RF Power Lab

Work in the RF Power Lab is mainly directed towards high power applications in the 10…200 W range at the lower RF frequencies below 12 GHz. Most of the projects are based on packaged FBH GaN-HEMTs with 0.5 um gate length. For the integrated power amplifier designs up to X-band the FBH 0.25 um gate length GaN-HEMT MMIC technology is used.

[+]Class-G modulation optimized PA for 2.6 – 2.7 GHz
[+]Recent generation two-level class-G modulator
[+]Recent generation TpM transistor with BST shunt and series C matching
[+]Discrete BST RF-power varactor
[+]Second demonstrator of the reverse buck converter based ET system
[+]Hybrid setup of GaN transistor chip and GaN diode in the switch
[+]Power amplifier with shunt varactor tuning

Most of projects target novel concepts to increase the efficiency in wideband modulated power amplifier systems for modern telecommunication signals with large peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). One promising technology is to use supply modulation, i.e., varying the supply voltage for the amplifier with the instantaneous envelope of the signals. Another option is to use load modulation, i.e., varying the load of the power amplifier with the instantaneous envelope of the signal. Both approaches are investigated in the RF Power Lab.

80 W power amplifier module for the 2.4 to 2.8 GHz range (master thesis 2015)

Class-G optimized power amplifier with SiC-based load modulation for the 2.65 GHz LTE band (research work 2015)

Besides this, we are also generally exploring the packaged RF power GaN technology at FBH through master thesis and company cooperations in the RF Power Lab. Some of the recent student works are shown below.

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Contact

Olof Bengtsson, Ph.D.
Phone +49 30 63922643
Fax +49 30 63922642
Email olof.bengtsson(at)fbh-berlin.de
LInkedIn profile

Selected Publications

Highly Efficient 1.8-GHz Amplifier With 120-MHz Class-G Supply Modulation

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 65, no. 12, pp. 5223-5230 (2017).
Reconfigurable Packaged GaN Power Amplifier Using Thin-Film BST Varactors

Proc. 47th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2017), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 10-12, pp. 140-143 (2017).
Pulsed RF Characterization of Envelope Tracking Systems for Improved Shaping Function Extraction

Proc. 47th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2017), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 10-12, pp. 664-667 (2017).
Benchmarking of RF Measurement Systems for Digital Predistortion using Iterative Learning Control

Proc. 47th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2017), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 10-12, pp. 668-671 (2017).
The Efficiency/Bandwidth Trade-Off in Class-G Supply-Modulated Power Amplifiers

Proc. 47th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2017), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 10-12, pp. 472-475 (2017).
Thick-Film MIM BST Varactors for GaN Power Amplifiers with Discrete Dynamic Load Modulation

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., Honolulu, USA, Jun. 4-9, pp. 281-284 (2017).
Highly Efficient Class-G Supply-Modulated Amplifier with 75 MHz Modulation Bandwidth for 1.8-1.9 GHz LTE FDD Applications

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., Honolulu, USA, Jun. 4-9, pp. 1842-1845 (2017).
A 14 W Wideband Supply-Modulated System with Reverse Buck Converter and Floating-Ground RF Power Amplifier

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., Honolulu, USA, Jun. 4-9, pp. 936-939 (2017).
100-MHz GaN-HEMT Class-G Supply Modulator for High-Power Envelope-Tracking Applications

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 872-880 (2017).
Response Time of VSWR Protection for GaN HEMT based Power Amplifiers

Proc. 46th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2016), London, UK, Oct. 4-6, pp. 401-404 (2016).
Discrete Gate Bias Modulation of a Class-G Modulated RF Power Amplifier

Proc. 46th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2016), London, UK, Oct. 4-6, pp. 827-830 (2016).
Wideband Tunable GaN HEMT Module Utilizing Thin-film BST Varactors for Efficiency Optimization

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., San Francisco, USA, May 22-27, Tu4A-1 (2016).
A Three-Level Class-G Modulated 1.85 GHz RF Power Amplifier for LTE Applications with over 50% PAE

