Active antenna for improved efficiency and reduced harmonic radiation

Harmonic suppressed active antenna integrated with power amplifier yields improved efficiency, higher output power and reduced harmonic radiation from transmitter front end. This paper presents different harmonic suppression techniques of active antenna integrated with power amplifier. This paper also proposes and demonstrates novel PBG engineered structures to suppress higher order harmonics of integrated active antenna.     

0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS push-pull power amplifier with antenna in IC package

A novel architecture of power amplifier with antenna implemented in a ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package is presented. The monolithic power amplifier designed in a standard 0.18- /spl mu/m CMOS technology offers 19.5 dBm maximum output power at 5.2 GHz to the antenna with the PAE of 32%. The antenna integrated in the CBGA package achieves impedance bandwidth of 3.86% and gain of 2 dBi at 5.2 GHz. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using this innovative configuration to the design of single-chip 5 GHz transmitter front-end.     

Noise figure measurement of receiving active microstrip antennas

A novel technique for the measurement of the noise figure is proposed for an amplifier embedded in a receiving active microstrip antenna, where direct measurement is impossible. The proposed technique is a combination of the transducer power gain measurement of the amplifier and the absolute noise power measurement of the active antenna. The measured results of a receiving active microstrip antenna show the validity of the measurement technique. This enables the characterisation of the noise performance of active antennas.<>     

A 24-GHz Patch Array with a Power Amplifier/Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC

This paper presents an active patch array designed at 24 GHz. It can be used as a front-end component for a phased array. A series resonant array structure is chosen which is compact and easy excite. With 5 elements, the array proved a 12-dB antenna gain. A power amplifier and a low noise amplifier are designed on a single GaAs chip (PALNA). Bias switch is used in the PALNA, which greatly reduces the switch loss in a transceiver and increases the efficiency. 20-dB small signal gain is achieved in both power amplifier and low noise amplifier. The active patch array is built by the combination of the patch array and PALNA. The measured active gain of this antenna is 35-dB for the PA mode and 31-dB for the LNA mode. This active patch array can obtain an EIRP of 34 dBm with a total radiated power of 22dBm and a maximum PAE of 32%. To check the noise performance, we applied sources at both normal temperature and 77K (liquid nitrogen) and extracted the noise figure (3.5 dB) of the active antenna by the Y factor method. The results proved that the active antenna is working efficiently as both a transmitting and receiving antenna.     

S波段T/R组件用GaN功率放大器链的设计(英文)

基于Si衬底AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的功率放大器链是下一代S波段相控阵雷达T/R组件的核心部分。研制的S波段放大器链主要由驱动放大器和功率放大器组成,驱动放大器与功率放大器都是基于Si衬底AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的混合集成电路。基于混合集成电路的放大器链获得了高的输出峰值功率和附加功率(PAE),整个放大器链输出功率在800 MHz频率范围内大于20 W,附加效率(PAE)大于50%。     

卫星定位有源天线性能测试接口转换装置

在卫星有源接收天线测试过程中,受天线自身所带放大器增益的限制,其输出的信号功率无法达到后端测试设备最低输入灵敏度的要求,致使天线的某些性能测试工作无法进行。针对有源天线测试过程中遇到的接口不匹配和接收信号场强不匹配问题,提出了在被测有源天线与后端测试设备之间增加一个接口转换装置。该装置由SMA接头、低噪声放大器、直流电源隔离电路和防浪涌冲击电路构成。仿真表明,该接口转换装置能有效地完成在微波暗室里进行的卫星有源接收天线性能测试。     

Integrated-antenna push-pull power amplifiers

In this paper, the integrated-antenna concept is applied to push-pull power amplifiers (PAs). In this approach, the antenna serves as an out-of-phase power combiner and tuned load for higher harmonics. This new architecture effectively has a near-zero loss output hybrid, and results in a high-efficiency PA. The first example is a narrow-band push-pull amplifier integrated with a dual-feed patch antenna. At an operating frequency of 2.5 GHz, a maximum measured power-added efficiency (PAE) of 55% is achieved. The second example is a broadband push-pull amplifier integrated with a dual-feed slot antenna amplifier operating at 2.46 GHz which has a peak PAE of 63%, and PAE better than 55% in an 8% bandwidth. Additionally, 48% PAE is achieved with code-division multiple-access modulation and adjacent-channel power ratio better than -42 dBe at a 1.25-MHz offset     

