A 27.3dBm DECT Power Amplifier for 2.5V Supply in 0.13μm CMOS

This work presents a CMOS RF power amplifier (PA) for 1.9 GHz, which has been realized in a standard 0.13 mum CMOS technology. The PA has a two-stage balanced push-pull structure. The stages are coupled by an LC matching network. It is a prestudy for an integrated PA in a single-chip DECT phone. Due to low breakdown voltages of the CMOS transistors in modern technologies, reliability aspects were paid special attention to for the PA design and layout. The PA can be operated with supply voltages of more than 3.6 V. An off-chip microstrip balun is used for transformation of the load impedance and differential-to-single-ended conversion. The fabricated amplifier has an output power of 540 mW (27.3 dBm) at 2.5 V supply and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 37% and meets the requirements for DECT.