Efficiency Enhancement of Base Station Power Amplifiers Using Doherty Technique

Abstract

The power amplifiers are typically the most power-consuming block in wireless communication systems. Spectrum is expensive, and newer technologies demand transmission of maximum amount of data with minimum spectrum usage. This requires sophisticated modulation techniques, leading to wide, dynamic signals that require linear amplification. Although linear amplification is achievable, it always comes at the expense of efficiency. Most of the modern wireless applications such as WCDMA use non-constant envelope modulation techniques with a high peak to average ratio. Linearity being a critical issue, power amplifiers implemented in such applications are forced to operate at a backed off region from saturation. Therefore, in order to overcome the battery lifetime limitation, a design of a high efficiency power amplifier that can maintain the efficiency for a wider range of radio frequency input signal is the obvious solution.

A new technique that improves the drain efficiency of a linear power amplifier such as Class A or AB, for a wider range of output power, has been investigated in this research. The Doherty technique consists of two amplifiers in parallel; in such a way that the combination enhances the power added efficiency of the main amplifier at 6dB back off from the maximum output power.

The classes of operation of power amplifier (A, AB, B, C etc), and the design techniques are presented. Design of a 2.14 GHz Doherty power amplifier has been provided in chapter 4. This technique shows a 15% increase in power added efficiency at 6 dB back off from the compression point. This PA can be implemented in WCDMA base station transmitter.