Cascaded supply generator and supply modulator and related circuitry and techniques

Abstract

Cascaded supply generators and supply modulators, along with related circuitry and techniques, are disclosed. Concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques for power management and control are described. Specifically, concepts, systems, circuits, methods, and techniques for providing power management and control to supply multiple configurable output voltages to supply modulation using linear regulators and switched capacitor converters are described.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 757,126, filed February 11, 2025, pursuant to 35 USC § 119, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to cascaded supply generators and supply modulators, as well as related circuitry and techniques. Background Technology

[0004] The efficiency of a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) can be improved through “supply modulation” (or “drain modulation” or “collector modulation”), in which the power supply voltage provided to the PA is dynamically adjusted over time according to the RF signal being synthesized (“modulation”). For maximum efficiency improvement, the supply voltage can be adjusted discretely (between discrete levels) or continuously on short time scales to track or dynamically adapt to rapid changes in the RF signal amplitude (or envelope) that may occur, for example, when data is encoded into the RF signal or when the RF signal amplitude is expected to vary with a high envelope bandwidth (e.g., in envelope tracking, advanced envelope tracking, polarity modulation, “Class G” power amplification, multistage backoff, multistage linear amplifiers (LINC) utilizing nonlinear devices, asymmetric multistage out-of-phase (AMO), etc.). For RF “flow” variations, the power supply voltage (or voltage level) provided to the PA can also be adjusted to accommodate long-term variations in the desired RF envelope, such as those associated with adjusting the transmitter output strength (e.g., “adaptive bias”, “adaptive power tracking” (APT)), to minimize errors in data transmission.

[0005] "Continuous" supply modulation (e.g., "envelope tracking" or "adaptive bias") can be advantageously achieved by dynamically selecting an intermediate voltage from a set of discrete power supply voltages and then further regulating (stepping down) that intermediate voltage to produce a continuously variable supply voltage to be supplied to the PA, or by generating a continuously varying waveform through pulse width modulation between two or more levels and filtering the output.

[0006] Some RF amplifier systems utilize “discrete” supply modulation (or discrete “drain modulation”) in which the supply voltage switches between a set of discrete voltage levels, potentially including additional filtering or modulation to shape the voltage transitions between levels. This type of system includes Class G amplifiers, multistage LINC (MLINC) power amplifiers, AMO power amplifiers, multistage back-off amplifiers (including “asymmetric multistage back-off” amplifiers), and digital polarity transmitters, among others. Hybrid systems utilizing a combination of continuous and discrete supply modulation can also be implemented. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This document describes concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques for use in and / or with PA architectures. The described concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques can provide very rapid changes in modulated power supply voltage (e.g., between multiple discrete levels). The described concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques can also provide the ability to slowly adjust the voltage of discrete levels within a desired range. Compared to existing solutions, the described concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques can provide high-performance power supply in PA architectures at a lower cost and / or with a smaller size. Such concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques can be used in a variety of applications, including but not limited to PA architectures.

[0008] The concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein can essentially provide all (or most) of the practical benefits obtainable from supply modulation (e.g., in terms of PA efficiency) while avoiding the limitations associated with providing truly independent voltage level control. Therefore, the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein offer significant advantages in combination of size, cost, efficiency, and performance compared to existing methods.

[0009] Coupled with a controllable linear regulator (e.g., a controllable low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulator) between the energy source and a cascaded switched-capacitor converter and supply modulator, further benefits can be provided. Compared to other power supply architectures, such an architecture offers flexibility in controlling the voltage level at the power supply output while reducing cost and / or space requirements (e.g., considering the smaller size of components in a linear regulator compared to magnetic and / or capacitive power converters).

[0010] According to some embodiments, a system is provided. The system has a pair of input terminals configured to be connected to a power source terminal, and a pair of output terminals configured to be connected to a radio frequency (RF) amplifier. The system includes a linear regulator configured to draw power at the input terminals and output a regulated voltage. The system also includes a switched capacitor converter coupled to the output of the linear regulator. The system further includes a supply modulator coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter.

[0011] In some embodiments, the system further includes a controller and a digital interface coupled between the controller and at least one of the linear regulator or switched capacitor converter, and for modifying the operation of at least one of the linear regulator or switched capacitor converter.

[0012] In another embodiment, the system further includes a controller and a digital interface coupled between the controller and the supply modulator, wherein the controller is configured to control the supply modulator via the digital interface.

[0013] In some other implementations, the digital interface is a digital control level (DCL) interface.

[0014] In some implementations, the switched capacitor converter is reconfigurable.

[0015] In another embodiment, at least one of the switched capacitor converter, the regulated voltage output from the linear regulator, or the connection point between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured.

[0016] In some other implementations, the switched capacitor converter is reconfigured by changing the connection point of the linear regulator coupled to the switched capacitor converter.

[0017] In some implementations, the linear regulator is one of a plurality of linear regulators having different connection points to the switched capacitor converter, wherein which of the linear regulators actively regulates its output is reconfigurable.

[0018] In another implementation, the switched capacitor converter is reconfigured by changing its switching mode.

[0019] In some other embodiments, the system also includes a controller configured to control the linear regulator to output a regulated voltage at a selected voltage level.

[0020] In some embodiments, the system further includes a controller. The controller is configured to: receive one or more signals representing one or more output voltage levels of the switched capacitor converter; and control a linear regulator to output a selected voltage level to the switched capacitor converter, thereby regulating one or more voltage levels output from the switched capacitor converter to one or more reference voltage levels.

[0021] In another implementation, the output reference of the linear regulator is selected from a plurality of discrete control points.

[0022] In some other embodiments, the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to output at least one of a plurality of different voltage levels associated with the regulated voltage.

[0023] In some implementations, multiple sets of different voltage levels are proportional to the regulated voltage.

[0024] In another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter is configured to maintain at least three voltage rails, wherein the voltage difference between the first voltage rail and the second voltage rail and the voltage difference between the second voltage rail and the third voltage rail are the same.

[0025] In some other embodiments, the switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, the set of voltage levels including at least a regulated voltage, two-thirds of the regulated voltage, and one-third of the regulated voltage.

[0026] In some implementations, the switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, the set of voltage levels including a regulated voltage and half of the regulated voltage.

[0027] In another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter includes a first stage and a second stage coupled together via at least two voltage rails.

[0028] In some other implementations, at least one of the two voltage rails includes a zero-volt voltage.

[0029] In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter includes: a first stage coupled between a regulated voltage output from a linear regulator and a ground voltage; and a second stage differentially coupled between the regulated voltage output from the linear regulator and a voltage level output from the first stage.

[0030] In another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, which includes voltages greater than the regulated voltage.

[0031] In some other embodiments, the system also includes a controller. The controller is configured to: control a linear regulator to output a regulated voltage at a selected voltage level; and control a switched capacitor converter to output a set of different voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage to a supply modulator.

[0032] In some implementations, the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to operate in an operating mode.

[0033] In another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to operate in at least two different operating modes, wherein a first operating mode outputs a first set of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage, and a second operating mode outputs a second set of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage, the second set of voltage levels being different from the first set of voltage levels.

[0034] In yet another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter generates at least two different sets of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage.

[0035] In some implementations, at least one of the at least two sets of different voltage levels includes at least two different voltage levels.

[0036] In some other embodiments, the switched capacitor converter includes a switching network and a capacitor. The system also includes a controller. The controller is configured to control the switching network to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter to operate in one of at least two different operating modes, wherein the switched capacitor converter generates at least two sets of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage.

[0037] In some other implementations, the energy source is a variable voltage source.

[0038] In some implementations, the variable voltage source is a battery.

[0039] In another embodiment, the controller is also configured to: detect the voltage level of the energy source; and select the voltage level of the regulated voltage based on the detected voltage level.

[0040] In some other embodiments, the system also includes a controller. The controller is configured to: detect the voltage level of the energy source; and reconfigure the switched capacitor converter based on the detected voltage level to output one set of voltage levels from a plurality of different sets of voltage levels associated with the regulated voltage to the supply modulator.

[0041] In some embodiments, the system further includes a controller. The controller is configured to: detect the voltage level of the energy source; select a voltage level of the regulated voltage based on the detected voltage level; and reconfigure the switched capacitor converter based on the detected voltage level to output at least one of a plurality of different voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage to the supply modulator.

[0042] In another embodiment, the system further includes a controller. The controller is configured to: detect the voltage level of the energy source; and reconfigure the switched capacitor converter to operate in one of at least two different operating modes based on the detected voltage level.

[0043] In some other embodiments, the system also includes a controller. The controller is configured to: receive a signal relating to at least one of the voltage level of the energy source or the desired RF output power of the RF amplifier; and select the voltage level of the regulated voltage and / or reconfigure the switched capacitor converter based on the received signal.

[0044] In some embodiments, the system further includes a controller. The controller is configured to: receive a signal relating to the voltage level output from the switched capacitor converter to the supply modulator; and select the voltage level of the regulated voltage and / or reconfigure the switched capacitor converter based on the received signal.

[0045] In another embodiment, the linear regulator is the first linear regulator among a plurality of linear regulators, and the regulated voltage is a first regulated voltage. The system also includes a controller. The controller is configured to: receive a signal relating to at least one of a voltage level of an energy source or a desired RF output power of an RF amplifier; and control one of the linear regulators other than the first linear regulator to draw power at an input terminal and output a second regulated voltage, different from the first regulated voltage, to a switched capacitor converter.

[0046] In some other embodiments, the system also includes a controller. This controller is configured to control the linear regulator to output a regulated voltage at a selected level based on the operating mode of the switched capacitor converter.

[0047] In some implementations, the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system also includes a second supply modulator coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter.

[0048] In another embodiment, the RF amplifier transmits at least one of a WiFi signal or a cellular signal.

[0049] In some other implementations, the linear regulator is a low-dropout (LDO) linear regulator.

[0050] In some implementations, the linear regulator includes a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor device.

[0051] In another embodiment, the switched capacitor converter includes lumped element capacitors and integrated circuit (IC) transistors.

[0052] In some other implementations, at least one of the linear regulator or switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured by the controller in a programmable manner.

[0053] In some implementations, the supply modulator can be controlled to select a zero-volt voltage.

[0054] In another embodiment, the system further includes a controller, wherein at least one of the linear regulator or switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured by the controller based on signals received by the controller from the digital predistortion (DPD) circuitry.

[0055] In some other embodiments, the RF amplifier includes a first RF amplifier, and the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator. The system also includes a second supply modulator, wherein the first and second supply modulators are coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter, the first supply modulator is coupled to the first RF amplifier, and the second supply modulator is coupled to the second RF amplifier.

[0056] In some implementations, the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system also includes a second supply modulator, wherein each of the first and second supply modulators is coupled to a single RF amplifier via a pulse shaping network (PSN).

[0057] In another embodiment, the output of the supply modulator is coupled to the output stage of the RF amplifier, and the level of the switched capacitor converter is coupled to the driver stage of the RF amplifier.

[0058] In some other embodiments, the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator, wherein the first supply modulator is configured to supply a first voltage level from a switched capacitor converter to a first stage of the RF amplifier, and the second supply modulator is configured to supply a second voltage level from a switched capacitor converter to a second stage of the RF amplifier.

[0059] In some implementations, the system also includes a filter circuit coupled between the supply modulator and the RF amplifier, the filter circuit including at least an impedance.

[0060] In another embodiment, the impedance includes at least one of a resistor, a capacitor, or an inductor.

[0061] In some other embodiments, the impedance includes at least one of a lumped element or a distributed element.

[0062] In some implementations, the supply modulator includes a plurality of switches and is coupled to an RF amplifier, wherein the supply modulator is configured such that the current from the output of the switched capacitor converter passes through only one of the plurality of switches before reaching the RF amplifier.

[0063] In another embodiment, the supply modulator includes at least one N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistor or at least one P-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistor.

[0064] In yet another embodiment, the supply modulator includes at least one transistor, and the gate of the at least one transistor is driven by a voltage level at the output of the switched capacitor converter.

[0065] In some implementations, the supply modulator includes a switching network, and the system also includes a controller configured to control the switches in the supply modulator to select one of a plurality of voltages output by a switched capacitor converter to couple the selected voltage to an RF amplifier.

[0066] In another embodiment, the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator coupled to the output of a switched capacitor converter, wherein the first supply modulator is configured to couple a first voltage output from the switched capacitor converter to a first RF amplifier, and wherein the second supply modulator is configured to couple a second voltage output from the switched capacitor converter to a second RF amplifier.

[0067] Before explaining in detail the exemplary embodiments consistent with this disclosure, it should be understood that this disclosure is not limited in its application to the details and arrangements of the constructions set forth in the following description or shown in the accompanying drawings. This disclosure can be practiced and implemented in various ways. Furthermore, it should be understood that the wording and terminology used herein and in the summary of the specification are for descriptive purposes and should not be considered limiting.

[0068] It should be understood that both the preceding general description and the following detailed description are illustrative only and not limitations on the subject matter for which protection is claimed. Attached Figure Description

[0069] The accompanying drawings, which are included in and form part of this specification, are shown together with the specification and are used to explain the principles of various exemplary embodiments.

[0070] Figure 1A This is an example of an example radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) system that utilizes multiple supply levels and a supply modulator to select from multiple supply levels to supply multiple PAs.

[0071] Figure 1B This is a diagram of an example RF amplifier system that includes a multi-output supply generator, a single-input multiple-output (SIMO) boost converter, a supply modulator, and a filter.

[0072] Figure 2A This is a diagram of an example switching network used to implement a series supply modulator.

[0073] Figure 2B This is a diagram of an example switching network used to implement a parallel supply modulator.

[0074] Figure 3 This is a diagram of an example supply modulator with cascaded shut-off switches.

[0075] Figure 4 It is a series supply modulator (such as Figure 2A A diagram illustrating an example implementation of a serially supplied modulator.

[0076] Figure 5 This is a diagram of an example system that uses a magnetic power converter to provide multiple supply levels.

[0077] Figure 6 This is a diagram of an example system that uses a linear regulator and a magnetic power converter to provide multiple supply levels.

[0078] Figure 7 This is a diagram of an example system that uses a linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide multiple supply levels.

[0079] Figure 8A This is a diagram of an example switched capacitor converter.

[0080] Figure 8B This is a diagram of another example of a switched capacitor converter.

[0081] Figure 9 This is a diagram of an example system that uses a linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide multiple supply levels.

[0082] Figure 10 This is a diagram of an example system that uses a linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide a proportional supply level.

[0083] Figure 11This is a diagram of an example system that uses a two-stage linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide a proportional supply level.

[0084] Figure 12A This is a diagram of an example system that uses a two-stage process of multiple linear regulators and switched capacitor converters to provide a proportional supply level.

[0085] Figure 12B This is a diagram of an example system that uses two stages of multiple linear regulators and switched capacitor converters to provide a proportional supply level, where one supply level powers the driver stage of the amplifier and the other supply level powers the final stage of the amplifier.

[0086] Figure 13A This is a diagram of an example system that uses a two-stage linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide a proportional supply level, where the connection point from the output of the linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured via a switch.

[0087] Figure 13B This is a diagram of an example system that uses a two-stage linear regulator and a switched capacitor converter to provide a proportional supply level, wherein the connection point from the output of the linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured via a switch, and wherein the driver stage of the amplifier is powered by one of the supply levels, and the final stage of the amplifier is powered by the other of the supply levels.

[0088] Figure 14 This is a diagram of an example reconfigurable switched capacitor converter.

[0089] Figure 15 This is a diagram of an example interleaved, reconfigurable switched capacitor converter.

[0090] Figure 16 This is a diagram of an example reconfigurable trapezoidal switched capacitor converter.

[0091] Figure 17 This is a diagram of an example system used to supply different supply levels from multiple supply levels to drive two different amplifiers. Detailed Implementation

[0092] Implementations of this disclosure will now be described in detail, with specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0093] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth regarding the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques of the disclosed subject matter, as well as the environments in which these concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques operate, to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter. However, after reading the embodiments provided herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed subject matter can be practiced without such specific details. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain features well-known in the art have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description of the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein. Furthermore, it will be understood that the embodiments provided below are examples, and other concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques are contemplated within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0094] The disclosure herein includes a discussion of certain concepts that will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and therefore will not be discussed in greater detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description of the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the connections between the components described herein (e.g., amplifiers, inductors, resistors, capacitors, switches, diodes, sources, subsystems) can be achieved by wires, circuit board traces on a printed circuit board (PCB), or any other means of electrically and / or mechanically connecting the components together. One of ordinary skill in the art will also understand that a connection can mean an electrical connection, a mechanical connection, or both.

[0095] Those skilled in the art will also understand the meaning when discussing certain circuit components or subsystems mentioned herein, such as impedance elements (e.g., lumped or distributed element impedances such as inductors, resistors, and / or capacitors), inductors, resistors, capacitors, switches, amplifiers, filters, linear regulators, switched capacitor converters, supply modulators, and energy sources. For example, a switch can be implemented as a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET (e.g., N-channel MOSFET (NMOS), P-channel MOSFET (PMOS)), a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), a diode, an integrated transistor switch (or integrated circuit (IC) transistor), or any other component known to those skilled in the art for providing switching functionality in electronics. Those skilled in the art will recognize how these components are driven (i.e., biased and / or controlled) to switch between a “conducting” state where current flows through the component and a “turning off” state where no current flows through the component. Those skilled in the art will understand that these circuit components have terminals for connection to wires or board traces. Therefore, the following embodiments and / or claims may refer to one or more terminals of a component to convey how that component is connected relative to other components of the circuit. The term “energy storage element” as used herein should be considered to include any type of energy storage element (e.g., a capacitor or an inductor, just two examples).

