U.S. patent application number 09/927814 was filed with the patent office on 2002-03-07 for swept performance monitor for measuring and correcting rf power amplifier distortion.
This patent application is currently assigned to Spectrian Corporation. Invention is credited to Bonds, David Kent.
Application Number | 20020027474 09/927814 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27390519 |
Filed Date | 2002-03-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020027474 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bonds, David Kent |
March 7, 2002 |
Swept performance monitor for measuring and correcting RF power
amplifier distortion
Abstract
RF power amplifier distortion is measured in the presence of
multi-frequency input signals, by sweeping a local oscillator to
tune RF input and output receivers. When the power detected by the
input receiver exceeds a carrier energy threshold, the operation of
a predistortion processor is blanked. This creates an adaptive
notch filter, which allows for the direct measurement of low level
distortion power in the presence of high power carriers. The
unnecessary complexity of using controllably interrupted high
isolation switches in the signal flow path of the output receiver
in certain applications may be effectively obviated by buffer
amplifier--passband filter stages. These buffer-filter stages
provide additional gain to offset the fact that the signal level
extracted from the output amplifier is very low, and prevent
producing IMDs in the swept receiver's mixer. They are preferably
implemented of the same bandpass filter in the swept input
receiver.
Inventors: |
Bonds, David Kent; (Quincy,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Christopher F. Regan
Allen, Dyer, Doppelt,
Milbrath, Gilchrist, P.A.
P.O. Box 3791
Orlando
FL
32802-3791
US
|
Assignee: |
Spectrian Corporation
|
Family ID: |
27390519 |
Appl. No.: |
09/927814 |
Filed: |
August 10, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09927814 |
Aug 10, 2001 |
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09703176 |
Oct 31, 2000 |
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09703176 |
Oct 31, 2000 |
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09479723 |
Jan 7, 2000 |
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60175279 |
Jan 10, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
330/149 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H03F 1/3247 20130101;
H03F 1/3229 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
330/149 |
International
Class: |
H03F 001/26 |
Claims
What is claimed:
1. An RF power amplifier arrangement comprising: an RF input port
to which an RF input signal is applied; an RF output port from
which an amplified RF output signal is derived; and an RF signal
processing path coupled between said input and output ports, and
containing an RF power amplifier and an RF distortion correction
unit, that is controllably operative to adjust one or more
parameters of said RF signal processing path, so as to compensate
for distortion introduced by said RF power amplifier, said RF
distortion correction unit being coupled to derive information
representative of said distortion introduced by said RF power
amplifier over a prescribed bandwidth, but excluding the effect of
an RF carrier frequency of said RF input signal, and including a
frequency swept output receiver coupled to monitor energy contained
in said amplified RF output signal, and being coupled over a
non-interrupted output signal path that supplies information
representative of said distortion introduced by said RF power
amplifier over said prescribed bandwidth.
2. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 1,
including an adjustable threshold detector that is operative to
controllably interrupt operation of said RF distortion correction
unit, in response to said RF output signal containing RF carrier
energy in excess of a controllably selectable threshold.
3. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 2, wherein
said RF distortion correction unit includes an RF predistortion
correction unit that controllably imparts distortion onto said RF
input signal upstream of said RF amplifier, so as to cancel the
distortion contributed by said RF amplifier.
4. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 3, wherein
said RF distortion correction unit further includes a frequency
swept input receiver coupled to monitor energy contained in said RF
input signal, and wherein said controllably selectable threshold of
said adjustable threshold detector is determined in accordance with
energy contained in said RF input signal.
5. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 1, wherein
said RF signal processing path includes a swept input receiver
coupled to measure carrier power at said input port, a swept output
receiver, having an operational bandwidth less than that of said
swept input receiver, and being coupled to measure distortion
energy at said output port, and a swept local oscillator that is
operative to sweep the frequency of operation of each of said input
and output receivers in common.
6. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 5,
including an adjustable threshold detector that is operative to
controllably interrupt operation of said RF distortion correction
unit, in response to said RF output signal containing RF carrier
energy in excess of a controllably selectable threshold.
7. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 6, wherein
said controllably selectable threshold of said adjustable threshold
detector is determined in accordance with energy contained in said
RF input signal.
8. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 7, wherein
said RF distortion correction unit includes a pre-distortion
correction unit coupled in an input path of said amplifier, and
being operative to controllably impart distortion onto an input
signal upstream of said amplifier, so as to cancel distortion
contributed by said amplifier, in accordance with said distortion
energy measured by said swept output receiver.
9. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 5, wherein
said swept output receiver is coupled through a first buffer
amplifier and narrowband filter circuit arrangement to an RF
predistortion correction processor, operation of which is
controllably interrupted by said adjustable threshold detector, in
response to said RF output signal containing RF carrier energy in
excess of said controllably selectable threshold.
10. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 9, wherein
a signal path from said input port through said swept input
receiver to said RF predistortion correction processor is coupled
through a second buffer amplifier and narrowband filter circuit
arrangement.
11. An RF power amplifier arrangement according to claim 10,
wherein said first and second buffer amplifier and narrowband
filter circuit arrangements employ the same narrowband filter
circuit components.
12. A method of measuring and compensating for distortion in an RF
power amplifier to an input port of which an RF input signal is
coupled and from an output port of which an amplified RF output
signal is derived, said method comprising the steps of: (a)
deriving information representative of said distortion introduced
by said RF power amplifier over a prescribed bandwidth, by varying
the frequency of operation of an output receiver that is coupled in
an uninterrupted output signal path through which energy contained
in said amplified RF output signal may be monitored, and extracting
therefrom said information representative of said distortion
introduced by said RF power amplifier over said prescribed
bandwidth; and (b) controllably adjusting one or more parameters of
said RF signal processing path so as to compensate for distortion
introduced by said RF power amplifier, in accordance with said
information derived in step (a) and excluding said RF carrier
frequency.
13. A method according to claim 12, wherein step (a) further
includes controllably interrupting the derivation of information
representative of said distortion introduced by said RF power
amplifier, in response to said RF output signal containing RF
carrier energy in excess of a controllably selectable
threshold.
14. A method according to claim 13, wherein step (b) includes
controlling the operation of an RF predistortion correction unit
installed in said RF input signal upstream of said RF amplifier, so
as to cancel the distortion contributed by said RF amplifier.
15. A method according to claim 13, wherein step (a) includes
monitoring energy contained in said RF input signal through a
frequency swept input receiver, and establishing said controllably
selectable threshold in accordance with energy contained in said RF
input signal.
16. A method according to claim 13, wherein step (a) comprises
deriving said information through a swept input receiver that is
coupled to measure carrier power at said input port, a swept output
receiver, having an operational bandwidth less than that of said
swept input receiver, that is coupled to measure distortion energy
at said output port, and controlling the operation of a local
oscillator so as to sweep the frequency of operation of each of
said input and output receivers in common.
17. A method according to claim 16, wherein said swept output
receiver is coupled through a first buffer amplifier and narrowband
filter circuit arrangement to an RF predistortion correction
processor, operation of which in performing step (b) is
controllably interrupted by said adjustable threshold detector, in
response to said RF output signal containing RF carrier energy in
excess of said controllably selectable threshold.
18. A method according to claim 17, wherein a signal path from said
input port through said swept input receiver to said RF
predistortion correction processor is coupled through a second
buffer amplifier and narrowband filter circuit arrangement.
19. A method according to claim 18, wherein said first and second
buffer amplifier and narrowband filter circuit arrangements employ
the same narrowband filter circuit components.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of
co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/479,723, filed Jan.
7, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the '723 application), and
further claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Serial No. 60/175,279, filed Jan. 10, 2000, each of
which applications is assigned to the assignee of the present
application and the disclosures of which are incorporated
herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates in general to radio frequency
(RF) communication systems, and is particularly directed to an RF
power amplifier distortion correction mechanism for controlling an
adaptive digital signal processor-controlled pre-distortion circuit
installed in the input path to an RF amplifier having a relatively
"low" carrier to intermod ratio (C/I). The invention employs a
swept oscillator to sweep input and output receivers, and locate
and isolate the RF carrier component in the amplifier output, so
that distortion energy produced at the output of the RF amplifier
may be detected. Once detected, distortion energy may be
controllably removed by the pre-distortion unit.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] As described in the above-referenced co-pending '723
application, specifications and regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) mandate that communication service
providers comply with very strict bandwidth constraints, including
the requirement that the amount of energy spillover outside a
licensed channel or band of interest, be sharply attenuated (e.g.,
on the order of 50 dB). Although such limitations may be readily
overcome for traditional forms of modulation, such as FM, they are
difficult to achieve using more contemporary, digitally based
modulation formats, such as M-ary modulation.
