About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
IEICE Transactions on Electronics
Paper
A 24–30 GHz Power Amplifier with >20-dBm Psat and <0.1-dB AM-AM Distortion for 5G Applications in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS
Abstract
This paper presents a power amplifier (PA) designed as a part of a transceiver front-end fabricated in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS. The PA shares its output antenna port with a low noise amplifier using a low-loss transmission/reception switch. The output matching network of the PA is designed to provide high output power, low AM-AM distortion, and uniform performance over frequencies in the range of 24.25–29.5 GHz. Measurements of the front-end in TX mode demonstrate peak S21 of 30.3 dB at 26.7 GHz, S21 3-dB bandwidth of 9.8 GHz from 22.2 to 32.0 GHz, and saturated output power (Psat) above 20 dBm with power-added efficiency (PAE) above 22% from 24 to 30 GHz. For a 64-QAM 400 MHz bandwidth orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, −25 dBc error vector magnitude (EVM) is measured at an average output power of 12.3 dBm and average PAE of 8.8%. The PA achieves a competitive ITRS FoM of 92.9.