US Patent:
20090278610, Nov 12, 2009
Inventors:
RIZWAN MURJI - CHICAGO IL, US
MITCHELL R. BLOZINSKI - LAKE IN THE HILLS IL, US
RODNEY W. HAGEN - LAKE IN THE HILLS IL, US
Assignee:
MOTOROLA, INC. - Schaumburg IL
International Classification:
H03F 1/52
Abstract:
An apparatus and method are provided for reducing the output voltage in a power amplifier. The power amplifier contains a power supply, an amplifier stage, an impedance matching circuit, and a voltage reduction unit connected between the power supply and the amplifier stage. A power amplifier device within the amplifier stage has a gain bandwidth that covers multiple frequency bands. The output voltage of the power amplifier device is a composite voltage that contains fundamental and harmonic components that lie within the gain bandwidth. The voltage reduction unit reduces the supply voltage of the power amplifier device such that the composite output voltage is less than the breakdown voltage in the power amplifier device. The impedance matching circuit is coupled to the power amplifier device output and provides impedance matching for output signals of the fundamental and harmonic frequencies.