An RF amplifier comprising an input-transistor having an input-transistor-base terminal, an input-transistor-collector terminal and an input-transistor-emitter terminal; a degeneration-component connected between the input-transistor-emitter terminal and a ground terminal; and a protection-transistor having a protection-transistor-base terminal, a protection-transistor-collector terminal and a protection-transistor-emitter terminal. The input-transistor-base terminal is connected to the protection-transistor-emitter terminal, and the protection-transistor-base terminal is connected to the input-transistor-emitter.

Provided is an amplifier circuit including an NMOS transistor having a low drain breakdown voltage and an NMOS transistor having a high drain breakdown voltage connected in series thereto, and capable of preventing breakdown of a drain of the NMOS transistor having a low drain breakdown voltage. A clamp circuit configured to limit a drain voltage of the NMOS transistor having a low drain breakdown voltage is connected to the drain thereof.

Apparatus and methods for amplifier input-overvoltage protection with low leakage current are provided herein. In certain embodiments, amplifier input circuitry for an amplifier includes a pair of input terminals, a pair of input transistors each having a control input (for instance, a transistor gate), a pair of protection transistors each connected between one of the input terminals and the control input of a corresponding one of the input transistors, and a bidirectional clamp connected between the control inputs of the input transistors. Implementing the amplifier input circuitry in this manner provides a number of advantages including, but not limited to, robust protection against input overvoltage and low input-leakage current.

Circuits and methods for providing a protection circuit that provides improved protection of DC-biased IC terminals, particularly for LNAs lacking a DC blocking input capacitor. Novel circuitry provides circuit protection against large signals and is comparable in performance to an anti-parallel diode voltage clamp for a non-DC biased IC input. The novel protection circuitry makes use of a series-diode protection circuit but adds a two-state circuit. For small signals at an IC terminal, the two-state circuit keeps the series diodes of the series-diode protection circuit reverse-biased. However, for high voltage swings at an IC terminal, the two-state circuit couples the inputs to the series-diode protection circuit so that the diodes behave like anti-parallel diodes, despite the presence of a DC bias on the IC input. The added two-state circuit has a minimal impact on circuit performance (e.g., noise-figure or gain for an LNA).

A power amplifier with clamp and feedback protection circuitry is disclosed. In one aspect, the power amplifier is initially protected by a fast-acting clamp circuit whose overall size is relatively limited. Subsequent operation allows a comparatively slow acting feedback loop to dominate the protection of the power amplifier. By providing the two protection circuits, each optimized for a particular phase of protection, the overall size of the associated protection circuitry may be diminished while still protecting the power amplifier from failure-inducing conditions.

A clamping circuit that may be used to provide efficient and effective voltage clamping in an RF front end. The clamping circuit comprises two series coupled signal path switches and a bypass switch coupled in parallel with the series coupled signal path switches. A diode is coupled from a point between the series coupled signal path switches to a reference potential. In addition, an output selection switch within an RF front end has integrated voltage clamping to more effectively clamp the output voltage from the RF front end. Additional output clamping circuits can be used at various places along a direct gain signal path, along an attenuated gain path and along a bypass path.

A class D amplifier driving circuit is used to generate an output gate driving voltage according to an input voltage that dynamically varies with the amplitude of an audio signal, and the driving voltage is used to drive the high-voltage transistor of the class D amplifier. The class D amplifier driving circuit includes: a reference voltage generation circuit for generating a second reference voltage according to a first reference voltage; a clamping circuit for clamping the input voltage; a low dropout (LDO) linear regulator pre-stage for generating an intermediate voltage according to the second reference voltage; and an LDO linear regulator output stage for generating the driving voltage according to the input voltage and the intermediate voltage.

Apparatus and method for detecting and clamping power of a power amplifier are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a power amplifier system includes a power amplifier that amplifies a radio frequency input signal to generate a radio frequency output signal, a bias circuit that controls a bias of the power amplifier, a radio frequency coupler that generates a radio frequency coupled signal based on the radio frequency output signal, a clamp that selectively clamps the bias of the power amplifier, and a power detector that controls the clamp based on the radio frequency coupled signal.

Apparatus and method for detecting and clamping power of a power amplifier are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a power amplifier system includes a power amplifier that amplifies a radio frequency input signal to generate a radio frequency output signal, a bias circuit that controls a bias of the power amplifier, a radio frequency coupler that generates a radio frequency coupled signal based on the radio frequency output signal, a clamp that selectively clamps the bias of the power amplifier, and a power detector that controls the clamp based on the radio frequency coupled signal.

A power amplifier with clamp and feedback protection circuitry is disclosed. In one aspect, the power amplifier is initially protected by a fast-acting clamp circuit whose overall size is relatively limited. Subsequent operation allows a comparatively slowly acting feedback loop to dominate the protection of the power amplifier. By providing the two protection circuits, each optimized for a particular phase of protection, the overall size of associated protection circuitry may be diminished while still protecting the power amplifier from failure inducing conditions.