Design of GaN HEMT broadband power amplifiers

Abstract

Power Amplifiers are undoubtedly one of the most important blocks in any transmitter system. Long range communication requires a massive boost-up of the power to be delivered, before it can be launched in the channel. This makes Power Amplifier (PA) design to be a challenging task. Recently, a lot of work regarding Gallium Nitride (GaN) PAs is going on around the globe and have drawn the researcher’s interests. This Master’s thesis presents a simulation based design of a 10W broadband PA, operating at the WiFi frequency of 2.4GHz. The amplifier was designed using the large signal model (CGH400010F) from Cree Incorp. Advanced Design Systems (ADS) from Keysight Technologies has been used for simulations. The designed amplifier shows a Power Added Efficiency (PAE) of 70% and delivers 38dBm (Pdel) of power at the design frequency. The gain is measured to be above 9.5dB over the operating band.