[0096] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that electrical components may be imperfect and may fail at certain levels of current and / or voltage. Therefore, ratings (e.g., rated voltage or rated current values) can be provided for components, indicating the maximum level of current or voltage the component is designed to withstand, beyond which the component may fail. Those skilled in the art will also understand that losses can occur in circuit components and connections. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that when voltages and currents are discussed herein, these voltages and currents can be approximate and may deviate from the described values ​​to a certain extent in practice (e.g., from 1% to 30% of the described or target or ideal values).

[0097] The concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein relate to power management and conversion. Those skilled in the art will understand certain concepts relevant to this subject. For example, those skilled in the art will understand the implications when describing certain types of power converters, such as linear regulators or switch-mode power supplies (SMPS). Those skilled in the art will also understand the implications when describing certain types of SMPS power converters, such as buck converters, boost converters, buck-boost converters, or flyback converters. Those skilled in the art will also understand the implications when describing switched-capacitor converters. Those skilled in the art will understand that one or more switches in a power supply (e.g., an SMPS) are typically operated by a controller at a specific operating frequency (e.g., in the kHz to MHz range). Those skilled in the art will understand that these converters typically operate in two distinct phases per cycle of their operating frequency: a first phase in which one or more switches can be turned on, and a second phase in which one or more switches can be turned off. The output voltage or current can be controlled by changing the period during which one or more switches are turned on or off in each cycle. The percentage of on time in each cycle can be referred to as the duty cycle.

[0098] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the controller in the converter can receive feedback signals relating to one or more characteristics of the converter, and can accordingly modify one or more aspects of the converter to achieve the desired output.

[0099] As used herein, the energy source can be any type of energy that provides a direct current (DC) voltage. For example, the energy source can be any type of battery, an example of which is a lithium-ion battery. The energy source can also be a DC source converted from an alternating current (AC) source, such as a DC source generated by rectifying an AC source. Those skilled in the art will recognize that systems (e.g., power converters, power generators, and power modulator systems) can have input terminals configured to be connected to terminals (e.g., opposite terminals) of the energy source to draw power from it. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that systems (e.g., power converters, power generators, and power modulator systems) can have output terminals configured to be coupled to a load (e.g., a power amplifier). Those skilled in the art will recognize that some energy sources can have varying voltages, while others can have fixed voltages. For example, the voltage supplied by a battery can vary over time when the battery discharges. In the case of a battery, chemical reactions within the battery may deplete the energy stored in the battery, causing the voltage to decrease over time until the battery's stored energy reaches a level where it may no longer effectively power the device before recharging. In contrast, a DC source converted from an AC wall socket can have a fixed voltage and does not discharge over time.

[0100] As used herein, a "regulator" may include one or more electrical components operable to provide a desired output voltage regardless of variations in the input voltage. As used herein, a "supply generator" may include one or more electrical components operable to generate one or more output voltages from an input voltage. As used herein, a "supply modulator" may include one or more electrical components operable to select between different voltage levels. For example, a supply modulator, as described herein, used in a power supply circuit system to supply voltage to a power amplifier (PA) of a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone), may switch between different voltages at high frequencies to dynamically and effectively adjust the power supply voltage supplied to the PA over time, depending on the RF signal being synthesized.

[0101] This document describes power management and conversion technologies for mobile applications, such as those used in mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones). However, this disclosure is not limited thereto. The technologies described herein can be applied to any type of electronic device that uses electricity (e.g., mobile devices, laptops, tablets, personal computers, servers, televisions, base stations, and wearable devices such as watches, glasses, rings, bracelets, armbands, chest straps, clothing, etc.).

[0102] Figure 1A An example of a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) system is shown, which utilizes multiple supply levels and a supply modulator to select from multiple power supply levels. For clarity, from... Figure 1A Components and aspects related to signal processing and control of such a system are omitted. System 100 may utilize supply modulation to provide power to one or more RF power amplifiers 135 (e.g., as may be used in mobile devices). System 100 may include a supply generator 110 having an input configured to be coupled to an energy source 105, such as a battery (energy source 105 is shown in dashed lines here because it may not be a proper part of system 100). Supply generator 110 may receive an input signal (e.g., an input voltage) from energy source 105 and, in response to that input signal, may operate on different voltage rails (e.g., each with a specific voltage—e.g., ...). Figure 1A The values ​​0, V1, V2, ..., V shown are: m Different voltage levels (e.g., 0 V, V1, V2, ..., V) are output on the connection or signal path. m In other words, the supply generator subsystem (or more simply "supply generator") of system 100 (e.g., supply generator 110) can be a multi-output supply generator 110, which can synthesize multiple power supply voltages V1 to V2 from a single input energy source 105. mIn some examples, the power supply generator (e.g., power supply generator 110) can regulate the power supply voltage V1 to V. m One or more.

[0103] System 100 may further include a subsystem 115, which may include a supply modulator 120, optional filtering or regulation circuitry 130, and / or a power amplifier 135, all of which may be connected to different voltage rails. For example, supply modulator 120 (e.g., supply modulator #1) may be connected to a voltage rail and may be configured to switch between multiple voltages on the voltage rail. That is, a supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) may supply voltages V1 to V to the inputs of one or more supply modulator subsystems (or more simply "supply modulators") (e.g., supply modulator #1 120, supply modulator #n) of a supply modulator subsystem (e.g., a subsystem including supply modulator #1, ..., supply modulator #n). m One or more.

[0104] The supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator #1, ..., supply modulator #n) can switch (e.g., rapidly switch) between different power supply voltages supplied to them by the supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) to provide a modulated supply voltage V at their output. SUPPLY #1 to V SUPPLY #n. In some implementations, based on techniques such as discrete drain modulation, advanced envelope tracking (ETA), discrete envelope tracking, and digital envelope tracking (digital ET), the switching can be modulated fast enough to provide a power supply voltage to the PA, allowing the PA to provide the required RF output envelope while maintaining high efficiency. Such techniques are described, for example, in one or more of the following U.S. Patent Nos. 8,829,993; 9,160,287; 9,172,336; 9,209,758; and 9,755,672, each of which is commonly assigned and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The supply voltage can be coupled to the supply terminals of the respective PAs in one or more PAs (e.g., PA#1 135 to PA#n). In some examples, PA#1 135 to PA#n can be configured as RF power amplifiers. In some examples, a supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) may supply the same or different voltages to different supply modulators (e.g., supply modulators 120 to supply modulator #n). In some examples, different numbers of voltages may be coupled between a supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) and different supply modulators (e.g., supply modulators #1120 to supply modulator #n).

[0105] The filtering or regulation circuit 130 may optionally be connected to the supply modulator 120 to filter or regulate the voltage signal selected by the supply modulator 120. The result may be a voltage supply (e.g., V) for powering a power amplifier (PA) 135 (e.g., PA#1). SUPPLY #1). Power amplifier 135 can amplify RF input signal 140 (e.g., RF). IN #1), and the amplified RF signal can be used as an RF output signal 145 (e.g., RF). OUT #1) Output. RF input signal 140 can be, for example, an RF signal to be amplified in a mobile device for wireless transmission as RF output signal 145 (e.g., as a cellular signal or WiFi signal). Figure 1A As shown, some or all of the supply voltage can be coupled to the supply terminal of PA via a corresponding optional filtering and / or voltage regulation stage (e.g., optional filtering or regulation circuit 130). The filtering and / or voltage regulation stage may include a filtering network (e.g., a passive filter, an active filter) and / or a voltage regulation stage capable of adjusting according to the modulated voltage V. MOD Adjust the voltage V of PA SUPPLY Additional circuitry systems (e.g., including low-dropout regulators (LDOs)).

[0106] In some examples, one, some, or all of the supply modulators in system 100 (e.g., supply modulator #1 to supply modulator #n) may include one or more switches to couple one or more voltages provided by the supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) to the PA supply terminal (as V respectively). SUPPLY #1 to V SUPPLY #n). Any of the modulator subsystems in the supply modulator subsystem (e.g., supply modulators #1 to #n) can be implemented using a variety of different switching circuits (e.g., circuits having switches arranged in any of a variety of different switching configurations or switching topologies). For example, the supply modulator subsystem may include multiple switches connected in a ladder configuration and configured to provide a “series” modulator. Alternatively, the supply modulator subsystem may include multiple switches configured to provide a “parallel” modulator. Still alternatively, the supply modulator subsystem may include various couplings of switches designed to provide a selective conductive path from a set of supplies to an output.

[0107] like Figure 1AAs shown, system 100 may include any number of subsystems connected to a voltage rail and connected in parallel with each other using their inputs. For example, system 100 may include any number of supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator #1, ..., supply modulator #n), optional filtering or regulation circuitry (e.g., optional filtering or regulation circuitry 130), and power amplifiers (e.g., power amplifiers PA#1, ..., PA#n). Ground rail 125 may also be connected to various components in system 100. Given the example topology of system 100, multiple subsystems can supply different power (e.g., V) to any number of power amplifiers (e.g., PA#1, ..., PA#n) from the same energy source (e.g., energy source 105) and supply generator (e.g., supply generator 110) based on the supply requirements of each power amplifier. SUPPLY #1、……、V SUPPLY #n).

[0108] although Figure 1A System 100 is shown as having a supply generator supporting multiple power amplifiers, a supply modulator for each power amplifier, and optional filtering or regulation circuitry, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will recognize, for example, that multiple supply generators can be used to generate any number of voltage rails, and a single supply modulator and / or filtering or regulation circuitry can be used to supply voltages to multiple power amplifiers.

[0109] It should be understood that the way the voltage is synthesized by the supply generator of system 100 (e.g., supply generator 110) can affect the desired ratings of the switches in one or more supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator #1 to supply modulator #n) of system 100. This can be a consideration when designing system 100, because the desired rated voltage of the modulator switches can affect (and in some cases, highly affect) the switching speed (and therefore the achievable modulation rate) and modulator efficiency, both of which can be important factors in the system. Regardless of the modulator switch topology used, for example, if there are m supply levels V1, ..., Vn ordered in ascending order of voltage, m (i.e., V1) <V2<……<V m Then it may be desirable to couple to the j-th supply voltage V. j With the supply modulator output voltage V MOD Multiple switches (or switch chains) between them are rated to block at least a minimum amplitude of (V) depending on whether the modulator provides a minimum voltage V1. m -V j The negative voltage and amplitude of (V) are j -V1) or V jThe positive voltage, or in some cases, the ability to directly supply zero volts (0 V) to the PA. In some example systems with the latter type of design (where the modulator can supply a 0 V voltage), the power supply to the PA may need to be "cut off" (discharged to a zero volt power supply), and a separate low-frequency "off" or "open" switch can be used with the ability to supply the modulator output voltage V1, ..., V m The output of the modulator is placed in series. Such a shut-off switch can block the modulator switching chain voltage requirement from V. j Reduced to (V) j -V1).

[0110] In some examples, an RF power amplifier system (e.g., system 100) may include a “series” modulator, the form of which is suitable for integrated circuit (IC) fabrication and for use with proportional supply voltages (e.g., V2=2V1, V3=3V1, V4=4V1). Such a design illustrates the impact of the supply level on the rated voltage required by the individual modulator devices. With proper selection of the level voltages, the core device and / or extended voltage devices can be used to leverage integrated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes to achieve the voltage blocking characteristics required for the modulator switching chain. Furthermore, such a circuit illustrates the use of the resulting level for the gate drive of the device. This type of drive circuit promotes high efficiency and switching speed. However, in order to utilize the voltage levels between adjacent levels (e.g., at V1, V2=2V1, V3=3V1, V4=4V1), j With V j-1 The voltage levels used in this design should be sufficiently spaced to drive the device gates. Otherwise, a more complex gate drive circuit design may be required, which would limit the achievable switching performance.

[0111] Figure 1B Another example system 150 is shown that can utilize supply modulation to provide power to the PA 185 of an RF system. Figure 1B System 150 may include energy source 160, supply generator 165, supply modulator 170, optional filter 180, and PA 185. For example, supply generator 165 may be implemented using a boost converter circuit (e.g., a single-inductor 3-output boost converter) comprising a single inductor (e.g., L1), three capacitors (e.g., C1, C2, C3), and four switches (e.g., S0, S1, S2, S3). The single inductor (e.g., L1) may have a first terminal coupled to energy source (e.g., voltage source) 160 and a second terminal coupled to node 152. Supply modulator 170 may be implemented using three switches (e.g., S0, S1, S2, S3). m1 S m2 S m3This is achieved by connecting a terminal of each switch together at node 154. The second terminal of each switch can be coupled to a corresponding voltage node established via a capacitor stack C1, C2, C3 (e.g., multiple capacitors C1, C2, C3 connected in series between the first voltage node and ground to establish multiple voltage nodes V1 to V3). The fourth switch (e.g., S0) can have a first terminal coupled to node 152 and a second terminal coupled to ground. Figure 1B In the example, the second terminals of switches S1, S2, and S3 are coupled to the corresponding voltage nodes in voltage nodes V1, V2, and V3.

[0112] exist Figure 1B In one example, node 154 is coupled to the supply terminal of PA 185 via an optional filter circuit 180. The optional filter circuit 180 can be implemented as an LC (inductor-capacitor) filter having an inductor (e.g., L2) connected in series with the supply input of PA 185, a resistor (e.g., R) and a capacitor (e.g., C4) connected in series with each other and in parallel with PA 185, and a capacitor (e.g., C5) connected in parallel with PA 185. In some embodiments, the optional filter circuit 180 may include an impedance, such as a resistor, capacitor, or inductor. In some embodiments, the impedance may include at least one of lumped or distributed elements. In some embodiments, node 154 may be coupled to the supply terminal of PA 185 via other circuitry (e.g., a circuitry different from or other than the filter circuitry). In still other examples, node 154 may be directly coupled to the supply terminal of PA 185.

[0113] Ground rail 175 can be connected to various components in system 150. PA 185 can amplify input RF signal 190 (e.g., RF). IN And output the amplified RF signal as the output RF signal 195 (e.g., RF). OUT ).although Figure 1B An example implementation of system 150 is shown, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other ways exist to construct the supply generator 165, the supply modulator 170, and the filter circuit 180.

[0114] In some examples, the circuit system shown for system 150 can be used to implement Figure 1A At least a portion of system 100. For example, Figure 1B The supply generator 165 can be used as the supply generator 110, the supply modulator 170 can be used as the supply modulator 120, and the optional filter 180 can be used as the optional filtering or adjustment circuit 130.

[0115] Figure 1A , Figure 1B The system shown includes two separate subsystems: (a) a supply generator that can synthesize multiple power supply voltages from a single input source and may regulate one or more of those power supply voltages, and (b) one or more supply modulators that can each rapidly switch between the power supply voltages provided by the supply generator to provide a modulated supply voltage to the PA. Figure 1A and Figure 1B The system shown is an example of a system that can be particularly well-suited for discrete supply modulation.

[0116] The optimal way to implement (or "realize") these two subsystems can depend on the power level, voltage level, and application space of the RF amplifier system. For many mobile applications (e.g., cellular phones, smartphones, personal devices, etc.), it may be desirable to monolithically integrate the electronics for both the power generator and the power modulator onto a single semiconductor die (e.g., in a CMOS or BCD (bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process). In some cases, it may be desirable to integrate the electronics for the power generator, power modulator, and PA onto a single die. In other cases (e.g., at high power), it may be desirable to implement the subsystems using discrete components connected to one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs).

[0117] System (e.g., Figure 1A System 100 Figure 1B System 150) may include Figure 1A or Figure 1B Control and / or signal processing aspects are not shown. For example, variations in the RF PA supply voltage typically cause changes in the RF PA gain and insertion phase, and may also cause changes in its memory effect characteristics. Therefore, careful coordination of the supply modulation (e.g., variations in the PA supply voltage) with the digital predistortion (DPD) controller is important. Algorithms in the DPD controller can predict non-ideals that can be imposed on the modulated RF signal by the RF PA, and inverse compensation for these non-ideals can be applied. Thus, inverse compensation for non-ideals can be achieved through the PA (which also applies non-ideals), thereby producing an ideal or substantially ideal linear signal. DPD algorithms can be used to compensate for gain, phase, memory, and / or other non-ideals.

[0118] One or more controllers 155 may also operate to control the switches in system 100 and / or system 150. For example, those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more controllers can be used to control switches S0 to S3 and / or switch S via one or more signal lines (e.g., circuit connections) 157, for example, at a high frequency.m1 To S m3 The on / off states and on / off timings. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, although in Figure 1B Only one signal line 157 is shown, but system 150 may include separate lines from controller 155 for each switch in system 150 to control each switch individually. Alternatively, some switches in system 150 may be controlled together with a single signal line, while other switches may be controlled individually with separate signal lines.

[0119] Controller 155 can be used to switch the on / off states and timing of switches S0 to S3, so as to charge three different capacitors C1 to C3 to three different voltages V3 to V1 respectively. Controller 155 can also be used to control switch S m1 To S m3 The on / off states and timings are selected from voltages V1, V2, and V3 respectively to provide the selected voltage to an optional filter 180 or PA 185. Those skilled in the art will understand that the controller 155 can receive one or more input signals 158, such as feedback or feedforward signals, via one or more signal lines to determine how to control switches S0 to S3 and S... m1 To S m3 For example, controller 155 can be connected to V. SUPPLY To monitor V SUPPLY The voltage at the point or the current supplied to PA 185, and can change switches S0 to S3 and / or switch S m1 To S m3 The on / off states and / or timing are configured to ensure the desired output voltage or current. As another example, controller 155 can monitor RF signals (e.g., RF...). IN The amplitude of the RF signal (190) is adjusted, and switches S0 to S3 and / or S are adjusted. m1 To S m3 The on / off state and / or timing of the RF signal are adjusted to regulate the supply voltage or current to PA185 based on the RF signal amplitude. Those skilled in the art will recognize that any number of signals within system 150 (e.g., input voltage V) can be monitored by controller 155. IN From Energy I IN The current drawn, the inductor current (i L1 and / or i L2 ), voltage (V1, V2, V3 and / or V SUPPLY (The signals are) to PA 185 (current), and controller 155 can control the switching of system 150 based on these signals. In some embodiments, controller 155 may include a feedforward current shaping controller.

