Abstract:
Stacking devices in CMOS power amplifiers (PAs) increases the achievable output voltage swing, thereby increasing the output power and efficiency, particularly at millime...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
Stacking devices in CMOS power amplifiers (PAs) increases the achievable output voltage swing, thereby increasing the output power and efficiency, particularly at millimeter-wave frequencies. This work presents stacked CMOS PAs based on an improved Class-E design methodology, where device loss is explicitly accounted for in the analysis and design procedure. Design guidelines and fundamental limits on achievable performance are presented. Two fully-integrated 45GHz prototypes with 2 and 4 stacked devices have been fabricated in IBM's 45nm SOI CMOS technology. Measurement results yield a peak PAE of 34.6% for the 2-stacked PA with a saturated output power of 17.6 dBm, and a peak PAE of 19.4% for the 4-stacked PA with a saturated output power of 20.3 dBm. The former represents the highest PAE reported for CMOS mmWave PAs, and the latter represents the highest output power achieved from a CMOS mmWave PA. The paper also describes the modeling of active and passive devices for mmWave CMOS PAs for good model-hardware correlation.
Date of Conference: 09-12 September 2012
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 15 October 2012
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