Joint circuit and system evaluation of nonlinear compensation in RF/Microwave front-ends

Abstract

With the ongoing theme of software-defined-radios and the development of nonlinear theory, there is a large variety of PA architectures and predistortion techniques available. Each of the amplifier architectures responds in a unique way to the attempts at its linearization through predistortion. The traditional attempts at evaluation of linearization performance have to work with the amplifier models and enact linearization algorithms based on them. The idea of co-simulating circuits and algorithms for linearization has been picking off recently in most part due to the ever tightening specifications of communication standards. In this work, we look at the problem of co-simulating a linearization system with circuits and signal processing algorithms. The ultimate goal is to provide a full characterization system to act as a linearization test-bed with circuit level simulations and complete signal processing algorithms. This paper provides the first few steps in that direction by yoking together the two most widely used tools of circuits and systems simulation.