[0120] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that controller 155 may include circuitry and / or subsystems. For example, controller 155 may have internal components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, comparators, oscillators, clocks, digital logic components (e.g., latches, flip-flops), and / or amplifiers for controlling the operating frequency of the converter and determining how to control the system (e.g., system 150) based on feedback / feedforward signal 158. Controller 155 may also include a voltage regulator or other power supply circuitry for supplying power to controller 155. Controller 155 may also include protection subsystems, such as voltage protection subsystems or current protection subsystems. For example, these subsystems may prevent overvoltage or undervoltage conditions or overcurrent or undercurrent conditions by sensing voltage or current exceeding a predetermined value and by, for example, temporarily shutting down the converter circuitry or otherwise mitigating overvoltage or undervoltage or overcurrent or undercurrent conditions, in order to prevent damage to components in the circuitry.

[0121] In some embodiments, controller 155 may include a processor and memory. The memory can be programmed with instructions such that the processor, when executing instructions, controls the switching of the system (e.g., system 150) based on received feedback / feedforward signals 158. In some embodiments, components and / or subsystems of controller 155 may be packaged together such that controller 155 is, for example, an integrated circuit (IC) containing these components / subsystems.

[0122] Although not shown, controller 155 may also receive input command signals. For example, controller 155 may be configured to receive commands from a user or other device that programs controller 155 to perform certain functions or otherwise change the function of controller 155. For example, controller 155 may receive digital commands, such as Digital Control Level (DCL) commands, from one or more other controllers via a digital interface (e.g., a DCL interface) to instruct controller 155 how to control the switching of the system or otherwise change the function of controller 155. An example technique involving DCL commands is described below in U.S. Patent No. 12,069,580, entitled “Power Management Control Over Transmission Line For Millimeter Wave Chip Sets for Cellular Radios,” which is commonly assigned and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0123] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the subsystem within controller 155 may itself have a circuit system. For example, the subsystem within controller 155 may have internal components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, comparators, oscillators, clocks, digital logic components (e.g., latches, flip-flops), and / or amplifiers for controlling the operating frequency of the converter circuit and determining how to control the system (e.g., system 150) based on feedback / feedforward signal 158. In some embodiments, the subsystem itself may include a processor and a memory. The memory can be programmed with instructions such that the processor, when executing instructions, can output signals and / or commands based on certain input signals received by the subsystem.

[0124] In some implementations, one or more controllers may be used to operate some of the switches in a system (e.g., system 150), while one or more other controllers may be used to operate other switches in the system. For example, a first group of one or more controllers 155 may be operable to control the on / off states and on / off timing of switches S0 to S3 via a first group of one or more signal lines (e.g., circuit connections) 157, thereby controlling the supply generator 165. A second group of one or more controllers 155 may be operable to control switch S via a second group of one or more signal lines (e.g., circuit connections) 157. m1 To S m3 The on / off state and on / off timing are controlled to control the supply modulator 170. In some embodiments, a first group of one or more controllers 155 can operate a switch S in conjunction with a second group of one or more controllers 155. m1 To S m3 The switches S0 to S3 are operated at different frequencies and / or duty cycles. In some embodiments, a first group of one or more controllers 155 may receive a first group of one or more feedback / feedforward signals 158, and a second group of one or more controllers 155 may receive a second group of feedback / feedforward signals 158, which may be different from the first group of feedback / feedforward signals 158.

[0125] In some implementations, one or more controllers 155 may be implemented on the same die as one or more supply generators (e.g., supply generator 165), one or more supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator 170), one or more filters (e.g., filter 180), and / or one or more PAs (e.g., PA 185). In other cases, it may be desirable to implement one or more controllers 155 as discrete components connected to one or more PCBs.

[0126] Various switching circuits can be used to implement / realize the supply modulator subsystem. Figure 2A , Figure 2B Two illustrative networks are shown in the figure. Figure 2A Switches S1 to S4, S with connections as shown are shown. 34 and S 234 Example serial modulator 200. Figure 2B An example parallel modulator 240 with switches S1 to S4 connected as shown is illustrated. Additionally, as... Figure 1A , Figure 1B As shown, filtering networks (including passive and / or active filters) can be used and / or configured to adjust the voltage according to the modulated voltage (e.g., V). MOD Adjust the voltage to PA (e.g., V) SUPPLY Additional circuitry (e.g., including a low-dropout regulator (LDO)).

[0127] Now refer to Figure 3 In some implementations, the modulated power supply provided to the PA (e.g., V) SUPPLY This may need to be "cut off" (e.g., discharged to zero volts). For example, this can be used to reduce the modulator switch rating when zero output must be supplied to the PA. In such a case, circuit 300 may include a separate low-frequency turn-off switch 302 (or "disconnect switch"), which is connected in series with the output of the modulator 304 (capable of providing modulator output voltages V1, ..., V2). m Between PA 306 and PA 306.

[0128] Figure 4 It shows Figure 2A An example implementation of a series modulator is provided, which is suitable for integrated circuit (IC) fabrication and for use with proportional supply voltages (e.g., V2=2V1, V3=3V1, V4=4V1). The illustrative circuit 400 includes switches S1, S2, and S3 implemented as N-channel MOS (NMOS) transistors, and switches S4, S5, and S6 implemented as P-channel MOS (PMOS) transistors. 34 and S 234 Circuit 400 also includes a CMOS gate driver that is powered at different levels.

[0129] Circuit 400 illustrates the effect of the supply level on the rated voltage required by each modulator device. By correctly selecting the supply voltage level, the core device and / or extended voltage devices can be used to advantageously utilize integrated CMOS processes to achieve the voltage blocking characteristics required for the modulator switching chain. Furthermore, Circuit 400 illustrates the use of the level for generating the gate drive for devices (e.g., transistors). This type of drive circuit approach can facilitate high efficiency and switching speeds. Assuming the gate drive requirements can be met, the possibility of incorporating NMOS-type devices offers additional advantages such as smaller size and improved performance.

[0130] In order to utilize the voltage levels between adjacent voltage levels (e.g., at V...) j With V j-1 When driving the gate of a device, the voltage levels used in this design should maintain sufficient spacing. Otherwise, a more complex gate drive design may be required, which could limit achievable switching performance. The systems, methods, circuits, devices, and techniques described herein facilitate maintaining voltage levels suitable for implementing integrated circuit-based modulators and high-performance gate drive circuits by preserving the desired voltage relationship between levels.

[0131] Supply generators can be implemented using various methods. For example, they can be implemented using multiple separate converters, multi-output magnetic converters, multi-output switched-capacitor converters, and hybrid magnetic / switched-capacitor converters (including those that provide a set of proportional output voltages). Another approach is to implement a multi-output supply generator that produces two independently controllable DC voltages (e.g., using a magnetic conversion stage) and also uses a differential capacitor energy transfer stage to achieve one or more additional DC supply voltages that are proportionally metered between or near the two independently controllable voltages. Each of these methods may have limitations in terms of the achievable size, cost, efficiency, and / or performance (e.g., modulation bandwidth) of the supply-modulated RF amplifier system.

[0132] The use of multiple individual power converters to generate multiple supply voltages can produce flexible solutions that allow each output voltage to be independently regulated to a desired value, independent of input voltage variations, and provide the ability to continuously regulate the output voltage over time (e.g., to provide adaptive bias for the PA). Unfortunately, this solution can itself be large and expensive due to the need for numerous physically large power supply components (e.g., magnetic components).

[0133] Figure 5This is a diagram of an example system 500 utilizing multiple individual magnetic power converters (e.g., magnetic converter #1 520, ..., magnetic converter #n 530). The components of the individual magnetic power converters, or the duty cycles and / or frequencies of two individual magnetic power converters, can differ, causing the multiple magnetic power converters to output different voltages. The use of multiple individual magnetic power converters allows the system to supply a variety of different output voltages to the modulator 540. For example, one or more of the multiple magnetic power converters can be a buck converter, a boost converter, a buck-boost converter, a flyback converter, or any other known type of magnetic power converter. As an example, system 500 may include two magnetic power converters, magnetic converter #1 520 configured as a buck converter and magnetic converter #n 530 configured as another buck converter. Each of the buck converters can be configured to receive voltage from energy source 510 (e.g., a battery). For example, if energy source 510 provides a voltage of 3.8 V, a buck converter (e.g., magnetic converter #1 520) can be configured to output a voltage of 3.3 V, and another buck converter (e.g., magnetic converter #n 530) can be configured to output a voltage of 2.3 V. Supply modulator 540 can be selected between the two voltages, allowing a voltage supply between 3.3 V and 2.3 V to PA 550. Such a system using magnetic power converters can have high efficiency, but considering the higher cost and size of the magnetic components, it may be more expensive and require a larger size compared to other methods. Energy source 510 and PA 550 in Figure 5 These are shown in dashed lines because one or both of them may not be properly considered part of system 500 (e.g., system 500 may not include these components, but is configured to be connected to them). It will be understood that a switched capacitor converter, whose input is differentially connected between two such magnetic converters and whose output is connected to a supply modulator (not shown), can provide a way to supply an additional voltage to the supply modulator.

[0134] Figure 6 This is a diagram of an example system 600 utilizing one or more magnetic power converters (e.g., magnetic converter 620) and one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 610). Using a combination of one or more magnetic power converters and one or more linear regulators allows the system to supply a variety of different output voltages to the modulator 630. The linear regulator (e.g., linear regulator 610) can be, for example, a low-dropout (LDO) regulator. The linear regulator can receive an input voltage (e.g., V... IN ) and can output an output voltage lower than the input voltage (e.g., V)R As is known, a linear regulator may include one or more transistors (e.g., metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors) such that the bias of the transistors can be adjusted by one or more controllers (e.g., controller 155) to cause a voltage drop within the linear regulator, thereby outputting a desired output voltage lower than the input voltage. That is, apart from the resistance of the linear regulator (and the associated dissipation / voltage drop) being adjustable by adjusting the bias of the transistors, one or more transistors within the linear regulator may operate similarly to resistors. In some embodiments, the output voltage of the linear regulator may be set by an output reference voltage. In some embodiments, this output reference voltage may be selected from a plurality of discrete adjustment points (e.g., feedback signals from the controller used to control the linear regulator may be sensed at different nodes in the system). Those skilled in the art will recognize that various types of linear regulators are known, and any of these known types should be considered within the scope of this disclosure.

[0135] One or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 610) and one or more magnetic converters (e.g., magnetic converter 620) of system 600 can operate separately to output different voltages. As an example, if energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) provides a voltage of 3.8 V, then linear regulator 610 can be configured to provide an output voltage of 3.3 V, and magnetic converter 620 (e.g., a buck converter) can be configured to output a voltage of 2.3 V. Supply modulator 630 can be selected between the two voltages, allowing a voltage supply between 3.3 V and 2.3 V to PA 550. Such a system using a combination of one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 610) and one or more magnetic converters (e.g., magnetic converter 620) may be more... Figure 5 Example system 500 is less efficient (e.g., when power is dissipated by a linear regulator), but can be smaller and cheaper (e.g., due to the smaller size and lower cost of the linear regulator compared to an inductor). It will be understood that a switched-capacitor converter, whose input is differentially connected between the linear regulator 610 and the magnetic converter 620 and whose output is connected to a supply modulator (not shown), can provide an additional voltage to the supply modulator in a small size and with high efficiency.

[0136] Single-input multiple-output (SIMO) converters allow multiple output voltages to be regulated independently while requiring only a single magnetic component, thus alleviating to some extent the size challenges of multiple power converters. However, SIMO designs may inherently utilize inductors for time-division multiplexing to supply multiple outputs, and therefore performance and efficiency may decrease while control complexity increases with the number of outputs. This characteristic limits the effectiveness of this approach in multilevel supply modulator systems, which typically utilize supply levels between three and seven (where in some cases even more levels may be desired) to achieve high performance.

[0137] Some types of converters, such as conventional multi-output magnetic converters (e.g., multi-output flyback converters), multi-output switched-capacitor converters, and hybrid magnetic / switched-capacitor converters, can produce multiple ratiometrically related output voltages while reducing the number of magnetic components required compared to using multiple separate power converters. Conventional multi-output magnetic converters typically utilize transformers with scaling turns ratios to generate multiple proportionally scaled output voltages. These designs may only regulate a single output, where the proportional relationship of the other outputs is roughly maintained by the transformer turns ratio (unless additional "post-regulation" is provided to the other outputs, for example, by using an added linear regulator). Using transformers tends to reduce the achievable efficiency in these designs (sometimes to unacceptable levels), and such designs can suffer from significant cross-regulation between outputs in practice (i.e., one output voltage varies depending on the load on different outputs). This can lead to undesirable performance in RF amplifier systems, which further degrades performance unless additional post-regulation is used.

[0138] Multi-output switched-capacitor converter circuits can generate multiple proportionally related output voltages while achieving very high efficiency and small size, where the reasonable (ideal) ratio between the output voltages is determined by the circuit topology and / or switching mode. However, for this type of circuit, the output voltages are all scaled versions of the input voltage, which does not provide a method for continuously regulating the output voltage independently of changes in the input voltage.

[0139] Some potential limitations of these previous methods for generating multi-output supplies can be addressed via hybrid magnetic / switched capacitor circuits with proportionally scaled outputs. In these designs, the magnetic regulation stage can independently regulate a single output voltage (independent of the system input voltage) using an additional proportionally related output voltage synthesized and enforced by a switched capacitor voltage balancer stage. For example, in an m-output supply generator, the magnetic stage can utilize an input voltage V X And adjust the single output voltage VY The voltage generated by the switched capacitor (ideally) is k1. V Y k2 V Y ... k m-1 V Y Where the constants k1, ..., k m-1 It is a rational number that can be determined by the circuit topology and / or switching mode. The advantages of this approach can include relatively high efficiency and small size requirements for synthesizing multiple correlated output voltages, as well as relatively simple control.

[0140] Despite the advantages of the above design methods, the design for generating a proportional supply generator voltage output may have limitations for PA systems that utilize multi-level supply modulation.

[0141] One potential limitation of proportional outputs relates to the range of available supply voltages for the available power amplifier (PA). Some PAs can operate well over a wide supply voltage range of up to 4:1 or even greater (e.g., from V...). max The maximum voltage drops to equal to or less than V. min =V max (It operates well within a power supply voltage range of 4 / 4 of the minimum voltage). Many other PAs—including those commonly used in applications such as WiFi, mobile handsets, and MIMO transmitters for LTE and 5G applications—can operate only within a much narrower supply voltage range (e.g., 3:1 or even smaller). With proportional supply voltages, if the maximum generated voltage decreases (e.g., for reduced average PA output power), the synthesized proportional voltage may decrease proportionally. This typically means that one or more of the lowest synthesized voltages may become unusable for supply modulation under such conditions, as they may drop below the minimum permissible PA power supply voltage. This, in turn, reduces the achievable PA efficiency enhancements that can be provided through supply modulation under these conditions. In many applications, it may be desirable that if the power supply voltages are not maintained at a fixed set of ratios, all (or almost all) of the synthesized supply voltage levels can remain above the minimum permissible voltage for the PA under reduced power operation.

[0142] Another potential limitation of proportional output relates to how the spacing between voltages changes as the synthesized maximum supply voltage decreases. In a proportional output supply generator, two adjacent voltages can be represented as... and k jWhere k is the scaling value, j is the integer index, V is the voltage, and Y is the index corresponding to the number of voltage levels. Y It is the Y-th voltage level, and where V Y The value of can be amplified or reduced as the average transmission power of the PA is adjusted. Therefore, the difference between voltage levels can be expressed as It can be used with V Y Magnify and reduce proportionally. As mentioned above... Figure 4 As described, this can be problematic for driving integrated modulator switches, especially when the gate drive voltage is derived from the inter-level voltage (i.e., the voltage difference between levels). This leads to increased gate drive complexity in the integrated modulator and limits the modulator's achievable switching performance. In many applications, it may be desirable for the power supply voltage not to remain at a fixed set of ratios, allowing the spacing between adjacent levels to be controlled independently of the synthesized maximum supply voltage.

[0143] Cascaded supply generator and supply modulator

[0144] For a PA architecture using supply modulation, it may be desirable to provide a system that not only provides very rapid changes in the modulated power supply voltage (e.g., between multiple discrete levels), but also provides the ability to slowly adjust the voltage of the discrete levels within a desired range and / or maintain the discrete levels as the voltage of the input energy changes.

[0145] In particular, and as previously discussed, it would be useful to be able to generate a set of m discrete voltage levels inexpensively, efficiently, and / or compactly to supply to the PA. In some embodiments, one of the m discrete voltage levels may be independently controllable, and the other m-1 voltage levels may be distributed in a manner prescribed by the independently controlled level. In some embodiments, two of the m voltage levels may be independently controllable, and the other m-2 voltage levels may be distributed in a prescribed manner by the two independently controlled levels.

[0146] While not as flexible as truly independent control of all voltages, the system will reap most of the practical benefits that can be obtained from supply modulation (e.g., in terms of PA efficiency) while avoiding the aforementioned potential limitations associated with providing truly independent voltage level control. Such a design offers significant advantages in terms of the combination of size, cost, efficiency, and performance compared to existing methods.

