{
  "patent_number": "US 9141832",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Combining Radio Signals Efficiently with Special Wires",
  "original_title": "Multiway lossless power combining and outphasing incorporating transmission lines",
  "summary": "MIT's 2015 patent describes a clever way to combine multiple radio signals using specific lengths of transmission lines to boost power efficiently and linearly.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent details a system for combining radio frequency (RF) signals from multiple input ports into a single output port. It uses specially designed transmission lines, which are like wires that carry electrical signals. The key is that these transmission lines have precise lengths, specifically a quarter wavelength plus or minus a small, non-zero length (ΔL), or a half wavelength plus or minus a delta length. These lengths are arranged in a specific configuration, often a binary tree, to combine the signals. This method aims to amplify the combined signal linearly (without distortion) over a wide range of power levels and frequencies, while maintaining high efficiency. For example, Claim 7 describes a four-way combiner with two stages, where each signal path uses transmission lines with lengths of one-half wavelength plus or minus a specific delta length.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Combining systems that use transmission lines with lengths that are exact multiples of a quarter or half wavelength without any delta length.",
    "Power combining systems that are not designed for radio frequencies.",
    "Systems that do not use a binary tree configuration for combining signals (as specified in Claim 2).",
    "Combiners where the transmission line segments are not coupled to at least one other transmission line segment.",
    "Methods that do not achieve both wide-bandwidth linear amplification and high average efficiency simultaneously."
  ],
  "filed": "2013-03-15",
  "granted": "2015-09-22",
  "expires": "2033-03-15",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Massachusetts Institute of Technology",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/massachusetts-institute-of-technology",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "David J. Perreault",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/david-j-perreault"
    },
    {
      "name": "Taylor W. Barton",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/taylor-w-barton"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexander Sergeev Jurkov",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/alexander-sergeev-jurkov"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 11,
  "tags": [
    "telecommunications",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "semiconductors"
  ],
  "abstract": "A power combining and outphasing system and related techniques for simultaneously providing both wide-bandwidth linear amplification and high average efficiency is described. Providing linear amplification encompasses the ability to dynamically control an RF output power level over a wide range while still operating over a wide frequency bandwidth. The system and techniques described herein also operate to maintain high efficiency across a wide range of output power levels, such that a high average efficiency can be achieved for highly modulated output waveforms.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9141832/multiway-lossless-power-combining-and-outphasing-incorporating-transmission-line",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9141832/multiway-lossless-power-combining-and-outphasing-incorporating-transmission-line/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US9141832",
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}