4/30/2017 EETimesUnderstandandcharacterizeenvelopetrackingpoweramplifiers

DesignHowTo
Understandandcharacterizeenvelopetracking
poweramplifiers
GerardWimpenny,NujiraLtd.&Member
ofOpenETAlliance
1/3/201201:50PMEST
6comments

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Theprocessofdesigningtraditionalfixedsupplypoweramplifiers(PAs)hasbeenwell
establishedformanyyears.Welldefinedmetricsforperformanceassessmentexist,and
thePAdesignersjobissimplytodesignaPAwiththebestsetofperformancemetrics.In
realityofcoursethisisfarfromasimpletask,butatleasttheassessmentcriteriaarewell
establishedandwellunderstood.Forenvelopetracking(ET)PAs,thesituationismore
complexandrequirestheuseofmoresophisticatedcharacterizationtechniques.

ETBasics
TheobjectiveofenvelopetrackingistoimprovetheefficiencyofPAscarryinghighpeakto
averagepower(PAPR)signals.Thedrivetoachievehighdatathroughputwithinlimited
spectrumresourcesrequirestheuseoflinearmodulationwithhighPAPR.Unfortunately,
theefficiencyoftraditionalfixedsupplyPAswhenoperatedundertheseconditionsisvery
poor.TheefficiencyofanETPAisimprovedbyvaryingthePAsupplyvoltagein
synchronismwiththeenvelopeoftheRFsignal.ThePAsfundamentaloutput
characteristics(power,efficiency,gain,phase...)nowdependsontwocontrolinputs(RF
inputpowerandsupplyvoltage)andmayberepresentedas3Dsurfaces.
Inatypicalenvelopetrackingsystem,thesupplyvoltageisdynamicallyadjustedtotrack
theRFenvelopeathighinstantaneouspower.Here,thePAoperateswithhighefficiencyin
compression.Itsoutputcharacteristicsareprimarilydeterminedbytheinstantaneous
supplyvoltage.Conversely,whentheinstantaneousRFpowerislow,thesupplyvoltageis
heldsubstantiallyconstantandthePAoutputcharacteristicsareprimarilydeterminedby
theinstantaneousinputpower(linearregion).Atransitionregioninwhichbothsupply
voltageandinputpowerinfluencetheoutputcharacteristicsexistsbetweenthesetwo
extremes(seeFigure1)

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Figure1InstantaneousefficiencyvssupplyvoltageIsogainshaping
ETPALinearity
Asimplequasistatic(i.e.memoryless)behavioralmodelofaPAmaybeconstructedifits
AM/AMandAM/PMcharacteristicsareknown.Thesecharacteristics,alongwithotherkey
PAmetricssuchaspowerandefficiencyareprofoundlyinfluencedbythemapping
betweeninstantaneousRFenvelopeandappliedsupplyvoltage.InanETsystemthis
mappingisdeterminedbythecontentsofashapingtableintheenvelopepath(see
Figure2)

Figure2EnvelopeTrackingPASystem

AmappingofparticularinterestisISOgainshaping,inwhichtheinstantaneoussupply
voltageischosentoachieveaparticularconstantPAgain(seeFigure3).

Figure3:RFO/PpowerSupplyvoltagemappingISOGainshaping

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Withthismapping,theETPAsystemachieveslowAMAMdistortiondespiteoperatingin
compressionovermuchoftheenvelopecycleasshowninFigure4.Theequivalent
trajectoryforfixedsupplyoperationisalsoshowninFigure4fromthisitisapparentthat
ETcanactuallybeusedtolinearizeaPA,reducingACPRandEVM.

Figure4:ETPAgaincharacteristicsIsogainshaping

ThesystemtradeoffassociatedwithusingtheshapingtabletolinearizethePAisasmall
lossofefficiency(compareFigure1andFigure5)forasubstantialimprovementinlinearity
(compareFigure4andFigure6).Thechoiceofshapingfunctionalsohasastrong
influenceonthebandwidthrequirementoftheenvelopepath.Asmoothtransitionbetween
thelinearandcompressedregionsresultsinalowerbandwidthrequirementforthe
envelopeamplifierformodest(12%)lossinsystemefficiency.