[0147] It may be more advantageous to provide one or more cascaded switched capacitor converters and one or more supply modulators. In some implementations, the switching of the switched capacitor converters can be controlled to generate a set of different output voltages. For example, the switching of the switched capacitor converters can be controlled to generate a set of voltages. and As another example, the switching of a switched capacitor converter can be controlled to generate voltage. As another example, the switching of a switched capacitor converter can be controlled to generate a set of voltages. and .

[0148] It may be even more advantageous to provide one or more controllable linear regulators coupled to one or more cascaded switched-capacitor converters and one or more supply modulators. Using linear regulators in such a system is advantageous because they are small in size and relatively inexpensive. By providing both a controllable linear regulator and a controllable switched-capacitor converter, the linear regulator can be controlled to supply a regulated voltage of the desired level, and the switched-capacitor converter can be configured based on the regulated voltage V. R It generates one or more voltages. One or more regulators and one or more switched capacitor converters may be referred to together in this document as a "supply generator".

[0149] It may also be advantageous to provide cascaded one or more reconfigurable switched-capacitor converters and one or more supply modulators. In some implementations, the switching of the reconfigurable switched-capacitor converters can be controlled to provide different sets of output voltages. For example, in one operating mode, the switching of the switched-capacitor converters can be controlled to generate a set of voltages. and In another operating mode, the switching of the switched capacitor converter can be controlled to generate voltage. For example, in applications where the voltage level of the energy source (e.g., a battery) can vary over time (e.g., as the battery discharges / recharges), it would be beneficial to provide this switching between different operating modes to generate different sets of output voltages.

[0150] It may also be advantageous to provide one or more controllable linear regulators coupled to one or more cascaded reconfigurable switched capacitor converters and one or more supply modulators. Using such a system increases the flexibility in selecting the voltage output to the supply modulator because the output voltage V of the linear regulator can be controlled. RBoth this and the set of output voltages generated by the switched capacitor converter. That is, returning to the previous example, the first operating mode can now be reconfigured to receive the input voltage V (generated by the linear regulator). R A switched capacitor converter to output a set of voltages V R , and The second operating mode allows the switched capacitor converter to be reconfigured to output a set of voltages V. R and In other words, the first and second operating modes can output the same value as V. R The voltages of different groups in proportion (where V) R The output level is also proportional to the regulated voltage by a proportional constant of 1. The regulated voltage V is controlled individually. R The ability to configure level and switched capacitor converters provides the capability to output a wide range of possible output voltages at low cost and in small size (e.g., without the need for any magnetic components (e.g., inductors)).

[0151] Such a system, including a controllable linear regulator and a reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter, would be advantageous because it provides a greater number of possible supply levels than a system using a non-reconfigurable supply generator, and / or can more efficiently generate a fixed set of one or more supply levels as the voltage of the input power supply changes. For example, in applications where the input voltage is a battery voltage, the battery voltage can vary over time. As an example, when the battery is fully charged, the battery voltage may initially be 5 V, but it can discharge over time. If the battery has discharged to a voltage level of 4 V, it would be desirable to operate the switched-capacitor converter in the second operating mode described above, such that the switched-capacitor converter outputs a voltage of 2 V, and also outputs voltages of 4 V and 2 V. If the battery has discharged to a voltage level of 3 V, it would be desirable to operate the switched-capacitor converter in the first operating mode described above, such that the switched-capacitor converter outputs a voltage of 2 V, and also outputs voltages of 3 V and 2 V, because half of 3 V (1.5 V) (as would be generated by the second operating mode) might be too low to drive the components of the system. Reconfiguring a switched capacitor converter between different operating modes can also be advantageous when the amount of power supplied to the PA changes (e.g., when the RF amplitude input to the PA changes, envelope tracking is used to change the power to the PA).

[0152] As discussed above, it would be advantageous to provide a low-cost power supply system that can deliver high performance in applications where size and cost may be limiting factors, such as mobile WiFi systems or cellular systems. A constant power supply could be provided using only a linear regulator coupled between the battery and the power amplifier (PA). However, as discussed above, such a solution can be inefficient because the linear regulator dissipates power to provide the desired output voltage. Furthermore, such a solution provides a single output voltage, which, as mentioned above, can also be disadvantageous.

[0153] The systems, methods, circuits, devices, and techniques disclosed herein support power supply designs that provide discrete supply modulation with reduced losses while remaining low in cost and size.

[0154] Figure 7 This is a diagram of a system 700 utilizing one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 710) and one or more switched capacitor converters (e.g., switched capacitor converter 720). System 700 can be coupled to energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) at a pair of input terminals (e.g., one input terminal coupled to the positive terminal of energy source 510 and one input terminal coupled to the negative terminal of energy source 510), and can be coupled to a load (e.g., RF amplifier 550) via a pair of output terminals (e.g., one output terminal coupled to the positive supply terminal of RF amplifier 550 and one output terminal coupled to the negative supply terminal of RF amplifier 550). Linear regulator 710 can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., as per [reference]). Figure 1B The controller 155 described, as about Figure 9 The described controller 915 controls (e.g., can be reconfigured programmatically) to draw power at the input terminals to output a regulated voltage V. R 740, the regulated voltage V R 740 can be output to one or more switched-capacitor converters (e.g., switched-capacitor converter 720) and one or more supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator 730). The switches in switched-capacitor converter 720 can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., capable of being reconfigured in a programmable manner) to generate a voltage V that is regulated. R One or more output voltages are associated (proportional to) the voltage, and these one or more voltages can be output to the supply modulator 730. The regulated voltage V RThe voltage level can also be output from the switched capacitor converter 720 to the supply modulator 730. In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 720 may also receive a second voltage level (e.g., a ground voltage (0 V) from the ground terminal of the power source 510, and a second voltage from another regulator), and this second level can also be passed from the switched capacitor converter 720 to the supply modulator 730. The supply modulator 730 can then be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., capable of being reconfigured in a programmable manner) to select between voltage levels output from the switched capacitor converter 720 to provide the desired supply voltage V to PA 550 at any given time. SUPPLY This document also describes example architectures of switched capacitor converters, any of which can be used as switched capacitor converter 720. It should be understood that the output voltage of switched capacitor converter 720 can be greater than and / or less than the voltage provided by a linear regulator 710, as developed from the specific switched capacitor circuit used.

[0155] One or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 710) and one or more switched-capacitor converters (e.g., switched-capacitor converter 720) of system 700 can operate separately to output different voltages to supply modulator 730. As an example, switched-capacitor converter 720 can be configured to output a regulated voltage V. R Two-thirds of the voltage. Then, if the energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) provides a voltage of 3.8 V, for example, the linear regulator 710 can be configured to provide an output voltage of 3.3 V, and the switched capacitor converter 720 can be configured to output 2.2 V (i.e., The supply modulator 730 can be selected between two voltages, allowing a voltage supply between 3.3 V and 2.2 V to be provided to PA550. Such a system, using a combination of one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 710) and one or more switched capacitor converters (e.g., switched capacitor converter 720), can be more efficient than... Figure 5 and Figure 6 The examples described are smaller and / or less expensive (e.g., due to the smaller size and lower cost of linear regulators and switched capacitor converters compared to inductors).

[0156] Despite Figure 7 Not shown, but one or more controllers can be used to control one or more subsystems of system 700. In some embodiments, the one or more controllers used to control system 700 can be as previously described. Figure 1BThe controller 155 is constructed and operates as discussed, except that for system 700, one or more controllers may have signal lines for controlling (e.g., reconfiguring in a programmable manner) the linear regulator 710, the switched capacitor converter 720, and / or the supply modulator 730, and one or more controllers may receive feedback or feedforward signals regarding voltage and / or current levels associated with the power source 510, the linear regulator 710, the switched capacitor converter 720, the supply modulator 730, the PA 550, and / or components in these subsystems.

[0157] Figure 8A Figure 800 shows an example switched-capacitor converter 810. The switched-capacitor converter 810 can be used, for example, to implement... Figure 7 The switched capacitor converter 720 is an example, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, a switched capacitor converter such as the one described above can be used on voltage rail 740. Figure 7 The linear regulator discussed (e.g., linear regulator 710) outputs a regulated voltage V. R Another voltage (e.g., 0 V from the negative terminal of energy source 510 or another voltage from another regulator) can be supplied on voltage rail 840. Switched capacitor converter 810 includes components coupled in a stacked (or trapezoidal) manner to voltage rail 740 (supplying V). R The holding capacitors C1 823 and C2 826 are connected between the voltage rail 840 (supplying a different voltage or ground voltage (0 V)) and the voltage rail 840. That is, capacitor C1 is coupled to the voltage V. R The voltage between 740 and node 803, and capacitor C2 is coupled between the voltage at node 803 and the voltage on track 840.

[0158] The switched capacitor converter 810 also includes four switches: switches 841 and 843 coupled between voltage VR 740 and the voltage at node 803, and switches 846 and 848 coupled between the voltage at node 803 and the voltage on rail 840. The switched capacitor converter 810 also includes a flying capacitor C coupled at one end between switches 841 and 843 and at the other end between switches 846 and 848. f1 The switched capacitor converter 810 can be referred to as a trapezoidal switched capacitor converter.

[0159] In the first phase of the switching cycle of the switched capacitor converter 810, switches 843 and 848 can be turned on (while switches 841 and 846 are turned off), and in the second phase of the switching cycle, switches 841 and 846 can be turned on (while switches 843 and 848 are turned off). By switching in this way, the flying capacitor C... f1The capacitor voltage levels of balancing capacitors C1 and C2 are specified in section 833. The switched capacitor converter 810 can be used to output three voltage levels: a regulated voltage V from a linear regulator (e.g., linear regulator 710). R 740, voltage rail 840 (e.g., 0 V), and at voltage V R The voltage between rail 840 and (e.g., voltage V) R The voltage at node 803 (between the voltage of rail 840 and the voltage of rail 840).

[0160] Figure 8B Figure 850 shows another example of a switched capacitor converter 820. The switched capacitor converter 820 can be used, for example, to implement... Figure 7 The present disclosure describes a switched capacitor converter 820, but is not limited thereto. Similar to the switched capacitor converter 810, the switched capacitor converter 820 is a trapezoidal switched capacitor converter. However, the switched capacitor converter 820 is coupled to a voltage rail 740 (supplying V... R The capacitor stack between the voltage rail 840 (supplying different voltages or ground voltage (0 V)) and another capacitor (capacitor C3 829), and another flying capacitor (C f2 836) and two more switches 851 and 853.

[0161] In other words, capacitor C1 823 is coupled to voltage V. R Between the voltage at node 740 and node 805, capacitor C2826 is coupled between the voltage at node 805 and the voltage at node 810, and capacitor C3829 is coupled between the voltage at node 810 and the voltage on track 840. The switched capacitor converter 820 also includes six switches, switches 841 and 843 coupled to voltage V. R The voltage at node 805 is coupled between switches 840 and 845; the voltage at node 805 is coupled between switches 846 and 848; and the voltage at node 810 is coupled between switches 851 and 853. The switched capacitor converter 820 also includes a flying capacitor C coupled at one end between switches 841 and 843 and at the other end between switches 846 and 848. f1 833. The switched capacitor converter 820 further includes a flying capacitor C coupled at one end between switches 846 and 848 and at the other end between switches 851 and 853. f2 836.

[0162] In the first phase of the switching cycle of the switched capacitor converter 820, switches 843, 848, and 853 can be turned on (while switches 841, 846, and 851 are turned off), and in the second phase of the switching cycle, switches 841, 846, and 851 can be turned on (while switches 843, 848, and 853 are turned off). By switching in this way, the flying capacitor C... f1 833 and C f2 The 836 balances the capacitor voltage levels of capacitors C1, C2, and C3. The switched capacitor converter 820 can be used to output four voltage levels: a regulated voltage V from a linear regulator (e.g., linear regulator 710). R 740, voltage at voltage rail 840 (e.g., 0 V), voltage at node 805 (e.g., V) R (2 / 3 of the voltage difference between rail 740 and rail 840), and the voltage at node 810 (e.g., V). R (1 / 3 of the voltage difference between rail 740 and rail 840).

[0163] Although examples of a switched capacitor converter 810 with three output voltage levels and an example of a switched capacitor converter 820 with four output voltage levels have been described above, this disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will recognize, for example, that a switched capacitor converter can be coupled to a voltage V R An additional capacitor is provided in the capacitor stack between 740 and voltage rail 840, and an additional voltage level is output by providing an additional flying capacitor to balance the voltage level of the capacitor. Such an implementation should be considered within the scope of the disclosure herein.

[0164] Figure 9 This is a diagram of an example system 900 utilizing one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940), one or more switched capacitor converters (e.g., switched capacitor converter 950), one or more supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator 960), and one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915). In some embodiments, optional filtering or regulation circuitry (e.g., including features such as...) Figure 1A Optional filtering or regulation circuit 130 or Figure 1B Optional filter circuitry 180 (one or more impedance elements discussed) can be coupled to the output of the supply modulator 960. One or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940) can be considered as first-stage circuitry, while one or more switched-capacitor converters (e.g., switched-capacitor converter 950) can be considered as second-stage circuitry. Although in Figure 9A linear regulator 940 is shown, but in some implementations, different types of voltage regulation circuits may be used instead of the linear regulator 940, or different types of voltage regulation circuits may be used in addition to the linear regulator 940. For example, a magnetic converter (e.g., a buck converter, a boost converter, a buck-boost converter, a flyback converter) may be used. As previously discussed, a linear regulator can have greater dissipation losses (and therefore lower efficiency) than a magnetic converter, but can be smaller in size (e.g., implemented on a small IC or with a small component) and / or cheaper. Therefore, the use of a linear regulator may be advantageous in some applications, such as mobile applications, where size and / or cost may be limiting factors.

[0165] System 900 can be coupled to energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) at a pair of input terminals (e.g., one input terminal coupled to the positive terminal of energy source 510 and one input terminal coupled to the negative terminal of energy source 510), and can be coupled to a load (e.g., an RF amplifier) ​​via a pair of output terminals (e.g., one output terminal coupled to the positive supply terminal of an RF amplifier and one output terminal coupled to the negative supply terminal of an RF amplifier). Linear regulator 940 can draw power from the input terminals to adjust the voltage (e.g., V) of energy source 510 (e.g., battery). BAT The voltage can be adjusted, and the adjusted voltage V can be output. R V R The voltage level can be set to a fixed value. Alternatively, the voltage level V R It can be selected from several possible discrete values ​​(e.g., based on the current input battery voltage of Energy 510, based on the RF PA output power or the desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating point of the digital predistortion (DPD) system, and / or based on other considerations). That is, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915). In some embodiments, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can receive feedback or feedforward signals from system 900 (e.g., reflecting the battery voltage level of energy source 510, reflecting the RF PA output power), and can control (e.g., programmatically control) the voltage level V to be output by linear regulator 940 based on these signals. R In some implementations, the regulated voltage V can be adjusted by incorporating a digital predistortion algorithm that provides predistortion for the modulated RF waveform. RFor example, one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm can send one or more signals (e.g., signal 920) to one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915), and one or more controllers receiving one or more signals can correspondingly control the linear regulator 940. In this way, the regulated voltage V R The RF performance can be adjusted to achieve more optimized modulation or to minimize losses. In some implementations, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control (e.g., programmatically reconfigure) the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the supply modulator 960 based on one or more signals received by one or more controllers (e.g., reflecting the battery level of energy 510, based on the RF PA output power or the desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating point of the DPD system, and / or based on other considerations). In some implementations, based on one or more signals received from one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control (e.g., programmatically control) the linear regulator 940 using one or more control signals 930, control (e.g., programmatically control) the switched capacitor converter 950 using one or more control signals 935, and / or control (e.g., programmatically control) the supply modulator 960 using one or more control signals 938.

[0166] exist Figure 9 In the example shown, the second-stage circuit is implemented as a switched capacitor converter 950. Figure 9 In the example, the switched capacitor converter 950 is designed to generate multiple regulated voltages to be output to the PA via a supply modulator 960 (e.g., providing discrete supply modulation). Figure 9 The example switched capacitor converter 950 is designed to generate and regulate V according to the designed ratio. R One or more related voltages. That is, Figure 9 The switched capacitor converter 950 can be configured to output V R A proportional set of one or more voltages V1, ..., V N . Figure 9 The switched capacitor converter 950 can be configured to output voltage V R A set of proportionally related voltages V1, ..., V N In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 950 may include Figure 8A Switched capacitor converter 810 or Figure 8BThe present disclosure is not limited to the switched capacitor converter 820. In some embodiments, one or more controllers 915 may receive one or more signals representing one or more output voltages of the switched capacitor converter 950, and may control a linear regulator 940 to output a selected voltage level to the switched capacitor converter 950 based on one or more signals, thereby regulating one or more voltage levels output from the switched capacitor converter 950 to one or more reference voltage levels. In some embodiments, voltage V R It can be coupled to the supply modulator 960. In some embodiments, the 0V voltage from the ground terminal of the power source 510 can be coupled to the supply modulator 960. Therefore, the supply modulator 960 can be controlled (e.g., reconfigured in a programmed manner) by one or more signals (e.g., signal 938) from one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) to supply voltages V1, ..., V N Choose from the options. In the voltage V... R In embodiments where 0 V is also coupled to the supply modulator 960, the supply modulator 960 may also be controlled (e.g., reconfigured in a programmed manner) by one or more signals from one or more controllers to select from one of these voltages. The supply modulator 960 may use the selected voltage as voltage V. SUPPLY (exist Figure 9 The value shown is V. O )965 output to PA (not shown).