[0004] Attenuating sidebands sufficiently to meet industry or
regulatory-based standards using such modulation techniques
requires very linear signal processing systems and components.
Although relatively linear components can be obtained at a
reasonable cost for the relatively low bandwidths (baseband) of
telephone networks, linearizing components such as power amplifiers
at RF frequencies can be prohibitively expensive.
[0005] A fundamental difficulty in linearizing an RF power
amplifier is the fact that it is an inherently non-linear device,
and generates unwanted intermodulation distortion products (IMDs) .
IMDs manifest themselves as spurious signals in the amplified RF
output signal, separate and distinct from the RF input signal. A
further manifestation of IMD is spectral regrowth or spreading of a
compact spectrum into spectral regions that were not occupied by
the RF input signal. This distortion causes the phase-amplitude of
the amplified output signal to depart from the phase-amplitude of
the input signal, and may be considered as an incidental (and
undesired) amplifier-sourced modulation of the RF input signal.
[0006] A straightforward way to implement a linear RF power
amplifier is to build it as a large, high power device, but operate
the amplifier at a only a low power level (namely, at a small
percentage of its rated output power), where the RF amplifiers
transfer function is relatively linear. An obvious drawback to this
approach is the overkill penalty--a costly and large sized RF
device. Other prior art techniques which overcome this penalty
include feedback correction techniques, feedforward correction, and
pre-distortion correction.
[0007] Feedback correction techniques include polar envelope
correction (such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,201), and
Cartesian feedback, where the distortion component at the output of
the RF amplifier is used to directly modulate the input signal to
the amplifier in real time. Feedback techniques possess the
advantage of self-convergence, as do negative feedback techniques
in other fields of design. However, systems which employ negative
feedback remain stable over a limited bandwidth, which prevents
their application in wide-bandwidth environments, such as
multi-carrier or W-CDMA. Feedforward and predistortion correction,
however, are not limited in this regard. In the feedforward
approach, error (distortion) present in the RF amplifier's output
signal is extracted, amplified to the proper level, and then
reinjected with equal amplitude but opposite phase into the output
path of the amplifier, so that (ideally) the RF amplifier's
distortion is effectively canceled.
[0008] When predistortion correction is used, a signal is modulated
onto the RF input signal path upstream of the RF amplifier. The
characteristic of an ideal predistortion signal is the inverse of
the distortion expected at the output of the high power RF
amplifier, so that when subjected to the distorting transfer
function of the RF amplifier, it effectively cancels the distortion
behavior.
[0009] Either predistortion or feedforward may be made adaptive by
extracting an error signal component in the output of the RF
amplifier and then adjusting the control signal(s), in accordance
with the extracted error behavior of the RF amplifier, so as to
effectively continuously minimize distortion in the amplifier's
output.
[0010] One conventional mechanism for extracting the error signal
component involves injecting a pilot (tone) signal into the signal
flow path through the amplifier and measure the amplifier's
response. A fundamental drawback to the use of a pilot tone is the
need for dedicated pilot generation circuitry and the difficulty of
placing the pilot tone within the signal bandwidth of the
amplifier. Other approaches employ a high intercept receiver to
detect low level distortion in the presence of high power carriers,
which adds substantial complexity and cost.
[0011] Pursuant to the invention described in the '723 application,
RF power amplifier distortion in the presence of multi-frequency
input signals is accurately measured by using a swept local
oscillator to tune RF input and output receivers. Where that
distortion is corrected by means of an adaptive predistortion
circuit installed in the input path to an RF amplifier having a
relatively "low" carrier to intermod ratio (C/I), the swept local
oscillator scheme may be configured as diagrammatically shown in
FIG. 1 (which corresponds to FIG. 1 of the '723 application) . By
relatively low C/I ratio RF amplifier is meant one whose RF carrier
level is effectively indistinguishable from that of intermodulation
products. As a non-limiting example, the term low C/I ratio may be
considered to apply to those RF amplifiers having intermodulation
products above -50 dBC.
[0012] In the architecture of FIG. 1, an RF input signal RF.sub.in
to be amplified is coupled to an input port 11 of a signal input
path to RF power amplifier 10, the distortion characteristic of
which is to be measured by a controllably blanked distortion energy
detector subsection 100. In order to monitor the RF input signal
RF.sub.in for the presence of carrier energy, the RF input port 11
is coupled through a first directional coupler 13 to a first input
21 of a mixer 22 of a controllably tuned or swept input receiver
20, and to a digitally controlled predistortion unit 14 installed
in the signal input path to RF power amplifier 10.
