Modulating Transmitter Power Supplies for Improved Battery Life in Wideband Applications

Envelope tracking (ET) has become very popular for enhancing battery life in mobile communication devices that employ high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) signals. As the demand for higher bandwidths and data rates increases, the need for wideband ET emerges. Can envelope tracking really work for wideband applications? What are the challenges? What type of circuit techniques can be used? This presentation will cover in details the design methodology of a fully integrated, reconfigurable wideband ET modulator. The ET modulator directly interfaces with a battery (Vbat) and is fully integrated within a complete WLAN transceiver with RF, digital, and frequency synthesizer.