Extending design space of continuous Fig.

1 illustrates the harmonic terminals of resistive-reactive inverse

inverse class-FJ mode PAs class-FJ PAs based on (4a)–(4c). Intuitively, resistive impedance is
introduced into the third-harmonic terminals due to the existence of α.
Yong Gao✉, En Li and Gaofeng Guo Moreover, the impedance space of the fundamental terminals is
enhanced as the increase of α. However, the extended inverse class-FJ
The impedance space of inverse class-FJ mode power amplifiers (PAs) mode still requires an infinity second-harmonic impedance.
is extended by introducing a resistive part into the voltage waveform.
Unlike traditional inverse class-FJ mode, the new continuous inverse
class-FJ possesses a complex fundamental and third-harmonic term- j
inals. For validating the theory, a broadband PA working across 1.6–
0.5*j 2*j
2.7 GHz is designed. The experimental results show a drain efficiency g =1
of 69–84.9% in the whole working band. The measured output power
of the fabricated PA is 40.1–42.5 dBm with a gain of 10.6–12.5 dB a=0
across 1.6–2.7 GHz. a = 0.1
g = –1
a = 0.2
Introduction: Researchers never stop to explore the broadband working a = 0.3
of power amplifiers (PAs) [1–4]. This mainly results from the fact that 0 g =0 Z2 •
the wireless communication is at a crucial time accessing into the next Z3 Z1
generation, which is pushed to the hotspots of almost every country
[5]. Enhancing the bandwidth of signal channels is an inevitable g =1
trend. Meanwhile, for reducing power consumption, it is important to
ensure the high-efficient working of transmitters. PAs are crucial
elements in transmitters. Therefore, broadband PAs with high efficiency g = –1
are still fascinating many researchers from all over the world [4, 6]. –0.5*j –2*j
The inverse class-FJ mode was proposed in [6, 7] for designing –j
broadband continuous mode PAs. Gallium nitride (GaN) technology
plays a more and more important role in high-efficiency PAs [2–4].
Thus, inverse class-FJ mode PAs are more easily realised than the con- Fig. 1 Harmonic impedances of extended inverse class-FJ mode PAs along
with α and γ on Smith chart
tinuous class-F PAs due to the larger internal capacitors in GaN transis-
tors [8]. On the other hand, inverse class-FJ PAs have a theory efficiency
of 90.03%, which is higher than that of the continuous class-F−1 PAs. Using (1) and (2), the output power and drain efficiency (DE) of the
Therefore, inverse class-FJ mode is a promising continuous mode for extended inverse class-FJ mode PAs can be deduced as (5) and (6),
implementing broadband PAs. respectively
In this Letter, the design space of the inverse class-FJ mode is  
1 √

5 · a
extended by introducing a changeable real part of both the fundamental PRF = · 2− (6)
and third-harmonic terminals. The extended inverse class-FJ mode is p 4
called as resistive-reactive inverse class-FJ mode. √


4 2 − 5a
hD = √

(7)
Extended inverse class-FJ mode PAs: The traditional inverse class-FJ p · (2 − 2a)
was proposed in [6, 7]. The drain current of the traditional inverse Fig. 2 presents the DE ηD and output power decrease with respect to α.
class-FJ mode PAs is a square waveform. Thus, it is composed of The output power decrease means the difference value between the
only odd harmonics output power of the extended inverse class-FJ mode and the traditional
1 2 1 inverse class-FJ. The output power and DE will decrease along with the
ids (u) = + cos (vt) − cos (3vt) + · · · (1) increasing of α. However, high performances are maintained within a
2 p 3p
large range of α.
The voltage of the extended inverse class-FJ mode PAs is presented in
(2). The first two brackets correspond to the voltage of traditional
inverse class-FJ. The last bracket is an additional empirical parameter 100 0
 
√

1
vds (u) = 1 − 2 cos (vt) + cos (2vt) · [1 − g sin (vt)]
output power decrease, dB

