Title :
New Ultra-fast Real-time Active Load-pull Measurements for High Speed RF Power Amplifier Design
Author :
Roblin, Patrick ; Doo, Seok Joo ; Cui, Xian ; Jessen, Gregg H. ; Chaillot, Dominique ; Strahler, Jeffrey
Author_Institution :
Ohio State Univ., Columbus
Abstract :
To accelerate the speed of RF power amplifier design, a novel ultra-fast real-time active load-pull measurement based on a large signal network analyzer (LSNA) is presented. Real-time load-pull conventionally uses a single-tone excitation at the transistor´s output to achieve a time varying load impedance. However this approach still requires multiple measurements at different power levels to map the Smith Chart and determine the optimal load termination. This paper proposes a modulated two-tone excitation method for mapping the Smith Chart in a single 10 ms LSNA measurement. Experiments for the lst and 2nd harmonic demonstrate that this ultra-fast real-time active load-pull permits to identify the optimal load impedance in one measurement.
Keywords :
impedance matching; network analysers; power amplifiers; power transistors; radiofrequency amplifiers; LSNA measurement; Smith Chart; high power transistors; high speed RF power amplifier design; large signal network analyzer; modulated two-tone excitation method; optimal load impedance; optimal load termination; single-tone excitation; time varying load impedance; transistors output; ultra-fast real-time active load-pull measurements; Acceleration; High power amplifiers; Impedance; Power amplifiers; Power measurement; RF signals; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency amplifiers; Signal design; Velocity measurement; Active load-pull; dynamic load-line; large signal network analyzer (LSNA); power amplifier;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium, 2007. IEEE/MTT-S International
Conference_Location :
Honolulu, HI
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0688-9
Electronic_ISBN :
0149-645X
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.2007.380536