, as discussed above. The voltage supply  82  may adjust the supply voltage for each input signal in the set of input signals so that the power amplifier  76  may operate with constant gain across all of the input signals. Further, in some embodiments, points may be interpolated between and/or extrapolated from the set of supply voltages to expand the set for a broader set of input signals. The resulting set of supply voltages may linearize the transfer function of the power amplifier  76  when used with their corresponding power input levels. Accordingly, at block  308 , the supply voltages may be stored into the second LUT  62  so that they are ready to be used in envelope tracking of the input signal  52 . To check the linearity of the transfer function of the power amplifier  76  after the second LUT  62  has been calibrated, at block  310 , the digital pre-distortion of the power amplifier  76  may be measured. If the digital pre-distortion is linear, the transfer function of the power amplifier  76  may be linear, and the power amplifier  76  may apply constant gain. Otherwise, additional fine tuning of the supply voltages may correct non-linearity in the transfer function. 
     The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. 
     The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ”, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20180104
Publication Date: 20200915
Grant Date: 20200915
Priority Date: 20170911
Inventors: EL-HASSAN, WASSIM
GHAJAR, MOHAMMAD REZA
RADHAKRISHNAN, GURUSUBRAHMANIYAN SUBRAHMANIYAN
NAYAK, VINEET
BHAMIDIPATI, SRINIVASA YASASVY SATEESH
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B1/0475", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/3241", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/0475", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0064", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0408", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0064", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0416", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F2200/102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F2200/102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/3241", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0416", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0408", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/245", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0007", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0064", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0408", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F2200/102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F1/3241", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/0475", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B2001/0416", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 65631741