2
drain efficiency, %

· [1 + a cos (vt)] −1≤g≤1 (2) 90 –1

The broadband feature of resistive-reactive inverse class-FJ mode is

exactly based on the value range of γ and α.
The harmonic terminals of the extended inverse class-FJ PAs can be 80 –2
calculated using (3)
Vn
Zn = − (3) 70 –3
In 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
a
By using (3), the calculated harmonic impedances of the expanded
inverse class-FJ mode are presented in (4a)–(4c)
    Fig. 2 DE and output power decrease of series of inverse continuous modes
p √

5 p 3 a with respect to α
Z1 = · 2− ·a +j· · − √

· g (4a)
4 4 4 4 2 2
Z2 = 1 (4b) Simulation and experimental results: A broadband PA working across
3p 3p √

1.6–2.8 GHz is simulated and fabricated in this section. CGH40010F
Z3 = ·a−j· · (1 − 2a) · g (4c) transistor from Cree is employed in this design. The 28 and −2.9 V vol-
8 8
tages are applied to the drain and gate bias of the transistor. The sub-
The fundamental and third-harmonic impedances are functions of α and strate following through this design procedure is Rogers 4350B.
γ. For preventing the real parts of Z1 and Z3 from lowering than zero, α In this design, we select α ≤ 0.3. The designed output matching
should satisfy the following condition: network is shown in Fig. 3 together with the microstrip dimensions.
√

Using the method in [2], the load impedance loci at the internal plane
4 2 of the transistor are presented in Fig. 4. Great matching is derived by
0≤a≤ (5)
5 our designed output matching network.

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 13th October 2016 Vol. 52 No. 21 pp. 1782–1784

 Table 1 gives the comparison between our work and some published
microstrip dimensions: PAs. Comparable results are achieved by our PA when compared with
0.6/17 width/length the state-of-the-art PAs.
to device 2.4/3 4.2/13.2 2.8/9
Table 1: Comparison of some published PAs and our work
2/5.3 9/11.1 6.7/10.9 2.2/8.4 to load
Ref. Bandwidth, GHz Power, dBm DE, % Gain, dB
Fig. 3 Schematic of our synthesised output matching network together with 2012 [2] 1.45–2.45 40–42.2 70–81 10–12.6
microstrip dimensions 2015 [4] 0.4–3 40–42.5 57.6–78.8 10–12
2015 [9] 1.7–2.8 40.2–42.9 60.3–80.3 14.3–16.8
j*36 This work 1.6–2.7 40.1–42.5 69–84.9 10.6–12.5

j*18 j*72 Conclusion: The design space is expanded by adding variable resistive
1.6–2.7 GHz part of fundamental loads and by introducing lossy third-harmonic term-
3.2–5.4 GHz inals in this contribution. The measurement results show a DE of 69–
84.9% in the interesting band. Moreover, the output power of our PA
4.8–8.1 GHz
is 40.1–42.5 dBm with a gain of 10.6–12.5 dB.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Open Foundation of

0 • National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation
Control Materials (ZYGX2016K003-7).

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

–j*18
–j*36
Fig. 4 Harmonic impedance trajectories of synthesised output matching
network at I-gen plane of transistor
The fabricated broadband PA is shown in Fig. 5. The experimental
results of the fabricated PA under continuous wave excitation are
shown in Fig. 6. Our PA achieves a DE of 69–84.9% across 1.6–
2.7 GHz. The output power of the designed PA is 40.1–42.5 dBm
with a gain of 10.6–12.5 dB in the whole working band. For compari-
son, the simulated results are also plotted in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 Photograph of deigned broadband inverse class-FJ PA
measured
90
DE [%], output power [dBm] and gain, dB
Submitted: 16 June 2016 E-first: 8 September 2016
doi: 10.1049/el.2016.2166
–j*72 One or more of the Figures in this Letter are available in colour online.
Yong Gao, En Li and Gaofeng Guo (National Engineering Research
Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials, School of
Electronic Engineering, University of Electronic Science and
Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, People’s Republic of China)
✉ E-mail: gy_wlee@163.com
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Fig. 6 Simulated and measured DEs, output power and gains of designed PA
with respect to frequency

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 13th October 2016 Vol. 52 No. 21 pp. 1782–1784