A MEMS Reconfigurable Quad-Band Class-E Power Amplifier for GSM Standard

Abstract

In this work we present a reconfigurable mid-power Class-E Power Amplifier (PA) [1,2] operating at ~900MHz and ~1800MHz (GSM standard [3]) realized hybridizing one chip manufactured in AMS 0.35 μm CMOS technology and one MEMS sub-network. The CMOS chip realizes the active part of the circuit, whereas the MEMS block (realized in FBK technology) implements a reconfigurable impedance Matching Network (MN) that transforms the 50Ω antenna load to the 12Ω impedance required by the PA in order to deliver 20dBm output power in both the GSM operating frequency bands. The prototype of the MEMS/CMOS PA we realized delivers 20dBm with 38% and 26% drain efficiencies at 900MHz and 1800MHz, respectively, demonstrating to be a feasible option compared to standard commercial solutions.