ECEN650 HIGHFREQUENCYICDESIGN

PROJECTREPORT

CLASSEAMPLIFIER

ARUNPALANIAPPAN(UIN:XXXXX4604)

Specification
DesignaclassEpoweramplifierusingtheGaAspHEMTtechnology(usingonlydepletionmode
devices)withthefollowingspecifications:

fop=1GHz
Prf=1W
PoweraddedEfficiency80%
Powergain20dB
RS=RL=50
Singlesupply

Noidealsourcesotherthanthesinglevoltagesupplyareallowed.Fortheinputsignal,a0.5V
sinewaveat1GHzshouldbeused.Provideallcalculations,schematics,layoutandpostlayout
simulationresults.

Class-E amplifier

ClassEpoweramplifierisatunedpoweramplifiercomposedofasinglepoleswitchandaload
network.TheloadnetworkcontainsaseriesresonantLCcircuit,aDCdrainsupply,andadrain
shunt capacitor. The load is simply a resistance. Preceding the load network is the switch. In
ordertoachieveahighefficiency,thepeakofthecurrentandvoltagewaveformsfortheswitch
mustbedisplacedinthetime.Whentheswitchisturnedon,thecurrentflowsthroughitwith
novoltagedropacross.Ontheopposite,therewillbeavoltageinducedwhentheswitchisoff,
blockinganycurrentflow.Thus,thetwowaveformsbehaveliketwopulsetrains,bothwithfall
andrisesectionsoccupying50%oftheRFperiod,ideally.Itisrequiredthattherisesectionof

onewaveformoccurswhentheotheroneisinitsfalltoavoidpeakingsimultaneouslywhichis
showninthefigurebelow.

DesignEquationsandProcedure

DesignEquationsfrom[1]wereusedinthedesignprocessofthisproject.Firstweneedtoset
thesupplyvoltageofthisamplifier.

3.56

Here,BVCEVisthebreakdownvoltageoftheMESFETdevicetobeusedandSFisthesafety
factor.Wetakethesafetyfactoras80%andcalculateVccfromthebreakdownvoltageof15V

15
. 0.8 3.37
3.56

.
Wesetthe

Next,wecalculatetheloadresistancetobeusedusingthepowerspecification.

0.451759 0.402444
0.576801 1.001245

AssumingQL=5andgivenPout=1W,weget

TheshuntcapacitanceC1isgivenbythefollowingequation

1
0.91424 1.03175
0.6
0.99866

34.2219
2

Given,theoperatingfrequencyas1GHzandusingRLfromthepreviousequationweget

0.6
5.9286

TheusualchoiceofXL1being30ormoretimestheunadjustedvalueofXC1

UsingtheaboveunadjustedC1valuetocalculateL1,weget

30.

30
.

.
2

30 26.845
.
805.353
128.18

WesetL1=150nH

UsingthisL1valueandcalculatingC1weget

5.9286
101.32
.
.ThiscapacitancealsoincludesthedrainparasiticsoftheclassE
Therefore,
switch.So,inthecircuitweuseacapacitanceof3.6pFforC1,therestisaccountedbythedrain
parasiticsofthepHEMTswitch.

TheequationforcalculatingC2isgivenasfollows

1
1
1.01468
0.2
1.00121

0.104823
1.7879
2
2

Substitutingvaluesneeded,weget

Finally,L2isobtainedasfollows

Substituting,weget
.

Weneedtodelivertheoutputpowerof1Wtoaloadof50.Butbasedonthepower,we
calculatedtheresistanceas5.62.Soweneedanoutputmatchingnetworktodeliverthe
powerto50load.WeusethefollowingLsectiontomatch5.62to50load.

Theequationsnecessaryforthetransformationare

Usingtheabovetwoequationsweget,
.

AMatlabCodewaswrittenusingalltheseequationstofacilitatecalculationofthese
parameters.TheMatlabcodeisgiveninAppendixA.

Asfortheswitch,MESFETtransistorswereused.Thewidthofthetransistorswasobtained
empiricallytogetthemaximumperformance.Weobtainedthewidthas

TheC1capacitanceusedwasreducedto3.6pFtoaccountforthedrainparasiticsoftheswitch
transistor.C2wasalsoslightlyreducedto7.05pFfrom7.5pFtogethigheroutputpower.

The Class E amplifier input waveform is very critical to its performance. So we use a class F
drivertogiveaproperinputtotheclassEstage.Theinputisgivenassinewave0.5Vat1GHz.
WeneedtoshapethisinputwaveformsuchthattheclassEgivesgoodperformance.Weneed
tokeepthisinmindinthedesignofclassFstage.

