Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices – circuits – and – Specific identifiable device – circuit – or system – Nonlinear amplifying circuit
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-23
2001-08-07
Callahan, Timothy P. (Department: 2816)
Miscellaneous active electrical nonlinear devices, circuits, and
Specific identifiable device, circuit, or system
Nonlinear amplifying circuit
C330S149000, C330S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06271721
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Common-base amplifier circuits have long been recognized for their ability to deliver higher frequency response, higher collector voltage swings, and higher linearity than do their common-emitter counterparts under identical conditions of bias and loading for the same transistor device. Common-base amplifiers are readily adaptable to wide-band RF applications from HF, through VHF, and well into the UHF region of frequencies, and are easily designed with a minimum of effort devoted to input and output matching networks. In addition, common-base amplifiers achieve a higher degree of reverse isolation than do their common-emitter counterparts, thus leading to a greater degree of stability. All of these factors are desirable characteristics in amplifier design. In a conventional common-base amplifier, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the input resistance is the sum of a fixed resistance and the nonlinear emitter resistance of the transistor, the latter of which is a primary cause of both harmonic and intermodulation distortion. Traditional design techniques reduce this nonlinearity either directly by increasing the fixed input resistance or indirectly by decreasing the nonlinear emitter resistance by increasing the transistor bias current. The former technique is unsuitable for power amplifier applications, and the latter technique reduces the overall power efficiency of the amplifier.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An augmented common-base transistor amplifier circuit with improved intermoduiation (IM) performance is described which includes a common base transistor amplifier, consisting of an input emitter resistance, a common-base transistor, and an output load resistance. The augmented common-base transistor amplifier circuit further includes an augmentation circuit which detects an error voltage at the emitter of the common-base transistor, and which then inverts and amplifies the detected error voltage as a voltage to be applied at the base of the common-base transistor, thereby reducing the error voltage at the emitter of the common-base transistor and in turn improving the linearity and Fivl performance of the common-base transistor amplifier circuit. In a further embodiment the augmentation is accomplished by the addition of a common-emitter transistor amplifier circuit. In a further embodiment suitable for higher frequency and higher power applications, a transformer is used to perform the augmentation, and a tap is later added to the transformer for the purpose of providing additional current gain to the augmented common-base transistor amplifier circuit for applications requiring additional power gain. In a further embodiment suitable for medium- and high-power applications, a pair of augmented common base transistor amplifiers are arranged as a push-pull amplifier. In a further embodiment suitable for applications requiring higher linearity, a complementary pair of augmented common-base transistor amplifiers are arranged as a complementary amplifier.
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Callahan Timothy P.
Nguyen Hai L.
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