[0167] In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 950 may be reconfigurable. In such embodiments, and as further discussed below, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control (e.g., programmatically reconfigure) the switches in the switched capacitor converter 950 to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter 950 to generate different sets of voltages (e.g., different voltage modes). For example, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 950 to generate a first set of one or more output voltages in a first operating mode, and a second set of one or more different output voltages in a second operating mode. In some embodiments, one or more controllers may reconfigure the switched capacitor converter 950 based on one or more signals received by one or more controllers (e.g., reflecting the battery level of energy 510, reflecting one or more output voltages of the switched capacitor converter 950, based on the RF PA output power or desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating point of the DPD system, and / or based on other considerations). The number of operating modes and output voltage sets may depend on the design of the switched capacitor converter. Depending on the design of the switched capacitor converter, any number of different operating modes can be provided to output any number of different groups of voltages.

[0168] In some implementations, the connection point between the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950 can be reconfigurable. In such implementations, and as further discussed below, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control (e.g., programmatically reconfigure) one or more switches ( Figure 9 (Not shown) to change the connection point of the linear regulator 940's output to the switched capacitor converter 950 to generate different sets of voltages (e.g., different voltage modes). For example, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control one or more switches between the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950 to generate a first set of output voltages in a first operating mode and a second set of different output voltages in a second operating mode. In some embodiments, one or more controllers can change the connection point based on one or more signals received by one or more controllers (e.g., reflecting the battery level of energy 510, based on the RF PA output power or desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating point of the DPD system, and / or based on other considerations). The number of operating modes and output voltage sets can depend on the number of switchable connection points between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter and the design of the switched capacitor converter.

[0169] In some embodiments, the connection points between the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950 may be reconfigurable. In such embodiments, and as further discussed below, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control (e.g., programmatically reconfigure) the switches in the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or one or more switches between the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950 to generate different sets of output voltages in different operating modes. The number of operating modes and output voltage sets may depend on the design of the switched capacitor converter and the number of switchable connections between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter. Depending on the design of the switched capacitor converter and the number of switchable connections between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter, any number of different operating modes can provide any number of different sets of output voltages. In some implementations, one or more controllers may control the linear regulator 940, the switches in the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or one or more switches between the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950 based on one or more signals received by the controllers (e.g., reflecting the battery level of energy 510, based on the RF PA output power or desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating point of the DPD system, and / or based on other considerations). Therefore, by reconfiguring the linear regulator, the switched capacitor converter, and / or the connections between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter, the supply generator can provide a voltage V with respect to different configurations. R Scaling of the output.

[0170] In some implementations, the linear regulator 940 may include multiple linear regulators. Which linear regulator actively adjusts its output, one or more connection points between the active linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the switched capacitor converter 950 itself may be reconfigurable. In such implementations, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control (e.g., programmably reconfigure) which linear regulator is active, and / or one or more switches (…). Figure 9(Not shown) can be used to change the connection point of the output of the activated linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the configuration of the switched capacitor converter 950, to generate different sets of voltages (e.g., different voltage modes). For example, one or more controllers can receive a signal related to at least one of the voltage level of the energy source 510 or the desired RF output power of the RF amplifier, and can control the linear regulator to switch from a first linear regulator that outputs a first regulated voltage to a second linear regulator to output a second regulated voltage different from the first regulated voltage to the switched capacitor converter 950. Any number of different operating modes that generate any number of different sets of output voltages can be provided by selecting the number and configuration of linear regulators that can be activated by the controller (e.g., controller 915), the number and configuration of switchable connection points between each of the linear regulators that can be controlled by the controller (e.g., controller 915) and the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the configuration of the switched capacitor converter 950 that can be controlled by the controller (e.g., controller 915). In some implementations, one or more controllers may control the number and configuration of linear regulators activated by the controllers, the number and configuration of switchable connection points between each linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter 950, and / or the configuration of the switched capacitor converter 950, based on one or more signals received by the controllers (e.g., reflecting the battery level of energy 510, based on the RF PA output power or desired RF PA output power, based on the available operating points of the DPD system, and / or based on other considerations). Depending on the specific application where the system will be used, specific combinations of linear regulator, switchable connection points, and / or switched capacitor converter configurations may be designed to provide an operating mode with a desired number of desired output voltage groups.

[0171] The supply modulator 960 can be considered the third stage of system 900. The supply modulator 960 can draw voltage V generated by the switched capacitor converter 950 and output by the linear regulator 940. R Multiple (two or more) related voltages (and optionally, the voltage from the bypass switched capacitor converter 950) can be selected. In summary, these three stages (linear regulator, switched capacitor converter, supply modulator) can comprise a supply generation / supply modulation system. The specific regulation voltage V depends on the selected regulation voltage. R The selected connection between the linear regulator 940 and the switched capacitor converter 950, the selected operating mode of the switched capacitor converter, and / or other considerations allow the operation of the supply generation / supply modulation system to be reconfigured to provide different discrete voltage outputs. As just one example, depending on the selected operating mode, the voltage V... RWith voltage Modulation is performed between them, at voltage V R With voltage Modulation can be performed between them, or it can be done at voltage V. R ,Voltage and voltage Modulation is performed between them.

[0172] Table 1 below illustrates the use of such a system based on V R Two different example adjustment setpoints (i.e., output levels) (4 V and 3 V respectively) are available for the modulation voltage group. SC Cfg#1 in Table 1 is associated with the first operating mode, where the switched capacitor converter 950 operates at a voltage V output from the linear regulator 940. R The voltage is generated at a ratio of 2 / 3 to 1 / 3. SC Cfg#2 in Table 1 relates to the second operating mode, where the switched capacitor converter 950 generates a voltage V from the linear regulator 940. R The voltage is generated at a ratio of 1 / 2.

[0173] Table 1

[0174]

[0175] A particular operating mode will be optimal depending on factors such as the input voltage from energy source 510 (e.g., a battery), the output power of the PA (not shown), and / or other operating characteristics associated with the PA.

[0176] In some implementations, one or more controllers implementing the digital predistortion (DPD) algorithm may send one or more signals to controller 915 to command the optimal configuration of system 900, and controller 915 may control the switching of system 900 to achieve this optimal configuration. These configuration adjustments may include, for example, switching operating modes and / or adjusting the regulated output voltage V of linear regulator 940. R To adjust the voltage conversion ratio provided by the switched capacitor converter 950.

[0177] For example, consider the following application where the PA used with system 900 is operable (e.g., has good linearity) with a supply voltage as low as 1.8 V, and the energy source 510 is a battery with a voltage varying between 3 V and 5 V. In this case, when the battery voltage is high enough to support a 4 V supply from the linear regulator 940... R At this time, operating mode 2 (i.e., SC Cfg#2) can be selected, where the output voltage V of the linear regulator 940 is... RIt is set to 4 V, thus allowing the PA input voltage to be modulated between 4 V and 2 V. For lower battery voltages, operating mode 1 (i.e., SC Cfg#1) can be selected, where the output voltage of the linear regulator 940 is V. R It is set to 3 V, thus allowing the PA input voltage to be modulated between 3 V and 2 V. Other configurations and linear regulator setpoints can be similarly selected for different battery voltage ranges and different permissible PA input voltage ranges. For example, the output voltage V of the linear regulator 940 can be selected based on the battery range and / or the available PA input voltage range. R The set point and / or select the operating mode of the switched capacitor converter 950 (e.g., to minimize energy usage for a specified operating profile).

[0178] Controller 915 can be as previously mentioned Figure 1B The controller 915 is constructed as described in the description of controller 155. However, controller 915 may alternatively be connected via signal lines (e.g., digital signal lines) to the linear regulator 940, switched capacitor converter 950, and / or supply modulator 960 for controlling these subsystems (e.g., via switches such as transistors in these subsystems), and may receive feedback and / or feedforward signals associated with voltage or current levels of the energy source 510, linear regulator 940, switched capacitor converter 950, supply modulator 960, PA (not shown), or any component within these subsystems. Controller 915 may control linear regulator 940, switched capacitor converter 950, and / or supply modulator 960 based on one or more of these feedback and / or feedforward signals. In some embodiments, controller 915 may receive one or more digital control logic (DCL) signals from one or more other controllers controlling the operation of controller 915 via a digital interface (e.g., a DCL interface).

[0179] Figure 10 It utilizes the linear regulator 940 (in Figure 10 The diagram shows an example system 1000, which includes an LDO, a switched capacitor converter 1050, and a supply modulator 1060. In some embodiments, system 1000 may be... Figure 9 One implementation of system 900 includes a linear regulator 940 corresponding to the linear regulator 940 of system 900, a switched capacitor converter 1050 corresponding to the switched capacitor converter 950 of system 900, and a supply modulator 1060 corresponding to the supply modulator 960 of system 900. The linear regulator 940 can be considered as a first-stage circuit, while the switched capacitor converter 1050 can be considered as a second-stage circuit. Although the linear regulator 940... Figure 10The linear regulator 940 is shown and illustrated as an LDO, but in some implementations, different types of voltage regulation circuitry may be used instead of the linear regulator 940, or in addition to the linear regulator 940, different types of voltage regulation circuitry may be used. For example, different types of linear regulators or magnetic converters (e.g., buck converters, boost converters, buck-boost converters, flyback converters) may be used. As previously discussed, linear regulators can have greater dissipation losses (and therefore lower efficiency) than magnetic converters, but can be smaller in size (e.g., implemented on a small IC or with a small component) and / or cheaper. Therefore, for some applications where size and / or cost may be limiting factors, such as mobile applications, the use of a linear regulator may be advantageous.

[0180] The linear regulator 940 can output a regulated voltage V. R As discussed previously, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., such as those related to voltage levels). Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed is controlled (e.g., programmably). In some implementations, the regulated voltage V can be adjusted by incorporating a digital predistortion algorithm that provides predistortion for the modulated RF waveform. R For example, one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm can send one or more signals to one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915), and one or more controllers can correspondingly control the linear regulator 940. In this way, the regulated voltage V R It can be adjusted to achieve more optimized modulation RF performance or to minimize losses. In some implementations, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 1050, and / or the supply modulator 1060 based on one or more signals received from one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm.

[0181] exist Figure 10 In the example shown, the second-stage circuit is implemented as a switched capacitor converter 1050. Figure 10 The example switched capacitor converter 1050 can be designed to produce below V based on the designed ratio. R The regulated voltage. That is to say, Figure 10 The switched capacitor converter 1050 in the example can be configured to output voltage and voltage In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 1050 may include Figure 8BThe switched capacitor converter 820 is described, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. The supply modulator 1060 can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) to supply voltage V. R 945 (output of linear regulator 940) 1025 (one output of the switched capacitor converter 1050) and 1030 (another output of the switched capacitor converter 1050) can be selected. Therefore, the supply modulator 860 can be selected from voltage V. R , and Choose from the options, and use the selected voltage as voltage V. SUPPLY 965 output to PA (not shown). Although Figure 10 Not shown, but in some embodiments, the ground voltage rail from energy source 510 may also be supplied from switched capacitor converter 1050 to supply modulator 1060. In such an embodiment, supply modulator 1060 can receive voltage V R , , Choose between 0 V and 0 V, and use the selected voltage as the voltage V. SUPPLY 965 output to PA (not shown).

[0182] In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 1050 may be reconfigurable. In such embodiments, and as further discussed herein, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 1050 to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter 1050 to generate one or more different sets of voltages (e.g., different voltage modes). For example, in a first operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 1050 to generate... and The output voltage. Therefore, when the switched capacitor converter 1050 operates in this mode, the supply modulator 1060 can be at V. R 945 (output of linear regulator 940) 1025 (one output of the 1050 switched capacitor converter) The voltage can be selected between 1030 (another output of the switched capacitor converter 1050) and 0 V (if the ground rail from energy 510 is connected to the supply modulator 1060). In a second operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 1050 to generate... The output voltage. Therefore, when the switched capacitor converter 950 operates in this mode, the supply modulator 1060 can be at V. R (Output of linear regulator 940) The voltage can be selected between the output of the switched capacitor converter 1050 and 0 V (if the ground rail from the power source 510 is connected to the supply modulator 1060).

[0183] In some implementations, one or more controllers (controller 915) can be controlled by switching capacitor converter 1050. A short circuit to ground at the output controls the switch in the switched capacitor converter 1050 to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter 1050 from a first operating mode to a second operating mode, which allows the switched capacitor converter 1050 output to... voltage instead and The voltage. For example, in some implementations, the voltage can be used. Figure 8B The switched capacitor converter 820 is used to achieve a first operating mode, and a second operating mode can be achieved by turning on the switch to short-circuit node 810 to rail 840 of the switched capacitor 820, thereby causing node 805 to output... The voltage.

[0184] As will be discussed further below, the ability to reconfigure a switched-capacitor converter can offer a better trade-off between performance and losses than it might otherwise. As an example, suppose the PA (not shown) used with system 1000 is operable (e.g., with good linearity) at voltage supply levels as low as 1.8 V, and the energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) varies between 3 V and 5 V. In this case, when energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) has a sufficiently high voltage to support a regulated voltage V of 4 V from the linear regulator 940... R At this time, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can be selected to operate the switched capacitor converter 1050 in a second operating mode, wherein the voltage V is regulated. R It is set to 4 V, thus allowing the supply modulator 1060 to modulate the PA input voltage between 4 V and 2 V. This is possible when the energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) has a lower voltage but can support a regulated voltage V of 3 V from the linear regulator 940. R At this time, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can be selected to operate the switched capacitor converter 1050 in a first operating mode, wherein the voltage V is regulated. R It is set to 3V, thus allowing the supply modulator 1060 to modulate the PA input voltage between 3V and 2V.

[0185] Figure 11 It utilizes the linear regulator 940 (in Figure 11 The diagram shows an example system 1100, denoted as an LDO, having a multi-stage switched capacitor converter 1110 and a supply modulator 1160. In some embodiments, system 1100 may be... Figure 9 One implementation of system 900 includes a linear regulator 940 corresponding to the linear regulator 940 of system 900, a switched capacitor converter 1110 corresponding to the switched capacitor converter 950 of system 900, and a supply modulator 1160 corresponding to the supply modulator 960 of system 900. The linear regulator 940 can be considered a first-stage circuit, while the switched capacitor converter 1110 can be considered a second-stage circuit. The switched capacitor converter 1110 can have multiple stages. Figure 11 In the example shown, the switched capacitor converter 1110 has two stages, a first stage 1120 and a second stage 1130. Although the linear regulator 940... Figure 11 It is shown in the figure and is shown as an LDO, but in some implementations, as described above... Figure 9 The linear regulator 940 can be replaced by different types of linear regulators or other voltage regulation circuits (e.g., buck regulators, boost regulators, buck-boost regulators, flyback regulators) or, in addition to the linear regulator 940, different types of linear regulators or other voltage regulation circuits (e.g., buck regulators, boost regulators, buck-boost regulators, flyback regulators).

[0186] The linear regulator 940 can output a regulated voltage V. R As discussed previously, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., such as those previously mentioned). Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed is controllable (e.g., programmable). In some embodiments, it may be combined with those previously discussed (see, for example, regarding...). Figure 9 , Figure 10 (Discussion) Provides a digital predistortion algorithm for modulated RF waveforms to adjust the regulated voltage V. R .

[0187] exist Figure 11 In the example, the second-stage circuit is implemented as a two-stage switched-capacitor converter 1110 (first stage 1120 and second stage 1130). The switched-capacitor converter 1110 in the example of system 1100 is designed to generate voltages below V according to the designed ratio. R The regulated voltage. That is to say, Figure 11 The switched capacitor converter 1110 in the example is configured to output and The voltage. More specifically, the first stage 1120 of the switched capacitor converter 1110 is configured to generate... The voltage, and the second stage 1130 of the switched capacitor converter 1110 is configured to generate The voltage. In Figure 11 In the example shown, each stage of the switched capacitor converter 1110 is configured as a voltage halver, wherein the first stage 1120 is coupled to the regulated voltage V output from the linear regulator 940. R Between and ground (and generated at output 1140) The output voltage), and the second stage 1130 is differentially coupled to the regulated voltage V output from the linear regulator 940. R Between the output of the first stage 1120 (and therefore generated at output 1135) The output voltage). That is, in some implementations, the first stage 1120 may include Figure 8A The switched capacitor converter 810 (with rail 740 coupled to V) R And rail 840 is coupled to ground (e.g., 0 V), and the second stage 1130 may include Figure 8A The switched capacitor converter 810 (with rail 740 coupled to V) R And rail 840 is coupled to node 803 (or the V of the first stage 1120). R / 2 output). The supply modulator 960 can be controlled by one or more signals from one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) to supply voltage V. R 945 (output of linear regulator 940) (The output of the second stage 1130 of the switched capacitor converter 1110) and (The output of the first stage 1120 of the switched capacitor converter 1110) can be selected. Therefore, the supply modulator 1160 can be selected from the voltage V. R , and Choose from the options, and use the selected voltage as voltage V. SUPPLY 965 output to PA (not shown). Although Figure 11 Not shown in the diagram, but in some embodiments, the ground voltage rail from energy source 510 may also be connected to the supply modulator 1160. In such an embodiment, the supply modulator 1160 can draw voltage V from the ground rail. R , , Choose between 0 V and 0 V, and use the selected voltage as the voltage V. SUPPLY965 outputs to PA (not shown). Furthermore, it will be understood that the switched capacitor circuitry of stage 1120 and / or stage 1130 can be controlled to regulate their outputs (e.g., regulate to a voltage below their proportional output level) by controlling their switching frequency and / or duty cycle according to their output voltage. This can produce supply modulator voltages 1140 and 1135, which can be used relative to V... R The non-proportional value is used for adjustment. In some cases, this can provide some linear benefits.

[0188] In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter 1110 of system 1100 may be reconfigurable. In some embodiments, one of the first stage 1120 or the second stage 1130 may be reconfigurable. In some embodiments, both the first stage 1120 and the second stage 1130 may be reconfigurable. In such embodiments, and as further discussed herein, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) may control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 1110 (e.g., in the first stage 1120 and / or the second stage 1130) to generate one or more different sets of voltages (e.g., different voltage modes). For example, one or more controllers may control the switches in the switched capacitor converter 1110 to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter 1110 between different operating modes, each of which is configured to generate a set of output voltages. The output voltages in the sets and / or the number of output voltages in the sets may differ between the different operating modes.

