A high efficiency power amplifier

Abstract

Low power design has become a trend in Integrated Circuit(IC) area in the world nowadays. One of the most important reasons is because of the advent of portable systems. In order to extend the operation life time and performance of all portable devices, such as cellular phone, satellite phone, and laptop, the power consumption in those devices must be designed as low as possible.

Based on various past researches, power amplifier was found out as the most power consuming block in a transceiver. Therefore, efficiency is a crucial parameter in a power amplifier. This report present the student’s work done in designing a two stage Class E Power Amplifier (PA) which is used in the Globalstar satellite phone transceiver. The amplifier is designed based on the specification of the Globalstar satellite phone.

The two stage Class E power amplifier is able to produce a steady output power of 26dBm with 79% power-added efficiency for the input power ranging from -10dBm to 10dBm. The design methodology and simulation results of the power amplifier will also be shown and discussed in this report.