A 1.8-GHz CMOS Power Amplifier Using a Dual-Primary Transformer With Improved Efficiency in the Low Power Region

A 1.8-GHz CMOS power amplifier for a polar transmitter is implemented with a 0.18- RF CMOS process. The matching components, including the input and output transformers, were integrated. A dual-primary transformer is proposed in order to increase the efficiency in the low power region of the amplifier. The loss induced by the matching network for the low-output power region is minimized using the dual-primary transformer. The amplifier achieved a power-added efficiency of 40.7% at a maximum output power of 31.6 dBm. The dynamic range was 34 dB for a supply voltage that ranged from 0.5 to 3.3 V. The low power efficiency was 32% at the output power of 16 dBm.     

基于钛酸锶钡变容管的可调匹配网络

采用钛酸锶钡(BST)薄膜变容管作为可调电容元件,在LaAlO3基片上采用微细加工技术制备了共面波导结构的C-L-Cπ型可调匹配网络。仿真及测试结果表明,通过在BST薄膜变容管上施加直流偏置电压对BST变容管的电容进行调节,可以在740～770 MHz频率范围内,实现该匹配网络与终端负载之间良好的阻抗匹配。其中,在760 MHz时测得的匹配网络的反射系数S11达到–45.8 dB。     

Evaluation of High Step-Up Power Electronics Stages in Thermoelectric Generator Systems

To develop practical thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems, especially radioisotope thermoelectric power supplies for deep-space exploration, a power conditioning stage with high step-up gain is indispensable. This stage is used to step up the low output voltage of thermoelectric generators to the required high level. Furthermore, maximum power point tracking control for TEG modules needs to be implemented into the power electronics stages. In this paper, the temperature-dependent electrical characteristics of a thermoelectric generator are analyzed in depth. Three typical high step-up power converters suitable for TEG applications are discussed: an interleaved boost converter, a boost converter with a coupled inductor, and an interleaved boost converter with an auxiliary transformer. A general comparison of the three high step-up converters is conducted to study the step-up gain, conversion efficiency, and input current ripples. The interleaved boost converter with an auxiliary transformer is found to be the most suitable topology for TEG applications, which is verified by experiments.     

Development of a bias power supply for Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes

Avalanche photodiodes(APDs) have high output and high stability requirements for bias power in Geiger mode. This paper designs an APD with high boost ratio, high precision, low temperature drift, small size, and low power. Bias power supply, this module uses switching chip IC and flyback transformer to achieve high step-up ratio, realizes precise output control through precision operational amplifier and T-type resistor feedback network, and designs appropriate compensation network to improve sy...     

A High Voltage and High Power Adjustable Speed Drive System Using the Integrated$LC$and Step-Up Transforming Filter

A filter device is indispensable in most ac adjustable speed drive systems to eliminate the high-frequency components in the output voltage of an inverter, which could protect the insulation of the ac motor and reduce electromagnetic interference. Additionally, due to the restraints of power electronic devices, especially in the high voltage and high power systems with neutral point clamped (NPC) three-level structure, the step-up transformer is usually applied to ascend the output voltage. Thus, the system would be bulky when both of the components, filter and transformer, are adopted simultaneously. This paper efficiently utilizes the leakage inductance of the transformer and effectively integrates the filter and step-up transformer to achieve boosting and filtering simultaneously, and economizes on cost and volume. Besides, some relevant dynamic processes, like dc pre-excitation at the starting process, the self-excitation in the pulse-blocking process, and the response to load variation are discussed, respectively. This integrated configuration is validated by corresponding simulations and experiments, and has also been successfully applied in the three-level NPC 6000V/1MVA system. The other relevant factors in this device are discussed in detail.     

Design of LCL-T Resonant Converter Including the Effect of Transformer Winding Capacitance

The transformer winding capacitance, which is significant in high-voltage power supplies, is not gainfully utilized in an LCL-T resonant converter (RC). A simplified analysis presented in this paper predicts the severe degradation of output current regulation of an LCL-T RC due to transformer winding capacitance. The presence of winding capacitance, in fact, changes the third-order LCL-T resonant tank into fourth-order LC-LC topology. Using an AC analysis, it is shown that, under the derived design conditions, LC-LC RC also exhibits constant output current and in-phase source voltage and current, simultaneously at all loading conditions. Thus, the transformer leakage inductance and winding capacitance are gainfully utilized as a part of a resonant network, resulting in improved output characteristics. Closed-form expressions for the converter gain and component stresses are derived. The condition for converter design optimized for the minimum size of the resonant network is obtained. Experimental results on a prototype 100-mA 2-kV DC power supply confirm the observations of analysis.     