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., San Francisco, USA, May 22-27, Tu4B-4 (2016).
Wideband 80 W Balanced Power Amplifier for ISM and LTE-Bands

10th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2016), Bochum, Germany, Mar. 14-16, ISBN 978-3-9812668-7-0, pp. 437-440 (2016).
Challenges in the Design of Wideband GaN-HEMT based Class-G RF-Power Amplifiers

10th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2016), Bochum, Germany, Mar. 14-16, ISBN 978-3-9812668-7-0, pp. 189-192 (2016).
A 56 W Power Amplifier with 2-Level Supply and Load Modulation

10th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2016), Bochum, Germany, Mar. 14-16, ISBN 978-3-9812668-7-0, pp. 185-188 (2016).
VSWR Protection of Power Amplifiers Using BST Components

10th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2016), Bochum, Germany, Mar. 14-16, ISBN 978-3-9812668-7-0, pp. 445-448 (2016).
Reconfigurable package integrated 20W RF power GaN HEMT with discrete thick-film MIM BST varactors

Electron. Lett., vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 296–298 (2016).
A Novel Model for Digital Predistortion of Discrete Level Supply-Modulated RF Power Amplifiers

IEEE Microwave Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 146-148 (2016).
Analysis of the Switching Threshold in Dual-Level Class-G Modulated Power Amplifiers

Integrated Nonlinear Microwave and Millimetre-wave Circuits Workshop (INMMiC), Taormina, Italy, Oct. 1-2 (2015).
Linearity Analysis of a 40 W Class-G-Modulated Microwave Power Amplifier

Proc. 45th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2015), Paris, France, Sep. 7-10, pp. 1216-1219 (2015).
Discrete RF-Power MIM BST Thick-Film Varactors

Proc. 45th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2015), Paris, France, Sep. 7-10, pp. 941-944 (2015).
Tunable In-package Impedance Matching for High Power Transistors based on Printed Ceramics

Proc. 45th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2015), Paris, France, Sep. 7-10, pp. 1236-1239 (2015).
Frequency-Agile Packaged GaN-HEMT using MIM Thickfilm BST Varactors

Proc. 45th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2015), Paris, France, Sep. 7-10, pp. 1291-1294 (2015).
Complexity of DPD Linearization in the full RF-Band for a WiMAX Power Amplifier

9th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2015), Nürnberg, Germany, Mar. 16-18, ISBN 978-3-9812668-6-3, pp. 13-16 (2015).
Tunable Impedance Matching Networks on Printed Ceramics for Output Matching of RF-Power Transistors

Proc. 44th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2014), Rome, Italy, Oct. 6-9, pp. 496-499 (2014).
2.45 GHz ISM-Band RF-PA Demonstrator for GaN-HEMT optimization

8th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2014), Aachen, Germany, Mar. 10-12, ITG-Fachbericht Band 246, ISBN 978-3-8007-3585-3 (2014).
Thick-Film Barium-Strontium-Titantate Varactors for RF Power Transistors

Proc. 43th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2013), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 7-10, pp. 1351-1354 (2013).
GaN-HEMTs as Switches for High-Power Wideband Supply Modulators

Proc. 43th European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2013), Nuremberg, Germany, Oct. 7-10, pp. 553-556 (2013).
RF-Power GaN Transistors with Tunable BST Pre-Matching

IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., Seattle, USA, Jun 2-7, THPG-1 (2013).
Tunable RF GaN-Power Transistor Implementing Impedance Matching Networks Based on BST Thick Films

42nd European Microwave Conf. (EuMC 2012), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Oct. 28 - Nov. 2, pp. 1206-1209 (2012).
Discrete Tunable RF-Power GaN-BST Transistors

9th European Radar Conf. (EuRAD 2012), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Oct. 28 - Nov. 2, pp. 377-380 (2012).
Investigation of GaN-HEMT Based Switches for Hybrid Switching Amplifier Supply-Modulators

Frequenz, vol. 66, no. 11-12, pp. 339-345 (2012).
Software Optimization of a Supply Modulated GaN-Amplifier for Baseband Access ET Systems

7th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2012), Ilmenau, Germany, Mar. 12-14, paper 1570 (2012).
A Modular Hybrid Switching Amplifier for Wide-Bandwidth Supply-Modulated RF Power Amplifiers

7th German Microwave Conference (GeMiC 2012), Ilmenau, Germany, Mar. 12-14, paper 1510 (2012).
Load-Pull Investigation of a High-Voltage RF-Power GaN-HEMT Technology in Supply Modulated Applications

Frequenz, vol. 65, no. 7-8, pp. 217-224 (2011).

