Publication: 0.13 𝛍𝒎 cmos class f rf power amplifier for iot application
Date
2019-05-01
Authors
Liew, Xin Ye
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Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT) industry keep growing in recent years. The design of RF power amplifier with high efficiency is thus crucial to reduce power consumption needed for data transmission which is high in capacity and speed. This project is a 0.13 μm CMOS Class-F Radio Frequency (RF) Power Amplifier (PA) which is designed for 2.45 GHz IoT application. The power amplifier design in this project consists of 3 parts including Input Impedance (IIP) match circuit, Class-F harmonics termination circuit and Output Impedance (OIP) match circuit. Smith chart for RF and Cadence software analysis tools are used in this design. For Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), at least 4 dBm of output power is needed for signal transmission in BLE standard. In terms of performance, this PA design has power gain of 5.79 dB and output power of 5.79 dBm at operating frequency 2.45 GHz for the maximum Power Added Efficiency (PAE) of 31.62% with Output Third Order Intercept Point (OIP3) of 8 dBm. The maximum Output Third Order Intercept Point (OIP3) for this design is 15.7 dBm. At output power of 4 dBm (BLE standard), the PA’s power gain is 7.34 dB with PAE of 30% and OIP3 of 13 dBm. At the operating frequency of 2.45 GHz, the PA exhibits stability k-factor, 𝐾𝑓 value of more than 1 and thus the PA is unconditionally stable. Besides, the PA shows S-parameters performance of -19.25 dB for 𝑆11 and -13.97 dB for 𝑆22. These performances of PA are achieved at power supply of 1.2 V.