A common-gate switched 0.9-W class-E power amplifier with 41% PAE in 0.25-μm CMOS

Abstract
A power amplifier for wireless applications has been implemented in a standard 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. The power amplifier employs class-E topology to exploit its soft-switching property for high efficiency. The finite dc-feed inductance in the class-E load network allows the load resistance to be larger for the same output power and supply voltage than that for an RF choke. The common-gate switching scheme increases the maximum allowable supply voltage by almost twice from the value for a simple switching scheme. By employing these design techniques, the power amplifier can deliver 0.9-W output power to 50-/spl Omega/ load at 900 MHz with 41% power-added efficiency (PAE) from a 1.8-V supply without stressing the active devices.

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