On the design of unilateral dual-loop feedback low-noise amplifiers with simultaneous noise, impedance, and IIP3 match

This work describes the theory and design of a nonenergetic dual-loop feedback low-noise amplifier (LNA) that provides maximum unilateral gain and simultaneous noise and impedance matching conditions. The dual-loop feedback is implemented in the form of transformer current-feedback and inductive series feedback (emitter degeneration). The current-feedback transformer is also used to neutralize the base-collector capacitance (C/sub bc/), by combining it with a properly dimensioned shunt admittance at the collector output. The result is a single-transistor unilateral-gain amplifier with high isolation and good stability, eliminating the need for a cascode stage and thus enableing the use of a lower dc-supply voltage. For the complete LNA, simple design equations are derived for the unilateralization, noise, and impedance matching requirements. Finally, second-harmonic tuning at the source improves the linearity without compromising the simultaneous noise and impedance match. To verify the presented theory, a 900-MHz hybrid Si BJT LNA has been implemented, which achieves 1.3-dB noise figure, 15-dB gain, -55dB isolation, and +10dBm IIP3 using a conventional double poly transistor, consuming I/sub C/=2.5 mA at V/sub CE/=1.5 V.     

Design and analysis of power-CMOS-gate-based switched-capacitor boost DC-AC inverter

A multistage power CMOS-transmission-gate-based (CMOS-TG) quasi-switched-capacitor (QSC) boost DC-AC inverter is proposed and integrated with a boost DC-DC converter for a step-up application with AC or DC load. In this paper, using CMOS-TG as a bidirectional switch, the various topologies can be integrated in the same configuration for achieving two functions: boosting and alternating; boosting for getting a sinusoidal output in which the peak is the result of a many times step-up of the input; alternating to realize the positive/negative half sinusoidal of the output. The inverter does not require any inductive elements as inductor and transformer, so integrated circuit (IC) fabrication will be promising for realization. By using the state-space averaging technique, the large-signal state-space model of the inverter is proposed, and then both the static analysis and dynamic small-signal analysis are derived to form a unified formulation for inverter/converter. Based on this formulation, there are presented for theoretical analysis/control design, including steady-state power, conversion efficiency, voltage conversion ratio, output ripple percentage, capacitance selection, closed-loop control and stability, and total harmonic distortion (THD), etc. Finally, a six-stage QSC boost DC-AC inverter is simulated by PSPICE, and the simulations are discussed for some cases, including: 1) steady-state AC output, ripple percentage, and power efficiency; 2) transient response of the regulated inverter for load variation; 3) a practical capacitive load: electromagnetic luminescent (EL) lamp, and 4) efficiency, ripple percentage, and THD for different loads. The results are illustrated to show the efficacy of the proposed inverter.     

CMOS high linearity PA driver with an on-chip transformer for W-CDMA application

A fully integrated high linearity differential power amplifier driver with an on-chip transformer in a standard 0.13-μm CMOS process for W-CDMA application is presented.The transformer not only accomplishes output impedance matching,but also acts as a balun for converting differential signals to single-ended ones.Under a supply voltage of 3.3 V,the measured maximum power is larger than 17 dBm with a peak power efficiency of 21%.The output power at the 1-dB compression point and the power gain are 12.7 dBm and 13.2 dB,respectively. The die size is 0.91×1.12 mm~2.     

