GaN-based digital transmitter architectures for 5G

Fully digital transmitter chains are an important step towards the software-defined radio. Digital amplification is obtained by encoding the baseband signal into a binary bit stream and amplifying this signal with a simple switch. The wanted analog signal is restored in a simple passive band-pass filter. This paper provides a brief overview on the principle of operation, requirements, and new opportunities enabled by the use of digital transmitter chains. Recent results of research in this field are presented.