1.5–2.7 GHz ultra low noise bypass LNA

Abstract

Bypass low-noise amplifier (LNA) can be used in the base station receiver to improve the dynamic range. It is difficult to achieve both ultra low noise at LNA mode and maintain good linearity at bypass mode simultaneously. In this work, we present the best performance bypass LNA with 0.5 dB of noise figure (NF), 20 dB of gain at 1.95 GHz and high OIP3 of 35 dBm for both LNA and bypass mode. Fabricated in 0.25um GaAs E/D pHEMT process, the LNA is based on enhancement mode pHEMT cascode topology and the switches are designed with the depletion mode pHEMT.