Open AccessModified load‐modulation network with two π ‐type high‐pass equivalent λ/4 lines for wideband compact GaN MMIC Doherty power amplifier design
Author(s) -
Liu RuiJia,
Zhu XiaoWei,
Xia Jing,
Jiang YiFan,
Chen Peng,
Yu Chao,
Ge Chuan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
electronics letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.375
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1350-911X
pISSN - 0013-5194
DOI - 10.1049/ell2.12208
Subject(s) - monolithic microwave integrated circuit , wideband , amplifier , modulation (music) , doherty amplifier , electronic engineering , power (physics) , materials science , electrical engineering , engineering , rf power amplifier , physics , cmos , acoustics , quantum mechanics
A modified load‐modulation network to design a fully integrated wideband Doherty power amplifier (DPA) from 4.6 to 5.5 GHz is presented in this letter. The modified load‐modulation network uses only two π‐type high‐pass equivalent quarter wavelength transmission lines (QWTLs). Unlike the existing methods, the bandwidth of the load‐modulation network composed of two merged π‐type equivalent QWTLs is broadened. Furthermore, a drain bypass capacitor compensation method is proposed to reduce the leakage of RF power after the drain supply inductors are merged. For verification, a wideband monolithic microwave integrated circuit DPA was designed and fabricated using a 0.25‐μm gallium nitride based high‐electron‐mobility transistor process. Measurement results show that a saturated power of 41.6–42.4 dBm, a saturated drain efficiency (DE) of 65.3–72%, and a 6‐dB back‐off DE of 45–55.4% are achieved from 4.6 to 5.5 GHz. Using a 160‐MHz orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing signal with a peak‐to‐average power ratio of 6.2 dB, the high average efficiency of 49% with an adjacent channel leakage ratio of –47.2 dBc after linearisation was obtained at an average output power of 35 dBm at 4.9 GHz.