Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 1 of 11

2013 Keith W. Whites

Lecture 33 Active Microwave Circuits:
Two-Port Power Gains.

We are going to focus on active microwave circuits for the
remainder of the semester. There are many types of active
circuits such as amplifiers, oscillators, and mixers. We will
concentrate only on amplifiers.

It is often a much more involved process to design and construct
active circuits that operate correctly than passive ones. Reasons
for this include:
- A bias network is required,
- The devices are nonlinear,
- Unintended oscillations produced by circuit instability.
More care, patience, and experience are often required in the
design of active RF and microwave circuits than purely passive
ones.

The analysis of such circuits is usually very difficult given the
nonlinear behavior of the devices. For linear amplifiers, though,
a linear analysis is applicable, which helps simplify matters.

For this reason, we will focus on linear, small signal amplifiers.
Furthermore, we will use measured (or given) S parameters for
the devices (transistors) rather than detailed device parameters
(, C
t
, r
t
, etc.). Consequently, we can treat the transistor as a
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 2 of 11
two port, but possibly one with gain. This approach works well
for the steady state analysis of linear, small-signal amplifiers.

For other types of active circuits, such as oscillators, mixers, or
power amplifiers, the nonlinear behavior of the circuit devices
must be explicitly accounted for, which precludes the use of S
parameters. Much more difficult.

One big difference with active devices is that the magnitude of
the S parameters may be greater than one. Often it is only S
21

that has this characteristic, with port 1 serving as the input and
port 2 the output. With passive devices, S parameters with
magnitudes greater than unity are physically impossible.


Types of Power Gains

Referring to a generic two-port network circuit such as
in
P
L
P
0
Z
0
Z

there are three commonly used definitions for power gain.
1. Operating Power Gain:
in
L
P
G
P
= (1)
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 3 of 11
This is the ratio of the time-average power dissipated in a load
to the time-average power delivered to the network.
2. Available Gain:
,
,
av n
A
av S
P
G
P
= (2)
This is the ratio of the maximally available time-average
power from the network to the maximally available time-
average power from the source.
3. Transducer Gain:
,
L
T
av S
P
G
P
= (3)
This is the ratio of the time-average power dissipated in the
load to the maximally available time-average power from the
source.

It is this latter transducer gain that you used in EE 322
Electronics II Wireless Communication Electronics to
characterize the performance (i.e. gain) of the active devices in
circuits.

Among other applications, these three definitions of power gain
are used to design different types of amplifiers:
1. Operating Power Gain, G. Maximum linear output power
amplifiers.
2. Available Power Gain, G
A
. Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs).
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 4 of 11
3. Transducer Power Gain, G
T
. Simultaneously conjugate
matched input and output ports (leads to maximum linear
gain).


Power Gain Expressions

We will now derive analytical expressions for these power gains
in terms of the S parameters of the network, as well as the source
and load impedances. These will prove central to the design of
linear microwave amplifiers.

Referring to this generic two-port circuit (Fig. 12.1):
Z
L
[S]
(wrt Z
0
)
1
V
+
1
V

2
V
+
2
V

in
I
L
I
Z
S
+
-
V
S
S
I
1
t
2
t
TLs are infinitesimally short, with
characteristic impedance Z
0
.
out
I
in
Z
+
-
1
V
out
Z

then by the definition of the S parameters we can write

1 11 1 12 2 L
V S V S V
+
= + I (12.2a),(4)
and
2 21 1 22 2 L
V S V S V
+
= + I (12.2b),(5)
In these equations we have used the relationship
2 2 L
V V
+
= I .

