Title :
A SiGe BiCMOS cascode power amplifier with monolithic SOI envelope modulators for high-efficiency envelope tracking
Author :
Wu, Ruili ; Li, Yan ; Hu, Weibo ; Lopez, Jerry ; Lie, Donald Y C
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX, USA
fDate :
Sept. 30 2012-Oct. 3 2012
Abstract :
In this paper, a fully differential cascode power amplifier (PA) is designed and fabricated using a 0.35-μm SiGe BiCMOS process. In the continuous wave (CW) measurement, the PA achieves a saturated power (PSAT) of 24.8 dBm at 3.3 V with power-added-efficiency (PAE) above 50% at 2.3 GHz. Two monolithic envelope modulators (EMs) are designed in a 0.18-μm SOI CMOS technology using a switching buck converter stage with two different linear amplifier topologies: a low-dropout (LDO) regulator vs. a conventional class AB Op-Amp. The envelope tracking PA (ET-PA) systems are measured for maximum linear POUT and efficiency with corresponding design trade-offs discussed. The conventional class AB Op-Amp based EM proved better combined efficiency /linearity at 20 dBm POUT with 30% PAE using an LTE 16QAM 5 MHz signal for our assessment.
Keywords :
BiCMOS integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; Long Term Evolution; UHF integrated circuits; UHF power amplifiers; differential amplifiers; modulators; operational amplifiers; quadrature amplitude modulation; silicon-on-insulator; switching convertors; BiCMOS cascode power amplifier; LTE 16QAM; SOI CMOS technology; SiGe; class AB operational amplifiers; continuous wave measurement; envelope tracking PA; frequency 2.3 GHz; fully differential cascode power amplifier; linear amplifier topologies; low dropout regulator; monolithic SOI envelope modulators; power added efficiency; silicon-on-insulator; size 0.18 mum; size 0.35 mum; switching buck converter stage; voltage 3.3 V; BiCMOS integrated circuits; CMOS integrated circuits; Energy management; Modulation; Power amplifiers; Regulators; Silicon germanium; LDO regulator; LTE; SOI; SiGe power amplifier; envelope modulator; envelope tracking (ET);
Conference_Titel :
Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM), 2012 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Portland, OR
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-3020-6
DOI :
10.1109/BCTM.2012.6352620
