Component Tolerance Effect on Ultra-Wideband Low-Noise Amplifier Performance

Abstract

A study of the component tolerances on an ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier designed on a conventional printed circuit board is presented in this paper. The low-noise amplifier design employs dual-section input and output microstrip matching networks for wideband operation with a low noise figure and a flat power gain. First, the effect of passive component and manufacturing process tolerances on the low-noise amplifier performance is theoretically studied by means of sensitivity analyses. Second, simulation and measurement results are presented for verification of the analytical results. It is shown that, compared with a lumped matching network design, a microstrip matching network design significantly reduces the UWB low-noise amplifier sensitivity to component tolerances.