4–20 GHz low noise amplifier MMIC with on-chip switchable gate biasing circuit

Chen, Wei; Wang, Zhiyu; Chen, Hua; Huang, Zhengliang; Mo, Jianchu

doi:10.1587/elex.14.20170711

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Advancements in wireless communication technology have prompted the demand for multi-octave broadband amplifiers for application in high data rate transmission, ultrawideband (UWB) systems, high-resolution radars, and instrumentations where a broadband LNA is a crucial component [1,2,3,4]. For designing UWB amplifiers, Darlington configurations [5,6,7], feedback techniques [8,9,10,11,12,13], inductive-peaking techniques [14,15,16,17], and distributed amplifiers (DAs) [18,19,20,21,22,23,24] are the most popular approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A five-octave broadband LNA MMIC using bandwidth enhancement and noise reduction technique

Yang

Rong

et al. 2019

IEICE Electron. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This letter presents the design and fabrication of a five-octave broadband low noise amplifier (LNA) using 0.1-µm GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) technology. The multi-peaking bandwidth enhancement and noise reduction technique is proposed for a cascode topology to significantly improve the performance of the LNA. The fabricated LNA achieves a −3 dB bandwidth of 1-32 GHz with an average gain of 12.2 dB, an excellent noise figure (NF) of 1.9-2.6 dB, and an output-referred 1 dB compression point (OP 1dB) of 10.2-12.7 dBm with good input/output matching over the entire bandwidth. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these results demonstrate the lowest room-temperature NF ever reported for fully integrated MMIC amplifiers with a bandwidth of 1 to more than 30 GHz.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A five-octave broadband LNA MMIC using bandwidth enhancement and noise reduction technique

Yang

Rong

et al. 2019

IEICE Electron. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The advancement in wireless communication technology has urged the demand of multi-octave broadband amplifiers for application in high-speed transceivers, ultrawideband (UWB) systems, high-resolution radars, and instrumentations, where the broadband LNA is an essential component in the receiver systems [1]. GaAs pHEMT has been found wide applications in most commercial microwave/millimeter-wave transceiver systems, due to both low noise figure and high gain performance [2,3]. However, there exists a temperature dependence of the gain resulting from variations in field-effect-transistor (FET) parameters such as the transconductance [4], which leads to a severe limit for application of FET-based circuits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is of great significance to reduce the temperature sensitivity of UWB LNAs based on FETs. In order to compensate the gain of the amplifier with temperature, some design methods have been reported to control the gate voltage of the FET, including the series or the feedback resistors or FETs to make up temperature-compensation circuits [2,5]. However, the lack of accurate calculation in these methods cannot achieve optimal gain compensation with temperature, and the temperature-compensation circuits usually occupy a large area of the chip.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

1–30 GHz ultra-wideband low noise amplifier with on-chip temperature-compensation circuit

Yang

Rong

et al. 2018

IEICE Electron. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A 1-30 GHz ultra-wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) MMIC with a simplified on-chip temperature-compensation circuit is presented in this paper. The temperature-compensation circuit composed of two GaAs mesa resistors and two Nickel Chromium (Ni/Cr) thin-film resistors is able to compensate the variation of temperature accurately over a wide operating frequency range. The fabricated LNA has demonstrated the improvement of gain variation from 3.4 to 0.8 dB (0.4 dB/Stage) in the temperature range from −55°C to +125°C. It exhibits the lowest the gain variation (0.0022 dB/°C/Stage) with temperature ever reported for the ultra-wideband LNA. By contrasting the LNA with and without the temperature-compensation circuit, it is also found that the use of the temperature-compensation circuit neither degrades other aspects of the circuit performance nor increases the area of the original amplifier chip.

show abstract

Catalyzing satellite communication: A 20W Ku-Band RF front-end power amplifier design and deployment

Chen,

Wang,

Zhang

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents a groundbreaking Ku-band 20W RF front-end power amplifier (PA), designed to address numerous challenges encountered by satellite communication systems, including those pertaining to stability, linearity, cost, and size. The manuscript commences with an exhaustive discussion of system design and operational principles, emphasizing the intricacies of low-noise amplification, and incorporating key considerations such as noise factors, stability analysis, gain, and gain flatness. Subsequently, an in-depth study is conducted on various components of the RF chain, including the pre-amplification module, driver-amplification module, and final-stage amplification module. The holistic design extends to the inclusion of the display and control unit, featuring the power-control module, monitoring module, and overall layout design of the PA. It is meticulously tailored to meet the specific demands of satellite communication. Following this, a thorough exploration of electromagnetic simulation and measurement results ensues, providing validation for the precision and reliability of the proposed design. Finally, the feasibility of that design is substantiated through systematic system design, prototype production, and exhaustive experimental testing. It is noteworthy that, in the space-simulation environmental test, emphasis is placed on the excellent performance of the Star Ku-band PA within the 13.75GHz to 14.5GHz frequency range. Detailed power scan measurements reveal a P1dB of 43dBm, maintaining output power flatness < ± 0.5dBm across the entire frequency and temperature spectrum. Third-order intermodulation scan measurements indicate a third-order intermodulation of ≤ -23dBc. Detailed results of power monitoring demonstrate a range from +18dBm to +54dBm. Scans of spurious suppression and harmonic suppression, meanwhile, show that the PA evinces spurious suppression ≤ -65dBc and harmonic suppression ≤ -60dBc. Rigorous phase-scan measurements exhibit a phase-shift adjustment range of 0° to 360°, with a step of 5.625°, and a phase-shift accuracy of 0.5dB. Detailed data from gain-scan measurements show a gain-adjustment range of 0dB to 30dB, with a gain flatness of ± 0.5dB. Attenuation error is ≤ 1%. These test parameters perfectly align with the practical application requirements of the technical specifications. When compared to existing Ku-band PAs, our design reflects a deeper consideration of specific requirements in satellite communication, ensuring its outstanding performance and uniqueness. This PA features good stability, high linearity, low cost, and compact modularity, ensuring continuous and stable power output. These features position the proposed system as a leader within the market. Successful orbital deployment not only validates its operational stability; it also makes a significant contribution to the advancement of China’s satellite PA technology, generating positive socio-economic benefits.

show abstract

4–20 GHz low noise amplifier MMIC with on-chip switchable gate biasing circuit

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

A five-octave broadband LNA MMIC using bandwidth enhancement and noise reduction technique

A five-octave broadband LNA MMIC using bandwidth enhancement and noise reduction technique

1–30 GHz ultra-wideband low noise amplifier with on-chip temperature-compensation circuit

Catalyzing satellite communication: A 20W Ku-Band RF front-end power amplifier design and deployment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About