Power-Combining Circuit with Integrated Filters for Spurious Component Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power combining circuits for high frequency bands, such as VHF and UHF, suffer from signal waveform distortion and generation of harmonics and spurious components due to amplifier non-linearity, leading to potential amplifier failure when these components are reflected back from filters.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating filters with impedance transformation functions at strategic positions in the power combining circuit to remove spurious components without reflecting them back to the amplifiers, using 3dB-hybrid circuits and terminators to manage signal phases and impedances effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If filters are added to remove spurious components, then signal purity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds filter circuits within the hybrid circuit structure itself, where the hybrid circuit serves dual functions as both a power combining device and a filtering structure. The filter elements are integrated into the existing signal path rather than being added as separate external components, thus achieving signal purification without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hybrid circuit is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a power combining circuit for amplifiers while also functioning as a filter to remove spurious components. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated filter circuits, thereby improving signal purity without adding proportional complexity to the device.
2Manufacturing precision
If filters are placed to remove spurious components, then signal purity is improved, but amplifier reliability deteriorates due to reflection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an isolator as an intermediary component positioned between the amplifier and the filter/hybrid circuit. This isolator acts as a mediator that allows the filter to effectively remove spurious components while preventing reflected signals from reaching the amplifier, thus maintaining both signal purity and amplifier reliability through the protective intermediary function.
Solution Approach 2:
The isolator is positioned to preemptively block reflected spurious components before they can return to and interfere with the amplifier operation. By establishing this protective barrier in advance, the system prevents potential amplifier failure caused by reflected signals while maintaining the filtering function for signal purification.
3Power
If amplifiers operate in parallel to increase power, then output power is improved, but harmful factors increase due to non-linearity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes spurious components generated by parallel amplifier operation through integrated filter circuits within the hybrid structure. By taking out these harmful frequency components (harmonics and intermodulation products) from the combined signal, the system maintains high output power while eliminating the harmful effects of amplifier non-linearity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful spurious components generated by amplifier non-linearity into a manageable filtering task. The hybrid circuit's filtering function transforms the problem of unwanted harmonics and intermodulation products into an opportunity to demonstrate effective signal purification, where the very components that cause harm are identified and systematically removed by the integrated filter structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A power-combining circuit at least equipped with: a plurality of amps, named first and second through n-th amps (PA1, PA2-PAn), for amplifying inputted high-frequency power; a plurality of 3dB-hybrid circuits, named first and second through n-th hybrid circuits (HYB1, HYB2-HYBn), for distributing the outputs from each of the amps to two signals for which the phase difference is 90° in relation to one another; two couplers, named first and second couplers (C1, C2), for coupling the signals, among the two signals outputted from each 3dB-hybrid circuit, which are in phase with one another; two filters, named first and second filters (FILTER 1, FILTER 2), for removing a spurious component included in each of the two signals coupled by the couplers; and a back-end-positioned hybrid circuit, named the 0th hybrid circuit (HYBO), for power-combining the signals from the filters and outputting the same. As a result, the provided power-combining circuit is capable of suppressing and absorbing a spurious component produced during power amplification.