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A voltage-mode class-S power amplifier for the 450 MHz band

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2011

Andreas Wentzel ,
Chafik Meliani  and
Wolfgang Heinrich
Andreas Wentzel*
Affiliation:
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), Leibniz-Institut für Hoechstfrequenztechnik, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Phone:  + 49 30 6392 2627.
Chafik Meliani
Affiliation:
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), Leibniz-Institut für Hoechstfrequenztechnik, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Phone:  + 49 30 6392 2627.
Wolfgang Heinrich
Affiliation:
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), Leibniz-Institut für Hoechstfrequenztechnik, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Phone:  + 49 30 6392 2627.
*
Corresponding author: A. Wentzel Email:andreas.wentzel@fbh-berlin.de
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Abstract

This paper reports on a novel voltage-mode class-S power amplifier for the 450 MHz band, based on GaN–HEMT monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). It achieves a peak output power of 3.4 W for a single tone at 400 MHz, encoded in standard band-pass delta-sigma modulation with 1.6 Gbps sampling frequency. The corresponding efficiency is 38%, peaking at 52% for 0.5 W output power. In order to demonstrate the influence of coding efficiency, additional measurements using a periodic square-wave signal were performed (class-D operation), which yield a maximum output power of 7 W with 64% efficiency. To the author's knowledge, these are the best results in this frequency range achieved so far with the voltage-mode class-S configuration. The paper discusses behavior at power back-off and the influence of the loss mechanisms.

Keywords

Power amplifierClass-SVoltage modeGaNHEMTSwitch modeBand-pass delta-sigma modulation
Type
Research Papers
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 3 , Special Issue 3: Special Issue on European Microwave Week 2010 , June 2011 , pp. 311 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2011

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References

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