journal article·2022-11-25Open access

A Maximum Efficiency-86% Hybrid Power Modulator for 5G New Radio(NR) Applications

Xingli Cui, Xin Qiu, Yongqing Leng, Xiaotian Liu, Tianyu Wu

Applied Sciences· Volume 12· Issue 23

Abstract

A hybrid power modulator is presented for the radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers of 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G) new radio (NR) applications. A hybrid power modulator utilizing a two-level switching converter and a broadband and high-efficiency linear amplifier is presented. A further improvement in the efficiency of the circuit is achieved by using an optimized supply voltage of the two-level switching converters of 4.5 V. In this way, the overall efficiency is improved by more than 5% compared to using a 5 V supply voltage. The linear amplifier consists of four stages. In order to improve bandwidth and circuit stability, a compensation circuit is added to the linear amplifier that eliminates the poles of the main amplifier by introducing additional zeros, indirectly pushing the pole distribution out of the bandwidth. Using this approach, the linear amplifier achieves a 3-dB bandwidth of 180 MHz and an efficiency of 51%. The hybrid power modulator achieves a maximum output power of 2.4 W and an efficiency of 86% when tracking a 100 MHz 5G-NR signal under a 4 Ω load in a 180 nm CMOS package.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Power Amplifier Design · Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design · Wireless Power Transfer Systems

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

School of Integrated Circuits, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Zhengzhou Zhongke Institute of Integrated Circuit and System Application, Zhengzhou 450000, China

Funding

Henan Province Key R&D and Promotion Project (Science and Technology Research) · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Zhengzhou Zhongke Institute of Integrated Circuit and System Application Research Dean Fund

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