Figure5:ETPAEfficiencyOptimumefficiencyshaping

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Figure6:ETPAgaincharacteristicsOptimumefficiencyshaping

WhendesigningafixedsupplylinearPA,agreatdealofattentionmustbepaidtothe
achievingadequatelinearitycharacteristicsatmaximumoutputpower.Manyfactors
influencethelinearity(e.g.fundamentaltechnologycharacteristics,biasingandRF
matching)anditisuptothePAdesignertoachievethebesttradeoffbetweenefficiency
andlinearity.ForanETPA,thingsaredifferent,asthelinearityofanETPAinthe
compressedregionisnolongeraselfcontainedPAparameter.ThePAstillhastobelinear
inthelowpower,lowvoltageregion,butathigherpowerstheAMlinearityconstraintis
removedandthePAcanbedesignedforoptimumETefficiencywithoutregardtoAM
linearity.UnlikeAMdistortion,phasedistortionisnotdirectlycontrolledbytheenvelope
shapingtable.However,itisobservedthatmanyPAsactuallyshowreducedPMdistortion
whenoperatedinETmode.

Asaresultofthisselflinearization,itispossibletopushharderintocompressionatsignal
peaksthanwithafixedsupplyamplifier,allowingincreasedoutputpowerforgivenlinearity.
Figure7showsmeasuredACLRandEVMperformanceforaPAoperatedinFixedSupply
andETmodes.InthisexamplethePAoutputpowerfor40dBcACLRis2dBhigherinET
thanfixedsupplymode.

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Figure7:ETPA/FixedsupplyPAlinearitycomparison

CharacterizationTechniques
ThestandaloneperformanceofETPAscannotbemeasuredunlesstheshapingtableis
firstdefined.ThisrequiresmeasurementofthePAsfundamentalcharacteristics(Pout,
Efficiency,Gain,Phase)overthefullrangeofsupplyvoltageandinputpower.Inprinciple
thischaracterizationcouldbecarriedoutusingaCWnetworkanalyzerandavariableDC
supply,butresultsaretypicallypoorduetothermaleffects,rangingerrorsanddriftin
phasemeasurements.Itisalsofartooslowtoallowloadpulltechniquestobeused.An
alternativeapproachistouseapulsecharacterizationusingATEcontrolledstandardtest
equipment.Thisavoidstheneedforahighbandwidthlowimpedancesupplyandis
sufficientlyfastforLoadPulltobeviable,buthasthedrawbackthatitisdifficulttomake
accuratephasemeasurements.Thelastapproachistouserealwaveformsandtovarythe
shapingtabletoallowallcombinationsofinputpowerandsupplyvoltagetobemeasured.
Thisrequiresasupplymodulator,butisveryfast,allowsaccuratephaseinformationtobe
gatheredandcanalsobeusedtocharacterizememoryeffects.

Figure8:ETPACharacterizationbench(ClickfiguretodownloadlargerversioninPDF)

AbasicETPAcharacterizationcanbeusedtocreateaquasistatic(i.e.memoryless)data
modelofthePAhavingoutputpower,phaseandefficiencyasoutputsandinputpower
andsupplyvoltageasinputs.Oncetheshapingtableisdefined,themodelcanbeusedto
predictPAsystemperformanceparameterssuchasACPR,EVMandefficiencyfor
standardtestwaveforms.
InadditiontobeingusedforPAdevicelevelcharacterization,thesamehardwarecanbe

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usedfordirectverificationofPAsystemperformanceusingthedefinedshapingtable(see
Figure9).

Figure9:ETPAAM/AMandAM/PMaftershapingtabledefinition

Forhigherbandwidthwaveforms,PAmemoryeffectscanbeasignificantsourceofnon
linearity.ThePAoutputparameters(AM,PM,efficiency)nowdependontime(i.e.signal
history)inadditiontoinstantaneousinputpowerandsupplyvoltage.Memoryeffectsshow
upinthePAcharacterizationasabroadeningoftheAM/AMandAM/PMcharacteristics
andcanresultfromelectricaltimeconstantsininputoroutputbiascircuits,thermaltime
constantsassociatedwithlocaldieheating,ortechnologyspecificchargestorageeffects.

