WSA: Advances in CMOS RF power amplifiers for Cellular and IEEE 802 connectivity radios

This workshop will present the latest design and developments in RF Module/RFIC power amplifiers, as well as covering the RF system requirements for Cellular and IEEE 802 connectivity power amplifiers. Until very recently CMOS power amplifiers were not mature enough to compete against other non-silicon technologies and could not be used widely in handheld cell-phones. With some new developments in device technologies, circuit solutions as well as system-level improvements, several companies have announced CMOS power amplifiers products with the ability to be used in mass-market handsets, PC cards, laptops and netbooks. Challenges remain in terms of output power, mismatch handling, thermal and DC performance for the power amplifier so that it may be integrated with the rest of the RF and in future with the baseband. This workshop will present and discuss the advantages, disadvantages and future of CMOS and silicon-based power amplifiers for Cellular (2G - GSM, EDGE, CDMA) (3G UMTS, HSDPA, DO1x) and IEEE 802 (WLAN/WiFi, WiMAX/WiBRO) connectivity power amplifiers.