Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/16202-80-w-gan-power-amplifier-for-lte-wcdma

80 W GaN Power Amplifier for LTE/WCDMA

January 17, 2011


RFHIC Corporation recently released an 80 W Gallium Nitride (GaN) power amplifier for LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WCDMA applications. An internal matched GaN on SiC (Silicon Carbide) transistor being the key building block, the amplifier shows 50 dB gain at 48 V.

The GaN amplifier works from 2110 to 2140 MHz (30 MHz bandwidth) and shows 35% or higher efficiency rating by utilizing Doherty design and Digital Pre-distortion (DPD) technique. One single module includes DC/DC, detector, coupler and isolator functions within a small footprint of 170 x 175 x 28 (mm). This GaN amplifier is already being deployed together with SK Telecom, the biggest Korean Mobile service provider, in selected sites.

Previous LDMOS (Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology based Doherty amplifiers had several drawbacks such as limited efficiency and bigger size. Having higher efficiency throughout the 30 MHz bandwidth and 6 channels were a challenge for LDMOS. The LDMOS transistor package was larger and input/output matching patters were bigger, which all prohibited the power amplifier design from beng smaller. These issues were also against the service providers request for a greener system design.

RFHIC started using Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology in 2004. With extensive research and design experience, RFHIC accumulated technological breakthroughs in major areas such as internal matching, heat dissipation, Doherty designs, module optimization, MMIC design and package assembly. These experiences contributed to designing a better performance GaN power amplifier with lower cost for the telecommunication market.

RFHIC is now targeting 40% efficiency on the next revision. Some other recently released products are 30 W WCDMA/LTE amplifiers, 30 W Cellular/CDMA amplifiers and 60 W Cellular/CDMA amplifiers. Please contact rfsales@rfhic.com for more product details and specifications.