This paper describes the design of a GaAs monolithic high power amplifier at Ku band. The chip delivers about 40 dBm of saturated output power, in CW operating conditions, at 11.7 GHz central frequency, with 17% of bandwidth. The saturated power gain is 12.4 dB with 2 dB gain flatness across the application bandwidth while the chip power added efficiency is estimated between 33% to 47%. The amplifier is designed to be used as final stage of a downlink satellite transmitter for Tracking Telemetry & Command system. A commercial power p-HEMT process capable of handling a power density higher than 1 W/mm has been selected for the MMIC design. Due to the space application, special attention must be put on the process and MMIC reliability: to this aim performances must be guaranteed in de-rated conditions respect to the process maximum ratings and, in addition, the channel temperature of the active devices must be kept within the value established by Space Requirements and carefully controlled. This makes the design objective very tight. The MMIC power amplifier design and some measurement results are presented in the paper.

10 Watt High Efficiency GaAs MMIC Power Amplifier for Space Applications

VANNINI, Giorgio;
2008

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a GaAs monolithic high power amplifier at Ku band. The chip delivers about 40 dBm of saturated output power, in CW operating conditions, at 11.7 GHz central frequency, with 17% of bandwidth. The saturated power gain is 12.4 dB with 2 dB gain flatness across the application bandwidth while the chip power added efficiency is estimated between 33% to 47%. The amplifier is designed to be used as final stage of a downlink satellite transmitter for Tracking Telemetry & Command system. A commercial power p-HEMT process capable of handling a power density higher than 1 W/mm has been selected for the MMIC design. Due to the space application, special attention must be put on the process and MMIC reliability: to this aim performances must be guaranteed in de-rated conditions respect to the process maximum ratings and, in addition, the channel temperature of the active devices must be kept within the value established by Space Requirements and carefully controlled. This makes the design objective very tight. The MMIC power amplifier design and some measurement results are presented in the paper.
2008
9782874870064
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11392/529874
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 13
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact