SWITCH MODE RF POWER AMPLIFIER DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND IMPLEMENTATION

In the recent years, there has been an increased focus on RF power amplifiers for communications especially for wireless applications. The main reasons of focus include high integration of power amplifier and low cost of production. To be able to reach the goal some theory on RF power amplifiers is necessary. The different classes of operation are explained, then the principles of impedance matching is discussed. This includes the development of the simulated load-pull method and synthesis of impedance matching networks. Then the biasing of the power amplifier is discussed along with the stability issues. RF power amplifier designing, simulation and implementation at 5MHz is described in this thesis.

The issues of modeling a complete power amplifier are treated. This includes modeling of the circuit, the passive devices on-chip and off-chip as well as the package and PCB. To ease the design of power amplifier a design method is developed based on the theory and the experimental work.

At last the experimental work is described. The first part is a linearization system based on simulation. Then the RF power amplifier designed during the project are introduced. The power amplifier shows superior performance when at its operating frequency 5MHz. The output power of this power amplifier is 50.419dB. The power amplifier utilizes the design method develop as well as the models described. The accurate modeling combined with superior performance proves the future of integrated RF power amplifiers for wireless communication.