Low noise amplifier and radio frequency front end module with high power breakdown resistance

Abstract

The application provides a low-noise amplifier and a radio frequency front-end module with high-power breakdown resistance, which comprises a common-source and common-gate amplifying circuit and a voltage clamping circuit, wherein the common-source and common-gate amplifying circuit comprises a common-source transistor and a common-gate transistor; the voltage clamping circuit comprises at least one of a first voltage clamping circuit across the gate and the source of the common-source transistor, a second voltage clamping circuit across the gate and the drain of the common-source transistor, a third voltage clamping circuit across the gate and the drain of the common-gate transistor, and a fourth voltage clamping circuit across the drain of the common-gate transistor and the ground, and the voltage clamping circuit is used for limiting the voltage swing of the circuit node of the common-source and common-gate amplifying circuit. The application can guarantee the signal transmission efficiency while realizing the protection function, and ensure that the amplifier has good radio frequency performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a low-noise amplifier and radio frequency front-end module that is resistant to high-power breakdown. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid iteration and widespread application of 5G communication and Wi-Fi technologies, the low-noise amplifier (LNA) in the radio frequency front end, as a core component of the receiver, must simultaneously meet the requirements of low noise, high gain, and excellent high-power tolerance. In complex communication environments, receivers often face strong interference signals from nearby base stations and high-power transmitting equipment, and may also experience instantaneous high-power surges due to signal reflection, load mismatch, and other operating conditions. All of these place stringent requirements on the reliability of the low-noise amplifier.

[0003] The current mainstream source-degraded cascode low-noise amplifiers, although they can optimize noise figure and gain performance by suppressing the Miller effect and are widely used in RF front-end design, are prone to excessive swings in the gate-source voltage, gate-drain voltage, and drain-source voltage of their core transistors when receiving high-power RF signals. This swings exceed the transistor's safe operating threshold, leading to breakdown failure and directly affecting the stable operation of the entire communication system.

[0004] Existing high-power breakdown protection solutions are mainly divided into two categories: single-node clamping designs and general-purpose electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection topologies. The former can only limit the voltage of a single voltage node of a transistor and cannot achieve comprehensive protection for multiple voltage nodes; the latter requires additional devices such as limiters and isolators, which can easily introduce non-ideal parameters such as parasitic capacitance and parasitic resistance, disrupting the original impedance matching state of the low-noise amplifier and ultimately leading to a deterioration in noise figure and a significant decrease in gain.

[0005] In addition, some existing solutions have drawbacks such as high manufacturing costs, large chip footprint, and low integration, making it difficult to adapt to the development trend of miniaturization and high integration of 5G and Wi-Fi devices. They also cannot maintain the core performance indicators of low-noise amplifiers while ensuring resistance to high-power breakdown.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new low-noise amplifier solution to solve the above-mentioned technical problems. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This invention provides a low-noise amplifier and RF front-end module that resists high-power breakdown, aiming to solve the problem that existing high-power breakdown resistance solutions cannot balance protection effectiveness and amplifier RF performance.

[0008] To address the aforementioned technical problems, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown. The low-noise amplifier includes a common-source common-gate amplifier circuit and a voltage clamping circuit. The common-source common-gate amplifier circuit includes a common-source transistor and a common-gate transistor. The gate of the common-source transistor serves as the input terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit for receiving radio frequency (RF) signals. The drain of the common-gate transistor serves as the output terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit for outputting an amplified signal after amplifying the RF signals. The drain of the common-source transistor is connected to the source of the common-gate transistor, and the source of the common-source transistor is grounded.

[0009] The voltage clamping circuit includes at least one of the following: a first voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and source of the common-source transistor, a second voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and drain of the common-source transistor, a third voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and drain of the common-gate transistor, and a fourth voltage clamping circuit connected between the drain of the common-gate transistor and ground. The voltage clamping circuit is used to limit the voltage swing of the circuit node of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit to which it is located.

