A Dual-Mode CMOS RF Power Amplifier With Integrated Tunable Matching Network

A dual-mode CMOS power amplifier (PA) with an integrated tunable matching network is presented. A switched capacitor is fully analyzed to implement a tunable matching network in terms of power-handling capability, tuning ratio, quality factor, and linearity. Based on the presented consideration, a 3.3-V 2.4-GHz fully integrated CMOS dual-mode PA is implemented in a 0.18-μm CMOS process. The PA has two power modes, high-power and low-power (LP), and each mode is optimally matched by the tunable matching network. The LP mode enables more than 50% dc current reduction from 0- to 10-dBm power range. The improved efficiency in this study is approximately twice that of other multimode CMOS PAs reported thus far.

[1]  Brian Ellis.  The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits , 2004 .

[2]  G. Palmisano,et al.  A 2.4-GHz 24-dBm SOI CMOS Power Amplifier With Fully Integrated Reconfigurable Output Matching Network , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[3]  H. Zirath,et al.  Design of Varactor-Based Tunable Matching Networks for Dynamic Load Modulation of High Power Amplifiers , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[4]  A. Akhnoukh,et al.  Adaptive Multi-Band Multi-Mode Power Amplifier Using Integrated Varactor-Based Tunable Matching Networks , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[5]  Junxiong Deng,et al.  A high average-efficiency SiGe HBT power amplifier for WCDMA handset applications , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[6]  A.M. Niknejad,et al.  A Fully Integrated Dual-Mode Highly Linear 2.4 GHz CMOS Power Amplifier for 4G WiMax Applications , 2009, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[7]  Ockgoo Lee,et al.  A 2.4 GHz Fully Integrated Linear CMOS Power Amplifier With Discrete Power Control , 2009, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[8]  A. Mortazawi,et al.  Improving Power Amplifier Efficiency and Linearity Using a Dynamically Controlled Tunable Matching Network , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[9]  Kyu Hwan An,et al.  A Linear Multi-Mode CMOS Power Amplifier With Discrete Resizing and Concurrent Power Combining Structure , 2011, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[10]  P. Draxler,et al.  Wideband Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers With Reduced Bandwidth Power Supply Waveforms and Adaptive Digital Predistortion Techniques , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[11]  C.S. Park,et al.  An intelligent power amplifier MMIC using a new adaptive bias control circuit for W-CDMA applications , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[12]  K. Takasuka,et al.  A 60% PAE WCDMA Handset Transmitter Amplifier , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[13]  Thomas H. Lee,et al.  The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits: RF CIRCUITS THROUGH THE AGES , 2003 .

[14]  Gang Liu,et al.  Fully Integrated CMOS Power Amplifier With Efficiency Enhancement at Power Back-Off , 2008, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[15]  Michiel Steyaert,et al.  A 2.45-GHz 0.13-$\mu{\hbox {m}}$ CMOS PA With Parallel Amplification , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[16]  Cheon-Soo Kim,et al.  A fully-integrated +23-dBm CMOS triple cascode linear power amplifier with inner-parallel power control scheme , 2006, IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006.

[17]  Kyu Hwan An,et al.  A fully-integrated dual-mode tunable CMOS RF power amplifier with enhanced low-power efficiency , 2010, The 40th European Microwave Conference.

[18]  Chang-Ho Lee,et al.  A High-Power and Highly Linear CMOS Switched Capacitor , 2010, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[19]  A. Samelis,et al.  Efficiency improvement techniques at low power levels for linear CDMA and WCDMA power amplifiers , 2002, 2002 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium. Digest of Papers (Cat. No.02CH37280).

[20]  Kyu Hwan An,et al.  A discrete resizing and concurrent power combining structure for linear CMOS power amplifier , 2010, 2010 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium.

[21]  Chang-Ho Lee,et al.  A High-Power CMOS Switch Using A Novel Adaptive Voltage Swing Distribution Method in Multistack FETs , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[22]  F. Svelto,et al.  Analysis of reliability and power efficiency in cascode class-E PAs , 2006, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.