Critical Issues in Highly-Linear Power Amplifier Design

A recently proposed technique for the design of power amplifiers is here improved and specifically tailored for the application in the field of highly-linear PAs, such as those required by modern high-capacity digital radio links. The proposed design procedure is aimed at providing minimum intermodulation distortion in the presence of hard constraints of minimum guaranteed output power and gain. The proposed algorithm can be efficiently exploited both in conjunction with a highly accurate nonlinear device model, obtaining a numerically efficient design procedure completely CAD-based, or alternatively, as a performance-driven controlling strategy for experimental source-load pull setups. The description of the algorithm also gives the opportunity of revising critical issues concerning both design and electron device modeling aspects related to high-linearity PAs.