Fully Integrated CMOS Power Amplifier With Efficiency Enhancement at Power Back-Off

This paper presents a new approach for power amplifier design using deep submicron CMOS technologies. A transformer based voltage combiner is proposed to combine power generated from several low-voltage CMOS amplifiers. Unlike other voltage combining transformers, the architecture presented in this paper provides greater flexibility to access and control the individual amplifiers in a voltage combined amplifier. In this work, this voltage combining transformer has been utilized to control output power and improve average efficiency at power back-off. This technique does not degrade instantaneous efficiency at peak power and maintains voltage gain with power back-off. A 1.2 V, 2.4 GHz fully integrated CMOS power amplifier prototype was implemented with thin-oxide transistors in a 0.13 mum RF-CMOS process to demonstrate the concept. Neither off-chip components nor bondwires are used for output matching. The power amplifier transmits 24 dBm power with 25% drain efficiency at 1 dB compression point. When driven into saturation, it transmits 27 dBm peak power with 32% drain efficiency. At power back-off, efficiency is greatly improved in the prototype which employs average efficiency enhancement circuitry.     

A Multilevel Modular Converter for a Large, Light Weight Wind Turbine Generator

In an onshore horizontal axis wind turbine, generator and converter are usually in the nacelle on the top of the tower, while the grid step-up transformer is placed at the bottom. Electric power is transmitted down through flexible cables of high current rating which are expensive and can suffer from large I² R loss. An offshore wind turbine usually has to include the step-up transformer in the nacelle. This adds significantly to the mechanical loading of the tower even new designs aim to reduce the transformer size and weight. In either case, a transformer-less, high voltage, high reliability generating unit for nacelle installation would be an attractive technology for large wind turbines. This study presents a power electronic solution based on a permanent magnet generator design. A multilevel cascaded voltage source converter is developed to synthesize a high sinusoidal output voltage. The dc link voltages of inverter modules are balanced by rectifiers fed from isolated generator coils while the inverter switching strategy equalizes the power sharing between the modules. The switching strategy also reduces the low order harmonics to constrain the sizing of the dc link capacitors. The modulating effect between the ac and dc sides of the inverter is taken into account. This paper describes the generator-converter arrangement, analyzes the inverter switching effects and derives the switching strategy which is verified by simulation and laboratory experiment.     

High Step-Up Active-Clamp Converter With Input-Current Doubler and Output-Voltage Doubler for Fuel Cell Power Systems

A high-efficiency high step-up dc–dc converter is proposed for fuel cell power systems. The proposed system consists of an input-current doubler, an output-voltage doubler, and an active-clamp circuit. The input-current doubler and the output-voltage doubler provide a much higher voltage conversion ratio without using a high turns ratio in the transformer and increase the overall efficiency. A series-resonant circuit of the output-voltage doubler removes the reverse-recovery problem of the rectifying diodes. The active-clamp circuit clamps the surge voltage of switches and recycles the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer. The operation principle of the converter is analyzed and verified. A 1 kW prototype is implemented to show the performance of the proposed converter. The prototype achieved a European efficiency of 96% at an input voltage of 30 V.      

Analysis and optimization of a nondissipative LC turn-offsnubber

A nondissipative LC turn-off snubber is used to reduce the voltage stress on a switching transistor, which is caused by the energy stored in the transformer leakage inductance. A detailed analysis of the fundamental characteristics of a buck-boost converter with an LC snubber is given, clarifying the effect of the snubber capacitance. In particular, it is found that the transformer current increases with the snubber capacitance, the transistor surge voltage and power loss are evaluated, and the optimum value of the snubber capacitance is derived. The most effective value of the snubber inductance is also discussed     

Measured CMOS Switched High-Quality Capacitors in a Reconfigurable Matching Network

Switched capacitors are here investigated for use in reconfigurable matching networks, particularly for digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) frequencies. A 0.13-mum CMOS circuit is evaluated through both simulations and measurements. Source grounded nMOS transistors are used to switch high-quality metal capacitors located above metal layer 8. The quality factor and tuning range depend on frequency, switch voltage, capacitor size, and transistor width. There is a clear tradeoff between quality factor and tuning range, and measurements show quality factors above 50, 100, and 150 at tuning ranges of 3.9, 2.4, and 1.6, respectively. A reconfigurable matching network with the switched capacitors has been realized using external inductors and the measured matching domain for the DVB-H frequency band is shown. The total loss of the network is 1.0 dB, a result of the high-quality switched capacitors. [All rights reserved Elsevier].     

