College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Electrical Engineering
Date
6-2020
Primary Advisor
Dean Arakaki, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
Wireless devices are part of everyday life, cellphones and radio receivers impact more people than any piece of technology. Thus, the respective building blocks continue to advance and achieve better performance. A primary component of all wireless communication systems is the power amplifier that drives the antenna. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) holds the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) every year where teams compete internationally for the most efficient RF Power Amplifier (PA). Power amplifier technologies strive to maximize efficiency and linearity. Topologies to consider are D, E, F, F-1 and Doherty since they have a maximum theoretical efficiency of 100%. This project focuses on the design and simulation of a power amplifier in which design is optimized for Power Added Efficiency (PAE) at 3.5GHz using the class F topology and it will use IMS competition rules and performance metrics. Power conversion efficiency from DC to RF is referred to as PAE and linearity is the maximum spur to fundamental power ratio. An ideal class F amplifier creates a square output drain voltage and a half wave rectified sinusoidal current in order to maximize efficiency. For this project, a 3.5GHz GaN HEMT based power amplifier is designed and simulated in Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS) and Momentum [1]. Load-pull simulation, including the transistor model, sweeps the load impedance to find the optimal load for maximized efficiency or power output. An input and output microstrip stub network can be designed to match these ideal impedances to a 50Ω line. Momentum, an ADS integrated EM simulation software, is used to verify actual input and output network performance. Finally, in order to find overall system gain, power output, and efficiency, a harmonic balance simulation is performed. Project goals include class F amplifier topology harmonic balance and Momentum EM simulation to attain a minimum 80% PAE and 40dBm (10W) output power at 27dBm maximum input power (0.5W).
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/eesp/505