A high performance RF power amplifier with protection against load mismatches

Author

Scuderi, A. ; Carrara, F. ; Castorina, A. ; Palmisano, G.

Author_Institution

STMicroelectronics, Catania, Italy

Volume

2

fYear

2003

Firstpage

699

Abstract

A high performance power amplifier is presented which includes a protection circuitry against load impedance variations. Load mismatches produce peak voltages on the power transistor collector that give rise to breakdown conditions and hence to permanent faults. The protection circuitry is based on a feedback loop that acts on the amplifier gain to limit the overdrive of the output transistor. A monolithic power amplifier for 1.8-GHz DCS-PCS applications was integrated in a silicon bipolar technology with a 4.3-V breakdown voltage. The amplifier delivers a 33-dBm output power with 51% power-added efficiency and 33-dB gain at a nominal 3-V supply voltage. Standing wave ratio was tested up to 20:1 for all phases with a supply voltage up to 3.8 V without damage to the device.

Keywords

MMIC power amplifiers; UHF integrated circuits; UHF power amplifiers; bipolar MMIC; digital radio; feedback amplifiers; semiconductor device breakdown; 1.8 GHz; 3 V; 3.8 V; 33 dB; 4.3 V; 51 percent; DCS-PCS applications; RF power amplifier; amplifier gain; bipolar technology; breakdown conditions; breakdown voltage; feedback loop; load impedance variations; load mismatches; monolithic power amplifier; output power; peak voltages; power-added efficiency; protection circuitry; standing wave ratio; supply voltage; Breakdown voltage; Circuit faults; Feedback circuits; High power amplifiers; Impedance; Power amplifiers; Power transistors; Protection; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency amplifiers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003 IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

Philadelphia, PA, USA

ISSN

0149-645X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7695-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.2003.1212468

Filename

1212468