Design of variable-resistance class E inverters for load modulation

Single-switch inverters such as the conventional class E inverter are often highly load sensitive, and maintain zero-voltage switching over only a narrow range of load resistances. This paper introduces a design methodology that enables rapid synthesis of class E inverters that maintain ZVS operation over a wide range of resistive loads. We also show how the proposed methodology relates to circuit transformations on traditional class E designs. The proposed methodology is demonstrated and experimentally validated on a design at 27.12 MHz that operates efficiently over an 8:1 load resistance range.