[0013] The predistortion unit 14 is operative to dynamically adjust
the amplitude and phase of the RF input signal to the RF amplifier
10, and may contain a vector modulator driven by a complex
polynomial work function. Predistortion unit 14 is coupled to
receive weighting coefficients w.sub.0, w.sub.1, w.sub.2, . . .
w.sub.N, supplied over a multi-link 15 by a performance monitoring
and parameter updating digital signal processor (DSP) 16. DSP
executes 16 one or more error minimization algorithms (e.g., power
or least mean square) for controllably adjusting the distortion
introduced into the RF signal input path through the predistortion
unit 14.
[0014] The output of RF power amplifier 10 is coupled to an RF
output port RF.sub.out, and through a second directional coupler 17
to a first input 31 of a mixer 32 within a controllably tuned or
swept output receiver 30. The output of the directional coupler 17
is representative of the amplified original RF input signal and any
intermodulation (spectral regrowth) distortion products (IMDs)
introduced by the RF amplifier.
[0015] Each of the input and output receivers 20, 30 is controlled
by a digital sweep-control signal generated by the DSP 16. For this
purpose, digital sweep-control signal lines 17 are coupled to a
digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 41, which produces an analog
output sweep voltage that is filtered in a low pass filter 43 and
coupled to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 45. The output of
the VCO 45 is coupled to an input port 51 of a Wilkinson splitter
50.
[0016] The Wilkinson splitter 50 has a first output port 52, which
is coupled through a buffer amplifier 55 to a second input 23 of
mixer 22, and a second output port 53, which is coupled through a
buffer amplifier 57 to a second input 33 of mixer 32. The IF output
25 of mixer 22 is filtered by a wider band bandpass filter 61 and
coupled through a buffer amplifier 63 to a carrier power detector
65, shown as a diode, whose cathode is capacitor-coupled to ground.
The carrier power detector 65 has its output coupled to a threshold
detector 67, the output of which is coupled to a blanking detector
input 18 of the DSP 16, and to respective control ports 71, 81 of
first and second, high isolation switches 70 and 80 within the
output receiver 30.
[0017] In the absence of the output of the carrier power detector
65 exceeding a prescribed threshold associated with an RF carrier
signal, the output of the threshold detector 67 is at a first logic
state. However, if carrier power detector 65 detects power in
excess of the prescribed threshold, the output of the threshold
detector 67 changes to a second logic state. This change in state
of the output of the threshold detector 67 controls the blanking
signal input 18 to the DSP 16 so as to controllably blank the
output receiver 30, through which RF amplifier distortion is
measured.
[0018] To this end, the IF output 35 of mixer 32 is coupled to a
first input port 72 of first isolation switch 70, a second input
port 73 of which is impedance-terminated, as shown. The first high
isolation switch 70 has an output port 74 coupled through a
narrower band bandpass filter 75 to a first input port 82 of the
second high isolation switch 80, a second input port 83 of which is
impedance-terminated, as shown. Isolation switch 80 has an output
port 84 coupled through an IF buffer amplifier 85 to a
diode-configured (distortion) power detector 91, whose cathode is
capacitor-coupled to ground, and which serves to measure the
distortion power within the output receiver bandwidth generated by
the RF amplifier 10.
[0019] The distortion power detection diode 91 has its output
(cathode) coupled through a lowpass filter 93 to an
analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 95, the digitized output of which
is coupled over link 97 to a distortion detection input 19 of the
DSP 16. This digitized output of the distortion power detection
diode 91 is integrated and processed by the DSP 16 using one or
more error minimization algorithms for controlling variable
attenuator and phase shift components in predistortion unit 14.
[0020] In accordance with the operation of the controllably blanked
distortion energy measurement subsection 100, the signal path
through the output receiver 30 is normally coupled through the
first and second isolation switches 70 and 80 to the distortion
power detection diode 91. The output of power detection diode 91 is
sampled, digitized and coupled to the distortion input 19 of the
DSP 16. As the DSP 16 sweeps the control voltage input to the VCO
45, the tuning frequency for each of the input and output receivers
20 and 30 is swept in common. During this frequency sweep, the
power detected by the carrier power detector diode 65 of the input
receiver 20 is applied to threshold detector 67, whose threshold
differentiates between carriers and distortion.