[0010] Furthermore, the first voltage clamping circuit includes a first diode and a second diode, the anode of the first diode is connected to the cathode of the second diode, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the anode of the second diode, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the source of the common source transistor, and the anode of the first diode is connected to the gate of the common source transistor.

[0011] Furthermore, the second voltage clamping circuit includes a third diode and a fourth diode, wherein the cathode of the third diode is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor, the anode of the third diode is connected to the cathode of the fourth diode, and the anode of the fourth diode is connected to the drain of the common-source transistor.

[0012] Furthermore, the third voltage clamping circuit includes a fifth diode and a sixth diode, the cathode of the fifth diode is connected to the gate of the common-gate transistor, the anode of the fifth diode is connected to the cathode of the sixth diode, and the anode of the sixth diode is connected to the drain of the common-gate transistor.

[0013] Furthermore, the fourth voltage clamping circuit includes a seventh diode, an eighth diode, a ninth diode, and a tenth diode, wherein the anode of the seventh diode is connected to the drain of the common-gate transistor, and the cathode of the seventh diode is connected to the anode of the eighth diode. The negative terminal of the eighth diode is connected to the positive terminal of the ninth diode; The negative terminal of the ninth diode is connected to the positive terminal of the tenth diode; The negative terminal of the tenth diode is grounded.

[0014] Furthermore, the low-noise amplifier also includes an input matching circuit, which provides input impedance matching for the cascode amplifier circuit, wherein: The input matching circuit includes a gate inductor, a source inductor, and a first capacitor. The first end of the gate inductor serves as the input end of the input matching circuit, and the second end of the gate inductor is connected to the first end of the first capacitor. The second terminal of the first capacitor serves as the output terminal of the input matching circuit and is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor. The source of the common-source transistor is grounded via a source inductor connected in series.

[0015] Furthermore, the low-noise amplifier also includes an output matching circuit, which provides output impedance matching for the cascode amplifier circuit, wherein: The output matching circuit includes a drain inductor and a second capacitor. The first end of the drain inductor serves as the input terminal of the output matching circuit and is connected to the drain of the common gate transistor. The second end of the drain inductor is used to connect to the external power supply voltage. The first terminal of the second capacitor is connected to the first terminal of the drain inductor, and the second terminal of the second capacitor serves as the output terminal of the output matching circuit.

[0016] Secondly, the present invention also provides a radio frequency front-end module, the radio frequency front-end module including the low noise amplifier with high power breakdown resistance as described above.

[0017] The beneficial effects achieved by this invention are that it proposes a low-noise amplifier that is resistant to high-power breakdown. This low-noise amplifier introduces a multi-node voltage clamping circuit to limit the swing of the critical voltage of the amplifying transistor in the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit, thereby achieving high-power breakdown protection. At the same time, the multi-node voltage clamping circuit does not affect the circuit structure of the low-noise amplifier's input and output impedance matching, thus ensuring signal transmission efficiency while achieving the protection function and ensuring that the amplifier has good radio frequency performance. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above and other aspects of the present invention will become clearer and more readily understood through the detailed description following the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is a circuit diagram of a low-noise amplifier with high-power breakdown resistance provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] The specific embodiments / examples described herein are specific implementations of the present invention, used to illustrate the concept of the invention, and are illustrative and exemplary, and should not be construed as limiting the implementation methods or scope of the present invention. In addition to the embodiments described herein, those skilled in the art can employ other obvious technical solutions based on the content disclosed in the claims and specification of this application. These technical solutions include those that make any obvious substitutions and modifications to the embodiments described herein, all of which are within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0021] Example 1 Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a circuit diagram of a low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The low-noise amplifier 100 includes a common-source common-gate amplifier circuit 101 and a voltage clamping circuit 102. The common-source common-gate amplifier circuit 101 includes a common-source transistor M1 and a common-gate transistor M2. The gate of the common-source transistor M1 serves as the input terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit 101, used to input a radio frequency signal (RFin). The drain of the common-gate transistor M2 serves as the output terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit 101, used to output an amplified signal (RFout) after amplifying the radio frequency signal. The drain of the common-source transistor M1 is connected to the source of the common-gate transistor M2, and the source of the common-source transistor M1 is grounded. The gate of the common-gate transistor M2 is connected to a voltage VG. The voltage clamping circuit 102 includes at least one of the following: a first voltage clamping circuit 1021 connected between the gate and source of the common-source transistor M1; a second voltage clamping circuit 1022 connected between the gate and drain of the common-source transistor M1; a third voltage clamping circuit 1023 connected between the gate and drain of the common-gate transistor M2; and a fourth voltage clamping circuit 1024 connected between the drain and ground of the common-source transistor M2. The voltage clamping circuit 102 is used to limit the voltage swing of the circuit node of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit 101 to which it is located.

