Single-Input Broadband Hybrid Doherty Power Amplifiers Design Relying on a Phase Sliding-Mode of the Load Modulation Scheme

This work introduces a novel design theory for a single-input hybrid Doherty power amplifier (PA) inspired by the design space existing within the previously reported dual-input Doherty–Chireix (outphasing) continuum. Unlike the conventional
$\lambda /4$
Doherty PA inverter which only performs the correct load modulation at its center frequency, the hybrid Doherty PA (HD
$\omega $
-PA) combiner network achieves a wideband load modulation using the frequency dependence of the electrical length of the output combiner lines versus frequency for sliding the PA mode of operation. A modified theory is presented in this work to allow for a single-input PA implementation. In this new design, the outphasing angle is only changing with frequency and not the input power. A transmission line phase shifter is used to provide the correct frequency-dependent input phase offset ensuring the correct wideband load modulation performed by the output combiner. A novel methodology is also proposed to select the optimal input phase offset to reduce the variation in the saturation power versus frequency and minimize the circuit size. A proof-of-concept demonstrator PA circuit is designed to operate from 2.5 to 3.3 GHz. When the fabricated PA is excited by a 20-MHz long-term evolution (LTE) modulated signal with 6-dB peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR), an average efficiency of 45%–59% and adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) less than −50 dBc are achieved after digital predistortion (DPD) across the entire band. When the fabricated PA is excited by a 5G-like 50-MHz orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal with 10-dB PAPR, an average efficiency of 33%–41% and ACLR less than −44 dBc are achieved after DPD across the entire band.