[0021] As long as the threshold of the threshold detector 67 is not
exceeded, it is inferred that the output of the receiver 30 is the
distortion power produced in the RF power amplifier 10. This
distortion power is digitized and coupled to the processor 16, and
integrated over an entire sweep for controlling the predistortion
correction unit 14. However, when the output of the carrier power
detector 65 exceeds the threshold of threshold detector
67--indicating that the output receiver is tuned near carrier
energy--the output of the threshold detector 67 changes state. This
change of state signal blanks the DSP 16 and causes the signal
paths through the isolation switches 70 and 80 to be interrupted,
effectively blanking the output receiver 30, so that the distortion
correction operation performed by the DSP 16 is not affected by the
carrier.
[0022] This, selective, carrier-based blanking of the distortion
measurement receiver circuitry effectively prevents saturation of
the output receiver's IF amplifier 85, and allows the use of lower
IP3 components. The bandwidth of the input receiver 20, which is
dictated by the bandpass filter 61, may be made slightly wider than
the bandwidth of the output receiver 30 to provide a guardband, as
appropriate, for the switching operation.
[0023] In the architecture of FIG. 1, the high isolation switches
70 and 80 serve to improve the dynamic range of the receiver in two
ways. First, they prevent the IF components from being overloaded
by the carrier, as the carrier is swept through the IF passband.
This undesirable overload would drive the amplifiers and the
detectors into saturation, and these elements would require some
period of time to leave saturation, and reenter normal, active-mode
operation. Secondly, the isolation switches prevent the bandpass
filter circuitry from being excited by a sudden transient, as the
carrier is swept into the IF passband. As the bandpass filter is a
relatively narrow, highly resonant filter, such step transients
would cause the filter to `ring` over a relatively long decay
time.
[0024] Both of these effects may cause an error in ACPR measurement
in that portion of the spectrum immediately adjacent to the desired
carriers. Unfortunately, this also happens to be the region within
the spectrum where most of the IMD caused by the RF power amplifier
is concentrated, and where minimization of IMDs is most desirable.
The effect of such an error could cause optimization of ACPR to be
unbalanced between the two sidebands surrounding a carrier. One
sideband might become optimized to a better-than-required ACPR at
the expense of performance in the other sideband.
[0025] This effect is most undesirable where all of the energy of
one or more of the carriers is capable of passing entirely within
the bandwidth of the IF filter (namely, the ratio of carrier C
bandwidth to IF bandwidth is low). This will result in maximized
ringing in the bandpass filter. It is also undesirable in
multi-carrier amplifiers, where more receive dynamic range is
required, since some carriers have all of their energy confined to
a relatively small bandwidth, while other carriers have their
energy `spread` over a considerable bandwidth (e.g., IS-95
CDMA).
[0026] The effect of the error is further undesirable where a high
C/I ratio (on the order of greater than 50 dB) of the amplifier
system is specified, which also requires a high dynamic range.
Finally, this effect is undesirable where a very fast VCO sweep
rate is required, and it would not be practical or beneficial to
slow the sweep rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0027] There exist situations where only a small number of wideband
signals (e.g., five) are present and slow frequency sweeping is
acceptable. Pursuant to the present invention, in such situations,
the above-described benefits of using high isolation switches in
the signal flow path of the output receiver of the performance
measurement and correction architecture of the above-referenced
'723 application are not required. In these cases, the architecture
of the '723 application may be simplified by replacing the
controllably blanked isolation switches of the swept output
receiver with buffer amplifier--filter stages. The buffer
amplifierfilter stages provide additional gain to offset the very
low signal level extracted from the RF amplifier, and prevent the
production of IMDs in the swept receiver's mixer.
[0028] As will be described, in the `switchless` distortion
measurement and correction architecture of the present invention,
the Wilkinson splitter that is used to couple the swept oscillator
to the respective mixers of the input and output receivers is
replaced by a resistive Y splitter, which has a flatter frequency
response than a Wilkinson splitter, and enables the output level of
the VCO to be held constant as it is swept over frequency. In
addition, the input and output signal paths through the input
receiver's mixer are coupled through one or more cascaded buffer
amplifier stages, to improve reverse isolation and prevent the VCO
signal from coupling back into the input path to the RF amplifier.
Also, parameters of the input receiver's amplifier stages and the
bandpass filters are selected to avoid damaging any of the
components.
