Broadband Class-EM Power Amplifier with Double Reactance Compensation Technique

This paper presents the design of a multi-octave power amplifier (PA) using extended class B to class J continuous mode. In a multi-octave PA, an overlapping exists between the higher harmonic frequencies of the lower octave and the fundamental frequency of the higher octave. Therefore, a PA mode with overlapping between fundamental and second harmonic impedances is suitable to design a multioctave PA. An extended class B to class J continuous mode consists of overlapping between fundamental and second harmonic impedances. However, the design of a multi-octave PA is not straightforward. The impedance selected in each octave is important to design a highly-efficiency multi-octave PA. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology to choose the appropriate load in each octave to design extended class B to class J continuous mode PA. This paper also presents a valid range of design variables for the transistor’s reliable operation. The proof of concept PA has been designed using 10 W Wolfspeed GaN HEMT CGH40010F. The designed PA operates from 0.75 to 2.75 GHz. The corresponding fractional bandwidth is 114.2%. The measured drain efficiency, power added efficiency, and output power are 60-73.6%, 53-67.8%, and 39.3-42.3 dBm, respectively. The measured carrier to third-order intermodulation distortion is better than -15 dBc when tested with a 20 MHz spacing two-tone signal.

High performance broadband distributed power amplifier (PA) design relies on the co-design of input signal distribution and non-isolated output combiner to take maximum advantage of the resulting load-pulling effects at both fundamental and higher harmonics. Due to the load-pulling and the need to consider higher harmonics, PA operation is not readily expressed analytically. In this work this is addressed by using a numerical linear multi-harmonic calculation method for rapid circuit evaluation and optimization. This linear approach targets good broadband performance without relying on nonlinear saturation effects. An initial investigation is performed to find suitable input network and output combiner topologies for a two-cell PA configuration. A demonstrator is then designed based on the findings, where a 3-dB hybrid coupler with an offset transmission line in one branch is used to produce a frequency dependent phase difference between transistor cells. Measuring the PA at 40-V supply and 1-dB compression the output power is in the 43–46 dBm range with corresponding efficiencies of 46–58% across 0.85–2.7 GHz, whereas saturated efficiencies are typically in the 60%-range. The simultaneous combination of high output power and high efficiency reported across 100% fractional bandwidth is state-of-the-art and clearly shows the merit of the proposed PA design approach.

A high efficient GaN HEMT power amplifier with a new topology is presented for to be used at 3.4-3.7 GHz band. Short sections of the Microstrip-lines are used as harmonic traps at the load network in order to improve the efficiency. The fabricated GaN HEMT amplifier delivers 37.5 dBm saturated output power and the maximum power-added efficiency of 80% and a maximum drain efficiency of 83% are obtained at 3.6 GHz. These values represent the state-of-the-art performance efficiencies at S-Band.

We discuss the broadband design of high-efficiency GaN power amplifiers (PAs) using continuous modes. A Machine Learning approach to the full EM-based optimization of a hybrid design is first outlined and demonstrated experimentally. We then consider the challenges of achieving high efficiency in a broadband integrated PA, including the features of GaN transistors that facilitate broadband operation. It is shown that proper sizing of transistor can lead to an optimum load resistance close to 50fl, thereby extending the bandwidth of the output matching network of the PA in an integrated environment. We present techniques to realize the continuous-mode operation in an integrated GaN PA, with low loss and compact chip size. Finally, we show predicted results for the integrated GaN PA implementation.

Design and implementation of a high-efficiency concurrent dual-band power amplifier

Improvement of power amplifier’s performance is the desired topic in communication systems. There are many efforts are made to provide good input and output matching, high efficiency, sufficient power gain and appropriate output power. This paper presents a power amplifier with optimized input and output matching networks. In the proposed approach, a new structure of the Hidden Markov Model with 20 hidden states is used for modeling the power amplifier. The widths and lengths of the microstrip lines in the input and output matching networks are defined as the parameters that the Hidden Markov Model should optimize. For validating our algorithm, a power amplifier has been realized based on a 10W GaN HEMT with part number CG2H40010F from the Cree corporation. Measurement results have shown a PAE higher than 50%, a Gain of about 14 dB, and input and output return losses lower than -10 dB over the frequency range of 1.8–2.5 GHz. The proposed PA can be used in wireless applications such as radar systems.

