Class-E GaAs HBT power amplifier with passive linearization scheme for mobile wireless communications

A linearization technique for improving the class-E power amplifier (PA)’s adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) is proposed. The design is simulated in a 2- µm InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor process. The integration of a passive predistorter at the input of the PA linearizes the proposed architecture. At a 29-dBm output power, the PA’s ACPR is indicated to be –51 dBc, meeting the stringent code division multiple access regulation. At this exact output power, the simulated power added efficiency is 55% with the collector voltage headroom consumption of 3.4 V. The input return loss, S11, of the PA is simulated as –12.5 dB. With an active finger print dimension of 1000 µm × 750 µm, the proposed PA is well suited for the application of mobile wireless communication.