RF Power Amplifier Design Techniques

Power amplifiers are crucially important in determining a communications system cost, efficiency, size, and weight. Designing high power / high efficiency amplifiers that satisfy the system requirements (bandwidth, linearity, spectral mask, etc.) is challenging. It involves difficult trade-offs, proper understanding of the theory, and careful attention to details. Additionally, designing, building, and testing power amplifiers usually pushes test equipment and lab components to their limits and frequently results in damage to the circuit or lab equipment. This course will examine the different aspects of this challenge with emphasis on hand-on exercises and practical tips to build power amplifiers successfully. This course will give special attention to GaN power amplifiers. Differences between GaN pHEMT, Si LDMOS,GaAs MESFETs, and SiGe will be discussed.