A 2.14 GHz GaN power amplifier with 1-bit discrete power control

This paper focuses a GaN HEMT power amplifier with 1-bit power control and provides experimental data. It relies on a new concept of power combining allowed by an adaptive gate bias control scheme. At 2.1 GHz CW the discrete power control technique enables a linear factor 3.3 efficiency enhancement at the maximum power back-off of 7 dB, while a maximum output power of 34 dBm and a peak drain efficiency of 35%.