Ferdinand-Braun-Institut

RF Power Lab

Highly Efficient 1.8-GHz Amplifier With 120-MHz Class-G Supply Modulation

Reconfigurable Packaged GaN Power Amplifier Using Thin-Film BST Varactors

Pulsed RF Characterization of Envelope Tracking Systems for Improved Shaping Function Extraction

Benchmarking of RF Measurement Systems for Digital Predistortion using Iterative Learning Control

The Efficiency/Bandwidth Trade-Off in Class-G Supply-Modulated Power Amplifiers

Thick-Film MIM BST Varactors for GaN Power Amplifiers with Discrete Dynamic Load Modulation

Highly Efficient Class-G Supply-Modulated Amplifier with 75 MHz Modulation Bandwidth for 1.8-1.9 GHz LTE FDD Applications

A 14 W Wideband Supply-Modulated System with Reverse Buck Converter and Floating-Ground RF Power Amplifier

100-MHz GaN-HEMT Class-G Supply Modulator for High-Power Envelope-Tracking Applications

Response Time of VSWR Protection for GaN HEMT based Power Amplifiers

Discrete Gate Bias Modulation of a Class-G Modulated RF Power Amplifier

Wideband Tunable GaN HEMT Module Utilizing Thin-film BST Varactors for Efficiency Optimization

A Three-Level Class-G Modulated 1.85 GHz RF Power Amplifier for LTE Applications with over 50% PAE

Wideband 80 W Balanced Power Amplifier for ISM and LTE-Bands

Challenges in the Design of Wideband GaN-HEMT based Class-G RF-Power Amplifiers

A 56 W Power Amplifier with 2-Level Supply and Load Modulation

VSWR Protection of Power Amplifiers Using BST Components

Reconfigurable package integrated 20W RF power GaN HEMT with discrete thick-film MIM BST varactors

A Novel Model for Digital Predistortion of Discrete Level Supply-Modulated RF Power Amplifiers

Analysis of the Switching Threshold in Dual-Level Class-G Modulated Power Amplifiers

Linearity Analysis of a 40 W Class-G-Modulated Microwave Power Amplifier

Discrete RF-Power MIM BST Thick-Film Varactors

Tunable In-package Impedance Matching for High Power Transistors based on Printed Ceramics

Frequency-Agile Packaged GaN-HEMT using MIM Thickfilm BST Varactors

Complexity of DPD Linearization in the full RF-Band for a WiMAX Power Amplifier

Tunable Impedance Matching Networks on Printed Ceramics for Output Matching of RF-Power Transistors

2.45 GHz ISM-Band RF-PA Demonstrator for GaN-HEMT optimization

Thick-Film Barium-Strontium-Titantate Varactors for RF Power Transistors

GaN-HEMTs as Switches for High-Power Wideband Supply Modulators

RF-Power GaN Transistors with Tunable BST Pre-Matching

Tunable RF GaN-Power Transistor Implementing Impedance Matching Networks Based on BST Thick Films

Discrete Tunable RF-Power GaN-BST Transistors

Investigation of GaN-HEMT Based Switches for Hybrid Switching Amplifier Supply-Modulators

Software Optimization of a Supply Modulated GaN-Amplifier for Baseband Access ET Systems

A Modular Hybrid Switching Amplifier for Wide-Bandwidth Supply-Modulated RF Power Amplifiers

Load-Pull Investigation of a High-Voltage RF-Power GaN-HEMT Technology in Supply Modulated Applications

Servicenavigation