RF power amplifiers for portable communication applications

We review the requirements of a power amplifier used in portable communication applications. The talk time or battery life of a portable unit is directly related to the transmitter RF conversion efficiency. The introduction of GaAs MESFETs, HFETs, and HBTs into portable communications equipment increased the performance level of RF power functions. The effect is a significant improvement in DC to RF conversion efficiency over the previous bipolar RF power amplifiers. Circuit applications and trade-off of MESFETs, HFETs and HBTs for portable communication system is also discussed.<>