RF multiple-input multiple-output switchless front-end

RF multiple-input multiple-output circuits are normally implemented with the beam-forming network between the amplifier and antenna. Here the amplifier is placed between the beam-forming network and antenna, thus improving the performance in terms of power loss and noise figure as well as allowing operation for beam steering or spatial diversity     

A novel power amplifier structure for RFID tag applications

A novel matching method between the power amplifier(PA) and antenna of an active or semi-active RFID tag is presented.A PCB dipole antenna is used as the resonance inductor of a differential power amplifier. The total PA chip area is reduced greatly to only 240×70μm~2 in a 0.18μm CMOS process due to saving two on-chip integrated inductors.Operating in class AB with a 1.8 V supply voltage and 2.45 GHz input signal,the PA shows a measured output power of 8 dBm at the 1 dB compression point.     

TM surface-wave power combining by a planar active-lens amplifier

Power combining of TM surface waves by a planar active-lens amplifier is the subject of this paper. An amplifier gain of 11 dB at 8.25 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.65 GHz has been demonstrated. Gain is measured from input to output connector to facilitate comparisons with more conventional amplifiers. Measurements of output power versus input power are also presented. The amplifier behaved in a linear manner and no problems with spurious oscillations were encountered. Construction of the amplifier is compatible with planar fabrication technologies. A key component of the combiner is a microstrip-fed Yagi-Uda slot-array antenna for TM surface-wave excitation of a thick dielectric slab. Design and optimization guidelines for the antenna are presented as well as detailed spectral-domain and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis results. Measured and simulation results show an input return loss and front-to-back ratio better than 10 dB over a 5% bandwidth. Calculated and measured results for the fields radiated by the antenna confirm forward radiation of the dominant TM mode in the thick dielectric slab. Integration of the computed radiated fields shows the antenna has a surface-wave launching efficiency of 85%     

A novel fully integrated transmitter front-end with high power-added efficiency

A novel fully integrated transmitter front-end with a simple structure is proposed to obtain both high power-added efficiency (PAE) and a compact RF-front structure. To have all these characteristics, a novel antenna operating as a radiator, a harmonic tuning circuit, and an output matching network of the power amplifier is proposed. Therefore, the direct integration of the output of the power amplifier and antenna can be achieved without any impedance transformers. From the measured results and fabrication, it is shown that the proposed transmitter front-end provides high PAE of 67.5% and compact and integrated RF-front structure by the size reduction of 43% compared with the conventional class-F active antenna for high PAE.     

Multifunctional microstrip transmission lines integrated with defected ground structure for RF front-end application

This paper presents multifunctional microstrip transmission lines for designing a high port-isolation dual-frequency orthogonally polarized rectangular patch antenna and the antenna-integrated power amplifier. The proposed lines were realized through the integration of defected ground structures (DGSs) with conventional microstrip lines. A spiral-shaped DGS-integrated microstrip line enhances the port isolation of the antenna, while feeding the 2.0-GHz excitation to the antenna and filtering out the 2.5-GHz receiving signal from the other port. High-order harmonic signal suppression of the power amplifier at the 2.5-GHz port was accomplished by the dumbbell-shaped DGS, thereby improving the efficiency of the amplifier. Measurements show an improvement of 20 dB in port isolation and 3% in power-added efficiency relative to an identical RF front-end, but integrated with a conventional patch antenna. An image impedance of the DGS-integrated microstrip lines can be controlled by the integrated DGS geometries. Relatively high-impedances lines, i.e., 150 and 100 /spl Omega/, are effectively implemented using microstrip lines with 75- and 50-/spl Omega/ linewidths by incorporating the spiral- and dumbbell-shaped DGSs, respectively.     