[0189] Using multiple stages in a switched-capacitor converter allows for a wider range of voltage conversion ratios within the converter. However, achieving this wider range of voltage conversion ratios may come at the cost of a smaller physical component solution, as more components (e.g., switches, capacitors) may be required to implement such a solution.

[0190] although Figure 10 The output voltage V is shown. R , and Example system 1000, and although Figure 11 The output voltage V is shown. R , and The example system 1100 is provided, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, depending on the design of the switched capacitor converter, different voltage ratios can be generated. By way of example only, the first stage 1120 of system 1100 can be designed to generate multiple output voltages, and the second stage 1130 of system 1100 can be designed to allow reconfiguration to connect to different outputs of the first stage 1120, thus allowing further reconfiguration of possible conversion ratios from the outputs of system 1100. Furthermore, by adjusting the switching frequency and / or duty cycle of the switched capacitor converter, one or more outputs of the switched capacitor converter can be adjusted to non-proportional values ​​relative to the voltage input to the switched capacitor converter.

[0191] In some embodiments, the switched capacitor converter (e.g., switched capacitor converter 1050, switched capacitor converter 1110) can be "fixed" to generate a set of output voltages. In other embodiments, as previously discussed, the switched capacitor converter (e.g., switched capacitor converter 1050, switched capacitor converter 1110) can be reconfigured (e.g., by means of one or more controllers, such as controller 915 controlling one or more switches) to change the set of output voltages generated by the switched capacitor converter.

[0192] Figure 12A It utilizes two linear regulators (linear regulator 1205 (in) Figure 12A The diagram shows an LDO (labeled LDO#1) and a linear regulator 1245 (in... Figure 12A The diagram shows an example system 1200, labeled LDO#2, a switched capacitor converter 1210, and a supply modulator 1260. In some embodiments, system 1200 may be... Figure 9 In one implementation of system 900, linear regulators 1205 and 1245 correspond to one or more linear regulators 940 of system 900, switched capacitor converter 1210 corresponds to switched capacitor converter 950 of system 900, and supply modulator 1260 corresponds to supply modulator 960 of system 900. In some embodiments, linear regulator 1205 may correspond to... Figure 11The linear regulator 940 of system 1100, the switched capacitor converter 1210 may correspond to the switched capacitor converter 1110 of system 1100, and the supply modulator 1260 may correspond to the supply modulator 1160 of system 1100. That is, in some embodiments, system 1200 may be the same as system 1100, except that an additional linear regulator (LDO#2) 1245 is coupled between the positive terminal (Vin) of power source 510 and the output of the second stage 1230 of switched capacitor converter 1210, and except that the second stage 1230 in system 1200 is configured to output four voltage levels (and therefore may include in some embodiments). Figure 8B (Switched capacitor converter 850). As an example, the regulated voltage V R It can be set to 3.6 V. The first stage 1120 can be implemented as a voltage halver (e.g., Figure 8A The switched capacitor converter 810 can be used to output a voltage of 1.8 V. The second stage 1230 can be implemented to output V. R (e.g., 3.6 V), voltage 1140 (e.g., 1.8 V), and V R The voltage difference between 945 and voltage 1140 is 2 / 3 (e.g., 3.0 V) and 1 / 3 (e.g., 2.4 V). Although the linear regulator 1245 is shown as coupled to the output 1221 of the second stage 1230, this disclosure is not limited thereto. The linear regulator can be coupled to any node within the switched capacitor converter 1210.

[0193] Linear regulators 1205 and 1245 can be considered as the first-stage circuit, while the switched-capacitor converter 1210 can be considered as the second-stage circuit. Although linear regulators 1205 and 1245... Figure 12A It is shown in the figure and is shown as an LDO, but in some implementations, as described above... Figure 9The discussed linear regulators 1205 and / or 1245 can be replaced with different types of linear regulators or other voltage regulation circuits (e.g., buck regulators, boost regulators, buck-boost regulators, flyback regulators). Alternatively, in addition to linear regulators 1205 and / or 1245, different types of linear regulators or other voltage regulation circuits (e.g., buck regulators, boost regulators, buck-boost regulators, flyback regulators) can also be used. Those skilled in the art will further understand that such regulators can be implemented as two different regulators, each connected to a different node of the switched capacitor converter 1210, or as a single regulator whose single output is selectively connected to different nodes of the switched capacitor converter 1210 via a switch.

[0194] The difference between the voltage applied by an energy source (e.g., energy source 510) and the regulated output voltage from a linear regulator (e.g., LDO) can be proportional to the efficiency of the linear regulator. Therefore, it may be desirable to minimize the difference between the voltage input to the linear regulator and the voltage output from it. The linear regulator may not be able to produce a regulated output voltage greater than its input voltage. Figure 11 Similar to system 1100, in Figure 12A In system 1200, the output of linear regulator 1205 (LDO#1) is coupled to the input of the first stage 1120 of switched capacitor converter 1210, the input of the second stage 1230 of switched capacitor converter 1210, and the input of the supply modulator 1260. In system 1200, the output of linear regulator 1245 (LDO#2) is coupled to the output of the second stage 1230 of switched capacitor converter 1210.

[0195] As previously discussed, the voltage supplied by energy source 510 can vary, for example, when energy source 510 includes a battery. In system 1200, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is greater than the desired regulated voltage V... R At that time, the linear regulator 1205 can be active (e.g., controlled by one or more controllers such as those related to...). Figure 9 The described controller 915 (e.g., controlled to be active via enable #1 signal line 1215) can provide an regulated voltage V at 945. R And the linear regulator 1245 can be inactive (e.g., controlled to be inactive by one or more controllers (e.g., via enable #2 signal line 1218)). When the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V RWhen the linear regulator 1245 is active and can provide a regulated voltage at 1221, the linear regulator 1205 can be inactive. That is, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V... R At the same time, the linear regulator 1245 can be used in combination with the second stage 1230 and / or the first stage 1120 of the switched capacitor converter 1210 to generate the desired regulated voltage V. R In other words, at 1221, the output of the linear regulator 1245 can be input to the switched capacitor converter 1210, and at 945, the switched capacitor converter 1210 can be used to boost the voltage to the desired regulated voltage V. R Therefore, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is greater than the desired regulated voltage V... R At this time, the linear regulator 1205 can be used to provide the regulated voltage V. R This improves efficiency by minimizing the power loss of the activated regulator. However, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V... R At the same time, the desired regulated voltage V can still be achieved by using the linear regulator 1245 and the switched capacitor converter 1210. R In some implementations, instead of activating one of the linear regulators 1205 or 1245 and deactivating the other, both linear regulators 1205 and 1245 can be activated simultaneously, but the linear regulators can be controlled such that one of the linear regulators provides the desired regulated voltage V at 945. R China holds a dominant position.

[0196] Figure 12B This is a diagram of an example system 1265 that utilizes two stages of multiple linear regulators and switched capacitor converters to provide a proportional supply level, where one supply level powers the driver stage of the amplifier, and the other supply level powers the final stage of the amplifier. That is, system 1265 can be identical to system 1200, except for voltage 1223 (e.g., from [reference to...]). Figure 12A The 2.4 V in the example discussed is used to supply the driver stage 1270 of the amplifier, and the output V from the modulator 1260 is also supplied. SUPPLY (Or Vout) 965 is used to supply the final stage 1280 of the amplifier. Then, the RF signal (e.g., cellular signal or WiFi signal) 1275 can pass through the driver stage 1270 and the final stage 1280 and be output as signal 1285.

[0197] Figure 13A It is to utilize Figure 13AThe diagram illustrates an example system 1300 for providing a proportional supply level using a two-stage linear regulator 1310 and a switched capacitor converter, wherein the connection point from the output of the linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured via a switch. In some embodiments, system 1300 may be... Figure 9 In one implementation of system 900, linear regulator 1310 corresponds to linear regulator 940 of system 900, switched capacitor converter 1210 corresponds to switched capacitor converter 950 of system 900, and supply modulator 1260 corresponds to supply modulator 960 of system 900. In some embodiments, linear regulator 1310 may correspond to... Figure 11 The linear regulator 940 of system 1100, the switched capacitor converter 1210 may correspond to the switched capacitor converter 1110, and the supply modulator 1260 may correspond to the supply modulator 1160 of system 1100. That is, in some embodiments, system 1300 may be the same as system 1100, except that the linear regulator (e.g., linear regulator 1310) can be selectively coupled to different connection points of the switched capacitor converter 1210, and except that the second stage 1230 in system 1200 is configured to output four voltage levels (and therefore may include in some embodiments). Figure 8B (Switched capacitor converter 850). As an example, the regulated voltage V R It can be set to 3.6 V. The first stage 1120 can be implemented as a voltage halver (e.g., Figure 8A The switched capacitor converter 810 can be used to output a voltage of 1.8 V. The second stage 1230 can be implemented to output V. R (e.g., 3.6 V), voltage 1140 (e.g., 1.8 V), and V R The voltage difference between 945 and voltage 1140 is 2 / 3 (e.g., 3.0 V) and 1 / 3 (e.g., 2.4 V). Although the linear regulator 1310 is shown as selectively coupled to V via switch 1315. R The line regulator can be selectively coupled to the output 1221 of the second stage 1230 via switch 1320, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. The line regulator can be selectively coupled to any node within the switched capacitor converter 1210 via one or more switches.

[0198] The linear regulator 1310 can be considered as the first-stage circuit, while the switched-capacitor converter 1210 can be considered as the second-stage circuit. Although the linear regulator 1310... Figure 13A It is shown in the figure and is shown as an LDO, but in some implementations, as described above... Figure 9The linear regulator 1310 can be replaced by different types of linear regulators or other voltage regulation circuits (e.g., buck regulators, boost regulators, buck-boost regulators, flyback regulators) in addition to the linear regulator 1310. Those skilled in the art will also understand that such a regulator can be implemented as two different regulators, each connected to a different node of the switched capacitor converter 1210, or as a single regulator whose single output is selectively connected to different nodes of the switched capacitor converter 1210 via a switch.

[0199] The difference between the voltage applied by the energy source (e.g., energy source 510) and the regulated output voltage from the linear regulator (e.g., LDO) can be proportional to the efficiency of the linear regulator. Therefore, it may be desirable to minimize the difference between the voltage input to the linear regulator and the voltage output from it. The linear regulator may not be able to produce a regulated output voltage greater than its input voltage. When in Figure 13A When switch 1315 in system 1300 is turned on, it is in conjunction with... Figure 11 Similar to system 1100, the output of linear regulator 1310 is coupled to the input of the first stage 1120 of switched capacitor converter 1210, the input of the second stage 1230 of switched capacitor converter 1230, and the input of supply modulator 1260. In system 1300, the output of linear regulator 1310 can be alternatively coupled to node 1221 by turning on switch 1320 (instead of turning on switch 1315).

[0200] As previously discussed, the voltage supplied by energy source 510 can vary, for example, when energy source 510 includes a battery. In system 1300, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is greater than the desired regulated voltage V... R When the switch 1315 is turned on, it can provide an regulated voltage V at 945. R When the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V. R When switch 1315 is turned off and switch 1320 is turned on, a regulated voltage is provided at 1221. That is, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V... RIn this case, the output of the linear regulator 1310 is connected to node 1221 instead of 945 via (using switch 1320). The linear regulator 1310 can be used in combination with the second stage 1230 and / or the first stage 1120 of the switched capacitor converter 1210 to generate the desired regulated voltage V. R In other words, at 1221, the output of the linear regulator 1310 can be input to the switched-capacitor converter 1210, and at 945, the switched-capacitor converter 1210 can be used to boost the voltage to the desired regulated voltage V. R Therefore, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is greater than the desired regulated voltage V... R When the switch 1315 is turned on, the linear regulator 1310 can provide the regulated voltage V. R This improves efficiency by minimizing the power loss of the linear regulator. However, when the voltage supplied by energy source 510 is lower than the desired regulated voltage V... R At the same time, the desired regulated voltage V can still be achieved by turning on switch 1320. R Thus, the voltage input to the switched capacitor converter 1210 at 1221 is boosted to the regulated voltage V at 945 using the switched capacitor converter 1210. R .

[0201] Figure 13B This is a diagram of example system 1365, which utilizes a two-stage linear regulator and a switched-capacitor converter to provide a proportional supply level. The connection point from the output of the linear regulator to the switched-capacitor converter can be reconfigured via a switch, and the amplifier's driver stage is powered by one of the supply levels, while the amplifier's final stage is powered by the other. That is, system 1365 can be identical to system 1300, except for voltage 1223 (e.g., from the above regarding...). Figure 13A The 2.4 V in the example discussed is used to supply the driver stage 1270 of the amplifier, and the output V from the modulator 1260 is also supplied. SUPPLY (Or Vout) 965 is used to supply the final stage 1280 of the amplifier. Then, the RF signal (e.g., cellular signal or WiFi signal) 1275 can pass through the driver stage 1270 and the final stage 1280 and be output as signal 1285.

[0202] Although the foregoing discussion of a two-stage switched-capacitor converter has covered the use of multiple regulators connected to different connection points of the switched-capacitor converter, or the use of multiple switchable connection points from a linear regulator to the switched-capacitor converter, where the first stage is a voltage halverizer and the second stage outputs four voltages, this disclosure is not limited thereto. The use of multiple regulators connected to different connection points of the switched-capacitor converter can be used with any configuration of the switched-capacitor converter. Similarly, the use of different switchable connection points from a linear regulator to the switched-capacitor converter can be used with any configuration of the switched-capacitor converter. The disclosure herein should not be limited to... Figures 12A to 13B A specific example.

[0203] Figure 14 This is a diagram of a system 1400 utilizing one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940) and one or more reconfigurable switched capacitor converters (e.g., reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420). System 1400 may be an example of a supply generator for supplying multiple voltages to a supply modulator (not shown).

[0204] The linear regulator 940 can be considered as the first-stage circuit, while the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 can be considered as the second-stage circuit. The linear regulator 940 can be any type of linear regulator; for example, it could be an LDO. Although in Figure 14 A linear regulator 940 is shown, but in some implementations, different types of voltage regulation circuits may be used instead of the linear regulator 940, or in addition to the linear regulator 940. For example, a magnetic converter (e.g., a buck converter, a boost converter, a buck-boost converter, a flyback converter) may be used. Similarly, a switched capacitor converter whose output is regulated by the switching frequency and / or duty cycle may be used. As previously discussed, a linear regulator can have greater dissipation losses (and therefore lower efficiency) than a magnetic converter, but can be smaller (e.g., implemented on a small IC or with a small component) and / or cheaper. Therefore, the use of a linear regulator may be advantageous in some applications, such as mobile applications, where size and / or cost may be limiting factors.

[0205] The linear regulator 940 can output a regulated voltage V. R As discussed previously, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., such as those previously mentioned). Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed is used for control. In some implementations, the regulated voltage V can be adjusted by incorporating a digital predistortion algorithm that provides predistortion for the modulated RF waveform.R For example, one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm can send one or more signals to one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915), and one or more controllers receiving one or more signals can correspondingly control the linear regulator 940. In this way, the regulated voltage V R The modulation can be adjusted to achieve more optimized RF performance or minimize losses. In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420, and / or the supply modulator (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420, and / or the supply modulator (not shown) based on one or more signals received from one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm.

[0206] exist Figure 14 In the example, the second-stage circuit is implemented as a reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1420. The switched-capacitor converter 1420 may be referred to as a reconfigurable series-parallel switched-capacitor converter. In some implementations, the switched-capacitor converter 1420 may be used to implement a stage of the switched-capacitor converter 720 of system 700, the switched-capacitor converter 950 of system 900, the switched-capacitor converter 1050 of system 1000, or the switched-capacitor converter 1110 of system 1100, or a stage of the switched-capacitor converter 1210 (of systems 1200, 1265, 1300, or 1365).

[0207] The reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 includes a node 1410 coupled between the output of the linear regulator 940 and ground, configured to hold voltage V2 (equal to V). R The reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 includes a holding capacitor C2 and a holding capacitor C1 coupled between node 1460 and ground, configured to hold voltage V1. The reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 also includes seven switches: a first switch S1 coupled between nodes 1410 and 1440, a second switch S2 coupled between nodes 1440 and 1450, a third switch S3 coupled between nodes 1445 and 1450, a fourth switch S4 coupled between nodes 1445 and 1455, a fifth switch S5 coupled between nodes 1455 and 1460, a sixth switch S6 coupled between nodes 1440 and 1460, and a seventh switch S7 coupled between node 1455 and ground. The reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 also includes a holding capacitor C2 coupled between nodes 1440 and 1445, configured to hold voltage V1. cf1 Flying capacitor C f1And coupled between node 1450 and node 1455, configured to maintain voltage V cf2 Flying capacitor C f2 .

[0208] In system 1400, the linear regulator 940 outputs a regulated voltage V. R This is output as output voltage V2 (corresponding to the voltage at node 1410). Another output voltage V1 (corresponding to the voltage at node 1460) can be synthesized as... or This depends on the selected operating mode of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420. It should also be noted that by adjusting the switching frequency and / or duty cycle of the switches, the output V1 can be adjusted to remain below [the selected operating mode of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420]. or below The expected value.

[0209] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the controller typically controls the power supply at an operating frequency, wherein the switching cycle corresponds to the period at that operating frequency, and wherein the switch can be controlled in one of two phases (e.g., a portion) of the switching cycle, wherein one phase occupies approximately a fraction D (duty cycle) of the entire switching cycle.

