“Monolithic RF Class-E Power Amplifier on CMOS Technologies for IEEE 802.11B/G Applications”
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“Monolithic RF Class-E power amplifier on CMOS technologies for IEEE 802.11b/g applications” André Gomes de Melo Coelho Dissertation submitted for obtaining the degree of Master in Electronic Engineering Jury President: Professor Moisés Piedade Member: Professor Nuno Paulino Supervisor: Professor João Manuel Simões Vaz October 2010 Abstract With the advancement of CMOS technology, the trend is to design RF transceivers using this technology with the aim of achieving full integration and reduced system cost. The power amplifier (PA), being one of the most important blocks of the wireless communication system, is no exception. Therefore, this document presents a detailed study of the single-ended class-E power amplifier, which is the configuration that has higher efficiency and easier integration, making it one of the strongest candidates for a practical implementation. The aim of this work is to provide the study that guides the design of a single-ended RF CMOS Class-E power amplifier for IEEE 802.11b/g applications. The technology that will be used to design the amplifier prototype is UMC 0,18um CMOS. The main goal is to obtain a fully integrated circuit with high efficiency for 2.4 GHz and output power exceeding 17 dBm. Several designs were made with common-source, cascade, with and without driver stage. The driver is a class-F power amplifier tuned to the first and third harmonics. Keywords Radio Frequency, integrated circuits, power amplifiers, Switched-mode, CMOS, class-E I II Resumo Com o avanço da tecnologia CMOS, cada vez mais a tendência é projectar transmissores usando esta tecnologia com o objectivo de obter uma integração total do sistema a reduzido custo. O amplificador de potência, responsável por entregar potência à antena, sendo um dos principais blocos do sistema de comunicação sem fios não é excepção no que diz respeito ao fabrico em CMOS. Assim, neste trabalho apresenta-se um estudo aprofundado sobre o amplificador de potência em classe-E que é uma das configurações que apresenta maior rendimento e possibilidade de integração tornando-o um dos fortes candidatos a uma implementação prática. O objectivo deste trabalho é fornecer o estudo que permita o desenho de um amplificador de potência classe-E em CMOS para aplicações IEEE 802.11b/g. Será usada a tecnologia UMC CMOS 0,18um para conceber um protótipo do amplificador. A principal meta a alcançar é obter um circuito com alto rendimento para 2.4 GHz e potência de saída superior a 17 dBm. Para o desenho dos vários projetos são utilizados a topologia common-source e também cascode com e sem drive. O driver projetado é um amplificador de potência em classe-F sintonizado para a primeira e terceira harmónicas. Palavras-chave Rádio Frequência, circuitos integrados, amplificadores de potência, comutados, CMOS, classe-E III IV Acronyms ADS Advanced Design System WLAN Wireless local area network IC Integrated Circuit RF Radio Frequency PA Power Amplifier CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor GaAs Gallium Arsenide SiGe Silicon-Germanium PAE Power-Added-Efficiency V VI Acknowledgements First of all I want to thank to my closest family, father, mother and brother for the unconditional support along my degree and especially during the development of this dissertation. I also want to thank Professor João Vaz for accepting to be my counselor in this work and for all the important suggestions. Without him this work would not be possible. A final word to my colleague and above all friend, Vítor Canosa. For all the countless hours of discussions, suggestions and dreams for the future, I really hope that we continue working together. Thanks for all your friendship. VII VIII Table of contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. I KEYWORDS ............................................................................................................................................ I RESUMO ............................................................................................................................................... III PALAVRAS‐CHAVE ............................................................................................................................ III TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... XI LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. XIII CHAPTER 1 ‐ INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 15 1.1 MOTIVATION ................................................................................................................................................. 15 1.1.1 Integrated power amplifiers in wireless systems .................................................................... 16 1.1.2 Advantages of using the class‐E ..................................................................................................... 17 1.2 CHALLENGES AND GOALS ............................................................................................................................ 17 1.3 STATE‐OF‐THE‐ART ..................................................................................................................................... 18 1.4 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION ....................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2 – POWER AMPLIFIERS ............................................................................................ 21 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 21 2.2 NON‐SWITCHING MODE VS SWITCHING MODE PAS ............................................................................... 22 2.3 CLASS‐E OPERATION ................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.1 Amplifier’s description ........................................................................................................................ 25 2.3.2 Class‐E amplifier ................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.3 Analysis of class‐E by Sokal .............................................................................................................. 28 2.3.4 Analysis of class E by Mustafa ......................................................................................................... 30 2.3.5 Classe‐E cascode .................................................................................................................................... 33 2.4 CLASS‐F .......................................................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 3 – AMPLIFIER DESIGN ............................................................................................... 37 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 37 3.2 CLASS‐E POWER AMPLIFIER ....................................................................................................................... 38 IX 3.2.1 Input matching ...................................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.2 Output matching ................................................................................................................................... 44 3.2.3 Class‐E with a class‐F driver stage – version 1 ........................................................................ 48 3.2.4 Class‐E with a class‐F driver stage – version 2 ........................................................................ 50 3.3 CLASSE‐E CASCODE POWER AMPLIFIER ................................................................................................... 52 3.3.1 Class‐E cascode with a class‐F driver – version 1 ................................................................... 55 3.3.2 Class‐E cascode with a class‐F driver – version 2 ................................................................... 56 3.4 PROJECTS COMPARISON .............................................................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER 4 ‐ LAYOUT ..................................................................................................................... 61 4.1 SCHEMATIC .................................................................................................................................................... 61 4.2 LAYOUT CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 65 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 67 X List