Tunable multiband power amplifier using thin-film BST varactors for 4G handheld applications

Author

Ali, Faraz ; Lourandakis, Errikos ; Gloeckler, Roman ; Abt, Karlheinz ; Fischer, Georg ; Weigel, Robert

Author_Institution

Inst. for Electron. Eng., Univ. of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

fYear

2010

fDate

10-14 Jan. 2010

Firstpage

236

Lastpage

239

Abstract

A new methodology for multiband tunable power amplifiers (PA) using barium-strontium-titanate (BST) varactors is presented. A prototype tunable power amplifier has been developed and its performance is evaluated in context of the upcoming 4G scenario which demands for multimode/ multiband power amplifiers capable of operating over multiple frequency bands. The tunable PA requires two tuning voltages at the output matching network as well as an additional tuning voltage for a novel tunable 2^nd harmonic termination. The PA is continuously tunable from 1700 to 2300 MHz, covering multiple bands. Tunable PA measurements with LTE signals show a maximum gain of 27 dB with Pmax of 24.1 dBm and an EVM of 6% using BST varactors having Q-factors not more then 30 at sub-2 GHz frequencies.

Keywords

4G mobile communication; barium compounds; microwave power amplifiers; strontium compounds; varactors; 4G handheld; BST; LTE signals; Q-factors; barium-strontium-titanate varactors; frequency 1700 MHz to 2300 MHz; gain 27 dB; multiband tunable power amplifier; thin-film BST varactors; Binary search trees; Frequency measurement; Gain measurement; Impedance matching; Power amplifiers; Prototypes; Transistors; Tuning; Varactors; Voltage; 4G; BST varactors; Multiband power amplifier; Tunable;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS), 2010 IEEE

Conference_Location

New Orleans, LA

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4725-1

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4726-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/RWS.2010.5434150

Filename

5434150