Apparatus and methods for high voltage variable capacitor arrays with body-to-gate diodes

摘要

Apparatus and methods for high voltage variable capacitors are provided herein. In certain configurations, an integrated circuit (IC) includes a variable capacitor array and a bias voltage generation circuit that biases the variable capacitor array to control the array's capacitance. The variable capacitor array includes a plurality of variable capacitor cells electrically connected in parallel between a radio frequency (RF) input and an RF output of the IC. Additionally, each of the variable capacitor cells can include a cascade of two or more pairs of anti-series metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors between the RF input and the RF output. The pairs of anti-series MOS capacitors include a first MOS capacitor and a second MOS capacitor electrically connected in anti-series. The bias voltage generation circuit generates bias voltages for biasing the MOS capacitors of the variable capacitor cells.

主权项

1. An integrated circuit comprising:
a variable capacitor array including at least three variable capacitor cells electrically connected in parallel between a radio frequency (RF) input and an RF output, wherein each of the at least three variable capacitor cells includes:
two or more pairs of anti-series metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors electrically connected in series between the RF input and the RF output, wherein a first pair of the two or more pairs of anti-series MOS capacitors comprises a first MOS capacitor and a second MOS capacitor electrically connected in anti-series, and wherein a second pair of the two or more pairs of anti-series MOS capacitors comprises a third MOS capacitor and a fourth MOS capacitor electrically connected in anti-series; anda plurality of diodes configured to control a plurality of body voltages of the two or more pairs of anti-series MOS capacitors of each of the at least three variable capacitor cells to increase a power handling capability of each of the at least three variable capacitor cells,wherein the integrated circuit does not include any switches along a signal path between the RF input and the RF output through the variable capacitor array.