A fully integrated distributed active transformer based power amplifier in 0.13 µm CMOS technology

This paper presents a fully integrated CMOS Power Amplifier designed in 0.13 um CMOS technology. The power combining topology based upon Distributed Active Transformer structures is employed to achieve high output power from several stages. A simple design methodology for DAT modeling is presented and the suitability of inverse Class-D amplifier in DAT is discussed. Simulation results validate the methodology and use of inverse Class-D amplifier. The designed PA delivers output power of 27.6 dBm at 1.8 GHz from a 1 V DC supply at 46.3% PAE while keeping the device stress within safe limits. The efficiency is maximum at 52% at 1.7 GHz. The amplifier is suitable for GSM, PCS and other wireless standards.