This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 108137340, filed on Oct. 16, 2019. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The disclosure relates to an electronic circuit, and in particular, to a radio frequency (RF) device and a voltage generating device thereof.
Many RF electronic products (such as a mobile phone, a wireless pager, wireless infrastructure, a satellite communication device, television equipment, and/or other RF products) are equipped with an RF circuit (such as an RF switcher, etc.) and others elements. A drive circuit may generate a control signal to change an RF transmission path of the RF switcher. Generally, a swing of the control signal depends on a power supply voltage of the drive circuit. One technical issue is how to generate a power supply voltage of a drive circuit by a voltage of a control signal.
It should be noted that the information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain some information (or all information) that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Further, the information disclosed in the Background section does not mean that one or more problems were acknowledged by a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The disclosure provides a radio frequency (RF) device and a voltage generating device thereof. The voltage generating device may generate an output voltage using a first voltage and (or) a second voltage.
The voltage generating device of the disclosure includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a voltage dividing circuit. A first terminal of the first transistor is configured to receive a first voltage. A first terminal of the second transistor is configured to receive a second voltage. A first connection terminal and a second connection terminal of the voltage dividing circuit are coupled to a second terminal of the first transistor and a second terminal of the second transistor, respectively. The voltage dividing circuit divides a voltage of at least one of the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal to generate a first divided voltage and a second divided voltage. The first divided voltage is used as an output voltage of the voltage generating device. The second divided voltage is output as a control voltage to a control terminal of the first transistor and a control terminal of the second transistor.
An RF device of the disclosure includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a voltage dividing circuit, a voltage regulating unit, and an RF circuit. A first terminal of the first transistor is configured to receive a first voltage. A first terminal of the second transistor is configured to receive a second voltage. A first connection terminal and a second connection terminal of the voltage dividing circuit are coupled to a second terminal of the first transistor and a second terminal of the second transistor, respectively. The voltage dividing circuit divides a voltage of at least one of the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal to generate a first divided voltage and a second divided voltage. The second divided voltage is output as a control voltage to a control terminal of the first transistor and a control terminal of the second transistor. A voltage regulating unit is coupled to the voltage dividing circuit to receive a first divided voltage. The voltage regulating unit is configured to generate at least one of a positive voltage and a negative voltage related to the first divided voltage. The RF circuit is coupled to the voltage regulating unit to receive at least one of the positive voltage and the negative voltage. The RF circuit is configured to control an on state of at least one RF transmission path of the RF circuit according to the first voltage.
To make the features and advantages of the disclosure clear and easy to understand, the following gives a detailed description of embodiments with reference to accompanying drawings.
The term “coupled (or connected)” used in the entire specification (including the claims) may mean any direct or indirect connection means. For example, a first device coupled (connected) to a second device described herein should be interpreted as that the first device may be directly connected to the second device, or that the first device may be indirectly connected to the second device by other devices or by some means of connection. Terms such as “first” and “second” used in the entire specification (including the claims) are used to name components (elements) or to distinguish between different embodiments or ranges, and are not intended to define the upper or lower limit of the number of components or the order of components. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts, components or steps. For parts, components or steps denoted by same reference numbers or names, reference can be made to the related descriptions.
A first terminal (such as a source) of the transistor 211 may receive a control signal Vc1 (a first voltage). A first terminal (such as a source) of the transistor 212 may receive a control signal Vc2 (a second voltage). In other embodiments, the first terminal of the transistor 212 may receive a system voltage (a second voltage, such as a system voltage Vdd). In the embodiment shown in
A first connection terminal and a second connection terminal of the voltage dividing circuit 213 are coupled to a second terminal (such as a drain) of the transistor 211 and a second terminal (such as a drain) of the transistor 212, respectively. The voltage dividing circuit 213 divides a voltage of at least one of the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal to generate a divided voltage Vd1 and a divided voltage Vd2. According to a design demand, in some embodiments, the divided voltage Vd1 is greater than or equal to the divided voltage Vd2. In other embodiments, the divided voltage Vd1 may be less than the divided voltage Vd2. The divided voltage Vd1 may be used as an output voltage of the voltage generating device 210.
The divided voltage Vd2 may be used as a control voltage of the transistors 211 and 212. The divided voltage Vd2 is outputted to a control terminal (such as a gate) of the transistor 211 and a control terminal (such as a gate) of the transistor 212. For example, when the control signal Vc1 (the first voltage) is at a high logic level, and the control signal Vc2 (the second voltage) is at a low logic level, the transistor 211 transmits the control signal Vc1 to the voltage dividing circuit 213, and the voltage dividing circuit 213 divides a voltage of the control signal Vc1 to generate the divided voltage Vd1 and the divided voltage Vd2, so that the divided voltage Vd2 cuts off the transistor 212 and keeps the transistor 211 turning on or turns on the transistor 211.