A 1 V power amplifier for 81–86 GHz E-band

The design and layout of a two stage SiGe E-band power amplifier using a stacked transformer for output power combination is presented. In EM-simulations with ADS Momentum, at E-band frequencies, the power combiner consisting of two individual single turn transformers performs significantly better than a single 2:1 transformer with two turns on the secondary side. Imbalances in the stacked transformer structure are reduced with tuning capacitors for maximum gain and output power. At 84 GHz the simulated loss of the stacked transformer is as low as 1.35 dB, superseding the performance of an also presented alternative power combiner. The power combination allows for a low supply voltage of 1 V, which is beneficial since the supply can then be shared between the power amplifier and the transceiver, thereby eliminating the need of a separate voltage regulator. To improve the gain of the two-stage amplifier it employs a capacitive cross-coupling technique not yet seen in mm-wave SiGe PAs. Capacitive cross-coupling is an effective technique for gain enhancement but is also sensitive to process variations as shown by Monte Carlo simulations. To mitigate this two alternative designs are presented with the cross coupling capacitors implemented either with diode coupled transistors or with varactors. The PA is designed in a SiGe process with f _T  = 200 GHz and achieves a power gain of 12 dB, a saturated output power of 16 dBm and a 14 % peak PAE. Excluding decoupling capacitors it occupies a die area of 0.034 mm².     

Sliding-mode control design of a boost-buck switching converter for AC signal generation

This paper presents a sliding-mode control design of a boost-buck switching converter for a voltage step-up dc-ac conversion without the use of any transformer. This approach combines the step-up/step-down conversion ratio capability of the converter with the robustness properties of sliding-mode control. The proposed control strategy is based on the design of two sliding-control laws, one ensuring the control of a full-bridge buck converter for proper dc-ac conversion, and the other one the control a boost converter for guaranteeing a global dc-to-ac voltage step-up ratio. A set of design criteria and a complete design procedure of the sliding-control laws are derived from small-signal analysis and large-signal considerations. The experimental results presented in the paper evidence both the achievement of step-up dc-ac conversion with good accuracy and robustness in front of input voltage and load perturbations, thus validating the proposed approach.     

A Single-Inductor Step-Up DC-DC Switching Converter With Bipolar Outputs for Active Matrix OLED Mobile Display Panels

A single-inductor step-up DC-DC switching converter with bipolar outputs is implemented for active-matrix OLED mobile display panels. The positive output voltage is regulated by a boost operation with a modified comparator control (MCC), and the negative output voltage is regulated by a charge-pump operation with a proportional-integral (PI) control. The proposed adaptive current-sensing technique successfully supports the implementation of the proposed converter topology and enables the converter to work in both discontinuous-conduction mode (DCM) and continuous-conduction mode (CCM). In addition, with the MCC method, the converter can guarantee a positive output voltage that has both a fast transient response of the comparator control and a small output voltage ripple of the PWM control. A 4.1 mm$^{2}$ converter IC fabricated in a 0.5 $mu$m power BiCMOS process operates at a switching frequency of 1 MHz with a maximum efficiency of 82.3% at an output power of 330 mW.      

A monolithic transformer coupled 5-W silicon power amplifier with59% PAE at 0.9 GHz

This paper presents the circuit design and application of a monolithically integrated silicon radio-frequency power amplifier for 0.8-1 GHz. The chip is fabricated in a 25-GHz-f_T silicon bipolar production technology (Siemens B6HF). A maximum output power of 5 W and maximum efficiency of 59% is achieved. The chip is operating from 2.5 to 4.5 V. The linear gain is 36 dB. The balanced two-stage circuit design is based fundamentally on three on-chip transformers. The driver stage and the output stage are connected in common-emitter configuration. The input signal can be applied balanced or single-ended if one input terminal is grounded. One transformer at the input acts as balun as well as input matching network. Two transformers acts as interstage matching network     

VCO电路测试新型BST电容器的可变电容特性

基于新型BST电容器的变容机理,采用集成芯片MC12148设计VCO(压控震荡器)测试电路,通过测量不同控制电压对应的频率,计算出材料的电容与介电常数,研究了新型BST的压控特性,推导出该BST材料的电压与电容关系式。结果显示:新型BST材料加正反偏压电容都发生变化;最大耐压值为40 V;其电容调谐率与压控灵敏度都很小,分别为10.691%和5.717 kHz/V;材料应用在频率合成器的微调上,可提高合成频率的灵敏度与精度。