BiCMOS MMIC class-E power amplifier for 5 to 6 GHz wireless communication systems

Author

Negra, Renato ; Bächtold, Werner

Author_Institution

Lab. for Electromagn. Fields & Microwave Electron., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Zurich, Switzerland

Volume

1

fYear

2005

fDate

4-6 Oct. 2005

Abstract

This work presents the design and measurements of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) class-E power amplifier for wireless communication systems, which uses a novel output matching topology to approximate class-E operating conditions. Compared to the classic approach, the proposed lumped-element load network offers reduced ohmic loss in practical implementation by targeting optimum second-harmonic termination. This extends the possibility of using lumped components for monolithic integrated and for hybrid class-E amplifier designs. To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed concept, a switching-mode amplifier was fabricated using a commercial BiCMOS process and an HBT as active device. In the 5-to-6 GHz frequency band, the amplifier shows an output power of more than 20 dBm and a power added efficiency greater than 47 %, when operated from a 3 V supply.

Keywords

BiCMOS integrated circuits; MMIC power amplifiers; bipolar MMIC; mobile communication; 3 V; 5 to 6 GHz; BiCMOS MMIC; HBT; class-E power amplifier; lumped-element load network; output matching topology; reduced ohmic loss; second-harmonic termination; switching-mode amplifier; wireless communication systems; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Integrated circuit measurements; MMICs; Microwave amplifiers; Microwave integrated circuits; Microwave measurements; Monolithic integrated circuits; Power amplifiers; Power measurement; Wireless communication;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference, 2005 European

Print_ISBN

2-9600551-2-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EUMC.2005.1608889

Filename

1608889