A CMOS power amplifier with power control and T/R switch for 2.45-GHz Bluetooth/ISM band applications

The design and performance of a 2.45-GHz power amplifier with 3-bit digital power control (30-dB control in 5-dB step) and T/R switch for 2.45-GHz Bluetooth and ISM band applications using 0.18-/spl mu/m, single-poly six-metal standard CMOS process with thick top-metal (2-/spl mu/m) and metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor option are presented in this paper. The proposed design uses single-stage Class-AB topology for the power amplifier. In-house extracted models were used for active and passive components to achieve success on silicon for the first time. The power output is +3.5 dBm at 2.45-GHz after the T/R switch. The drain efficiency is 16% including insertion loss of the T/R switch. The circuit operates from a single 1.8V /spl plusmn/ 10% supply and draws total drain current of 8 mA. The operating temperature range is from -40/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C.