Power Amplifier design question

Thread Starter

chooby

Joined Mar 25, 2018
1
Hey guys, I'm just finishing my undergrad in EE, and we haven't done much work with power amplifiers. Can anyone help me out with the question below? My initial thoughts are to use a Class A amplifier design as they have similar efficiency to the question below.

"Most amplifiers need some sort of bias up sequence. Suppose you have a 2W RF power amplifier that runs at ~25% efficiency. The power amplifier operates at a drain voltage of 6 V, a drain current of 1.3 A and a gate bias somewhere between -2 V and -1 V. The amplifier requires a bias up sequence as follows:

1) With the drain voltage Vg turned off, the bias voltage must be set to -2V 2) The drain voltage is then turned on to +6V 3) The gate voltage is increased until the amplifier draws 1.3A

The bias up sequence can be done with an integrated bias controller such as the HMC980. However, at 6V and 1.3 A, > 1 Watt is dissipated as wasted heat in this bias controller (hint: why?). Because power is a major constraint on a satellite, design a circuit to provide this bias functionality while dissipating half the power as the HMC980. "
 

danadak

Joined Mar 10, 2018
4,057
Seems like key is delayed control over gate voltage, do not turn on MOSFET until you
need to transmit ? Just a thought........

So detection of gate drive RF present and then turn on, or origin of data signal that
generates RF and use that to bring up gate.......


Regards, Dana.
 
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