This thesis researches the design of transceiver front-end RF amplifiers for Bluetooth applications in GPDK 45 nm CMOS technology. The target of the design was to minimize the transceiver's power consumption while achieving the best device operating performances. The design of a band-pass low noise amplifier (LNA) used for the receiver and the design of a power amplifier (PA) used for the transmitter were presented. Both amplifiers were designed in 45 nm CMOS technology with a DC supply voltage under 1.2 V to meet Bluetooth specifications at 2.45 GHz operating frequency. The LNA was designed to achieve a minimum small signal gain of at least 15 dB10 with a NF less than 2 dB10 and a reasonable input range for linearity at 1 mW operating power consumption. The PA was designed based on class E switching power amplifier configuration to achieve a minimum of 40% drain efficiency for 100 mW (Bluetooth Class 1) output power. Research on low power high performance Bluetooth device front-end RF amplifiers was conducted through studies of wireless communication modulation schemes, impedance matching networks, and trade-offs between performance parameters. In summation, this thesis searched for, explored, and analyzed possible methodologies that could be used to design RF CMOS amplifiers of Bluetooth applications.

This paper presents a method for bandwidth extension in high-efficiency power amplifier (PA) design. With a phase shift in voltage waveform of the continuous class-F mode, real part of harmonic impedance is generated to expand the impedance design space at the expense of little lossy of performance. The simulation and measurement, conducted on a broadband PA covering 1.9-3.1 GHz based on the proposed method, show a good agreement with the theory. Measured results show that the fabricated PA has a drain efficiency of 66.5%-75% when delivering 41-42.3 dBm output power with a gain of 11-12.7 dB. Under a 20-MHz LTE signal excitation at 2.6 GHz, the PA exhibits an adjacent channel leakage ratio of -36.5 dBc at an average output power of 35 dBm without linearization.

A two-stage power amplifier (PA) using GaN HEMTs is presented with a high power added efficiency (PAE) and good linearity. This PA employs a structure of a class-C PA driving a class-AB PA to obtain a high PAE while maintaining the linearity. Source-pull and load-pull techniques were implemented to achieve optimum output impedance and inter-stage matching condition to compromise the PAE and the linearity of the overall circuit. When producing a two-tone carrier-to-intermodulation (C/I) ratio of 30 dB with the 1 MHz space, the two-stage PA exhibits a maximum PAE of 47% with an output power of 3 W at 3.7 GHz. The PA provides a maximum output power of 7 W with the gain of 15.8 dB.

In this paper, a hybrid continuous inverse mode for designing broadband high-efficiency power amplifiers (PAs) is for the first time analyzed mathematically. The hybrid continuous inverse mode contains the classical continuous inverse Class-F mode, the continuous inverse F mode with maximally flat current waveforms and the inverse Class-B to Class-J continuum mode and so on, which provides alternative design space for realizing the broadband high-efficiency PAs. And a high-efficiency PA at the center frequency of 3.45 GHz is designed to verify this theory. Experimental results show that the implemented PA can output 10.5–16 W saturation power with drain efficiency (DE) over 70% from 3.2 to 3.7 GHz. Meanwhile, for a 5 MHz two-tone signal, drain efficiency of 40.3%–48% is measured with an average output power of 34–36.5 dBm at a two-tone carrier-to-intermodulation ratio (C/I) of 30 dBc.

