Implementation of a fully integrated 30-dBm RF CMOS linear power amplifier with power combiner

In this paper, a fully integrated 30-dBm UHF band differential power amplifier (PA) with transformer-type combiner is designed and fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS technology. For the high power PA design, proposed transformer network and the number of power cells is fully analyzed and optimized to find inductors dimensions. In order to improve both the linear operating range and the power efficiency simultaneously, a parallel combination of the class AB and the class C amplifier in power cells was employed. The PA delivers an output power of 29 dBm and a power-added efficiency of 24% with a power gain of 20 dB, including the losses of the bond-wires.