A Wide-Band Complementary Digital Driver for Pulse Modulated Single-Ended and Differential S/C Bands Class-E PAs in 130 nm GaAs Technology

Wide-band digital drivers are indispensable for SMPAs (Switched Mode Power Amplifiers) in PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and PPM (Pulse Position Modulation) applications. This paper presents the design of a wideband RF pre-amplifying buffer, innovated for very low dropout and low power complementary o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rashid, Shahriar, Dupaix, Brian, Watson, Paul, Gaber, Wagdy, Patel, Vipul J., Mattamana, Aji, Dooley, Steven, LaRue, Matthew, Khalil, Waleed
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Modulation
PHEMTs
Switches
Switching circuits
Wideband
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Wide-band digital drivers are indispensable for SMPAs (Switched Mode Power Amplifiers) in PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and PPM (Pulse Position Modulation) applications. This paper presents the design of a wideband RF pre-amplifying buffer, innovated for very low dropout and low power complementary operation in heterojunction technologies affording only depletion type devices. A simple, passive bias level shifting technique is also incorporated to facilitate interfacing the digital modulator in silicon substrate with the PA in III-V wafer. In order to experimentally validate the concepts, the proposed driver is employed for driving an S-band single-ended class-E PA as well as for its differential version, modified to switch over S and C bands, in 130 nm GaAs pHEMT technology. The output powers of the differential amplifier are combined using on-chip transformer balun. Test results of both chips demonstrate that the implemented drivers consume less than 4% of the overall PA efficiencies, wherein the buffer responds linearly to the wideband input pulses when tested alone.
ISSN:2374-8443
DOI:10.1109/CSICS.2016.7751025