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Octave bandwidth S- and C-band GaN-HEMT power amplifiers for future 5G communication

Rautschke, Felix; May, Stefan; Drews, Sebastian; Maaßen, Daniel; Böck, Georg

In this contribution, a design methodology for octave-bandwidth power amplifiers (PA) for 5G communication systems using surface mount dual-flat-no-lead packaged gallium-nitride high-electron-mobility transistor devices is presented. Systematic source- and load-pull simulations have been used to find the optimum impedances across 75% fractional bandwidth for S- (1.9–4.2 GHz) and C-band (3.8–8.4 GHz) PAs. The harmonic impact is considered to improve the output power and efficiency of the PAs. Utilizing the characteristic behavior of the transistors leads to modified optimum fundamental load impedances for the low-frequency range, which have higher gain compared with high-frequency range, and minimize the influence of the higher harmonics. Continuous wave large-signal measurements of the realized S-Band PA show a power added efficiency (PAE) of more than 40% from 1.9–4.2 GHz and a flat power gain of 11 dB while achieving a saturated output power of 10 W. The measured performance of the C-Band PA demonstrates a delivered power between 3.5 and 5 W across the frequency range of 3.8–8.4 GHz. A flat power gain of around 9 ± 0.5 dB with 26–40% PAE is achieved.
Published in: International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, 10.1017/S1759078718000922, Cambridge University Press
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  • This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.