A digitally-controlled transimpedance amplifier (TIA) circuit is provided in which a plurality of feedback loops are digitally controlled, including, but not limited to, the DC offset cancellation loop, the variable gain control loop, and the TIA feedback impedance adjustment loop. The digitally-controlled TIA circuit includes digital loop-control circuitry that consumes less area on the TIA IC chip than the analog circuitry traditionally used to perform the feedback loop control in the analog domain. In addition, because digital logic continues to shrink as IC processes continue to evolve, the size of the IC chip packages will further decrease over time, leading to a smaller footprint in systems in which they are employed. The digital loop control circuitry is also capable of independently varying the gains of multiple gain stages of the variable gain control circuit to provide better control over the gain stages and better overall performance of the TIA circuit.

The present invention provides an RF power amplifier architecture which with dynamic digital control of the amplification by incorporating digitized RF input and output signal envelope data and environmental temperature sensor(s) readings into an arbitrary control algorithm implemented on a digital processor. Via the combination of digitally controlled DC/DC converter and a D/A converter, the quiescent bias of the power FET of the RF output stage can become a realization of virtually any function of the feedback and input data.

A differential amplifier which does not have an effect of noise resistance deterioration, waveform distortion, and a lower bandwidth while having a wide input range is realized. The differential amplifier does not cause deterioration in a signal quality due to an increase in an input load, and it is not necessary to additionally provide a configuration for generating a reference voltage. The differential amplifier includes a differential amplification circuit and an output circuit for amplifying and outputting a differential output from the differential amplification circuit. The differential amplification circuit includes a first conductive type first differential pair which supplies output currents according to a positive phase input signal and a reverse phase input signal to the output circuit, a second conductive type second differential pair which supplies output currents according to a positive phase input signal and a reverse phase input signal to the output circuit, a detector which detects an operation state of a differential pair, and an alternative current supplying circuit which supplies an alternative current for the output current of the differential pair which has been turned off to the output circuit.

Disclosed is a transimpedance amplifier, comprising a first-stage trans-conductance amplifier TCA, a second-stage TCA, a third-stage amplifier and a feedback circuit. The first-stage TCA is electrically connected to an input current source to receive a first input signal, and outputs a first output signal. The second-stage TCA is electrically connected to the first-stage TCA to receive the first output signal, and outputs a second output signal. The third-stage amplifier is electrically connected to the second-stage TCA to receive the second output signal, and outputs a third output signal. One end of the feedback circuit is electrically connected to the input of the first-stage TCA, and the other end of the feedback circuit is electrically connected to the output of the third-stage amplifier to stabilize the third output signal. The third-stage amplifier is composed of a first output stage and a second output stage.

Disclosed is a transimpedance amplifier, comprising a first-stage trans-conductance amplifier TCA, a second-stage TCA, a third-stage amplifier and a feedback circuit. The first-stage TCA is electrically connected to an input current source to receive a first input signal, and outputs a first output signal. The second-stage TCA is electrically connected to the first-stage TCA to receive the first output signal, and outputs a second output signal. The third-stage amplifier is electrically connected to the second-stage TCA to receive the second output signal, and outputs a third output signal. One end of the feedback circuit is electrically connected to the input of the first-stage TCA, and the other end of the feedback circuit is electrically connected to the output of the third-stage amplifier to stabilize the third output signal. The third-stage amplifier is composed of a first output stage and a second output stage.

Power consumption of a signal processing circuit is reduced. Further, power consumption of a semiconductor device including the signal processing circuit is reduced. The signal processing circuit includes a reference voltage generation circuit, a voltage divider circuit, an operational amplifier, a bias circuit for supplying bias current to the operational amplifier, and first and second holding circuits. The first holding circuit is connected between the reference voltage generation circuit and the bias circuit. The second holding circuit is connected between the voltage divider circuit and a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier. Reference voltage from the reference voltage generation circuit and reference voltage from the voltage divider circuit can be held in the first and second holding circuits, respectively, so that the reference voltage generation circuit can stop operating. Thus, power consumption of the reference voltage generation circuit can be reduced.

Circuitry, which includes a package interface, a radio frequency (RF) amplification circuit, and a closed-loop gain linearization circuit. The package interface receives an RF signal and provides an amplified RF signal. The RF amplification circuit amplifies the RF signal in accordance with a gain of the RF amplification circuit so as to generate the amplified RF signal. In one embodiment, the closed-loop gain linearization circuit is configured to endogenously establish a target gain magnitude using the RF signal and linearize the gain of the RF amplification circuit in accordance with the target gain magnitude. By endogenously establishing the target gain magnitude using the RF signal, the closed-loop gain linearization circuit can provide linearity with greater independence from external control circuitry.

A low noise amplifier includes an amplifier transistor having a source, a gate, and a drain. An input node is coupled to the gate. An output node is coupled to the drain. An inductor is coupled between the gate and the drain.

Radio Frequency (RF) amplifiers with voltage limiting using non-linear feedback are presented herein. According to one aspect, an RF amplifier comprises an amplifier circuit having an input terminal and an output terminal and a non-linear feedback circuit having an input terminal and an output terminal. The input terminal of the non-linear feedback circuit is connected to the output terminal of the amplifier circuit and the output terminal of the non-linear feedback circuit is connected to the amplifier circuit to reduce the gain of the amplifier circuit when an RF voltage swing present at the input terminal of the non-linear feedback circuit exceeds a predefined threshold. In one embodiment, the output terminal of the non-linear feedback circuit is connected to the input terminal of the amplifier circuit. In another embodiment, the output terminal of the non-linear feedback circuit is connected to a bias circuit of the amplifier circuit.

This application relates to circuitry for monitoring for instability of an amplifier. The amplifier (100) has a first signal path between an amplifier input (IN.sub.N) and an amplifier output (V.sub.OUT) and a feedback path from the output to form a feedback loop with at least part of the first signal path. A comparator (212) has a first input configured to receive a first signal (IN.sub.N) derived from a first amplifier node which is part of said feedback loop and a second input configured to receive a second signal (IN.sub.P) derived from a second amplifier node which varies with the signal at the amplifier input but does not form part of said feedback loop. The comparator is configured to compare the first signal to the second signal and generate a comparison signal (COMP), wherein in the event of amplifier instability the comparison signal comprises a characteristic indicative of amplifier instability.