editor's blog
Subscribe Now

Tracking the Envelope

For the last couple years, “envelope tracking” has caught on as a way to reduce power in phones, cellular base stations, and digital broadcast transmitters. The idea is that RF power amplifiers are most efficient when the signal amplitude runs near the drain voltage, operating in or near saturation or “compression.” When the signal isn’t running that high, then, with a constant power level on the amplifier, the remainder of that power is wasted as heat.

With envelope tracking (ET), the signal envelope is detected and fed to a power modulator that keeps the power amp’s voltage supply in the range of the signal it’s fed.

The OpenET Alliance exists to promote ET and facilitate an ET ecosystem. Towards that end, it just released a set of IP blocks for critical parts of the design. Of course, access to these blocks is touted as a benefit of membership (and, indeed, “… exceed[ing] the value of the first year’s membership fees…”).

More info in their release

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
May 21, 2025
The term "brassed off"'”an informal British idiom meaning annoyed, fed up, or unhappy'”reflects a kind of period-specific British vernacular that has faded in modern times...

featured paper

How Google and Intel use Calibre DesignEnhancer to reduce IR drop and improve reliability

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Through real-world examples from Intel and Google, we highlight how Calibre’s DesignEnhancer maximizes layout modifications while ensuring DRC compliance.

Click here for more information

featured chalk talk

Industrial Internet of Things
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and CUI Inc.
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Bruce Rose from CUI Inc explore power supply design concerns associated with IIoT applications. They investigate the roles that thermal conduction and convection play in these power supplies and the benefits that CUI Inc. power supplies bring to these kinds of designs.
Aug 16, 2024
50,957 views