Optimized E-Class Power Amplifiers Widely Covering 4.5 GHz from 2.5 to 7.0 GHz

Abstract

Based on TSMC 0.18 micron process, the fabricated CMOSFET devices, whose model is implemented in Agilent ADS, are used to design an E-Class power amplifier. This radio frequency amplifier is optimized to cover 2.4 to 7.1 GHz, in which two center working frequencies, 5.0 GHz and 6.0 GHz, are intentionally included. The resulting gain (S21) is always higher than 20dB, while the isolation addressed by S12 is shown to be as low as -35dB. S11 and S22, which are responsible for impedance matching, are tuned to be as low as possible. Therefore, the applicable frequency range is demonstrated to be as wide 4.5GHz from around 2.5GHz to around 7.0GHz. Also, the minimum noise figures (NFmin) are found to be less than 1.0 at the center working frequency 5.0GHz and 1.2 at 6.0GHz. Those promising results encouragingly promote this power amplifier with a low noise feature.