[Amps] interesting RF amplifier patents discussed over there

[John Lyles]

On the AM Window, I posted mention of a patent I found last week:

A new one, US#7,355,470 just issued to 3 guys at ParkerVision Inc.
Heres a link to it:
http://tinyurl.com/6ktlyj

This patent is ~171 pages long, over half of it being single diagrams and schematics, one per page. The rest of it is mostly mathematical derivations of various modulations created by techniques such as Chireix outphasing. I cannot figure out what is unique about it, what did their claims cover? I think it was such a massive application that the Patent Office was swamped, and just awarded another number. Obviously, someone thought this was original work.

To me it appears as a poorly organizated regurgitation of everything you wanted to know about high efficiency outphasing transmitter, EER, LINC transmitter topologies. What IS useful is that this patent pretty much lists as references every patent back 50+ years on high efficiency power amplifiers, using these modulation techniques. Its a nice list that by itself gives us a great place to search for the real thang. Finally, it has a huge 'other publications list' which also covers almost everything that has been published in this arena. More bizarre, I found my own name in this list, with a link to an online discussion on the RCA Ampliphase design, "Amplifuzz", on the Amps at contesting.com in 2005. So maybe these guys read AMPS? Or just did a search on Ampliphase and found this. 

The Barron's article on these guys (Jeff Parker) says a lot.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB119647334993210312.html?mod=googlenews_barrons

Interesting way to make a buck, though, by short selling their stock at the same time running a website dispelling the myths of Parkervisions technology. PV  basically tried to patent Chiriex Outphasing modulation. It was an elegant invention in its time, and Ampliphase was the name that RCA trademarked in their BC transmitter line in the 1960s. Hard to understand ParkerVisions stuff. They attempted to sell 802.11.g WIFI boxes to consumers, and left that market few years ago. Their website lists technology, in vague terms, and even has a page of measurements of efficiency versus power level for various forms of digital modulation, made with real Agilent test equipment. Yet there are no products for sale (just technology?). If you listen to their latest investor conference call (on the PV Notes website) you hear how they cannot tell their investors who their potential new customers are, but that turnaround is just around the corner. 

Steve Cripps' review of their vector modulation patent sums it up, tecnically:
http://www.pvnotes.com/d2p-patent-analysis

73
K5PRO