A low-power CMOS power amplifier for ultra wideband (UWB) applications

This paper presents the design and implementation of a wideband power amplifier for UWB applications, covering the lower band frequencies of 3.1 GHz to 4.8 GHz. To achieve sufficient linearity and efficiency, this PA operates in the class-AB regime, delivering an output power of -4.2 dBm at an input 1 dB compression point of -22 dBm for a 4 GHz signal. This PA has a differential input and a single-ended output that has been matched to 50 /spl Omega/ at both ends. Complete design and implementation was done using TSMC 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology and it consumes a very low power of 25 mW, while realizing a flat gain of 19/spl plusmn/1 dB across the whole band of operation.

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