As we showed in Lecture 21 using signal flow graphs
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 5 of 11

1 12 21
in 11
1 22
1
L
L
V S S
S
V S

+
I
I = = +
I
(12.3a),(6)
Similarly, it can be show that

12 21 2
out 22
2 11
1
S
S
S S V
S
V S

+
I
I = = +
I
(12.3b),(7)

Next, by voltage division at the source and for an infinitesimally
short TL

( )
in
1 1 1 1 in
in
1
S
S
Z
V V V V V
Z Z
+ +
= = + = + I
+
(8)
so that
in
1
in in
1
S
S
V Z
V
Z Z
+
=
+ + I
(9)

Now, using
( ) ( )
in in 0 in 0
Z Z Z Z I = + and after some algebra,
(9) can be reduced to

1
in
1
1 2
S S
S
V
V
+
I
=
I I
(12.4),(10)

There are four different time-average power quantities we need
to determine in order to compute (1)-(3):

1. P
in
: Time-average power provided by the source

( )
2
2
1
in in
0
| |
1 | |
2
V
P
Z
+
= I (12.5),(11)
Substituting for
1
V
+
from (10) gives
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 6 of 11

( )
2 2
2
in in
2
0 in
| | | 1 |
1 | |
8 | 1 |
S S
S
V
P
Z
I
= I
I I
(12.5),(12)

2. P
L
: Time-average power delivered to the load. This quantity is
similar to (11):

( )
2
2
2
0
| |
1 | |
2
L L
V
P
Z

= I (12.6),(13)
As shown in the text

( )
2 2
2
21
2 2
0 22 in
1 | | | 1 |
| |
| |
8 | 1 | | 1 |
L S
S
L
L S
V
P S
Z S
2
I I
=
I I I
(12.7),(14)

3. P
av,s
: Maximum available power from the source (and
supplied to the circuit). This occurs when
* *
in in S S
Z Z = I = I
(i.e., conjugate match). So, from P
in
in (12) and with
*
in S
I = I :

( )
*
in
2 2
2
, in
2 2
0
| 1 | 1 | |
| |
|
8 | 1 | | |
S
S S
S
av S
S
V
P P
Z
I =I
I I
= =
I

But with
( )
2
2 2 2
| 1 | | | 1 | |
S S
I = I then

2 2
,
2
0
| | | 1 |
8 1 | |
S S
av S
S
V
P
Z
I
=
I
(12.9),(15)

4. P
av,n
: Maximum available power from the network (and
supplied to the load). This occurs when
* *
out out L L
Z Z = I = I (i.e., conjugate match). From (14)
and with
*
out L
I = I :
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 7 of 11

( )
2 2
2
out
, 21
* 2 2
0 22 out in
1 | | | 1 |
| |
| |
8 | 1 | | 1 |
S
S
av n
S
V
P S
Z S
2
I I
=
I I I

Using (6) and after considerable algebra, it can be shown that

( )
2 2
, 21
2 2
0
11 out
| | | 1 |
| |
8
| 1 | 1 | |
S S
av n
S
V
P S
Z
S
2
I
=
I I
(12.11),(16)

With these four time-average power quantities in (12) and (14)-
(16), we are now in a position to compute the three power gain
expressions.

- Operating Power Gain, G. From (1) and substituting (12) and
(14):

( )
2 2
2
21
in
1 | | | 1 |
| |
L S
L
P
G S
P
I I
= =
2 2
22 in
| 1 | | 1 |
L S
S I I I
2
in
| 1 |
S
I I
2
| 1 |
S
I
( )
2
in
1 | | I

or
2
2
21
2 2
in 22
Source end Load end
1 1 | |
| |
1 | | | 1 |
L
L
G S
S
I
=
I I

(12.8),(17)

- Available Gain, G
A
. From (2) and substituting (15) and (16):

2
, 2
21
2 2
, 11 out
1 | | 1
| |
| 1 | 1 | |
av n
S
A
av S S
P
G S
P S
I
= =
I I
(12.12),(18)

- Transducer Gain, G
T
. From (3) and substituting (14) and (15):

2 2
2
21
2 2
, in 22
1 | | 1 | |
| |
| 1 | | 1 |
S L L
T
av S S L
P
G S
P S
I I
= =
I I I
(12.13),(19)
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 8 of 11
It can also be shown that G
T
can be expressed as

