A Compact Dual-Band Power Amplifier Driver for 2.4GHz and 5.2GHz WLAN Transmitters

This paper presents a dual-band power amplifier (PA) driver with matched output operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz ISM bands. The use of tunable differential inductors both in the RF choke and the matching circuit saves significant die-area compared to traditional configurations of integrated PA drivers. The fabricated circuit size is as small as 0.48 mm² for the used 0.18 mum CMOS process, saving about 0.5 mm² silicon area. Measurement results show that the circuit achieves 10.4 dB gain and a maximum output power of 13 dBm at 2.4 GHz while the gain is 5.1 dB and maximum output power is 8.7 dBm at 5.2 GHz. The circuit dissipates 13 mA from a 1.8 V supply.