A Double-Ended Active Inductor Based Class-J Power Amplifier Design for 5G Wireless Networks

This paper presents the design of a class-J power amplifier with a double-ended active inductor (DEAI) intended to replace the passive lumped inductor of its output-matching network. With this approach, it is possible to achieve inductance tunability, while occupying less chip area. The main focus of the proposed class-J power amplifier design methodology is to improve its power gain and bandwidth through the design of the matching networks for its two-stage structure and the design of a double-ended active inductor using feedback MOS resistor and cascode topology for its output matching network. The simulations of the class-J power amplifier and the double-ended active inductor are performed at 3.5 GHz center frequency using the CGH41010F GaN device and 130 nm predictive technology models respectively in the ADS EDA tool. The proposed class-J power amplifier produces 41 dBm of power output with 21 dB improved power gain over 400 MHz bandwidth, along with 53% power added efficiency and 54% drain efficiency. By replacing the passive inductor in the output matching network of a class-J power amplifier with the proposed double-ended active inductor, its bandwidth is validated through S-parameters and maintained as 400 MHz. These results indicate the suitability of the proposed double-ended active inductor-based class-J power amplifier for sub-6GHz 5G wireless networks.