A design of 1 to 4 GHz broadband high‐efficiency power amplifier with two‐way concurrent active load modulation method. Issue 6 (31st March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: You, Fei; Peng, Jun; Li, Chuan; Shen, Ce; He, Songbai
• Is Part Of: International journal of RF and microwave computer-aided engineering. Volume 31:Issue 6(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-03-31
• Subjects: active load modulation -- and waveform engineering -- broadband power amplifiers -- harmonic injection -- high‐efficiency power amplifiers; Microwave devices -- Computer-aided design -- Periodicals; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; 621.3813
• DOI: 10.1002/mmce.22640
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1096-4290

Abstract

Abstract: Active load modulation and harmonic injection can be used to boost the power amplifier's (PA) efficiency, but these techniques must add a fundamental external source or a harmonic generator. In this paper, a two‐way power amplifier architecture is introduced to extend high‐efficiency operation bandwidth by utilizing concurrent active load modulation with a waveform mapping method. Active load modulation is realized in between the two branches with the aid of independent input amplitude and phase control. Based on a calculated waveform database, high‐efficiency operations for both transistors from 1 to 4 GHz are designed in a self‐defined optimization platform considering waveform distance and input parameters. Finally, this PA is fabricated and measured to offer 41.6 to 45.0 dBm power, 8.2 to 11.7 dB gain, and 56% to 89% drain efficiency from 0.85 to 3.85 GHz.