ClassFdriverstage

The Class F driver was designed to provide the suitable switching waveform for the Class E
power amplifier. It consists of a depletion mode MESFET, two paralleltuned LC circuits
resonatingatthefirstandthirdharmonicsoftheinputfrequencyandabypasscapacitoratthe
inputandoutput.ThefinalinductorattheoutputisusedtochangethedcvalueoftheclassF
outputtosuitthedcvaluefortheclassEinput.TheinductanceismadetoresonatewithclassE
inputcapacitancesothatthereisnodropinthesignal.

ThevoltagesourceVsis0.5Vsinewaveat1GHzwithRsinputimpedanceas50.
WehavetakenthebypasscapacitancesCbattheinputandoutputtobe10pF

Ld1 and Cd1 are made to resonate at the input frequency and Ld3 and Cd3 are made to
resonateatthethirdharmonicofinputfrequency.
TakingCd1as6pF,wegetLd1as4.22nH.WegetCd3as2pFandLd3as1.4067nH
Wemeasuredtheinputcapacitancetobearound6pFandwemakeLgas4nH

ThewidthofthetransistorisdecidedbasedongoodoutputwaveformwhichdrivestheclassE
betterandgivesbetterperformancetotheclassEamplifier.Thewidthisobtainedas110m.

ClassFdriverstagewithClassEpoweramplifier

Next,weputtheabovedesignedclassFdriverandClassEamplifiertogether.Wesimulatethis
circuitandseeitsresponse.

SchematicofclassEpoweramplifierdrivenbyclassFdriver

TestBenchSchematic

ClassFdriverstagewaveforms

ClassEpoweramplifierwaveformsshowingvoltageacrossswitchandcurrentthroughtheswitch

ClassEpoweramplifieroutputwaveforms

PowerandEfficiencyofClassEamplifier

OutputPower=1.028W,DCPower=1.428W,InputPower=216.5W

PowerAddedEfficiency=(PoutPin)/Pdc=71.97%72%

Powergain=Pout/Pin=4748.27=36.765dB

TableshowingPreLayoutsimulationresults

Parameter
Specificationgiven
PreLayoutSimulation
f0
1GHz
1GHz
Prf=Pout
1W
1.028W
Pdc

1.428W
Pin

216.5W
PowerAddedEfficiency
>80%
72%
Powergain
>20dB
36.765dB
RS=RL
50
50

Afterthisthelayoutwasdone.Theinductorsusedinthelayoutwereideal.

Layout

DesignRuleCheck(DRC)Report

ExtractedReport

LVSMatch

@(#)$CDS:LVS.exeversion5.1.006/20/200702:37(cicsun11)$

Command
line:
/baby/cadence/ic5141usr5/tools.sun4v/dfII/bin/32bit/LVS.exe
dir
/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS l s t /home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/layout
/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/schematic
Likematchingisenabled.
Netswappingisenabled.
Usingterminalnamesascorrespondencepoints.

Netlistsummaryfor/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/layout/netlist
count

11

nets

terminals

11

tqped_phss

tqped_cap

tqped_mrind

Netlistsummaryfor/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/schematic/netlist
count

11

nets

terminals

tqped_phss

tqped_cap

tqped_mrind

Terminalcorrespondencepoints
N7N2In
N16N9Out
N2N1Vdd
N14N7Vss

Devicesintherulesbutnotinthenetlist:
tqped_elsstqped_plsstqped_ehsstqped_eh2stqped_eh3stqped_ph2s
tqped_ph3stqped_ph4stqped_ph5stqped_ph6stqped_dmltqped_deml
tqped_res

Thenetlistsmatchlogicallybuthavemismatchedparameters.

layoutschematic

instances

unmatched
0
0

rewired

0
0

sizeerrors

11
6

pruned

0
0

active

24
19

total

24
19

nets

unmatched
0
0

merged

0
0

pruned

0
0

active

11
11

total

11
11

terminals
0
0

unmatched

matchedbut

differenttype
0
0

total

4
4

Probefilesfrom/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/schematic

devbad.out:

netbad.out:

mergenet.out:

termbad.out:

prunenet.out:

prunedev.out:

audit.out:
I/J2
?ParameterWmismatch:layout1.1e10vs.schematic0.00011

I/J3
?Combineddevice:ParameterWmismatch:layout2e09vs.schematic0.002

I/J1
?Combineddevice:ParameterWmismatch:layout2e09vs.schematic0.002

I/J0
?Combineddevice:ParameterWmismatch:layout2e09vs.schematic0.002

I/J16
?Combineddevice:ParameterWmismatch:layout2e09vs.schematic0.002

I/J15
?Combineddevice:ParameterWmismatch:layout2e09vs.schematic0.002

Probefilesfrom/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/layout

devbad.out:

netbad.out:

mergenet.out:

termbad.out:

prunenet.out:

prunedev.out:

audit.out:
Theno.oflinesexceededthanspecifiedbythevariablelvsLimitLinesInOutFile.
Toseethecompleteinformationpleaseseethefile:
/home5/arunpece/cadence_tqped/LVS/layout/audit.out