A series of novel continuous inverse modes based on current element is proposed. The series of novel continuous inverse mode is extended by increasing the coefficient in the current equation of traditional inverse class F power amplifier (PA). The theoretical analysis shows that new current equation can provide a wide matching space for the design of broadband high efficiency PAs. To prove this theory, a wideband high efficiency PA is designed and fabricated. The experimental test results show that the drain efficiency is 65-78% in the 1.8-3G frequency range. The designed PA can obtain output power from 12.9 to 21 W and gain is from 10 to 13.3 dB in the interesting frequency range.

Developments within modern nonlinear measurement systems offer an increasing degree of flexibility to the microwave power amplifier (PA) designer. The PA designer has historically been a driving factor in setting the development directions of new measurement systems, fueling the paradigm, that PA innovations largely push new measurement requirements. It would appear that measurement system manufacturers are now the ones pushing the technology envelope. This paper discusses current trends within modern nonlinear measurement systems to determine who is leading whom and whether the aforementioned paradigm is shifting.

The bandwidth covered by contemporary communication technologies has reached over an octave. But most existing power amplifier (PA) configurations cannot meet this requirement while at the same time maintaining a high efficiency. Therefore, a novel structure for bandwidth enhancement at a high efficiency level is proposed together with the systematic design methodology in this article. The difficulty lies in the overlap of the fundamental and harmonic frequencies. On this issue, the extended continuous Class-B/J mode can extend the impedance of the second harmonic to a resistive-reactive and relax design requirements for overlapping design space of fundamental and second harmonic frequencies. Specifically, the presented innovative circuit structure uses the multiple frequencies matching method to manipulate four fundamental and the corresponding second harmonics frequency points simultaneously, which can further effectively expand the bandwidth on the basis of the extended continuous Class-B/J PA. To verify the validity of the proposed theory, a gallium nitride multioctave PA is designed, implemented, and measured. Measured results show a fractional bandwidth of 148.4% from 0.4 to 2.7 GHz, with drain efficiency of 63%-78%, saturated output power greater than 39 dBm, and large signal gain larger than 9 dB. For the single carrier WCDMA signal with a channel bandwidth of 3.84 MHz and a peak to average power ratio of 6 dB, the adjacent channel power ratio of −47.5 to −35 dBc and −42.8 to −31.5 dBc at an average output power of 33 and 36 dBm separately are achieved over the whole frequency band.

