Performance Study of Class-E Power Amplifier With a Shunt Inductor at Subnominal Condition

This paper presents analytical expressions for the class-E power amplifier with a shunt inductor for satisfying the subnominal condition and 50% duty ratio. The subnominal condition means that only the zero-current switching condition (ZCS) is achieved, though the nominal conditions mean that both the ZCS and zero-current derivative switching (ZCDS) are satisfied. The design values for achieving the subnominal condition are expressed as a function of the phase shift between the input and output voltages. The class-E amplifier with subnominal condition increases one design degree of freedom compared with that with the nominal conditions. Because of the increase in the design degree of freedom, one more relationship can be specified as a design specification. It is shown analytically that the dc-supply voltage and the current are always proportional to the amplitude of the output voltage and the current as a function of the phase shift. Additionally, the output power capability is affected by the phase shift, and the peak switch voltage has influence on the phase shift as well. This paper gives a circuit design example based on our proposed design expression by specifying the peak switch voltage instead of the ZCDS condition. The measurement and PSpice simulation results agree with the analytical expressions quantitatively, which show the validity of our analytical expressions.