A Fully-Integrated Quad-Band GSM/GPRS CMOS Power Amplifier

I. Aoki, S. Kee, R. Magoon, R. Aparicio, F. Bohn, J. Zachan, G. Hatcher, D. McClymont, and A. Hajimiri

Concentric distributed active transformers (DAT) are used to implement a fully-integrated quad-band power amplifier (PA) in a standard 130 nm CMOS process. The DAT enables the power amplifier to integrate the input and output matching networks on the same silicon die. The PA integrates on-chip closed loop power control and operates under supply voltages from 2.9 V to 5.5 V in a standard micro-lead-frame package. It shows no oscillations, degradation, or failures for over 2000 hours of operation with a supply of 6 V at 135 C under a VSWR of 15:1 at all phase angles and has also been tested for more than 2 million device-hours (with ongoing reliability monitoring) without a single failure under nominal operation conditions. It produces up  to +35 dBm of RF power with power-added efficiency of 51%.