Patent · US Expired

Modified cascode circuit

US5049835A · kind A · utility

3Cited by
0References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 27, 1990
Grant dateSep 17, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 27, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F1/226
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Conventional cascode circuits achieve a performance which is not optimum. To enhance performance, the cascode circuit of the present invention has an input stage FET that has a saturation current which is greater than the saturation current of the output stage common gate FET. Since the maximum power of a cascode circuit is related to the maximum voltage swing at the drain of the common gate FET, when the saturation current of the common source FET is greater than that of the common gate FET, the common source FET essentially acts as a switch to turn the common gate FET fully on, without dissipating any appreciable voltage from the same, so that a maximum voltage swing may be produced at the drain of the common gate FET.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.