Doherty Amplifier Splitter Calibration with Phase-Attenuation Sweeps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Calibrating a Doherty amplifier's power splitter with adjustable attenuation and phase states is impractical due to the vast number of possible combinations, making it time-consuming and inefficient to find optimal settings for desired RF performance.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for efficiently calibrating the power splitter by reducing the number of combinations tested, using a controller to sweep through phase and attenuation states, identifying optimal settings through measurements, and configuring the adjustable attenuators and phase shifters to achieve maximum efficiency and linearity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If all possible combinations of attenuation and phase states are inspected to identify optimal calibration, then manufacturing precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The calibration process is segmented into two independent stages: first calibrating the power splitter by sweeping only phase states (with attenuation fixed at maximum), then calibrating the amplifier by sweeping only attenuation states (with phase fixed at the calibrated value). This segmentation reduces the calibration from inspecting all N×M combinations to inspecting N + M combinations, where N is the number of phase states and M is the number of attenuation states.
Solution Approach 2:
The power splitter calibration is performed as a preliminary action before amplifier calibration. By first determining the optimal phase state of the power splitter independently, the subsequent amplifier calibration only needs to sweep attenuation states with the phase fixed, rather than sweeping all combinations. This preliminary action eliminates redundant measurements and reduces total calibration time.
2Productivity
If the number of attenuation and phase state combinations is reduced, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The calibration is segmented into two independent sweeps: a first sweep through phase states (with attenuation fixed) to calibrate the power splitter, and a second sweep through attenuation states (with phase fixed at the calibrated value) to calibrate the amplifier. This segmentation maintains calibration precision by ensuring each component is calibrated independently with appropriate sweep parameters, while dramatically improving productivity by avoiding redundant combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The power splitter calibration is performed as a preliminary action that establishes the optimal phase state. This preliminary calibration enables the subsequent amplifier calibration to focus only on attenuation optimization, maintaining overall system precision while reducing the total number of measurement iterations required.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of calibrating an amplifier are presented. The amplifier has a first amplification path and a second amplification path. An attenuation of the first amplification path is set to a first attenuation value and an attenuation of the second amplification path is set to the first attenuation value. A first phase shift of the first amplification path and a second phase shift of the second amplification path that meets a first performance criteria is determined. A phase shift of the first amplification path is set to the first phase shift and a phase shift of the second amplification path is set to the second phase shift. A first attenuation of the first amplification path and a second attenuation of the second amplification path that meets a second performance criteria is determined.