The voltage generating device 210 may generate the divided voltage Vd1 and the divided voltage Vd2 by using the control signal Vc1 (the first voltage) and (or) the control signal Vc2 (the second voltage). Gate-source voltages of the transistors 211 and 212 may be adjusted through the divided voltage Vd2 generated by the voltage dividing circuit 213, to prevent the transistor 211 and (or) the transistor 212 from being broken down. For example, when the control signal Vc1 is at a high logic level (for example, 4.3 V), and the control signal Vc2 is at a low logic level (for example, 0 V), the transistor 211 is turned on/on, and the transistor 212 is cut off. The voltage dividing circuit 213 may divide a voltage of the control signal Vc1 (the first voltage) to generate a low divided voltage Vd2 (for example, 2 V) to a control terminal of the transistor 211 and to a control terminal of the transistor 212. Besides, the voltage level of the low divided voltage Vd2 should be low enough to keep the transistor 211 turning on but prevent the transistor 212 being breakdown. The gate-source voltages Vgs of the transistor 212 is 2 V−0 V=2 V, which does not exceed the gate-source breakdown voltage (for example, 3 V). Therefore, the transistor 212 could be prevented from being broken down. For an embodiment in which the transistor 211 is cut off, reference may also be made to related description of the transistor 212, and the descriptions thereof are omitted herein.
The voltage regulating unit 220 is coupled to the voltage dividing circuit 213 to receive the divided voltage Vd1. The voltage regulating unit 220 may generate at least one of a positive voltage Vpos and a negative voltage Vneg related to the divided voltage Vd1. The RF circuit 230 is coupled to the voltage regulating unit 220 to receive at least one of the positive voltage Vpos and the negative voltage Vneg. In some embodiments, the RF circuit 230 may control an on state of at least one RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 according to the control signal Vc1 (the first voltage). For example, when the control signal Vc1 is in a first logic state, the RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 may transmit an RF signal SRF to an RF transmission terminal RF1. When the control signal Vc1 is in a second logic state, the RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 may transmit the RF signal SRF to an RF transmission terminal RF2.
In some other embodiments, the RF circuit 230 may control the on state of the at least one RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 according to the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2. For example, when the control signal Vc1 is in the first logic state, and the control signal Vc2 is in the second logic state, the RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 may transmit the RF signal SRF to the RF transmission terminal RF1. When the control signal Vc1 is in the second logic state, and the control signal Vc2 is in the first logic state, the RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 may transmit the RF signal SRF to the RF transmission terminal RF2. When both the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2 are in the first logic state, the RF transmission path of the RF circuit 230 may transmit the RF signal SRF to the RF transmission terminal RF1 and the RF transmission terminal RF2. When both the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2 are in the second logic state, the RF circuit 230 does not transmit the RF signal SRF to the RF transmission terminal RF1 and the RF transmission terminal RF2.
According to a design demand, in some embodiments, the RF device 200 may further selectively include a capacitor 240. A first terminal of the capacitor 240 is coupled to the voltage dividing circuit 213 to receive the divided voltage Vd1. A second terminal of the capacitor 240 is coupled to a reference potential Vref (for example, a ground voltage GND). The capacitor 240 may suppress noise during switch of the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2 between logic states to provide a relatively stable divided voltage Vd1.
An anode of the diode circuit 320 is coupled to a second connection terminal of the voltage dividing circuit 213, so as to be coupled to the transistor 212. A cathode of the diode circuit 320 is coupled to the cathode of the diode circuit 310 to provide a divided voltage Vd1. In some embodiments, the diode circuit 320 may include one diode. In some other embodiments, the diode circuit 320 may include a diode string formed by a plurality of serially connected diodes. In the embodiment shown in
A first terminal of the voltage divider 330 is coupled to the cathodes of the diode circuits 310 and 320. A second terminal of the voltage divider 330 is coupled to a reference potential Vref (for example, a ground voltage GND). The voltage divider 330 may divide a voltage of the divided voltage Vd1 to generate a divided voltage Vd2 to be provided to the control terminals of the transistors 211 and 212. In the embodiment shown in
A first terminal of the impedance circuit 332 is coupled to a second terminal of the impedance circuit 331 to provide a divided voltage Vd2. A second terminal of the impedance circuit 332 is coupled to the second terminal of the voltage divider 330, so as to be coupled to the reference potential Vref. In some embodiments, the impedance circuit 332 may include one diode (or resistor). In some other embodiments, the impedance circuit 332 may include a plurality of diodes (and/or a plurality of resistors) that are serially connected to each other.
A first terminal of the impedance circuit 420 is coupled to a second connection terminal of the voltage dividing circuit 213, so as to be coupled to a transistor 212. In some embodiments, the impedance circuit 420 may include one diode (or resistor). In some other embodiments, the impedance circuit 420 may include at least one diode and at least one resistor that are serially connected to each other. In the embodiment shown in
A first terminal of the impedance circuit 430 is coupled to a second terminal of the impedance circuit 410 and a second terminal of the impedance circuit 420, to provide a divided voltage Vd1 and a divided voltage Vd2. A second terminal of the impedance circuit 430 is coupled to a reference potential Vref. In some embodiments, the impedance circuit 430 may include one diode (or resistor). In some other embodiments, the impedance circuit 430 may include at least one diode and at least one resistor that are serially connected to each other. In the embodiment shown in
The voltage generating circuit 222 is coupled to the voltage regulating circuit 221 to receive the regulating voltage Vreg. The voltage generating circuit 222 may generate at least one of a positive voltage Vpos and a negative voltage Vneg related to the regulating voltage Vreg. In the embodiment shown in
The charge pump 520 is coupled to the oscillator 510 to receive the clock signal CK. The charge pump 520 may generate the positive voltage Vpos and/or the negative voltage Vneg according to the clock signal CK. In the embodiment, an implementation of the charge pump 520 is not limited. For example, according to a design demand, the charge pump 520 may include a known charge pump circuit or other charge pump circuits. Levels of the positive voltage Vpos and the negative voltage Vneg may be determined according to a design demand.