[0022] Specifically, in this embodiment of the invention, the first voltage clamping circuit 1021 includes a first diode D1 and a second diode D2. The cathode of the first diode D1 is connected to the anode of the second diode D2, the anode of the first diode D1 is connected to the cathode of the second diode D2, the cathode of the first diode D1 is connected to the source of the common source transistor M1, and the anode of the first diode D1 is connected to the gate of the common source transistor M1.

[0023] In this embodiment of the invention, M1 is a common-source transistor, which performs input matching, noise matching and signal amplification functions. The first voltage clamping circuit 1021 is connected between the gate and source of the common-source transistor M1, which can initially clamp the large swing of the voltage difference between the gate and source of the common-source transistor M1 (defined as Vgs1 in this embodiment of the invention) caused by high-power radio frequency signals, so as to prevent the common-source transistor M1 from being broken down and causing circuit failure.

[0024] The second voltage clamping circuit 1022 includes a third diode D3 and a fourth diode D4. The cathode of the third diode D3 is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor M1, and the anode of the third diode D3 is connected to the cathode of the fourth diode D4. The anode of the fourth diode D4 is connected to the drain of the common-source transistor M1.

[0025] After the gate-source voltage difference Vgs1 of the common-source transistor M1 is amplified by the common-source transistor M1, the swing of the drain-source voltage difference (defined as Vds1 in this embodiment) of the common-source transistor M1 will increase, which may easily lead to the breakdown of the common-source transistor M1. To address this, the second voltage clamping circuit 1022 uses a third diode D3 and a fourth diode D4 connected in series between the gate and drain of the common-source transistor M1 to limit the swing of the drain-gate voltage difference Vdg1 of the common-source transistor M1. In addition, the second voltage clamping circuit 1022 can also work in conjunction with the first voltage clamping circuit 1021 to clamp the swing of the drain-source voltage difference Vds1 of the common-source transistor M1.

[0026] During implementation, the third diode D3 and the fourth diode D4 are preferably selected as components with small parasitic capacitance to prevent the parasitic capacitance generated by the diodes from degrading the RF performance of the low-noise amplifier 100 through the Miller effect.

[0027] The third voltage clamping circuit 1023 includes a fifth diode D5 and a sixth diode D6. The cathode of the fifth diode D5 is connected to the gate of the common-gate transistor M2, and the anode of the fifth diode D5 is connected to the cathode of the sixth diode D6. The anode of the sixth diode D6 is connected to the drain of the common-gate transistor M2.

[0028] M2 is a common-gate transistor, which serves to boost gain and optimize input-output isolation through voltage division. The third voltage clamping circuit 1023 utilizes a series-connected fifth diode D5 and sixth diode D6, bridging the gate and drain of the common-gate transistor M2, to limit the swing of the voltage difference between the drain and gate of the common-gate transistor M2 (defined as Vdg2 in this embodiment). In addition, the third voltage clamping circuit 1023 can also work in conjunction with the second voltage clamping circuit 1022 to clamp the voltage swing of the gate-source voltage difference (defined as Vgs2 in this embodiment) of the common-gate transistor M2.

