GaN Based HEMT Power Amplifier Design with 44.5dBm Output Power Operating at 5-7GHz

Abstract

The next-generation wireless communication systems including satellite, radar, and mobile communications need application-specific power amplifiers that can operate at very high frequencies and high power with the overall minimum power consumption from the system. To meet such stringent requirements there is a rising interest in amplifier designs based on GaN transistors. This paper presents an improved design of a high power amplifier based on GaN HEMT transistor operating at the frequency band 5GHz – 7GHz with optimized output power level. The presented design is based on a 12 Watt Discrete Power GaN on SiC HEMT from TriQuint. In this manuscript, we have considered the stability of the amplifier for the whole operating frequency band, its input and output matching impedance, gain, and maximum output power. The design of the Radio Frequency (RF) power amplifier and its overall performance are carried out using an advanced design system (ADS). The simulation results of the device stability and the output power level achieved provides a good comparison with the parameters and specifications of the device used. For better correlations in the simulation results and measurements, the accuracy of passive element designs are also considered. The simulation and experiment results show that the designed high power amplifier has achieved an output power level of 44.5 dBm at 1 dB compression point.