2 2
2
21
2 2
, 11 out
1 | | 1 | |
| |
| 1 | | 1 |
S L L
T
av S S L
P
G S
P S
I I
= =
I I I
(20)


Discussion

(i) All of these gain expressions (17)-(20) are formed by the
product of three factors. The first and third describe how
the power gain is reduced (or accentuated) by the source
and load circuits, respectively.
(ii) G and G
A
contain portions of G
T
. More specifically, the last
two terms in G are the same as those in (19), while the first
two terms in G
A
are the same as those in (20).
(iii) It is apparent from (17) that G is not dependent on
S
(or
Z
S
). From (18) we deduce that G
A
is not dependent on
L

(or Z
L
). However, G
T
is dependent on both
S
and
L
.
(iv) If the source and load are both conjugate matched, (i.e.,
*
in S
I = I and
*
out L
I = I ) then
T
G G = in (19) and
A T
G G =
in (20) such that

( )
2
21
| |
T A
G G G S = = = (21)
(v) If 0
S L
I = I = (i.e., the source and load are matched for
zero reflection rather than conjugate matched) then from
(19)

2
21 T
G S = (22)
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 9 of 11
while
2
21
2
in
| |
1 | |
S
G =
I
and
2
21
2
out
| |
1 | |
A
S
G =
I
.


Example N33.1. (Similar to text example 12.1.) The input and
output matching networks shown below are designed to produce
0.5 120
S
I =

and 0.4 90
L
I =

. Calculate G, G
A
, and G
T
given
the following S parameters for the transistor.

11
0.6 160 S =

,
12
0.045 16 S =



21
2.5 30 S =

,
22
0.5 90 S =


in
I
L
I
S
I
out
I
in
Z
S
Z
L
Z
out
Z

- From (6),
12 21
in 11
22
in
1
0.4 90 0.045 16 2.5 30
0.6 160
1 0.4 90 0.5 90
0.627 164.6
L
L
S S
S
S
I
I = +
I

= +

I =

- From (7),
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 10 of 11
12 21
out 22
11
out
1
0.5 120 0.045 16 2.5 30
0.5 90
1 0.5 120 0.6 160
0.471 97.6
S
S
S S
S
S
I
I = +
I

= +

I =

With these reflection coefficients and the given S parameters, we
can now compute the requested gain quantities.

- From (17),
( )
2
2
21
2 2
in 22
2
2
2 2
1 1 | |
| |
1 | | | 1 |
1 1 0.4
2.5
1 0.627 | 1 0.5 90 0.4
13.52 11.31d
9
B
0 |
L
L
G S
S
G
I
=
I I

=
=





- From (18),
( )
2
2
21
2 2
11 out
2
2
2 2
1 | | 1
| |
| 1 | 1 | |
1 0.5 1
2.5
| 1 0.6 160
9.56 9.80 dB
0.5 120 | 1 0.471
A
S
A
S
G S
S
G
I
=
I I

=

=




- From (19),
Whites, EE 481 Lecture 33 Page 11 of 11
( )
2 2
2
21
2 2
in 22
2
2
2
2
2
1 | | 1 | |
| |
| 1 | | 1 |
1 0.5
2.5
| 1 0.5 120 0.627 164.6
9.44
|
1 0.4
| 1 0.5 90 0.4 90 |
9.75 dB
S L
S L
T
S G
S
I I
=
I I I

=







Observe that
in
13.52
L
P
G
P
= =
in
13.52
L
P
P =
while
,
9.44
L
T
av S
P
G
P
= =
,
9.44
L
av S
P
P =
We see from these two equations that
in , av S
P P < . Hence, we can
deduce that because
T
G G > , then the input power, P
in
, is less
than the maximum power available from the source, P
av,S
.

Additionally, with
,
,
9.56
av n
A
av S
P
G
P
= =
and
,
9.44
L
T
av S
P
G
P
= =
we can deduce that nearly all of the power available from the
network is delivered to the load.