PA Design Basics [Book/Software Reviews]

The introduction to this book can be a resource for both working engineers and students: it fills an existing gap in the area of RF power amplifier design, serving as a complete guide and providing practical methods and detailed examples of the various design stages including analytical formulation and simulation. Computer-aided design (CAD) tools to verify the design are presented using a step-by-step process, and most of the equations are at the college algebra level, making this book easy to follow. The book’s extensive coverage includes not only an introduction to the design of several amplifier topologies but also the design and simulation of an amplifier’s surrounding sections and assemblies. In addition, unlike other texts, the book focuses on the higher level design sections and assemblies for RF amplifiers, helping designers to accomplish the amplifier design according to the given specifications. In terms of active devices, the text focuses on metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Most of the CAD programs are based on MATLAB and Ansoft Designer CPW. This book focuses on the simulation side—it uses the Advanced Design System and the OrCAD/PSpice environment, including the PSpice device model. The book is truly written for the RF power amplifier designer and students alike. The content is just at the right level, and the examples are very helpful and easy to apply to practical design work. The color excellent. There are many design programs written in MATLAB; if the author can post these MATLAB scripts on the downloadable website, it would double the value of the book. The book also includes homework problems at the end of each chapter. By incorporating a test bank and PowerPoint slides for the classroom instructor, this book would become an excellent teaching textbook at the undergraduate level.