A 2.4 GHz SiGe bipolar power amplifier with integrated diode linearizer for WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g applications

A linear RF power amplifier with integrated reverse biased diode linearizer for IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN terminals is implemented with a 33 GHz-f_T, 0.5-mum-SiGe bipolar technology. The proposed linearizer maintains the fixed base voltage of power stage HBTs. The power amplifier exhibits 24.5 dBm of 1-dB compression point (P1dB), with 36% of the power-added efficiency (PAE), and 17 dB of the power gain under 3.3 V power supply. The third-order IMD value is less than - 32.5 dBc at 3 dB back-off from P1dB for the frequency of 2.45 GHz. The fabricated chip size is as small as 1times0.7 mm², including input/inter-stage matching network and all active bias circuits