[0210] In the first operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., as previously discussed) Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed can control the switching of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 to be in a state of... The level output V1. For example, in the first phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S1, S2, S4, and S5 to be turned on (while switches S3, S6, and S7 are turned off). In the second phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S3, S6, and S7 to be turned on (while switches S1, S2, S4, and S5 are turned off). Controlling the switching of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 in this way can be derived as follows: The output voltage V1. By controlling the switching frequency and / or controlling the relative duty cycle of the two stages, it is possible to achieve a voltage lower than V1. The regulated output V1 with a specified value.

[0211] In the second operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control the switching of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 to... The level output V1. For example, in the first phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S1, S2, S4, and S5 to be turned on (while switches S3, S6, and S7 are turned off). In the second phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S2, S4, S6, and S7 to be turned on (while switches S1, S3, and S5 are turned off). Controlling the switching of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 in this way can be derived as follows: The output voltage V1. By controlling the switching frequency and / or controlling the relative duty cycle of the two stages, it is possible to achieve a voltage lower than V1. The regulated output voltage V1 of the specified value.

[0212] The output voltage of system 1400 can be output to a supply modulator, which can select from the output voltage to use the selected voltage as the supply voltage V. SUPPLY Provided to PA. Therefore, in the first operating mode, the supply modulator connected to system 1400 can operate at voltage V2 (equal to V). R V1 (equal to) or The option is selected between (depending on the operating mode) and optional 0V (where the ground terminal of energy 510 is coupled to the supply modulator).

[0213] Figure 15 This is a diagram of a system 1500 utilizing one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940) and one or more reconfigurable switched-capacitor converters (e.g., reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1550). System 1500 may be an example of a supply generator for supplying multiple voltages to a supply modulator (not shown). The reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1550 may be an example of an interleaved version of a reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1420 (e.g., a series-parallel converter). As shown in the switched-capacitor converter 1550 of system 1500, the use of an interleaved version of the reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1420 can provide similar functionality to the reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1420 while reducing the size requirements of the capacitors C1 and C2 of that converter.

[0214] The linear regulator 940 can be considered as the first-stage circuit, while the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 can be considered as the second-stage circuit. The linear regulator 940 can be any type of linear regulator; for example, it could be an LDO. Although in Figure 15A linear regulator 940 is shown, but in some implementations, different types of voltage regulation circuitry may be used instead of the linear regulator 940, or different types of voltage regulation circuitry may be used in addition to the linear regulator 940. For example, a magnetic converter (e.g., a buck converter, a boost converter, a buck-boost converter, a flyback converter) may be used, or a regulated switched-capacitor converter, a regulated hybrid magnetic switched-capacitor converter, or a piezoelectric-based converter may be used. As previously discussed, a linear regulator can have greater dissipation losses (and therefore lower efficiency) than a magnetic converter, but can be smaller in size (e.g., implemented on a small IC or with a small component) and / or cheaper. Therefore, the use of a linear regulator may be advantageous in some applications, such as mobile applications, where size and / or cost may be limiting factors.

[0215] The linear regulator 940 can output a regulated voltage V. R As discussed previously, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., such as those previously mentioned). Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed is used for control. In some implementations, the regulated voltage V can be adjusted by incorporating a digital predistortion algorithm that provides predistortion for the modulated RF waveform. R For example, one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm can send one or more signals to one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915), and one or more controllers receiving one or more signals can correspondingly control the linear regulator 940. In this way, the regulated voltage V R The modulation can be adjusted to achieve more optimized RF performance or minimize losses. In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550, and / or the supply modulator (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550, and / or the supply modulator (not shown) based on one or more signals received from one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm.

[0216] exist Figure 15In the example, the second-stage circuit is implemented as an interleaved reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1550. The switched-capacitor converter 1550 may be referred to as an interleaved reconfigurable series-parallel switched-capacitor converter. In some implementations, the interleaved switched-capacitor converter 1550 may be used to implement a stage of switched-capacitor converter 720 of system 700, switched-capacitor converter 950 of system 900, switched-capacitor converter 1050 of system 1000, or switched-capacitor converter 1110 of system 1000, or a stage of switched-capacitor converter 1210 (of systems 1200, 1265, 1300, or 1365).

[0217] The interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 includes a node 1510 coupled between the output of the linear regulator 940 and ground 1565, configured to hold voltage V2 (equal to V R The holding capacitor C2 is coupled between node 1535 and ground 1565 and configured to hold voltage V1. The interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 also includes seven switches (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) and two capacitors (C1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) and two capacitors (C1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) in a part of the converter. f1 C f2 ), and in another part of the converter, seven switches (S1', S2', S3', S4', S5', S6', S7') and two capacitors (C f3 C f4 The first part of the first switch S1 is coupled between node 1510 and node 1515A; the second switch S2 of the first part is coupled between node 1515A and node 1525A; the third switch S3 of the first part is coupled between node 1520A and node 1525A; the fourth switch S4 of the first part is coupled between node 1520A and node 1530A; the fifth switch S5 of the first part is coupled between node 1530A and node 1535; the sixth switch S6 is coupled between node 1515A and node 1535; and the seventh switch S7 is coupled between node 1530A and ground 1565. The first part of the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 also includes a voltage V coupled between node 1515A and node 1520A and configured to hold voltage V. cf1 Flying capacitor C f1 And a flying capacitor C coupled between node 1525A and node 1530A and configured to maintain voltage Vcf2. f2 .

[0218] The second part's first switch S1' is coupled between node 1510 and node 1515B; the second switch S2' is coupled between node 1515B and node 1525B; the third switch S3' is coupled between node 1520B and node 1525B; the fourth switch S4' is coupled between node 1520B and node 1530B; the fifth switch S5' is coupled between node 1530B and node 1535; the sixth switch S6' is coupled between node 1515B and node 1535; and the seventh switch S7' is coupled between node 1530B and ground 1565. The second part of the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 also includes a voltage V coupled between node 1515B and node 1520B, configured to hold voltage V. cf3 Flying capacitor C f3 And coupled between node 1525B and node 1530B, configured to maintain voltage V cf4 Flying capacitor C f4 .

[0219] In system 1500, the linear regulator 940 outputs a regulated voltage V. R The regulated voltage V R The output voltage V2 (corresponding to the voltage at node 1510) is output as the output voltage. Another output voltage V1 (corresponding to the voltage at node 1535) can be synthesized as... or This depends on the selected operating mode of the interleaved, reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550. It should also be noted that the output voltage V1 can be adjusted to maintain a voltage below [a certain level] by regulating the switching frequency and / or duty cycle of the switches. or below The expected value depends on the selected operating mode of the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550.

[0220] In the first operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control the switching of the interleaved, reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 to... The output voltage V1 is determined by the switching level. For example, in the first phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S1, S2, S4, S5, S3', S6', and S7' to be turned on (while switches S3, S6, S7, S1', S2', S4', and S5' are turned off). In the second phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S3, S6, S7, S1', S2', S4', and S5' to be turned on (while switches S1, S2, S4, S5, S3', S6', and S7' are turned off). Controlling the switching of the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 in this way yields an output voltage V1 of... The output voltage V1. By controlling the switching frequency and / or controlling the relative duty cycle of the two stages, it is possible to achieve a voltage lower than V1. The regulated output voltage V1 of the specified value.

[0221] In the second operating mode, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control the switching of the interleaved, reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 to... The level output V1. For example, in the first phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S1, S2, S4, S5, S2', S4', S6', and S7' to be turned on (while switches S3, S6, S7, S1', S3', and S5' are turned off). In the second phase of the switching cycle, one or more controllers can control switches S2, S4, S6, S7, S1', S2', S4', and S5' to be turned on (while switches S1, S3, S5, S3', S6', and S7' are turned off). Controlling the switching of the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 in this way can be derived as follows: The output voltage V1. By controlling the switching frequency and / or controlling the relative duty cycle of the two stages, it is possible to achieve a voltage lower than V1. The regulated output voltage V1 of the specified value.

[0222] The output voltage of system 1500 can be output to a supply modulator, which can select from the output voltage to use the selected voltage as the supply voltage V. SUPPLY Provided to PA. Therefore, in the first operating mode, the supply modulator connected to system 1300 can operate at voltage V2 (equal to V... R V1 (equal to) or The option is selected between (depending on the operating mode) and optional 0V (where the ground terminal of energy 510 is coupled to the supply modulator).

[0223] As discussed earlier, Figure 15 The interleaved, reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 provides with Figure 14 The reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420 performs similar functions while reducing the size requirements for capacitors C1 and C2. Therefore, the size of capacitors C1 and C2 for the interleaved reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1550 can be smaller compared to that used for the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter 1420, where the trade-off is that more components (e.g., capacitors, switches) may be required to implement the interleaved version of the reconfigurable switched capacitor converter.

[0224] Figure 16 This is a diagram of a system 1600 utilizing one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940) and one or more reconfigurable switched-capacitor converters (e.g., reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1615). System 1600 may be an example of a supply generator for supplying multiple voltages to a supply modulator (not shown). The reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1615 may be an example of a reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched-capacitor converter. The output V of the linear regulator 940 can be varied... R The connection to the switched capacitor trapezoidal converter is used to reconfigure the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615.

[0225] The linear regulator 940 can be considered as the first-stage circuit, while the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 can be considered as the second-stage circuit. The linear regulator 940 can be any type of linear regulator; for example, it could be an LDO. Although in Figure 16 A linear regulator 940 is shown, but in some implementations, different types of voltage regulation circuitry may be used instead of the linear regulator 940, or in addition to the linear regulator 940. For example, a magnetic converter (e.g., a buck converter, boost converter, buck-boost converter, flyback converter) may be used, a regulated switched capacitor converter may be used, a regulated hybrid magnetic / switched capacitor converter may be used, or a piezoelectric-based power converter may be used. As previously discussed, a linear regulator can have greater dissipation losses (and therefore lower efficiency) than a magnetic converter, but can be smaller (e.g., implemented on a small IC or with a small component) and / or cheaper. Therefore, the use of a linear regulator may be advantageous in some applications, such as mobile applications, where size and / or cost may be limiting factors.

[0226] The linear regulator 940 can output a regulated voltage V. R As discussed previously, V R The voltage level can be controlled by one or more controllers (e.g., such as those previously mentioned). Figure 9 The controller 915 discussed is used for control. In some implementations, the regulated voltage V can be adjusted by incorporating a digital predistortion algorithm that provides predistortion for the modulated RF waveform. R For example, one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm can send one or more signals to one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915), and one or more controllers receiving one or more signals can correspondingly control the linear regulator 940. In this way, the regulated voltage V R The modulation can be adjusted to achieve more optimized RF performance or minimize losses. In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615, and / or the supply modulator (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more controllers can control the linear regulator 940, the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615, and / or the supply modulator (not shown) based on one or more signals received from one or more controllers implementing the DPD algorithm.

[0227] exist Figure 16 In the example, the second-stage circuitry is implemented as a reconfigurable switched-capacitor converter 1615. The switched-capacitor converter 1615 may be referred to as a reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched-capacitor converter 1615. In some implementations, the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched-capacitor converter 1615 may be used to implement a stage of switched-capacitor converter 720 of system 700, switched-capacitor converter 950 of system 900, switched-capacitor converter 1050 of system 1000, or switched-capacitor converter 1110 of system 1000, or a stage of switched-capacitor converter 1210 (of systems 1200, 1265, 1300, or 1365).

[0228] The reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 includes a holding capacitor C stacked between voltage V31620 and ground voltage 1635. b1 C b2 and C b3 In other words, capacitor C b1 Capacitor C is coupled between voltage V11630 and ground voltage 1635. b2 Coupled between voltage V2 1625 and voltage V1 1630, and capacitor C b3Coupled between voltage V3 1620 and voltage V2 1625. The reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 also includes a holding capacitor coupled between node 1610 and ground voltage 1635, and this holding capacitor is configured to hold the voltage V output from the linear regulator 940. R .

[0229] The reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 also includes twelve switches: the first switch S1 is coupled between node 1646 and ground voltage 1635; the second switch S2 is coupled between voltage V1 1630 and node 1646; the third switch S3 is coupled between node 1643 and voltage V1 1630; the fourth switch S4 is coupled between voltage V2 1625 and node 1643; the fifth switch is coupled between node 1640 and voltage V2 1625; the sixth switch S6 is coupled between voltage V3 and node 1640; the seventh switch S7 is coupled between voltage V3 1620 and node 1651; the eighth switch S8 is coupled between node 1651 and voltage V2 1625; the ninth switch S9 is coupled between voltage V2 1625 and node 1653; and the tenth switch S1... 10 Eleventh switch S is coupled between node 1653 and voltage V1 1630. 11 Coupled between voltage V1 1630 and node 1656, and the twelfth switch S 12 It is coupled between node 1656 and ground voltage 1635.

[0230] The reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 also includes four flying capacitors C f1 C f2 C f3 and C f4 Flying capacitor C f1 A flying capacitor C is coupled between nodes 1643 and 1646. f2 A flying capacitor C is coupled between nodes 1640 and 1643. f3 Coupled between node 1653 and node 1656, and flying capacitor C f4 It is coupled between node 1651 and node 1653.

[0231] The reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 also includes a function to change the output V of the linear regulator 940. R The two switches connected between the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 and switch S A and S B For example, such as Figure 16 As shown, switch S AWhen turned on, the output V of the linear regulator 940 can be... R The coupling voltage is V3 1620. Switch S B When turned on, the output V of the linear regulator 940 can be... R The voltage is coupled to V2 1625. Therefore, one or more controllers (e.g., controller 915) can control switch S. A and S B To reconfigure the output V of the linear regulator 940 R Access the connection point of the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615.

[0232] For the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615, in each operating mode, the odd-numbered switches (S1, S3, S5, S7, S9, S10, S11, S20, S30, S40, S50, S60, S70, S80, S90, S10, S11, S20, S12, S30, S13, S14, S15, S16, S17, S18, S19, S10 ... 11 The even-numbered switches are turned on during the first phase of the switching cycle (where even-numbered switches are turned off), and the even-numbered switches (S2, S4, S6, S8, S...) of the reconfigurable interleaved trapezoidal switched capacitor converter 1615 are turned on. 10 S 12 In the second phase of the switching cycle, switch S is turned on (where odd-numbered switches are turned off). In the first operating mode, switch S... A Keep the circuit on so that voltage V3 1620 equals V R Where voltage V2 1625 equals And the voltage V1 1630 is equal to In the second operating mode, switch S B Keep the circuit open so that voltage V2 equals V R Where voltage V3 equals And the voltage V1 equals Therefore, the second operating mode can provide the regulated output voltage V from the linear regulator 940. R The boosted voltage V3. Such a boosted voltage is advantageous when the voltage level of an energy source (e.g., a battery) has decreased to the point that it can no longer power the PA, but the boosted voltage can provide sufficient voltage to power the PA for a period of time.

[0233] Figure 17This is a diagram of an example system 1700 that can be used to supply power to one or more amplifiers (e.g., PA 550, driver amplifier 1760). System 1700 may utilize one or more linear regulators (e.g., linear regulator 940), one or more switched capacitor converters (e.g., switched capacitor converter 1615), one or more supply modulators (e.g., supply modulator 960, supply modulator 1780), and one or more controllers (e.g., such as those previously mentioned). Figure 9 The controller discussed is 915. Figure 17 As shown, one or more controllers 1770 implementing the DPD algorithm can be coupled to PA 550. The switched capacitor converter 1615 can be as described above. Figure 16 The same switched capacitors are shown and described, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0234] Even if the voltage of energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) varies, system 1700 can be used to provide a specific supply voltage to amplifiers (e.g., PA550, driver amplifier 1760). For example, PA 550 and / or driver amplifier 1760 can be implemented as stacked PAs, such as stacked CMOS SOI UC12 RF PAs. For example, suppose PA 550 and / or driver amplifier 1760 require a 4.5 V drain voltage supply to operate. Also suppose the voltage of energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) varies between 3 V and 5 V. Using system 1700, even when the voltage of energy source 510 is 3 V, a 4.5 V supply voltage can be provided to PA 550 and / or driver amplifier 1760. For example, as previously mentioned... Figure 16 The discussed method allows for control of the switched capacitor converter 1615 in operating mode to generate... The voltage, such that when V R When the voltage is 3V, the output voltage V3 can be 4.5V.

[0235] Controller 1770 can receive signals representing one or more characteristics of system 1700, such as voltage V from energy source 510. IN And / or the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of the RF power amplifier system. Controller 1770 can output one or more signals to linear regulator 940 (e.g., LDO) or controller 915 to control one or more voltage setpoints of linear regulator 940 to direct the desired regulated voltage VSC (to the voltage of the switched capacitor converter, or V...) RThe output from the linear regulator 940 is sent to the switched capacitor converter 950. The controller 915 can control the switching of the switched capacitor converter 1615 to configure it to a desired operating mode. The controller 915 and / or the controller 1770 can also output one or more level supply modulator (LSM) or DCL signals to control the supply modulator 960 to select one of multiple voltage levels from the switched capacitor converter 1615 to supply to an amplifier (e.g., PA550, driver amplifier 1760).

[0236] Controller 1770 and / or controller 915 can control the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 1615, and / or the supply modulator 960 to change their operation in response to voltage variations in the energy source 510 (e.g., a battery) to optimize losses. For example, Table 2 below shows three configurations that can achieve an output voltage of 4.5 V to the final stage PA (e.g., PA 550). Adaptive power point tracking (APT) technology can be used to control the linear regulator 840, the switched capacitor converter 1615, and / or the supply modulator 960, allowing the switched capacitor converter 1615 time to be reconfigured based on changes in average output power (and the required voltage of PA 550) or on changes in the voltage of the energy source 510.