EfficiencyOptimization
ThestatisticsoftypicalhighPeaktoAveragePowerRatio(PAPR)signalsaresuchthatan
ETPAtypicallyspendsmostofitstimeoperatingwithrelativelylowsupplyvoltage,with
onlyoccasionalhighvoltageexcursionsonhighpowerpeaks.Itmakessensethereforeto
optimizethePAmatchingtoachievebestefficiencywiththetargethighPAPRsignals
ratherthansimplydesigningforbestefficiencyatpeakpower/maxsupplyvoltage,as
wouldbethecaseforafixedsupplyPA.ItcanbeseenfromFigure10thatthePA
matchingshouldbealteredtoincreaseefficiencyaroundthepeakofthesignalprobability
densityfunction,evenifthisnecessitatesaslightcompromiseinthepeakpowerefficiency.

Figure10:InfluenceofsignalstatisticsonEfficiencyofanenvelopetrackingPA

TofullyoptimizetheefficiencyofanenvelopetrackingPAthedevicecharacterizationcan
beextendedtoincludesweepingtheloadimpedance(fundamentalorharmonicloadpull)
inadditiontoinputpowerandsupplyvoltage.Analysisofthelargedatasetproducedby
suchacharacterizationcanbeautomated(e.g.usingMATLAB)topredicttheaveragePA
efficiencywhenoperatingwithaspecificsetofETparameters.Forexample,usingthis
characterizationmethodologyitispossibletopredicthowaPAsaverageefficiencyvaries
withshapingfunction,outputvoltageswingrange,backofffrommaximumpowerand
waveformstatisticswhenoperatedinETmode(seeFigure11).

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Figure11:ETaverageEfficiencyandPAOutputpowerloadpullcontours(Click
figuretodownloadlargerversioninPDF)

ETPAparametervariationsensitivity
ItiscommonlyexpectedthattheperformanceofETPAsovertemperaturewillbepoorer
thantheirfixedsupplycounterparts.InfactthereverseistrueunlikeafixedsupplyPA,an
ETPAsperformanceismuchmoresensitivetochangesinthesupplyvoltage
characteristicsthantochangesingainoftheRFchaindrivingthePA.Asthe
characteristicsofthesupplyvoltagecanbemuchbettercontrolledovertemperaturethan
RFgain,littlevariationinPAlinearityisobservedforextremetemperaturevariations(See
Figure12).

Figure12:ETPAACLRvsTemperature(105Crange)

Inahandsetenvironment,theloadimpedancepresentedtothePAisnotwellcontrolled
duetoreflectionsfromnearbyobjects,whichcanresultinthePAhavingtoworkintoload
mismatchesashighas3:1VSWR.TheETPAsselflinearizationprinciplepreviously
describedisalsoapplicableunderhighVSWRconditionsandthiscanresultinsignificantly
improvedEVMandACPRperformancecomparedwiththesamePAoperatedinfixed
supplymode(seeFigure13)

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Figure13:ComparisonofEVMvsbackoffforETandfixedsupplyPAsoperating
into3:1VSWRloadmismatch

Summary
ThesystemefficiencybenefitofoperatingaPAinETmodeiswidelyknown.However,it
alsooffersotherusefulsystembenefits,suchasincreasedoutputpower,improved
operationintomismatchedloads,andinsensitivitytotemperaturevariations.
IncontrasttofixedsupplyPAs,theperformanceofanETPAisnotselfcontainedand
requiressubstantiallymoredatatobegatheredtopredictsystemperformance.This
requiresuseofatestenvironmentwhichallowsthesupplyvoltageinadditiontoinput
powertobeswept.Akeyaspectisthedefinitionoftheshapingtablewhichdefinesthe
relationshipbetweensupplyvoltageandRFpower.ThisdefinesmanykeyPAmetrics.
Oncetheshapingfunctionisdefined,efficiencyandlinearitycanbedirectlymeasured
usinganappropriatesystemcharacterizationbench.

Abouttheauthor
GerardWimpenny
ChiefTechnologyOfficer,NujiraLtd.&MemberofOpenETAlliance
Gerardhasover20yearsofRFandSignalProcessingexperience,andhasbeen
responsibleforstrategicR&D,designprocessdefinition,andtopleveltechnicalsupportfor
businessdevelopmentactivities.Hehasbeeninstrumentalindeliveringnumerouswireless
productstosemiconductorvendors,infrastructureandhandsetmanufacturersandholds
anMAdegreefromCambridgeUniversity.

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