SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n

Jie Cui1, 2, , Lei Chen1, Chunlei Kang1, Jia Shi1, Xuguang Zhang1, Baoli Ai1 and Yi Liu1

+ Author Affiliations

 Corresponding author: Cui Jie, Email:cuij@sari.ac.cn

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Abstract: A three-stage 4.8-6 GHz monolithic power amplifier (PA) compatible with IEEE 802.11a/n designed based on an advanced 2 μm InGaP/GaAs hetero-junction bipolar transistor (HBT) process is presented. The PA integrates input matching and closed-loop power control circuits on chip. Under 3.3 V DC bias, the amplifier achieves a 31 dB small signal gain, excellent wide band input and output matching among overall 1.2 GHz bandwidth, and up to 24.5 dBm linear output power below EVM 3% with IEEE 802.11a 64QAM OFDM input signal.

Key words: error vector magnitude (EVM)high power amplifier (HPA)high linearityInGaP/GaAs HBTwideband



[1]
Kidwai A A, Nazimov A, Eilat Y, et al. Fully integrated 23 dBm transmit chain with on-chip power amplifier and balun for 802.11a application in standard 45 nm CMOS process. Proc RFIC, 2009:273 doi: 10.1007/s10470-012-9873-0
[2]
Kim J, Kim W, Kornegay K T, et al. A fully-integrated high-power linear CMOS power amplifier with a parallel-series combining transformer. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2012, 47(3):599 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2011.2180977
[3]
Li Wenyuan, Zhang Qian. A novel broadband power amplifier in SiGe HBT technology. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(1):015001 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/1/015001
[4]
Pingue M, Orobello B, Diciomma R, et al. 1-6 GHz 4 W MMIC GaAs high power amplifier. Microw Opt Technol Lett, 2012, 54(12):2747 doi: 10.1002/mop.v54.12
[5]
Lin C C, Hsu Y C. Single-chip dual-band WLAN power amplifier using InGaP/GaAs HBT. Proc Microwave Conference, 2005 http://amsacta.unibo.it/1217/1/GA051453.PDF
[6]
Crips S C. RF power amplifier for wireless communications. 2nd ed. Artech House, 2006 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118844300.html
[7]
Galal S, Razavi B. 40-Gb/s amplifier and ESD protection circuit in 0.18-μm CMOS technology. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2012, 39(12):2389 https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5one4s/Galal-and-B-Razavi-Broadband-ESD-protection-circuits-in-CMOS-technology-IEEE-J/
Fig. 1.  A graphical illustration of the load-pull set up and procedure.

Fig. 2.  (a) GSG structure for load-pull test. (b) Load-pull curve and result.

Fig. 3.  Circuit diagram of the linear bias.

Fig. 4.  $R_{5}$ dependence of the gain compression (simulated).

Fig. 5.  (a) Triple-resonance amplifier. (b) Behavior of a triple-resonance circuit.

Fig. 6.  (a) Circuit diagram of the proposed PA. (b) Die photograph of the chip.

Fig. 7.  (a) Inductor testing GSG structure. (b) EM simulation result. (c) Tested inductance and $Q$ factor.

Fig. 8.  Photograph of test bench of the amplifier.

Fig. 9.  Input and output return loss.

Fig. 10.  Output power, gain and PAE at 5.5 GHz.

Fig. 11.  EVM value versus different 5 GHz band.

Table 1.   GaAs HBT performance.

Table 2.   Performance comparison.

[1]
Kidwai A A, Nazimov A, Eilat Y, et al. Fully integrated 23 dBm transmit chain with on-chip power amplifier and balun for 802.11a application in standard 45 nm CMOS process. Proc RFIC, 2009:273 doi: 10.1007/s10470-012-9873-0
[2]
Kim J, Kim W, Kornegay K T, et al. A fully-integrated high-power linear CMOS power amplifier with a parallel-series combining transformer. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2012, 47(3):599 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2011.2180977
[3]
Li Wenyuan, Zhang Qian. A novel broadband power amplifier in SiGe HBT technology. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(1):015001 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/1/015001
[4]
Pingue M, Orobello B, Diciomma R, et al. 1-6 GHz 4 W MMIC GaAs high power amplifier. Microw Opt Technol Lett, 2012, 54(12):2747 doi: 10.1002/mop.v54.12
[5]
Lin C C, Hsu Y C. Single-chip dual-band WLAN power amplifier using InGaP/GaAs HBT. Proc Microwave Conference, 2005 http://amsacta.unibo.it/1217/1/GA051453.PDF
[6]
Crips S C. RF power amplifier for wireless communications. 2nd ed. Artech House, 2006 http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118844300.html
[7]
Galal S, Razavi B. 40-Gb/s amplifier and ESD protection circuit in 0.18-μm CMOS technology. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2012, 39(12):2389 https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5one4s/Galal-and-B-Razavi-Broadband-ESD-protection-circuits-in-CMOS-technology-IEEE-J/
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    Received: 26 November 2012 Revised: 19 December 2012 Online: Published: 01 June 2013

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      Jie Cui, Lei Chen, Chunlei Kang, Jia Shi, Xuguang Zhang, Baoli Ai, Yi Liu. A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(6): 065001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/6/065001 J Cui, L Chen, C L Kang, J Shi, X G Zhang, B L Ai, Y Liu. A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n[J]. J. Semicond., 2013, 34(6): 065001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/6/065001.Export: BibTex EndNote
      Citation:
      Jie Cui, Lei Chen, Chunlei Kang, Jia Shi, Xuguang Zhang, Baoli Ai, Yi Liu. A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(6): 065001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/6/065001

      J Cui, L Chen, C L Kang, J Shi, X G Zhang, B L Ai, Y Liu. A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n[J]. J. Semicond., 2013, 34(6): 065001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/6/065001.
      Export: BibTex EndNote

      A high-linearity InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a/n

      doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/6/065001
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      • Corresponding author: Cui Jie, Email:cuij@sari.ac.cn
      • Received Date: 2012-11-26
      • Revised Date: 2012-12-19
      • Published Date: 2013-06-01

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