Title :
Efficiency and linearity improvement in power amplifiers for wireless communications
Author :
Asbeck, P. ; Hannington, G. ; Chen, P.F. ; Larson, L.
Author_Institution :
California Univ., San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Abstract :
A key issue limiting power efficiency in wireless communication power amplifiers is the variation in signal level that must be accommodated. This paper discusses the importance of and techniques for varying the amplifier DC current and power supply voltage as a function of signal level. A high speed DC-DC converter operating from a 3.3 V source, implemented with GaAs HBTs, is described. The efficiency of a 2 GHz power amplifier using the DC-DC converter is shown to increase by 40%, averaged over signal power variations characteristic of IS-95 CDMA systems.
Keywords :
DC-DC power convertors; III-V semiconductors; UHF power amplifiers; gallium arsenide; heterojunction bipolar transistors; high-speed integrated circuits; radio equipment; telecommunication power supplies; 2 GHz; 3.3 V; DC current variation; GaAs; GaAs HBTs; IS-95 CDMA systems; efficiency improvement; high speed DC-DC converter; power amplifiers; power efficiency; power supply voltage variation; signal level variation; signal power variations characteristic; wireless communications; Circuits; DC-DC power converters; Distributed amplifiers; Linearity; Multiaccess communication; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Telephone sets; Voltage; Wireless communication;
Conference_Titel :
Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuit (GaAs IC) Symposium, 1998. Technical Digest 1998., 20th Annual
Conference_Location :
Atlanta, GA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5049-9
DOI :
10.1109/GAAS.1998.722610
