Exploration of power amplifier performance using a digital demodulation loadpull measurement procedure

Liu J., Dunleavy L. P., ARSLAN H.

65th ARFTG Microwave Measurements Conference 2005, Long Beach, CA, United States Of America, 17 June 2005, pp.49-52 identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Doi Number: 10.1109/arftgs.2005.1500567
  • City: Long Beach, CA
  • Country: United States Of America
  • Page Numbers: pp.49-52
  • Istanbul Medipol University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

In this paper, an innovative digital demodulation loadpull system setup for power amplifiers and transistors is introduced. It enables the designers to evaluate the system linearity metrics, e.g. error vector magnitude (EVM), of the device-under-test (DUT) performance under different source, load impedances and input power levels. An interesting observation is that the source tuning has more influence on the EVM performance than the load tuning does for the DUT used in this study. Using this new measurement, the designers can have a better understanding of the device performance with respect to system metrics and optimize their designs to them directly, instead of resorting to the traditional analog RF nonlinear metrics only.