Supply-Scaling for Efficiency Enhancement in Distributed Power Amplifiers

Fang, Kelvin; Levy, Cooper S.; Buckwalter, James F.

doi:10.1109/jssc.2016.2584639

Cited by 46 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In addition, it is commonly believed that distributed PAs cannot provide optimum load over large bandwidth and typically suffer from low efficiency. This conventional notion however can be overcome by combining design techniques, such as nonuniform scaling, supply scaling, and extended resonances, with distributed PAs for high efficiency and wide bandwidth [113]- [116]. Further, recent work has showed that the distributed architecture can be combined with a continuum between sequential PA and Doherty PA operation to achieve wideband PBO efficiency enhancement with an arbitrary degree of load modulation [117].…”

Section: F Wideband Active Load Modulation Pamentioning

confidence: 99%

Millimeter-Wave Power Amplifier Integrated Circuits for High Dynamic Range Signals

2021

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The next-generation 5G and beyond-5G wireless systems have stimulated a substantial growth in research, development, and deployment of mm-Wave electronic systems and antenna arrays at various scales. It is also envisioned that large dynamic range modulation signals with high spectral efficiency will be ubiquitously employed in future communication and sensing systems. As the interface between the antennas and transceiver electronics, power amplifiers (PAs) typically govern the output power, energy efficiency, and reliability of the entire wireless systems. However, the wide use of high dynamic range signals at mm-Wave carrier frequencies substantially complicates the design of PAs and demands an ultimate balance of energy efficiency and linearity as well as other PA performances. In this review paper, we will first introduce the system-level requirements and design challenges on mm-Waves PAs due to high dynamic range signals. We will review advanced active load modulation architectures for mm-Wave PAs and power devices. We will then introduce recent advances in mm-Wave PA technologies and innovations with several design examples. Special design considerations on mm-Wave PAs for phased array MIMOs and high mm-Wave frequencies will be outlined. We will also share our vision on future technology trends and innovation opportunities.INDEX TERMS 5G, 6G, dynamic range, energy efficiency, integrated circuits, millimeter-wave, mobile communication, OFDM, peak to average power ratio (PAPR), power amplifier, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). I. INTRODUCTION

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Section: F Wideband Active Load Modulation Pamentioning

confidence: 99%

Millimeter-Wave Power Amplifier Integrated Circuits for High Dynamic Range Signals

2021

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“…The DA achieves 10 dB small-signal gain, 110 GHz bandwidth, mid-band saturated output power of 17.5 dBm and peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 13.2%. Another technique for efficiency enhancement of the DA based on supply voltage scaling is proposed in [29]. Instead of tapering the transmission lines, the supply voltage of the transistors can be scaled from the last stage toward the first stage to improve power efficiency of the DA.…”

Section: E Nonuniform Dasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

2018

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I. INTRODUCTION B ROADBAND amplification of signals is desirable in many applications such as high-speed data communications, high-resolution imaging systems, optoelectronics and instrumentation systems. Wide bandwidth is one of the prominent factors to be considered in designing such a system since it determines ability of the system for transferring highdata-rate information, transmitting/receiving short pulses, or processing wideband signals. Designing broadband amplifiers has always been challenging. The ever-increasing demand for higher data-rates and low energy consumption in next generation communication systems further complicates the design of broadband amplifiers. Distributed amplifiers (DA), also known as travelling-wave amplifiers (TWA), are one of the most popular broadband amplifier architectures. The DA architecture was originally patented by Percival in 1936 [1] and later elaborated by Ginzton in 1948 [2]. The early DAs were implemented using vacuum tube technology. One of the first vacuum tube DAs fabricated in 1950 is shown in Fig. 1. The amplifier included three type 807 tubes and 482-Ω plate and grid lines. The amplifier achieved a gain of 11 dB, bandwidth of 100 Hz to 300 MHz, and a typical output power of 15 W [3]. The first Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) DA was demonstrated by Ayasli in 1982 [4] using a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) MESFET technology. The amplifier, shown in Fig. 2, included four transistors with 1-µm gate length and 50-Ω input and output lines. It achieved 9-dB gain and 1-13 GHz bandwidth. GaAs remained the main technology for design of DAs until the inception of the first Indium Phosphide (InP) DA in 1990 [5] with an impressive bandwidth of 5-100 GHz. GaAs and InP semiconductor technologies have been predominantly employed in implementation of DAs. These technologies provide superior performance resulting from their high electron mobility, high saturated electron velocity, high breakdown voltage, and high-resistivity substrate. The later contributes to availability of low-loss integrated passive elements. The market demands for low cost, small size, and low power consumption of electronic systems has motivated researchers to develop techniques to implement distributed amplifiers using mainstream CMOS technologies. The first integrated CMOS DA was presented by Kleveland in 1999 [6]. Recently,

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“…However, they often compromise efficiency due to inefficient active circuits or passive networks. Advanced distributed PA designs improve the efficiency with increased overhead in the power management unit [32]. In parallel, various PA PBO efficiency enhancement techniques have been demonstrated at mm-wave.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 28-/37-/39-GHz Linear Doherty Power Amplifier in Silicon for 5G Applications

Wang

2019

IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits

150

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This paper presents the first multiband mm-wave linear Doherty PA in silicon for broadband 5G applications. We introduce a new transformer-based on-chip Doherty power combiner, which can reduce the impedance transformation ratio in power back-off (PBO) and thus improve the bandwidth and power-combining efficiency. We also devise a "driver-PA codesign" method, which creates power-dependent uneven feeding in the Doherty PA and enhances the Doherty operation without any hardware overhead or bandwidth compromise. For the proof of concept, we implement a 28/37/39-GHz PA fully integrated in a standard 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS process, which occupies 1.8mm 2 . The PA achieves a 52% −3-dB small-signal S21 bandwidth and a 40% −1-dB large-signal saturated output power (Psat) bandwidth. At 28/37/39GHz, the PA achieves +16.8/+17.1/+17-dBm Psat, +15.2/+15.5/+15.4-dBm P1dB, and superior 1.72/1.92/1.62 times efficiency enhancement over class-B operation at 5.9/6/6.7-dB PBO. Moreover, the PA demonstrates multi-Gb/s data rates with excellent efficiency and linearity for 64QAM in all the three 5G bands. This PA advances the state of the art for Doherty, wideband, and 5G silicon PAs in mm-wave bands. It supports drop-in upgrade for current PAs in existing mm-wave systems and opens doors to compact system solutions for future multiband 5G massive MIMO and phased-array platforms.

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Supply-Scaling for Efficiency Enhancement in Distributed Power Amplifiers

Cited by 46 publications

References 18 publications

Millimeter-Wave Power Amplifier Integrated Circuits for High Dynamic Range Signals

Millimeter-Wave Power Amplifier Integrated Circuits for High Dynamic Range Signals

The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

A 28-/37-/39-GHz Linear Doherty Power Amplifier in Silicon for 5G Applications

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