Wide bandwidth GSM/WCDMA/LTE base station LNA with ultra-low sub 0.5 dB noise figure

This paper presents a highly integrated, sub 0.5 dB noise figure (NF) low noise amplifier (LNA) targeting 700/900 MHz GSM/CDMA/LTE base station receiver and tower mount antenna (TMA) applications. The amplifier is realized using a GaAs pHEMT process, and is housed in a very small 2 × 2 mm² low cost plastic surface mount DFN style package. State-of-the art noise performance of less than 0.5 dB NF is achieved through an innovative design methodology and circuit architecture which takes full advantage of the selected GaAs device technology. This work represents one of the best matched LNA noise figures reported to-date in this frequency band. In addition to very low noise performance, the amplifier simultaneously exhibits gain greater than 21 dB, excellent linearity, and is closely matched to 50 Ω at the input and output ports. Very wide bandwidth performance from 300 MHz to beyond 1400 MHz is demonstrated, and performance within this frequency range can be further enhanced through selection of specific off-chip components.