Design and test of a pulse-width modulator and driver for space-borne GaN switch mode power amplifiers in P-band

In this paper, the design and test of a single-chip RF pulse-width modulator and driver (PWMD) aimed at exciting a high-power class-E GaN high-power stage at 435 MHz is described. For the required buffer size, avoiding potential ringing of the pulses within the buffer structure presents a major chal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of microwave and wireless technologies 2015-06, Vol.7 (3-4), p.297-305
Main Authors: Ghosh, I. S., Altmann, U., Cabria, L., Cipriani, E., Colantonio, P., Ayllon, N., Chowdhary, A., Kersten, O., Quibeldey, M., Follmann, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Industrial and Engineering Paper
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Summary:In this paper, the design and test of a single-chip RF pulse-width modulator and driver (PWMD) aimed at exciting a high-power class-E GaN high-power stage at 435 MHz is described. For the required buffer size, avoiding potential ringing of the pulses within the buffer structure presents a major challenge in the design process. Therefore, a smaller test chip capable of driving capacitive loads of up to 5 pF was initially designed, fabricated, and tested. An approach based on three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations was used to validate the test results and offers excellent simulation accuracy. Based on the results obtained for test chip an enlarged PWMD chip capable of driving a 40 W high-power stage has been designed and tested on passive loads representing the targeted final stage.
ISSN:1759-0787
1759-0795
DOI:10.1017/S1759078715000161