Course 008 Advanced RF Power Amplifier Techniques for Modern Wireless and Microwave Systems
Available course dates
This course has no planned course dates.
If you are interested in this course, contact us at cei@cei.se
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
In any system, the power amplifier is a critical component. It is typically the costliest single item and consumes most of the supply power. Knowledge of the possibilities for trading power per unit cost with efficiency and linearity often forms the basis for the entire system architecture design.
The increasing use of linearisation techniques, and especially the emergence of high speed digital processing as an enabling technology to implement predistortion on the PA input signal, represent an important paradigm shift in PA design.
The PA component can now be designed with more emphasis on efficiency, without the traditional constraints of meeting stringent linearity specs simultaneously. Maximising the utility of a lineariser in order to obtain optimum efficiency has thus become a new subject area in modern RF PA design.
COURSE CONTENT
This is a newly revised and updated 4-day RF PA design course, dealing with the theory and design of RF power amplifiers for wireless, satcom, and microwave applications.
The course features in-depth treatment of PA design, PA modes, efficiency enhancement techniques, and non-linear effects.
The benefit of this course is that it enhances your understanding of:
- Power amplifier basic concepts, classes of operation, stability, linearity, bias technique
- Impedance matching techniques based on lumped elements and transmission lines
- High-efficiency techniques including well-known Classes F and E and newly developed classes, Efficiency Enhancement Techniques
- Power Amplifier Non-Linearities and Signal Environments
- PA Architectures
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course presents an overview, fundamentals, theory, practical and advanced power amplifier design which will be of interest to:
- engineers and technical staff
- managers and business development personnel
who plan to pursue this technology or compete with it.
Daily Schedule
Day 1
Power Amplifier Basics and Linear Classes
First, the system requirements for PAs are discussed. The main solid-state device technologies used for PA design are introduced and critically compared.
Linear amplifier modes are described with quantitative analysis of power, efficiency and linearity tradeoffs in uncompensated form. Particular emphasis is given to correct fundamental and harmonic matching. The impact of non-ideal harmonic terminations in practical Class AB designs will be analyzed quantitatively, alongside guidelines for approaching PA design practically in different cases.
Part 1 – Introduction (system perspective, solid state devices)
Part 2 – Reduced Conduction Angle Modes (A,AB,C)
Part 3 – Single-ended PA design at GHz Frequencies (with practical examples)
Day 2
Advanced PA Classes and Non-Linear Effects
We will focus on understanding alternative linear PA modes, such as Class F, and then the so-called continuous modes, introduced by Prof Cripps around 2009, which have now become the standard approach to high-efficiency PA design. Then, we will naturally move into switched-mode PAs, most notoriously Class E. Later in the day, we will dig deeper into the non-linear phenomena affecting the PA linearity at the system level.
Part 4 – Class F
Part 5 – Class J, and Continuous Modes (with practical examples)
Part 6 – Switched Mode Classes (with practical examples)
Part 7 – Non-Linear Properties of RF PAs
Part 8 – Memory Effects
Day 3
Practical PA design techniques and the Doherty PA
We will study important aspects of practical PA design. First, the design of the bias networks, often overlooked, turns out to be one of the most critical steps in PA design. Then, how to approach the design when a single device does not have enough output power or gain, analysing the options for power combination and cascading stages.
Later in the day, the most famous PA architecture, the Doherty PA, will be studied in detail.
Part 9 – PA Bias Networks (with practical examples)
Part 10 – Combining and Cascading PAs
Part 11 – Doherty PA (Introduction)
Part 12 – Doherty PA Design (with practical examples)
Day 4
More Efficiency Enhancement Techniques and Practical PA design
The latest PA architecture that has found global recognition, the LMBA, will be discussed and analyzed, comparing the most interesting variants. Following this, envelope tracking and other bias supply solutions will be reviewed. The coverage of efficiency enhancement techniques will conclude with the study of LINC techniques such as outphasing and polar transmitters.
The course will conclude by studying other practical, relevant issues such as the design of interstage matching networks, and a final overview of the design of PAs with large RF bandwidth.
Part 13 – The LMBA
Part 15 – Envelope Tracking and similar techniques
Part 16 – AM Reconstruction (LINC) Techniques
Part 17 – Interstage PA matching
Part 18 – Medium and Broadband Microwave PA design