Preface. About the Authors. Acknowledgments. 1 Power Amplifier Fundamentals. 1.1 Introduction. 1.2 Definition of Power Amplifier Parameters. 1.3 Distortion Parameters. 1.4 Power Match Condition. 1.5 Class of Operation. 1.6 Overview of Semiconductors for PAs. 1.7 Devices for PA. 1.8 Appendix: Demonstration of Useful Relationships. 1.9 References. 2 Power Amplifier Design. 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Design Flow. 2.3 Simplified Approaches. 2.4 The Tuned Load Amplifier. 2.5 Sample Design of a Tuned Load PA. 2.6 References. 3 Nonlinear Analysis for Power Amplifiers. 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Linear vs. Nonlinear Circuits. 3.3 Time Domain Integration. 3.4 Example. 3.5 Solution by Series Expansion. 3.6 The Volterra Series. 3.7 The Fourier Series. 3.8 The Harmonic Balance. 3.9 Envelope Analysis. 3.10 Spectral Balance. 3.11 Large Signal Stability Issue. 3.12 References. 4 Load Pull. 4.1 Introduction. 4.2 Passive Source/Load Pull Measurement Systems. 4.3 Active Source/Load Pull Measurement Systems. 4.4 Measurement Test-sets. 4.5 Advanced Load Pull Measurements. 4.6 Source/Load Pull Characterization. 4.7 Determination of Optimum Load Condition. 4.8 Appendix: Construction of Simplified Load Pull Contours through Linear Simulations. 4.9 References. 5 High Efficiency PA Design Theory. 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 Power Balance in a PA. 5.3 Ideal Approaches. 5.4 High Frequency Harmonic Tuning Approaches. 5.5 High Frequency Third Harmonic Tuned (Class F). 5.6 High Frequency Second Harmonic Tuned. 5.7 High Frequency Second and Third Harmonic Tuned. 5.8 Design by Harmonic Tuning. 5.9 Final Remarks. 5.10 References. 6 Switched Amplifiers. 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 The Ideal Class E Amplifier. 6.3 Class E Behavioural Analysis. 6.4 Low Frequency Class E Amplifier Design. 6.5 Class E Amplifier Design with 50# Duty-cycle. 6.6 Examples of High Frequency Class E Amplifiers. 6.7 Class E vs. Harmonic Tuned. 6.8 Class E Final Remarks. 6.9 Appendix: Demonstration of Useful Relationships. 6.10 References. 7 High Frequency Class F Power Amplifiers. 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 Class F Description Based on Voltage Wave-shaping. 7.3 High Frequency Class F Amplifiers. 7.4 Bias Level Selection. 7.5 Class F Output Matching Network Design. 7.6 Class F Design Examples. 7.7 References. 8 High Frequency Harmonic Tuned Power Amplifiers. 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 Theory of Harmonic Tuned PA Design. 8.3 Input Device Nonlinear Phenomena: Theoretical Analysis. 8.4 Input Device Nonlinear Phenomena: Experimental Results. 8.5 Output Device Nonlinear Phenomena. 8.6 Design of a Second HT Power Amplifier. 8.7 Design of a Second and Third HT Power Amplifier. 8.8 Example of 2nd HT GaN PA. 8.9 Final Remarks. 8.10 References. 9 High Linearity in Efficient Power Amplifiers. 9.1 Introduction. 9.2 Systems Classification. 9.3 Linearity Issue. 9.4 Bias Point Influence on IMD. 9.5 Harmonic Loading Effects on IMD. 9.6 Appendix: Volterra Analysis Example. 9.7 References. 10 Power Combining. 10.1 Introduction. 10.2 Device Scaling Properties. 10.3 Power Budget. 10.4 Power Combiner Classification. 10.5 The T-junction Power Divider. 10.6 Wilkinson Combiner. 10.7 The Quadrature (90 ) Hybrid. 10.8 The 180 Hybrid (Ring Coupler or Rat-race). 10.9 Bus-bar Combiner. 10.10 Other Planar Combiners. 10.11 Corporate Combiners. 10.12 Resonating Planar Combiners. 10.13 Graceful Degradation. 10.14 Matching Properties of Combined PAs. 10.15 Unbalance Issue in Hybrid Combiners. 10.16 Appendix: Basic Properties of Three-port Networks. 10.17 References. 11 The Doherty Power Amplifier. 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Doherty's Idea. 11.3 The Classical Doherty Configuration. 11.4 The 'AB-C' Doherty Amplifier Analysis. 11.5 Power Splitter Sizing. 11.6 Evaluation of the Gain in a Doherty Amplifier. 11.7 Design Example. 11.8 Advanced Solutions. 11.9 References. Index.

This paper presents a design and fabrication of Ku-band power amplifier using Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistor (GaN HEMT) die. In order to fabricate the low-cost Ku-band power amplifier, a Printed Circuit Board(PCB) was used for input/output matching circuits instead of manufacturing process to use an expensive substrate. The measured output power is 42.6 dBm, the drain efficiency is 37.7 % and the linear gain is 7.9 dB under pulse operation at the frequency of 14.8 GHz. Under the continuous wave(CW) test, the output power is 39.8 dBm, the drain efficiency is 24.1 % and the linear gain is 7.2 dB.Key words: Ku-Band, GaN HEMT Die, Low-Cost, Power Amplifier LMN62013OPQRSA8MN#(TU$%MNVIW.X YZ [\]^[ (Department of Wireless Communications Engineering, Kwangwoon University) *QRSA8(Samsung Thales) Manuscript received February 4, 2014 ; Revised March 11, 2014 ; Accepted April 16, 2014. (ID No. 20140204-016)Corresponding Author: Jin-Joo Choi (e-mail: jinchoi@kw.ac.kr)