A GaN-based supply modulator for energy efficiency enhancement of active phased-array antennas

Author

Delias, Arnaud ; Medrel, Pierre ; Martin, Andrew ; Bouysse, Philippe ; Nebus, J.M. ; Quere, R.

Author_Institution

Xlim, Limoges, France

fYear

2014

fDate

2-4 April 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

3

Abstract

This paper presents the design of a GaN HEMT based boost DC/DC converter and a dynamic supply modulator suitable for DC to RF power conversion improvements in RF transmitters. This work addresses a contribution to energy efficiency enhancements of active phased-array antennas. A main aspect reported here concerns a circuit implementation of a boost converter and its specific gate driver in GaN technology. A supply modulator has been built and connected to the drain bias port of a 8W S-Band RF power amplifier. Large signal pulsed RF measurements are given to validate the study and demonstrate that about 10% efficiency improvement is obtained.

Keywords

DC-DC power convertors; III-V semiconductors; active antenna arrays; antenna phased arrays; driver circuits; energy conservation; gallium compounds; high electron mobility transistors; modulators; radio transmitters; radiofrequency power amplifiers; radiotelemetry; wide band gap semiconductors; DC-RF power conversion; GaN; HEMT; RF transmitter; S-band RF power amplifier; active phased-array antenna; boost DC-DC converter; drain bias port; dynamic supply modulator; energy efficiency enhancement; gate driver; large signal pulsed RF measurement; power 8 W; Gallium nitride; HEMTs; Logic gates; Modulation; Power amplifiers; Radio frequency; Resistance;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Integrated Nonlinear Microwave and Millimetre-wave Circuits (INMMiC), 2014 International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Leuven

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/INMMIC.2014.6815105

Filename

6815105