[0029] The fourth voltage clamping circuit 1024 includes a seventh diode D7, an eighth diode D8, a ninth diode D9, and a tenth diode D10. The positive terminal of the seventh diode D7 is connected to the drain of the common gate transistor M2, and the negative terminal of the seventh diode D7 is connected to the positive terminal of the eighth diode D8. The negative terminal of the eighth diode D8 is connected to the positive terminal of the ninth diode D9; The negative terminal of the ninth diode D9 is connected to the positive terminal of the tenth diode D10; The negative terminal of the tenth diode D10 is grounded.

[0030] When the gate-source voltage difference Vgs2 of the common-gate transistor M2 is amplified by the common-gate transistor M2, the swing of the drain-source voltage difference Vds2 of the common-gate transistor M2 will increase, which can easily lead to the breakdown of the common-gate transistor M2. To address this, this embodiment of the invention employs a fourth voltage clamping circuit 1024 with a series diode structure connected between the drain of the common-gate transistor M2 and ground to limit the swing of the drain voltage of the common-gate transistor M2. This circuit works in conjunction with the second voltage clamping circuit 1022 and the third voltage clamping circuit 1023 to clamp the swing of the drain-gate voltage difference Vdg2 and the swing of the drain-source voltage difference Vds2 of the common-gate transistor M2.

[0031] like Figure 1 As shown in the embodiment of the present invention, the low-noise amplifier 100 further includes an input matching circuit 103, which is used to provide input impedance matching for the common-source cascode amplifier circuit 101, wherein: The input matching circuit 103 includes a gate inductor Lg, a source inductor Ls, and a first capacitor C1. The first end of the gate inductor Lg serves as the input end of the input matching circuit 103, and the second end of the gate inductor Lg is connected to the first end of the first capacitor C1. The second terminal of the first capacitor C1 serves as the output terminal of the input matching circuit 103 and is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor M1; The source of the common-source transistor M1 is grounded via the source inductor Ls connected in series.

[0032] In this embodiment of the invention, the gate-source capacitance (Cgs) between the gate and source of the common-source transistor M1 participates in input matching. The first capacitor C1 acts as a DC blocking capacitor, forming a series resonant circuit with the gate-source capacitance Cgs and the gate inductance Lg of the common-source transistor M1. This resonance cancels out the capacitive reactance, easily bringing the input impedance to 50Ω, satisfying the conjugate matching condition, and maximizing signal power transmission. The source inductance Ls provides the real impedance for input matching without degrading noise matching, thus achieving good input return loss and noise performance.

[0033] The low-noise amplifier 100 further includes an output matching circuit 104, which provides output impedance matching for the common-source cascode amplifier circuit 101, wherein: The output matching circuit 104 includes a drain inductor Ld and a second capacitor C2. The first end of the drain inductor Ld serves as the input terminal of the output matching circuit 104 and is connected to the drain of the common gate transistor M2. The second end of the drain inductor Ld is used to connect to the external power supply voltage VDD. The first end of the second capacitor C2 is connected to the first end of the drain inductor Ld, and the second end of the second capacitor C2 serves as the output terminal of the output matching circuit 104.

[0034] The second capacitor C2 acts as a DC blocking capacitor, resonating at the target frequency with the drain inductance Ld and the equivalent parasitic capacitance of the drain of the common gate transistor M2, thus providing a high impedance load and frequency selective filtering.

[0035] The beneficial effects achieved by this invention are that it proposes a low-noise amplifier that is resistant to high-power breakdown. This low-noise amplifier introduces a multi-node voltage clamping circuit to limit the swing of the critical voltage of the amplifying transistor in the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit, thereby achieving high-power breakdown protection. At the same time, the multi-node voltage clamping circuit does not affect the circuit structure of the low-noise amplifier's input and output impedance matching, thus ensuring signal transmission efficiency while achieving the protection function and ensuring that the amplifier has good radio frequency performance.

