摘要 |
Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for processing an input information signal having varying amplitude and phase to obtain an amplified output signal having the same amplitude and phase variation. In an exemplary method, an input information signal is decomposed into two pairs of constant-envelope component signals such that the vector sum of the first pair is orthogonal to the vector sum of the second pair, for desired signal amplitudes below a level corresponding to a pre-determined threshold. For desired signal amplitudes above this level, the input information signal is instead decomposed into two pairs of constant-envelope component signals such that the vector sum of the first pair is separated by less than ninety degrees from the vector sum of the second pair. The constant-envelope component signals may be amplified by highly-efficient non-linear amplifier elements and combined to obtain the amplified output signal.
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