Design and simulation of power amplifier at 10 GHz for x-band radar applications
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Date
2017-06
Authors
Nur Syahirah Binti Abdul Raif
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Abstract
This paper reviews a design and simulation of X-band GaAs pHEMT power amplifier. The energy that is emitted through link module at RF amplifier is more as RF amplifier is located at the end of radio transmitter which supplied RF power for the receiving antenna. Ideal power amplifier converts DC power into output signal power under the linear control of an RF input from signal generator. Power amplifier concept requires non-linear operation since linear networks cannot shift power from one frequency to another. The frequency range for X-band is between 8 to 12 GHz. RF amplifier design depends on the terminal characteristics of the transistor as represented by S-parameter. Scattering parameter (S-parameter) of the transistor provides the significant values to perform analysis such as stability, DC biasing, input return loss (𝑆11), output return loss (𝑆22), power added efficiency (PAE) and power gain (𝑆21). Advanced Design System (ADS) is used to design the schematic circuit, simulate the design and generate layout design. The power amplifier is designed in a single stage configuration to fully match a 50Ω input and output impedance. The transistor chosen is HMC996LP4E which is GaAs pHEMT MMIC amplifier. The off-shelf transistor is employed in the design in order to obtain the targeted results. No external matching is needed for the transistor as it is already built in. The layout design is designed based on the schematic and dimension of the transistor. Then, the layout is fabricated onto RO4003 substrate board and measured using network analyzer and spectrum analyzer. The drain bias voltage is set at 5v, gate bias voltage is set at 0v and gain control voltage is set at -4v. The input power from signal generator is varied between -12dBm to +12dBm. Based on the result measurement, the power amplifier developed in this project provides power gain of 13.44dB and output return loss (𝑆22), at -4.07dB with PAE of 68.25% at 10 GHz.