High-linearity and temperature-insensitive 2.4 GHz SiGe power amplifier with dynamic-bias control

A high-linearity and temperature-insensitive 2.4 GHz power amplifier (PA) with dynamic-bias control is realized in a SiGe HBT technology with 0.9 μm emitter width. Due to the bias linearization, the P_1dB of 27 dBm is only 0.5 dB lower than P_sat, which is the record low to the best of our knowledge. With simple temperature-insensitive bias, the total current deviations from the room temperature values are smaller than 6% and 10% at the linear P_out (24/20 dBm) for 802.11b and 802.11g, respectively, at the test temperatures from 0°C to 85°C. The integrated power detector has a wide dynamic range of 20 dB. The DC current can be reduced to 53 mA and the power-added-efficiency (PAE) can be enhanced up to 3 times at low P_out level under dynamic-bias control operation, and meanwhile the 802.11b/g linearity requirements are achieved. This design is most suitable for the future 802.11n application due to its high linearity.