A review on supply modulators for Envelope-Tracking Power Amplifiers

Envelope Tracking Power Amplifier (ET PA) is becoming prevalent because of its higher power efficiency (compared to its linear PAs) and higher linearity (compared to other high power-efficiency PAs such as Envelope Elimination and Restoration PAs and outphasing PAs). Of various building blocks in an ET PA, the supply modulator is the most critical block as the supply modulator has major effect on the overall performance of the ET PA, including bandwidth, linearity, power-efficiency, etc. In this paper, a comprehensive literature review on supply modulators for ET PAs is provided. Various supply modulator design architectures are discussed, and their advantages and drawbacks compared. The key design parameters and design trade-offs are also delineated. The reviews and discussions herein provide useful references and valuable insights to supply modulator designers.

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