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An Efficient, Broadband SiGe HBT Non-Uniform Distributed Power Amplifier Leveraging a Compact, Two-Section λ/4 Output Impedance Transformer | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

An Efficient, Broadband SiGe HBT Non-Uniform Distributed Power Amplifier Leveraging a Compact, Two-Section λ/4 Output Impedance Transformer


Abstract:

An efficient, broadband SiGe HBT cascode nonuniform distributed power amplifier (NDPA) is presented for low-cost, fully integrated Si-based phased arrays. Optimum load im...Show More

Abstract:

An efficient, broadband SiGe HBT cascode nonuniform distributed power amplifier (NDPA) is presented for low-cost, fully integrated Si-based phased arrays. Optimum load impedances at each SiGe HBT cascode in a four-stage NDPA core are obtained by scaling the characteristic impedance ( Z_{0} ) of the collector transmission lines (TLs) and tapering the SiGe HBT emitter area simultaneously. A novel compact, lumped-element two-section \lambda /4 output impedance transformer (OIT) is proposed to lower the NDPA load impedance ( Z_{L} ) from 50 to 25 \Omega over more than one decade bandwidth (BW). Each \lambda /4 impedance transformer is realized by four cascaded CLC \pi -networks integrated into a single three-turn symmetric inductor in order to achieve compact size, high passive efficiency, and high LC cutoff frequency ( f_{c} ). The systematic design approach of a lumped-element \lambda /4 impedance transformer with an arbitrary Z_{0} is described in detail. The prototype NDPA was fabricated in 0.13- \mu \text{m} SiGe HBT BiCMOS technology. The proposed SiGe HBT cascode NDPA supports both high linearity (HL) and high gain (HG) modes, each suited to a specific application. The NDPA attains a peak power gain of 10.3/12.5 dB, a saturated output power ( P_{\mathrm {out}} ) of 21.3/21.5 dBm, and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 12.2%/12.5%–21.6%/22.0% for HL/HG modes, with a 3-dB BW from 1.5 to 24.0 GHz. The NDPA delivers 13.0-dBm average P_{\mathrm {out}} with a PAE of 10.0% at 6-Gbit/s data rate 64 QAM modulation.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques ( Volume: 70, Issue: 7, July 2022)
Page(s): 3524 - 3533
Date of Publication: 09 May 2022

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