High-Efficiency Power Amplifiers

Chireix. Doherty. Kahn. These names are widely heard throughout the power amplifier (PA) industry today when the discussion turns to high-power, high-efficiency amplifiers. When one hears “the Doherty PA is operating at 6 dB output power backoff (OBO) with a 6.5 dB peak to average power ratio,” most PA design engineers are interested in these and other important performance specifications, but what about the names behind the amplifiers themselves. Who were these engineers who have widely used communications amplifiers named after them? This article will attempt to shed a little light on the history behind these engineers and to provide an historical context behind their discoveries.

[1]  Arthur A. Oswald.  Early History of Single-Sideband Transmission , 1956, Proceedings of the IRE.

[2]  Warren B. Bruene.  Distortion Reducing Means for Single-Sideband Transmitters , 1956, Proceedings of the IRE.

[3]  C.W. Horn.  Ten Years of Broadcasting , 1931, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

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[5]  Leonard R. Kahn,et al.  A Stereophonic System for Amplitude-Modulated Broadcast Stations , 1971 .

[6]  Leonard R. Kahn.  Comparison of Linear Single-Sideband Transmitters with Envelope Elimination and Restoration Single-Sideband Transmitters , 1956, Proceedings of the IRE.

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[9]  Bumman Kim,et al.  Doherty Linear Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Applications , 2006, 2007 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium.

[10]  Andrei Grebennikov,et al.  A high-efficiency 100-W four-stage Doherty GaN HEMT power amplifier module for WCDMA systems , 2011, 2011 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium.

[11]  G.W. Fyler,et al.  The WLW 500-Kilowatt Broadcast Transmitter , 1934, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

[12]  G. Lukatela.  Asymmetrical Sideband Transmission of Position Modulated Pulses , 1962 .

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[14]  Glen Clark.  A Comparison of Current Broadcast Amplitude-Modulation Techniques , 1975, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting.

[15]  Frederick H. Raab,et al.  HF outphasing transmitter using class-E power amplifiers , 2009, 2009 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[16]  F. Raab.  Intermodulation distortion in Kahn-technique transmitters , 1996 .

[17]  David R. Cox,et al.  Linear Amplification with Nonlinear Components , 1974, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[18]  W.H. Doherty,et al.  A New High Efficiency Power Amplifier for Modulated Waves , 1936, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

[19]  T. H. Price.  The circuit development of the ampliphase broadcasting transmitter , 1954 .

[20]  T. Apel,et al.  Switched Doherty Power Amplifiers for CDMA and WCDMA , 2007, 2007 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium.

[21]  J.R. Gajadharsing,et al.  Analysis and design of a 200 W LDMOS based Doherty amplifier for 3 G base stations , 2004, 2004 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37535).

[22]  Les Ondes électriques Courtes , 1927 .

[23]  F.H. Raab,et al.  Drive modulation in Kahn-technique transmitters , 1999, 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.99CH36282).

[24]  Frederick Raab,et al.  Efficiency of Doherty RF Power-Amplifier Systems , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting.

[25]  Joseph Staudinger,et al.  High efficiency 450W asymmetric three-device Doherty amplifier with digital feedback predistortion , 2010, 2010 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS).

[26]  F. H. Raab,et al.  High Efficiency Linear SSB Power Amplifier. , 1974 .

[27]  Bumman Kim,et al.  The Head of the Class , 2011, IEEE Microwave Magazine.

[28]  J. Bi,et al.  Chireix's / LINC Power Amplifier for Base Station Applications Using GaN Devices with Load Compensation , 2008 .

[29]  H. Chireix.  High Power Outphasing Modulation , 1935, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

[30]  H. Swanson.  The Pulse Duration Modulator: A New Method of High-Level Modulation in Broadcast Transmitters , 1971 .

[31]  Frederick H. Raab,et al.  Kahn-technique transmitter for L-band communication/radar , 2010, 2010 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS).

[32]  Raymond F. Guy.  AM and FM Broadcasting , 1962, Proceedings of the IRE.

[33]  Michael Murray. Elliott.  Single sideband transmission by envelope elimination and restoration. , 1953 .