[0029] Further, the DSP uses sampled input power information to
control the threshold setting of the threshold detector. Adapting
the threshold to sampled input power provides the DSP with the
ability to adapt the carrier detection threshold to different power
levels. In addition, the high isolation switches of the swept
output receiver are removed, and the IF output of the output
receiver's mixer is coupled through a cascaded arrangement of
amplifier gain stages and band bandpass filters.
[0030] The bandpass filters of the output receiver can be made
identical to the bandpass filter in the swept input receiver. This
makes the output receiver's bandwidth slightly narrower than the
input receiver, and helps minimize the number of different parts
used in the circuit. In both the input and output receivers, the
gains of the receiver amplifier stages and the losses through the
bandpass filters are selected so as to avoid damaging the power
detection diode and any other components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates an RF power amplifier
distortion measurement and pre-distortion correction scheme in
accordance with the invention described in the above-referenced
'723 application); and
[0032] FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates a modification of FIG. 1
to realize the switchless RF power amplifier distortion measurement
and correction scheme of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0033] Before describing in detail the new and improved
`switchless` RF power amplifier distortion measurement and
correction mechanism of the present invention, it should be
observed that the modified scheme of the invention resides
primarily in a prescribed arrangement of conventional RF
communication circuits, associated digital signal processing
components and attendant supervisory control circuitry, that
controls the operation of such circuits and components. As a
result, the configuration of such circuits components, and the
manner in which they interface with other communication system
equipment have, for the most part, been illustrated in the drawings
by readily understandable block diagrams, which show only those
details that are pertinent to the present invention, so as not to
obscure the disclosure with details which will be readily apparent
to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description
herein. Thus, the block diagram illustrations are primarily
intended to show the major components of an RF amplifier distortion
measurement and correction system in a convenient functional
grouping, whereby the present invention may be more readily
understood.
[0034] Attention is now directed to FIG. 2, which diagrammatically
illustrates a switchless version of the RF power amplifier
distortion measurement and correction scheme of FIG. 1. As in the
circuit of FIG. 1, amplifier distortion is corrected by means of an
adaptive predistortion circuit 14 installed in the input path 11 to
RF amplifier 10, which has a relatively "low" carrier-to-intermod
ratio (C/I). As pointed out above, by relatively low C/I ratio RF
amplifier is meant an amplifier whose RF carrier level is
effectively indistinguishable from that of intermodulation
products, and may be considered to apply to RF amplifiers having
intermodulation products above -50 dBC.
[0035] The switchless architecture of FIG. 2 differs from the
distortion measurement and correction scheme of FIG. 1 in the
following respects. First, the Wilkinson splitter 50 used to
coupled the output of the swept oscillator 45 to swept input and
output receivers 20 and 30, respectively, is replaced by a
resistive Y splitter 150, which has a flatter frequency response
than a Wilkinson splitter, and thus complies with the desire to
maintain the output level of the VCO 45 constant as it is swept
over frequency. The resistive Y splitter 150 has a first resistor
arm 151 coupled to the output of oscillator 45. A second resistor
arm 152 is coupled through buffer amplifier 55 to the second input
23 of the input receiver's mixer 22. A third resistor arm 153 is
coupled through buffer amplifier 57 to the second input 33 of the
output receiver's mixer 32.
[0036] Pursuant to a second aspect of the invention, the input
signal path through the coupler 13 to the input mixer 22 is coupled
through one or more cascaded buffer amplifier stages 121, which
serve to improve reverse isolation and prevent the VCO signal from
coupling back through directional coupler 13 into the input path to
the RF amplifier 10. The gains of the input receiver's amplifier
stages 121, 125 and 63 and the losses through the coupler 13, mixer
22 and bandpass filter 61 are selected so as to strategically avoid
damaging any of the components.
[0037] Thirdly, in addition to being coupled to the threshold
detector 67, the output of the carrier power detector 65 is
digitized by an ADC 165, the digitized output of which is coupled
to an input power detection input 166 of the DSP 16. The DSP 16
uses this sampled input power information to generate a threshold
setting, which is coupled by way of a threshold control output port
167 through a DAC 168 to the threshold detector 67. Providing an
adaptive threshold based upon sampled input power provides the DSP
with the ability to adapt the carrier detection threshold to
different power levels.
