Self-calibration of a power pre-amplifier in a digital polar transmitter

A built-in self-calibration and self-compensation scheme for a digital power pre-amplifier (DPA) of a mobile handset transceiver is proposed. It allows accurate internal measurements of the amplitude and phase distortions experienced in the DPA using the on-chip receiver and processor. A dynamic range of over 60 dB is achieved using multiple gain settings in the receiver. The proposed scheme, in conjunction with the transceiver's digital architecture, is demonstrated in a 65-nm CMOS GSM/EDGE radio, where it allows for accurate and cost-effective self-calibration to be performed in less than 0.1 s.