[0237] Table 2

[0238]

[0239] In Table 2, V IN Corresponding to the voltage of energy source 510, VLR corresponds to the voltage drop in linear regulator 940 (e.g., V...). IN -V R ), V R Corresponding to the voltage input from the linear regulator 940 to the switched capacitor converter (e.g., switched capacitor converter 1615), LSM corresponds to the level of the trapezoid in the switched capacitor converter 1615 selected by the supply modulator (e.g., supply modulator 960), and VDD corresponds to the voltage of the level of the trapezoid in the switched capacitor converter 1615 selected by the supply modulator and supplied to the amplifier (e.g., PA 550).

[0240] For example, as shown in Table 2, at 5 V, V IN (For example, the highest V) IN At the charging voltage (or the voltage at which the linear regulator 840 is located), the linear regulator 840 can be controlled to minimize losses (e.g., 0.5 V) and to ensure that the linear regulator (V) R The voltage output of the switched capacitor converter is 4.5 V. Switch S AIt can remain on and the supply modulator level L3 can be selected by the supply modulator 960 to output 4.5 V (5 V of V) to the power amplifier (e.g., PA 550). IN The voltage is -0.5 V VLR.

[0241] For example, when V IN At 3.8 V, the linear regulator 940 can be controlled to minimize losses (e.g., 0.8 V) and ensure that the voltage output (VSC) from the linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter is 3.0 V. Switch S B It can remain on, so that voltage V2 equals V. R Where voltage V3 equals (as mentioned above) Figure 16 (As discussed). The supply modulator level L3 can then be selected by the supply modulator 960 to output 4.5 V ((3.8 V of V). IN - 0.8V VLR) (3 / 2)) voltage.

[0242] For example, when V IN At 3.15 V, the linear regulator 940 can be controlled to minimize losses (e.g., 0.15 V) and to ensure the voltage output of the linear regulator to the switched capacitor converter (V) is... R The voltage is 3.0 V. Switch S B It can remain on, so that voltage V2 equals V. R Where voltage V3 equals (as mentioned above) Figure 16 (As discussed). The supply modulator level L3 can then be selected by the supply modulator 960 to output 4.5 V ((3.15 V of V). IN - 0.15 V VLR) (3 / 2)) voltage.

[0243] In some embodiments, system 1700 can be configured to supply voltage to both a plurality of amplifiers, such as PA 550 (e.g., the output stage of an RF amplifier) ​​and driver amplifier 1760 (e.g., the driver stage of an RF amplifier). Driver amplifier 1760 can operate at a lower voltage than PA 550, or at a higher voltage (e.g., 4.5 V) like PA 550. In some embodiments, a second supply modulator 1780 can be provided in system 1700, which can be controlled (e.g., controlled by controller 1770 and / or controller 915) to select one of the output voltages generated by switched capacitor converter 1615 for supply to driver amplifier 1760. Thus, by providing two different supply modulators, PA 550 can be supplied with a first voltage of the voltages generated by switched capacitor converter 1615 (and selected by supply modulator 960), while driver amplifier 1760 can be supplied with a different second voltage of the voltages generated by switched capacitor converter 1615 (and selected by supply modulator 1780). In some implementations, driver amplifier 1760 may be one stage of a multistage amplifier, and PA 550 may be another stage of the multistage amplifier, such that supply modulator 960 can select a first voltage to supply to one stage of the multistage amplifier, and supply modulator 1780 can select a second voltage to supply to the other stage of the multistage amplifier.

[0244] In some implementations, one of the multiple amplifiers (e.g., PA 550, driver amplifier 1760) may be directly coupled to the voltage level of the switched capacitor converter 1615 (i.e., in the absence of a supply modulator coupled between the voltage level of the switched capacitor converter 1615 and the amplifier), while the other amplifiers (e.g., PA 550, driver amplifier 1760) may be coupled to a supply modulator (e.g., supply modulator 960, supply modulator 1780) that is coupled to the voltage level of the switched capacitor converter.

[0245] The controller 1770 implementing the DPD algorithm can receive one or more signals representing the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) related to how effectively RF power is transmitted by one or more amplifiers, and / or can receive one or more signals representing the voltage level output by the energy source 510 (e.g., a battery). The controller 1770 can use the information in these signals to adjust the predistortion of the RF signal input to one or more amplifiers to maintain linearity, and to enable the linear regulator 940, the switched capacitor converter 1615, and / or the supply modulator 960 to be reconfigured based on the desired voltage (e.g., VDD in APT mode, desired L3 VDD), and to modify one or more control signals output by the controller 1770 (e.g., the DCL signal in digital envelope tracking (ET) mode).

[0246] DPD algorithms can include those based on factors such as VSWR and input voltage V. IN Temperature, output power P out The logic determines the VDD voltage level that should be used for the final stage, driver stage, and / or other stages of the amplifier based on the characteristics and / or other properties of the amplifier. The logic can create level selection signals for controlling the supply modulator (e.g., supply modulator 960, supply modulator 1780). Alternatively, the logic can create signals that are sent to one or more other controllers (e.g., controller 915), which then control the supply modulator based on the received signals. The DPD algorithm can apply predistortion (e.g., creating "X" from "R") to the RF signal (e.g., I / Q signal) input to the RF amplifier based on information about what the nonlinearity of the system will be at a given VDD voltage level. The logic can also create control signals for supply generation (e.g., for regulators, voltage adders or subtractors, switched capacitor converters) to generate the desired output voltage level and can directly control the supply generation components or send signals to one or more other controllers (e.g., controller 915) to cause one or more other controllers to control the supply generation components.

[0247] In some embodiments, the supply modulator 860 may include two supply modulators, each of which is coupled to a single RF amplifier via a pulse-shaping network (PSN). A technique for implementing such a PSN is discussed below in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024 / 0136991, entitled “Pulse-Shaping Networks with Coupled Magnets,” which is jointly assigned and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0248] This document describes various embodiments of the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques for which protection is sought, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Alternative embodiments may be designed without departing from the scope of the concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques described herein. Note that various connections and positional relationships (e.g., above, below, adjacent, etc.) between elements may be depicted in the foregoing description and drawings. Unless otherwise stated, these connections and / or positional relationships may be direct or indirect, and the described concepts, systems, circuits, devices, methods, and techniques are not intended to be limiting in this regard. Therefore, coupling of components or subsystems may refer to direct or indirect coupling, and positional relationships between components or subsystems may be direct or indirect positional relationships.

[0249] Figures 1A to 17 A circuit is shown with certain components that are directly connected to each other. Those skilled in the art will understand that each of these components has terminals, as illustrated in the diagram, through which they can be connected to other components via wires, electrical traces, or other conductive lines. Although Figures 1A to 17 Some components may be shown as being directly connected to each other, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, one or more components may be connected to... Figures 1A to 17 The schematic diagram illustrates a direct connection between components. In this document, both direct and indirect connections are intended to be covered by this disclosure. When a direct connection is referred to herein and in the claims, the word "direct" will be used to indicate a connection between components. Therefore, the term "connection" (or any variation thereof) can include either "indirect connection" or "direct connection".

[0250] As used herein, the terms “comprise,” “comprising,” “include,” “including,” “has,” “having,” “contain,” “containing,” or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a system, system architecture, subsystem, component, circuit, process, method, article, device, or apparatus that includes a list of elements or steps is not necessarily limited to those elements or steps, but may include other elements or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such system, system architecture, subsystem, component, circuit, process, method, article, device, or apparatus.

[0251] Additionally, if the term "exemplary" is used herein, it means "as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or example described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations or designs. The term "one or more" is understood to include any integer greater than or equal to one, i.e., one, two, three, four, etc. The term "multiple" is understood to include any integer greater than or equal to two, i.e., two, three, four, five, etc.

[0252] References to "one embodiment," "implementation," "example embodiment," etc., in the specification indicate that an embodiment may include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic; however, each embodiment may include the stated specific feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, when a specific feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is assumed that, whether or not it is explicitly described in this way, its influence on such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0253] The use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to modify a claim element does not imply any priority, preference, or order of one claim element relative to another, or the chronological order of actions of a method, but is merely a label to distinguish one claim element with a specific name from another element with the same name (but for the use of ordinal terms) to differentiate claim elements.

[0254] The terms “approximately,” “substantially,” or “about” may be used in some embodiments to mean + / - 30% of the target value, in some embodiments to mean within + / - 20% of the target value, in some embodiments to mean within + / - 10% of the target value, in some embodiments to mean within + / - 5% of the target value, and in some embodiments to mean within + / - 2% of the target value. The foregoing terms may include the target value. The terms “approximately equal to,” “substantially equal to,” or “about equal to” may be used to refer to values ​​within + / - 30% of each other, within + / - 20% of each other, within + / - 10% of each other, within + / - 5% of each other, and within + / - 2% of each other in some embodiments. For example, a first voltage value that is "approximately," "substantially," or "about equal to" a second voltage value may be within + / - 30% of the second voltage value in some embodiments, within + / - 20% in some embodiments, within + / - 10% in some embodiments, within + / - 5% in some embodiments, or within + / - 2% in some embodiments. The foregoing terms allow for precise matching of values.

[0255] It should be understood that components used in electronic devices are subject to loss. The values ​​described herein are described as ideal values ​​and assume no loss components. Therefore, descriptions of values ​​such as voltage values ​​or the use of the phrase "equal to" in this document should be considered to include values ​​within + / -10% of the indicated value.

[0256] It should be understood that the disclosed subject matter is not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of the components described in the foregoing specification or shown in the accompanying drawings. The disclosed subject matter can have other embodiments and can be practiced and implemented in various ways.

[0257] Furthermore, it should be understood that the wording and terminology used herein are for descriptive purposes and should not be considered restrictive. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that the concepts upon which this disclosure is based can readily be used as the basis for designing other structures, systems, system architectures, circuits, methods, and techniques for performing several purposes of the disclosed subject matter. Therefore, the claims should be considered to include such equivalent constructions, provided they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.

[0258] Although the disclosed subject matter has been described and illustrated in the foregoing exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that this disclosure is by way of example only, and many changes may be made to the details of the implementation of the disclosed subject matter without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.

Claims

1. A system having a pair of input terminals configured to be connected to a power source and a pair of output terminals configured to be connected to an RF amplifier, the system comprising: A linear regulator configured to draw power from the input terminal and output a regulated voltage; A switched capacitor converter, the switched capacitor converter being coupled to the output of the linear regulator; as well as A supply modulator is provided, which is coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter.

2. The system of claim 1 further includes a controller and a digital interface, the digital interface being coupled between the controller and at least one of the linear regulator or the switched capacitor converter, and for modifying the operation of at least one of the linear regulator or the switched capacitor converter.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller and a digital interface coupled between the controller and the supply modulator, wherein, The controller is configured to control the supply modulator via the digital interface.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein, The digital interface is a Digital Control Level (DCL) interface.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is reconfigurable.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein, At least one of the switched capacitor converter, the regulated voltage output from the linear regulator, or the connection point between the linear regulator and the switched capacitor converter is reconfigurable.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is reconfigured by changing the connection point of the linear regulator coupled to the switched capacitor converter.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The linear regulator is one of a plurality of linear regulators having different connection points to the switched capacitor converter, wherein which of the linear regulators actively adjusts its output is reconfigurable.

9. The system according to claim 5, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is reconfigured by changing its switching mode.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control the linear regulator to output the regulated voltage at a selected voltage level.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Receive one or more signals representing one or more output voltage levels of the switched capacitor converter; and The linear regulator is controlled to output a selected voltage level to the switched capacitor converter, thereby adjusting one or more voltage levels output from the switched capacitor converter to one or more reference voltage levels.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The output reference of the linear regulator is selected from a plurality of discrete adjustment points.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to output one of a set of different voltage levels associated with the regulated voltage.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein, The voltages of the multiple sets of different voltage levels are proportional to the adjusted voltage.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is configured to maintain at least three voltage rails, wherein the voltage difference between the first voltage rail and the second voltage rail and the voltage difference between the second voltage rail and the third voltage rail are the same.

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, the set of voltage levels including at least the regulated voltage, two-thirds of the regulated voltage, and one-third of the regulated voltage.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, the set of voltage levels including the regulated voltage and half of the regulated voltage.

18. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter includes a first stage and a second stage coupled together via at least two voltage rails.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein, One of the at least two voltage rails includes a zero-volt voltage.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter includes: The first stage, coupled between the regulated voltage output by the linear regulator and the ground voltage, and The second stage is differentially coupled between the regulated voltage output by the linear regulator and the voltage level output by the first stage.

21. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter is configured to output a set of voltage levels, the set of voltage levels including voltages greater than the regulated voltage.

22. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Control the linear regulator to output the regulated voltage at a selected voltage level; and The switched capacitor converter is controlled to output a set of different voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage to the supply modulator.

23. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to operate in operating mode.

24. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured to operate in at least two different operating modes, wherein a first operating mode outputs a first set of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage, and a second operating mode outputs a second set of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage, the second set of voltage levels being different from the first set of voltage levels.

25. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter generates at least two different sets of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein, At least one of the at least two different voltage levels includes at least two different voltage levels.

27. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter includes a switching network and a capacitor. The system also includes a controller configured to control the switching network to reconfigure the switched capacitor converter to operate in one of at least two different operating modes, wherein the switched capacitor converter generates at least two sets of voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage.

28. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The energy source is a variable voltage source.

29. The system according to claim 28, wherein, The variable voltage source is a battery.

30. The system according to claim 10, wherein, The controller is also configured to: Detect the voltage level of the energy source; and The voltage level of the regulated voltage is selected based on the detected voltage level.

31. The system of claim 13, further comprising a controller configured to: Detect the voltage level of the energy source; and Based on the detected voltage level, the switched capacitor converter is reconfigured to output one set of voltage levels from the plurality of different sets of voltage levels associated with the regulated voltage to the supply modulator.

32. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Detect the voltage level of the energy source; The voltage level of the regulated voltage is selected based on the detected voltage level; and Based on the detected voltage level, the switched capacitor converter is reconfigured to output at least one of a plurality of different voltage levels proportional to the regulated voltage to the supply modulator.

33. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Detect the voltage level of the energy source; and The switched capacitor converter is reconfigured to operate in one of at least two different operating modes based on the detected voltage level.

34. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Receive a signal relating to at least one of the voltage level of the energy source or the desired RF output power of the RF amplifier; and The voltage level of the regulated voltage and / or the switched capacitor converter are selected based on the received signal.

35. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: Receive a signal related to the voltage level output from the switched capacitor converter to the supply modulator; and The voltage level of the regulated voltage and / or the switched capacitor converter are selected based on the received signal.

36. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The linear regulator is the first linear regulator among a plurality of linear regulators, and the regulated voltage is the first regulated voltage. The system also includes a controller configured to: Receive a signal relating to at least one of the voltage level of the energy source or the desired RF output power of the RF amplifier; as well as Control one of the linear regulators, other than the first linear regulator, to draw power at the input terminal and output a second regulated voltage, different from the first regulated voltage, to the switched capacitor converter.

37. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller, the controller being configured to: The linear regulator is controlled based on the operating mode of the switched capacitor converter to output the regulated voltage at a selected level.

38. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter.

39. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The RF amplifier transmits at least one of a WiFi signal or a cellular signal.

40. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The linear regulator is a low-dropout LDO linear regulator.

41. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The linear regulator includes a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor device.

42. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The switched capacitor converter includes lumped element capacitors and integrated circuit IC transistors.

43. The system according to claim 1, wherein, At least one of the linear regulator or the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured in a programmable manner by the controller.

44. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator can be controlled to select a zero-volt voltage.

45. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a controller, wherein, At least one of the linear regulator or the switched capacitor converter can be reconfigured by the controller based on a signal received by the controller from the digital predistortion (DPD) circuit.

46. ​​The system according to claim 1, wherein, The RF amplifier includes a first RF amplifier, and the supply modulator includes a first supply modulator; the system further includes a second supply modulator, wherein... The first supply modulator and the second supply modulator are coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter. The first supply modulator is coupled to the first RF amplifier, and The second supply modulator is coupled to the second RF amplifier.

47. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator, wherein each of the first supply modulator and the second supply modulator is coupled to a single RF amplifier via a pulse shaping network (PSN).

48. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The output of the supply modulator is coupled to the output stage of the RF amplifier, and the level of the switched capacitor converter is coupled to the driver stage of the RF amplifier.

49. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator, wherein the first supply modulator is configured to supply a first voltage level from the switched capacitor converter to a first stage of the RF amplifier, and the second supply modulator is configured to supply a second voltage level from the switched capacitor converter to a second stage of the RF amplifier.

50. The system of claim 1 further includes a filter circuit coupled between the supply modulator and the RF amplifier, the filter circuit including at least an impedance.

51. The system according to claim 50, wherein, The impedance includes at least one of a resistor, a capacitor, or an inductor.

52. The system according to claim 50, wherein, The impedance includes at least one of lumped elements or distributed elements.

53. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a plurality of switches and is coupled to the RF amplifier, wherein the supply modulator is configured such that the current from the output of the switched capacitor converter passes through only one of the plurality of switches before reaching the RF amplifier.

54. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes at least one N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistor or at least one P-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) transistor.

55. The system according to claim 1, wherein The supply modulator includes at least one transistor, and The gate of the at least one transistor is driven by the voltage level at the output of the switched capacitor converter.

56. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a switching network, and the system further includes a controller configured to control the switches in the supply modulator to select one of a plurality of voltages output by the switched capacitor converter to couple the selected voltage to the RF amplifier.

57. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The supply modulator includes a first supply modulator, and the system further includes a second supply modulator coupled to the output of the switched capacitor converter, wherein the first supply modulator is configured to couple a first voltage output by the switched capacitor converter to a first RF amplifier, and wherein the second supply modulator is configured to couple a second voltage output by the switched capacitor converter to a second RF amplifier.

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