[0038] In accordance with a fourth modification of the invention,
the high isolation switches 70 and 80 of the swept output receiver
30 are removed. To this end, the IF output 35 of the output
receiver's mixer 32 is coupled through a cascaded arrangement of
amplifier gain stages and narrower bandpass filters. As a
non-limiting example, the mixer output 35 may be coupled through an
amplifier stage 135 through a band bandpass filter 175 to cascaded
amplifier stages 176 and 177. The output of the amplifier stage 177
may be coupled through a further band bandpass filter 178 to the IF
buffer amplifier 85. These additional gain stages are employed
since the signal level extracted from output coupler 17 is very low
to avoid producing IMDs in the mixer 32. The bandpass filters 175
and 177 can be made identical to the bandpass filter 61 in the
swept input receiver. This makes the output receiver's bandwidth
slightly narrower than the input receiver, and helps minimize the
number of different parts used in the circuit. As in the input
receiver, the gains of the receiver amplifier stages and the losses
through the bandpass filters are selected, so as to avoid damaging
the power detection diode 91 and any other components (for example,
where the cascaded amplifier, filter and detector stages of the IF
section are driven into hard saturation). For example, the
saturated output power capability of amplifier stage 85 may be on
the order of 12-13 dBm, while detector 91 may be capable of safely
absorbing an input of 17 dBm.
[0039] In operation, the signal path through the buffer amplifier
and bandpass filter stages of the output receiver 30 to the
distortion power detection diode 91 is sampled, digitized and
coupled to the distortion input 19 of the DSP 16. As in the circuit
of FIG. 1, as the DSP 16 sweeps the control voltage input to the
VCO 45, the tuning frequency for each of the input and output
receivers 20 and 30 is swept in common. During this frequency
sweep, the power detected by the carrier power detector diode 65 of
the input receiver 20 is applied to threshold detector 67, whose
controlled threshold setting serves to differentiate between
carriers and distortion. As long as the established threshold of
the threshold detector 67 is not exceeded, it is inferred that the
output of the receiver section 30 is representative of the
distortion power produced in the RF power amplifier 10. This
distortion power representation is digitized and coupled to the
processor 16, which uses this information as the basis for
controlling the predistortion correction circuitry 14 in the input
path to the amplifier 10.
[0040] When the output of the carrier power detector 65 exceeds the
threshold of threshold detector 67 (indicating that the output
receiver is tuned near carrier energy), the output of the threshold
detector 67 changes to its second logic state. This change of state
signal is supplied to the blanking input 18 of DSP 16, and prevents
the distortion correction operation performed by the DSP 16 from
being affected by the carrier.
[0041] In the architecture of FIG. 2, the bandwidth of the carrier
(which may be on the order of 8 MHz, as a non-limiting example) is
relatively `large` compared to the IF passband width (which may be
on the order of 250 KHz). The RF amplifier 10 may comprise a
single-carrier, single-mode (W-CDMA only) amplifier, whose C/I
specification is relatively low (e.g. on the order of 40 dB at the
carrier edges). Also, the sweep rate of the VCO 45 is relatively
slow (e.g., requiring twenty milliseconds to sweep from the edge of
carrier to a scan location several MHz away), compared to the decay
of the bandpass filter (in relation to its group delay, which may
be on the order of one millisecond).
[0042] As will be appreciated from the foregoing description of the
switchless distortion measurement and correction architecture of
the present invention, the unnecessary complexity of using high
isolation switches in the signal flow path of the output receiver
in certain applications of the invention described in the
above-referenced '723 application may be effectively obviated by
replacing the controllably blanked isolation switches of the swept
output receiver with buffer amplifier--passband filter stages.
These buffer-filter stages not only function to provide additional
gain to offset the fact that the signal level extracted from the
output amplifier is very low, and to prevent producing IMDs in the
swept receiver's mixer, but may be implemented of the same bandpass
filter in the swept input receiver. This makes the output
receiver's bandwidth slightly narrower than the input receiver, and
serves to minimize the number of different parts used in the
circuit. In both the input and output receivers, the gains of
buffer amplifier stages and the losses through the bandpass filters
are selected, so as to avoid damaging any other components. Like
the architecture of the '723 application, the switchless, swept
oscillator configuration of the present invention enables RF power
amplifier distortion to be accurately measured, even in the
presence of multi-frequency input signals.
[0043] While I have shown and described an embodiment in accordance
with the present invention, it is to be understood that the same is
not limited thereto but is susceptible to numerous changes and
modifications as are known to a person skilled in the art, and I
therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and
described herein, but intend to cover all changes and modifications
as are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
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