GaAs HBT 0.75-5 GHz multifunctional microwave-analog variable gain amplifier

Author

Kobayashi, K.W. ; Ip, K.T. ; Oki, A.K. ; Umemoto, D.K. ; Claxton, S. ; Pope, M. ; Wiltz, J.

Author_Institution

TRW Electron. & Technol. Div., Redondo Beach, CA, USA

fYear

1993

fDate

10-13 Oct. 1993

Firstpage

239

Lastpage

242

Abstract

The authors report on a GaAs HBT three-stage variable gain amplifier operating over a 0.75-5 GHz frequency band. The amplifier is broken up into a single-ended HBT LNA pre-amp, an analog current steering differential cascode cell for variable gain control, and a differential amplifier output stage. The pre-amp is required to reduce the inherently noisy differential cascode stage, and an output differential amplifier is used for drive capability and differential to single-ended conversion. The VGA has a maximum gain of 23.8 dB, an IP3 >18 dBm, and a noise figure of 6.5 dB. The variable gain control range is >35 dB. This chip demonstrates the versatility of HBT IC technology which can integrate digital, analog, and microwave circuit functions to achieve high performance in a single monolithic chip.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MMIC amplifiers; automatic gain control; baluns; bipolar MIMIC; bipolar MMIC; bipolar analogue integrated circuits; differential amplifiers; gallium arsenide; heterojunction bipolar transistors; microwave amplifiers; millimetre wave amplifiers; preamplifiers; 0.75 to 5 GHz; 23.8 dB; 6.5 dB; GaAs; III-V semiconductor; analog current steering differential cascode cell; differential amplifier output stage; high performance; macrocell; monolithic; multifunctional microwave-analog; single-ended HBT LNA pre-amp; three-stage variable gain amplifier; variable gain control; Analog integrated circuits; Differential amplifiers; Frequency; Gain control; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; MMICs; Microwave integrated circuits; Noise figure; Noise reduction;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuit (GaAs IC) Symposium, 1993. Technical Digest 1993., 15th Annual

Conference_Location

San Jose, CA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1393-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/GAAS.1993.394461

Filename

394461