一种900-MHz 20-mW CMOS功率放大器的设计

提出了一个工作电压为3V，工作频率900MHZ，输出功率为20mW的高效率CMOS功率放大器。为了达到设计目标，文章采用了一些特殊的方法，包括三级放大结构，级间的调谐匹配和层叠差分结构。     

Variable Antenna Load for Transmitter Efficiency Improvement

A wireless radio transmitter with an integrated variable-impedance antenna is demonstrated. The transmit signal is connected via a switch to the antenna at one of several feed points that correspond to different load impedances that are optimal for the power amplifier at different transmit power levels. It is shown that this can be used to improve the efficiency of the transmission at low and medium transmit powers. The variable antenna load is demonstrated with a planar inverted-F antenna, but the method can be applied to any antenna with suitable impedances.     

Broadband circularly polarised high efficiency active antenna

A broadband circularly polarised (CP) high efficiency active antenna is presented, where the antenna is integrated directly with a high efficiency class-E power amplifier (PA). The printed antenna is employed not only as a broadband CP radiator but also as a harmonics-termination load network for the class-E PA. Measured results demonstrate broadband CP radiation and high efficiency.     

一种新型圆极化接收有源集成天线的设计

提出了一种新型圆极化接收有源集成天线的设计方法,采用有源放大与无源辐射部分一体化设计理念,通过合理改变天线的输出阻抗,直接与低噪声放大器晶体管输入端进行匹配,省去了传统设计中的复杂匹配网络,降低了天线前端的匹配损耗,改善了天线接收系统的噪声和增益。利用此方法设计了一款C波段圆极化接收有源集成天线。测试结果表明:相对于传统设计方法,该方法在方向图和轴比性能基本相同的情况下,阻抗带宽改善了3%,输入端匹配损耗减小了0.3 dB,同时简化了电路结构。证明了该方法的有效性。     

Adaptive methods to preserve power amplifier linearity under antenna mismatch conditions

Under antenna mismatch conditions at high output power, voltage clipping (due to collector voltage saturation) is the main cause of power amplifier linearity degradation. To preserve linearity under mismatch three adaptive methods are presented that make use of the detected minimum collector peak voltage. This detected signal controls either the amplifier output power, load-line, or supply voltage. These concepts are generalized analytically, and calculated results compare well to simulations. Measurements demonstrate am error vector magnitude reduction of 5% and an adjacent channel power ratio improvement of 10 dB at a voltage standing wave ratio of 4 for an EDGE amplifier with adaptively controlled output power. These adaptive methods offer a cost and size effective alternative to the use of an isolator.     

Planar MESFET transmission wave amplifier

The authors present a quasioptical power combining transmission amplifier for increasing the power level available from solid-state circuits. Receiving and transmitting arrays of patch antennas, input/output isolation, MESFETs, bias and matching circuitry are contained on a single substrate, making monolithic millimetre-wave integration possible. The flexibility of selecting input polarisation with respect to the output while maintaining amplifier stability is demonstrated. A 24-MESFET patch antenna amplifier array is presented.<>     

An efficient X-band 16-element spatial combiner of switched-mode power amplifiers

This paper describes the design, implementation, and characterization of a high-efficiency 10-GHz amplifier antenna array for spatial power combining. An average drain efficiency of 70% at 162 W effective isotropic radiated power, or about 1.5 W of transmitted power, is measured for an array of 16 amplifiers consisting of four four-element subarrays. The power-combining efficiency of the 16-element array is above 79%. The active device is a low-cost GaAs MESFET with a maximum available power in class A of 21 dBm. The single class-E power amplifier delivers 20.3 dBm with 67% drain efficiency and 58% power-added efficiency.     

Integrated solar panel antennas

A new antenna which combines solar cells and printed patches is presented. The antenna is designed so as to accommodate the solar cells that provide power to an MMIC amplifier. A 2×4 array is presented, which operates at the frequency of 3.76 GHz and has a bandwidth of 16% and gain up to 30 dBi (active)