For example, when the control signal Vc1 is at a high logic level, the drive circuit 231 may select to output the positive voltage Vpos as the control voltage C1, and select to output the negative voltage Vneg as the control voltage C1B. When the control signal Vc1 is at a low logic level, the drive circuit 231 may select to output the negative voltage Vneg as the control voltage C1, and select to output the positive voltage Vpos as the control voltage C1B.
The RF transmission circuit 232 is coupled to the drive circuit 231 to receive the control voltage C1 and the control voltage C1B. The RF transmission circuit 232 may control an on state of an RF transmission path according to the control voltage C1 and the control voltage C1B. In the embodiment shown in
A first terminal of the resistor R2 is coupled to the second terminal of the RF switch SW1. A second terminal of the resistor R2 is configured to receive a bias voltage Vbias. A first terminal of the switch SW3 is coupled to the second terminal of the RF switch SW1. A control terminal of the switch SW3 is controlled by the control voltage C1B. A second terminal of the switch SW3 is configured to receive the bias voltage Vbias. A first terminal of the resistor R3 is coupled to the second terminal of the RF switch SW2. A second terminal of the resistor R3 is configured to receive a bias voltage Vbias. A first terminal of the switch SW4 is coupled to the second terminal of the RF switch SW2. A control terminal of the switch SW4 is controlled by the control voltage C1. A second terminal of the switch SW4 is configured to receive the bias voltage Vbias. The bias voltage Vbias may be, for example, a ground voltage GND or a fixed voltage.
When the control signal Vc1 is at a high logic level, the RF switch SW1 is conducted, and the RF switch SW2 is cut off. When the control signal Vc1 is at a low logic level, the RF switch SW1 is cut off, and the RF switch SW2 is conducted. According to logic states of the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2, the RF signal SRF may be transmitted to the RF transmission terminal RF1 or the RF transmission terminal RF2.
A first power supply terminal of the drive circuit 234 is coupled to the voltage regulating unit 220 to receive a positive voltage Vpos. A second power supply terminal of the drive circuit 234 is coupled to the voltage regulating unit 220 to receive a negative voltage Vneg. The drive circuit 234 may generate a control voltage C2 related to a control signal Vc2 (a second voltage). For example, when the control signal Vc2 is at a high logic level, the drive circuit 234 may select to output a positive voltage Vpos as the control voltage C2. When the control signal Vc2 is at a low logic level, the drive circuit 234 may select to output a negative voltage Vneg as the control voltage C2.
The RF transmission circuit 235 is coupled to the drive circuit 233 and the drive circuit 234 to receive the control voltage C1 and the control voltage C2. The RF transmission circuit 235 may control an on state of an RF transmission path according to the control voltage C1 and the control voltage C2. In the embodiment shown in
Therefore, when both the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2 are at a low logic level, both the RF switch SW1 and the RF switch SW2 are cut off. When the control signal Vc1 is at a high logic level, and the control signal Vc2 is at a low logic level, the RF switches SW1 and SW4 are conducted, and the RF switches SW2 and SW3 are cut off, and an RF signal SRF may be transmitted to an RF transmission terminal RF1. When the control signal Vc1 is at a low logic level, and the control signal Vc2 is at a high logic level, the RF switches SW1 and SW4 are cut off, and the RF switches SW2 and SW3 are conducted, and the RF signal SRF may be transmitted to an RF transmission terminal RF2. In other words, according to logic states of the control signal Vc1 and the control signal Vc2, the RF signal SRF may be transmitted to the RF transmission terminal RF1 or the RF transmission terminal RF2.
Based on the foregoing, the voltage generating device 210 in the embodiments of the disclosure may generate the divided voltage Vd1 and the divided voltage Vd2 using the first voltage (such as the control signal Vc1) and/or the second voltage (such as the control signal Vc2 or a system voltage Vdd). The divided voltage Vd1 may be used as an output voltage of the voltage generating device 210, and the divided voltage Vd2 may be used as a control voltage of the transistor 211 and the transistor 212. Gate-source voltages of the transistors 211 and 212 may be adjusted through the divided voltage Vd2 generated by the voltage dividing circuit, to prevent the transistor 211 and (or) the transistor 212 from being broken down.
Although the disclosure is described with reference to the above embodiments, the embodiments are not intended to limit the disclosure. A person of ordinary skill in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the disclosure should be subject to the appended claims.
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