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IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics

Experimental Study on CDMA GaAs HBT MMIC Power Amplifier Layout Design for Reducing Turn-On Delay in Transient Response

Kazuya YAMAMOTO, Miyo MIYASHITA, Takayuki MATSUZUKA, Tomoyuki ASADA, Kazunobu FUJII, Satoshi SUZUKI, Teruyuki SHIMURA, Hiroaki SEKI

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Summary :

This paper describes, for the first time, an experimental study on the layout design considerations of GaAs HBT MMIC switchable-amplifier-chain-based power amplifiers (SWPAs) for CDMA handsets. The transient response of the quiescent current and output power (Pout) in GaAs HBT power amplifiers that consist of a main chain and a sub-chain is often affected by a thermal coupling between power stages and their bias circuits in the same chain or a thermal coupling between power stages and/or their bias circuits in different chains. In particular, excessively strong thermal coupling inside the MMIC SWPA causes failure in 3GPP-compliant inner loop power control tests. An experimental study reveals that both the preheating in the main/sub-chains and appropriate thermal coupling inside the main chain are very effective in reducing the turn-on delay for the two-parallel-amplifier-chain topology; for example, i) the sub-power stage is arranged near the main power stage, ii) the sub-driver stage is placed near the main driver stage and iii) the main driver bias circuit is placed near the main power stage and the sub-power stage. The SWPA operating in Band 9 (1749.9 to 1784.9 MHz), which was designed and fabricated from the foregoing considerations, shows a remarkable improvement in the Pout turn-on delay: a reduced power level error of 0.74 dB from turn-off to turn-on in the sub-amplifier chain and a reduced power level error of over 0.30 dB from turn-off to turn-on in the main amplifier chain. The main RF power measurements conducted with a 3.4-V supply voltage and a Band 9 WCDMA HSDPA modulated signal are as follows. The SWPA delivers a Pout of 28.5 dBm, a power gain (Gp) of 28 dB, and a PAE of 39% while restricting the ACLR1 to less than -40 dBc in the main amplifier chain. In the sub-amplifier chain, 17 dBm of Pout, 23.5 dB of Gp, and 27% of PAE are obtained at the same ACLR1 level.

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics Vol.E100-C No.6 pp.618-631
Publication Date
2017/06/01
Publicized
Online ISSN
1745-1353
DOI
10.1587/transele.E100.C.618
Type of Manuscript
PAPER
Category
Microwaves, Millimeter-Waves

Authors

Kazuya YAMAMOTO
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Miyo MIYASHITA
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Takayuki MATSUZUKA
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Tomoyuki ASADA
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Kazunobu FUJII
  Wave Technology Inc.
Satoshi SUZUKI
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Teruyuki SHIMURA
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Hiroaki SEKI
  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

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