Modified Doherty Amplifier With Extended Bandwidth and Back-Off Power Range Using Optimized Peak Combining Current Ratio

In this paper, a novel modified Doherty power amplifier (DPA) that allows for extended output back-off (OBO) range, improved power utilization factor (PUF), and increased peak power over a broad bandwidth is proposed. It starts with an in-depth analysis of the modified DPA circuitry that first revealed the ability to control the impedances seen by the main transistor versus frequency by properly setting the magnitude and phase of the ratio between the peaks of the combining currents. This is then exploited to maximize the peak power and enhance the achievable bandwidth. Furthermore, a complex-to-real output matching network is incorporated in the auxiliary path and its parameters are carefully chosen to produce proper load modulation while satisfying the required peak combining current ratio. For validation purpose, a DPA prototype is designed to operate over the frequency range of 1.35-2.05 GHz with an OBO of 9 dB. Under the continuous-wave excitation, the DPA prototype maintained the drain efficiency (DE) of 52%-55% and 65%-75% at 9-dB OBO and peak power, respectively, over the entire targeted band. In addition, the measured peak power and PUF were about 42 dBm and higher than 0.9, respectively. The linearizability of the DPA prototype using digital predistortion (DPD) with memory was assessed while being driven with a 40-MHz carrier-aggregated signal with a peak-to-average power ratio of 8.9 dB and at an average output power of 33 dBm. When the carrier frequency is swept over the entire band, the measurement revealed an adjacent channel leakage ratio of better than -46.5 dBc after DPD with an average DE of 49.3%-53%.