PostLayoutSimulations
InputandOutputwaveforms

Powerwaveforms

OutputPower=1.027W,DCPower=1.426W,InputPower=216.6W

PowerAddedEfficiency=(PoutPin)/Pdc=71.96%72%

Powergain=Pout/Pin=4741.45=36.759dB

TableshowingPreLayoutandPostLayoutsimulationresults

Parameter
Specificationgiven
PreLayout
PostLayout
Simulations
Simulations
f0
1GHz
1GHz
1GHz
Prf=Pout
1W
1.028W
1.027W
Pdc

1.428W
1.426W
Pin

216.5W
216.6W
PowerAdded
>80%
71.97%72%
71.96%72%
Efficiency
Powergain
>20dB
36.765dB
36.759dB
RS=RL
50
50
50

WeseethatPreLayoutandPostLayoutsimulationresultsareprettymuchthesamebecause
the inductors used in the layout were ideal i.e., the tool didnt extract the inductance value
properlyandwehadtoedittheextractedviewtospecifytheinductancevalue.Theparasitic
due to the capacitances and transistors are not much in order to cause changes in the post
layoutsimulations.

SummaryoftheProject

Thus we designed a class E power amplifier using pHEMT devices to operate at 1 GHz and
deliver 1 W power with a power gain of 36.76 dB. The power added efficiency required is
greater than 80%. But the obtained power added efficiency is 72%. The efficiency of class E
dependsonitsinputwaveform.TheclassFstagewhichproducestherequiredwaveformatthe
input of class E amplifier does not give an exact square wave for switching. This causes a
decreaseinefficiency.TheclosertheclassFoutputistosquarewaveform,thebetterwillbe
the efficiency of the class E amplifier. Adding more number of harmonics will give a shape
closer to square waveform but it will increase the area. Also, when the input of the class E
amplifier goes beyond 0.5V the diode gets forward biased and there is small power wastage
and decrease in efficiency. We should restrictthe waveform at the input of class E not to go
muchbeyond0.5V.Theabovemethodscangetuscloselytoapoweraddedefficiencyof80%.

AppendixA

MatlabCodeforClassEpassivecomponentscalculation

clc;
clear;
fo=1e9%operatingfrequencyinGHz
Pout=1%desiredoutputpowerinWatts
QL=5%loadedqualityfactorofCoLoseriesresonantcircuit
L1=150e9%L1isthevalueforRFchokeusedinnanoHenry
RH=50%Givenoutputloadinohms
VDD=3.3%draindcsupplyvoltageinVolts
RL=(VDD^2/Pout)*0.576801*(1.0012450.451759/QL0.402444/(QL^2))
%calculatetheloadresistancebasedonpower
C1=(1/(34.2219*fo*RL))*(0.99866+0.91424/QL1.03175/(QL^2))+0.6/((2*pi*fo)^2*L1)
%calculatethedrainshuntcapacitance
C2=(1/(2*pi*fo*RL))*(1/(QL0.104823))*(1.00121+1.01468/(QL1.7879))0.2/((2*pi*fo)^2*L1)
%calculatethecapacitanceinCoLoseriesresonatecircuit
L2=QL*RL/(2*pi*fo)
%calculatetheinductanceinCoLoseriesresonatecircuit
Q=sqrt((RH/RL)1)%Qfortheoutputmatchingnetwork
Lsoutput=Q*RL/(2*pi*fo)%Outputmatchingnetworkinductance
Cpoutput=Q/(RH*2*pi*fo)%Outputmatchingnetworkcapacitance

Theoutputofthiscodeisasfollows

fo=1.0000e+009

Pout=1

QL=5

L1=1.5000e007

RH=50

VDD=3.3000

RL=5.6205

C1=6.0294e012

C2=7.5852e012

L2=4.4727e009

Q=2.8100

Lsoutput=2.5136e009

Cpoutput=8.9444e012

References

[1]ClassERFPowerAmplifiersbyNathanO.Sokal,2001

[2] Design and Development of the Class E RF Power Amplifier Prototype by Using a Power
MOSFETbyTiaotiaoXie,UniversityofKansas,2007

[3]RFPowerAmplifiersforWirelessCommunicationsbySteveCripps,SecondEdition

[4] Low Voltage, High Efficiency GaAs Class E Power Amplifiers for Wireless Transmitters by
TirdadSowlati,AndreT.Salama,JohnSitch,GordRabjohnandDavidSmith,1995

[5] A Fully Integrated ClassE CMOS Amplifier with a ClassF Driver Stage by ChienChih Ho,
ChinWeiKuo,ChaoChihHsiao,andYiJenChan