Power amplifier driver for SDR transmitter with high gain tuning range and dynamic power control

Power amplifier drivers for software-define radio (SDR) transmitter with large gain tuning range are presented. The drivers can work with WCDMA/GSM protocol. Dynamic power control method is adopted to increase the efficiency of power amplifier driver in low gain mode. The power amplifier drivers are implemented in SMIC 0.13µm RF technology, and measurement results show that power amplifier drivers have 44 dB gain range with 2 dB gain step and 0.8 dB maximum gain step error. Also, the output of the drivers can meet the requirement of different standards with enough margin for external power amplifier (PA).

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