An InGaP/GaAs Merged HBT-FET (BiFET) Technology and Applications to the Design of Handset Power Amplifiers

Metzger, A.; Ramanathan, Ravi; Li, Jiang; Sun, Hsiang-Chih Mike; Cismaru, C.; Shao, Hongxiao; Rushing, L.; Weller, K.P.; Wei, Chang; Zhu, Yu; Klimashov, A.; Tkachenko, Y.A.; Li, Bin; Zampardi, P.J.

doi:10.1109/jssc.2007.904318

Cited by 23 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Second, the 15 mA for the feedback and gating circuitry stems from conservative design margins used in this first-time GEF design with NPN transistors. We estimate that with the availability of field-effect transistors (FETs) in a GaAs bipolar field-effect transistor (BiFET) process [18], these feedback and gating functions could be realized with less than 6 mA. Moreover, note that automatic shut off of the IHC and PHC blocks in Fig.…”

Section: Current Reduction In An Automated Fashionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automatic Hardware Reconfiguration for Current Reduction at Low Power in RFIC PAs

Constantin

Zampardi

El-Gamal

2011

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn.

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Abstract-This paper presents a novel hardware reconfiguration technique implemented in a dual integrated-circuit (IC) GaAs HBT power amplifier (PA) design and demonstrates reduced current and improved efficiency at low power. The method automatically reconfigures the hardware of an RF IC PA over a given power transmission. Hardware interfacing and synchronization from outside the PA is minimized, and automatic gain compensation upon hardware reconfiguration is achieved with minimal temperaturedependant calibration. The challenge of integrating such complex on-chip hardware functions in a GaAs HBT technology was circumvented by the introduction of a gating concept used in conjunction with envelope feedback, and careful tradeoffs between circuit complexity and performance. Designs that suit the on-chip integration of the technique in GaAs HBT or Si bipolar junction transistor technologies are described. Experimental data are reported to support the proposed method.

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Section: Current Reduction In An Automated Fashionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automatic Hardware Reconfiguration for Current Reduction at Low Power in RFIC PAs

Constantin

Zampardi

El-Gamal

2011

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn.

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“…Despite the enhancement of CMOS technologies in the past few years, 60% of the power amplifier handset market is still dominated by III/V manufacturers such as Metzger et al 2007). In practice, GaAs pHEMT or InGaP HBT are the most commonly used devices for the design of handset PA modules.…”

Section: Silicon Versus Iii/vmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconfigurable RF Power Amplifiers on Silicon for Wireless Handsets

Leyssenne¹,

Kerherv²,

Deval³

2011

Analog Circuits and Signal Processing

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No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) PrefaceThe design of power amplifiers (PA) for wireless applications has been a topic of great concern among the scientific community in electronics since the early 1990s. Power amplifiers dominantly determine the power efficiency and battery lifetime of modern mobile terminals. PA linearity is a key feature that limits the maximum allowed data rate of a radio link. The deployment of always more complex radio networks with a continuously growing throughput sharpens the specifications of power amplifiers. The market of wireless handsets (cellular phones, . . .) pushes manufacturers towards multi-standard capabilities (3G, Bluetooth, WIFI) and a growing level of integration. The Bill-of-Material and the consumed die area that are affordable are constantly reduced for cost purpose. The trade-offs that are inherent to PA design are therefore extremely stringent and no technical/technological solution can unanimously be regarded as a definitive contribution. To this date, the market of handset-dedicated power amplifiers is widely dominated by III/V technologies. However, throughout the following pages, we will try to highlight the benefits of PA integration on silicon. The architectures that will be proposed hereunder take advantage of silicon capabilities and strength, among others their relatively low cost and their ability to combine high power devices with low-power analog/digital control circuitry.Chapter 1 will first present the respective features of 2nd and 3rd generation cellular applications (GSM, DCS, EDGE, WCDMA. . .) and data transmission standards (WIFI, WIMAX, LTE). An overview of the most commonly employed RF power amplifier topologies will also be provided, with their advantages and drawbacks. Finally, the 0.25 µm BICMOS ST Microelectronics technology will be described and compared with III/V processes in the prospect of PA development. The fundamental features of power devices will be detailed and the most appropriate technological choice prior to the PA design itself will be discussed.In Chapters 2 and 3, several novel PA topologies will be proposed and discussed in terms of efficiency, linearity and complexity by means of mixed system/transistorlevel analyses. Chapter 2 will investigate three novel switched-mode power amplifier topologies. The first non-constant-gain principle is based on the power stage bypass/extinction and applied to a silicon HBT demonstrator. A silicon HBT demonstrator that was developed in the frame of RNRT ASTURIES project will be v vi Preface presented The other two topologies...

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“…Even though GaAs-based BiFET technology could integrate RFS and PA together [3], the integration still meets high cost issues. SOl BiCMOS technology could be based on cheaper silicon wafer and offer SiGe HBTs for PA and CMOS devices for RFS design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The RF front-end single-chip SOI solution

Ma¹,

Racanelli²

2008

2008 9th International Conference on Solid-State and Integrated-Circuit Technology

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fT/f max 28/80GHz BV CEO 8.0 V BV CBO 20.0 V 2.1 SiGe HBTs The PA generally requires high speed and high breakdown devices. The high speed can help to achieve larger gain and higher output power. The high breakdown can help to pass PA's ruggedness test which has been requested by industrial standards. The SiGe HBT has been developed to optimally trade off the high speed and breakdown in Jazz's technology platform. The SiGe HBT electrical parameter achieved can be shown in Table 1. Frequency and breakdown both characterizes very promising performances for the PA design applications. AbstractIn order to verify RF front-end single-chip solution, we have demonstrated several design cases for both Power Amplifier (PA) cells using SiGe HBTs and RF Switches (RFS) using CMOS technology on SOL The PA-cell packaged has achieved 28dBm linear output power with 36.2% PAE and more than 9.1dB gain at 836MHz and 3.6V. The PA-cell passes VSWR=10:1 ruggedness test at 4.2V. With more on-wafer loadpulled results, we can qualify the PA-cell for CDMA/WCDMA applications. The RFS has on-wafer measured 0.5'" I.5dB insertion loss until 2.4GHz and the packaged SP6T test [4] has reached >=34dBc isolation and I.4dB insertion loss at 1.8GHz with 41dBm P O . IdB at 900MHz. The design test has shown a promising perspective that the RF front-end single-chip solution will be capable of implementations based on Jazz's thick-film SOl SiGe BiCMOS technology platform. PA-cell design and layoutUsing SiGe HBTs, we have designed the PA-cell and layout as shown in Fig.I.

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An InGaP/GaAs Merged HBT-FET (BiFET) Technology and Applications to the Design of Handset Power Amplifiers

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

Automatic Hardware Reconfiguration for Current Reduction at Low Power in RFIC PAs

Automatic Hardware Reconfiguration for Current Reduction at Low Power in RFIC PAs

Reconfigurable RF Power Amplifiers on Silicon for Wireless Handsets

The RF front-end single-chip SOI solution

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