[0036] Example 2 This invention also provides a radio frequency (RF) front-end module, which includes a low-noise amplifier 100 resistant to high-power breakdown as described in Embodiment 1 above. It is understood that this RF front-end module, based on the specific circuit structure of the low-noise amplifier 100 resistant to high-power breakdown, achieves protection while ensuring signal transmission efficiency and exhibits good RF performance. Referring to the technical effects described in the above embodiments, further details are omitted here to avoid repetition.

[0037] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0038] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosed embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many equivalent changes in form under the guidance of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. All such changes are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown, characterized in that, The low-noise amplifier includes a common-source common-gate amplifier circuit and a voltage clamping circuit. The common-source common-gate amplifier circuit includes a common-source transistor and a common-gate transistor. The gate of the common-source transistor serves as the input terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit for receiving radio frequency signals. The drain of the common-gate transistor serves as the output terminal of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit for outputting an amplified signal after amplifying the radio frequency signals. The drain of the common-source transistor is connected to the source of the common-gate transistor, and the source of the common-source transistor is grounded. The voltage clamping circuit includes at least one of the following: a first voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and source of the common-source transistor, a second voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and drain of the common-source transistor, a third voltage clamping circuit connected between the gate and drain of the common-gate transistor, and a fourth voltage clamping circuit connected between the drain of the common-gate transistor and ground. The voltage clamping circuit is used to limit the voltage swing of the circuit node of the common-source common-gate amplifier circuit to which it is located.

2. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first voltage clamping circuit includes a first diode and a second diode. The anode of the first diode is connected to the cathode of the second diode, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the anode of the second diode, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the source of the common source transistor, and the anode of the first diode is connected to the gate of the common source transistor.

3. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second voltage clamping circuit includes a third diode and a fourth diode. The cathode of the third diode is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor, and the anode of the third diode is connected to the cathode of the fourth diode. The anode of the fourth diode is connected to the drain of the common-source transistor.

4. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The third voltage clamping circuit includes a fifth diode and a sixth diode. The cathode of the fifth diode is connected to the gate of the common-gate transistor, and the anode of the fifth diode is connected to the cathode of the sixth diode. The anode of the sixth diode is connected to the drain of the common-gate transistor.

5. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fourth voltage clamping circuit includes a seventh diode, an eighth diode, a ninth diode, and a tenth diode. The anode of the seventh diode is connected to the drain of the common-gate transistor, and the cathode of the seventh diode is connected to the anode of the eighth diode. The negative terminal of the eighth diode is connected to the positive terminal of the ninth diode; The negative terminal of the ninth diode is connected to the positive terminal of the tenth diode; The negative terminal of the tenth diode is grounded.

6. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The low-noise amplifier further includes an input matching circuit, which provides input impedance matching for the common-source cascode amplifier circuit, wherein: The input matching circuit includes a gate inductor, a source inductor, and a first capacitor. The first end of the gate inductor serves as the input terminal of the input matching circuit, and the second end of the gate inductor is connected to the first end of the first capacitor. The second terminal of the first capacitor serves as the output terminal of the input matching circuit and is connected to the gate of the common-source transistor. The source of the common-source transistor is grounded via a source inductor connected in series.

7. The low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown according to claim 1, characterized in that, The low-noise amplifier further includes an output matching circuit, which provides output impedance matching for the common-source cascode amplifier circuit, wherein: The output matching circuit includes a drain inductor and a second capacitor. The first end of the drain inductor serves as the input terminal of the output matching circuit and is connected to the drain of the common gate transistor. The second end of the drain inductor is used to connect to the external power supply voltage. The first terminal of the second capacitor is connected to the first terminal of the drain inductor, and the second terminal of the second capacitor serves as the output terminal of the output matching circuit.

8. A radio frequency front-end module, characterized in that, The radio frequency front-end module includes a low-noise amplifier resistant to high-power breakdown as described in any one of claims 1-7.

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