Impact of Switching Glitches in Class-G Power Amplifiers

Envelope elimination and restoration (EER) based transmitters have attracted attention recently for two reasons: 1) The desire for increased spectral efficiency has mandated modulation standards that have large peak-to-average ratios (PAR). The increase in spectral efficiency is traded off against a decrease in average power-added-efficiency (PAE) when a linear power amplifier is used; however, when EER is used, it is decoupled somewhat from spectral efficiency. 2) Through the use of fast on-chip signal processing, the natural advantage of scaled CMOS is exploited by enabling switching power amplifier classes (e.g., class-E). This letter examines limitations associated with voltage supply switching glitches in class-G power amplifiers.