Active Power Splitter and Combiner Circuits With Coupled-Line Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional radio-frequency dividers and combiners in electronic devices with wireless communications circuitry suffer from significant power loss and occupy substantial circuit area due to passive splitter/combiner mechanisms and ohmic losses in transmission lines.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of active power splitter and combiner circuitry using differential amplifier stages and coupled lines for impedance matching and routing, eliminating the need for transformers and reducing power loss and circuit area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional passive splitters and combiners are used, then signal distribution and combination are achieved, but power loss increases and circuit area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces passive mechanical/electrical components (resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers) with active electronic components (amplifiers, transistors, switches) to create an active power splitter/combiner. This substitution eliminates the need for bulky passive components and their associated ohmic losses, thereby reducing both power loss and circuit area while maintaining signal distribution and combination functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the power splitter/combiner by introducing active amplification stages that can dynamically adjust gain, impedance, and power distribution ratios. This allows the system to operate with lower loss by compensating for transmission losses through active gain control, and reduces circuit area by replacing fixed passive components with programmable active elements.
2Loss of energy
If conventional passive splitters and combiners are used, then signal distribution and combination are achieved, but power loss increases due to ohmic loss in transmission lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces passive transmission line components with active amplifier stages that can compensate for ohmic losses in real-time. The active components provide gain to offset transmission losses, thereby reducing net power loss while maintaining or improving signal quality through active noise figure optimization and impedance matching.
3Device complexity
If conventional passive splitters and combiners are used, then signal distribution is achieved, but device complexity increases due to transformers and impedance matching networks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex passive impedance matching networks and transformers with active amplifier stages that provide electronic impedance matching through their input and output impedances. This substitution dramatically simplifies the circuit topology, reducing the number of discrete components and interconnections, thereby lowering device complexity and easing manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal active power splitter/combiner architecture that can perform multiple functions (signal distribution, combination, amplification, impedance matching, power control) through a single integrated circuit design. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate passive components for each function, reducing overall device complexity and simplifying manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may include wireless circuitry having active circuitry such as active power splitter circuitry and active power combiner circuitry. The active power splitter and combiner circuitry can include single-ended or differential amplifiers coupled to one another using single-ended coupled lines or differential coupled lines. Each set of differential coupled lines may include first and second pairs of coupled lines. The single-ended coupled lines and the differential coupled lines can provide routing and impedance matching functions. In active power splitter circuitry, multiple transmitting amplifiers may be used to drive a plurality of antennas in a phased antenna array. In active power combiner circuitry, multiple receiving amplifiers may be used to receive radio-frequency signals from the plurality of antennas in the phased antenna array.