基于atf54143的低噪放LNA的设计100M-500M

100M-500M低噪放设计方案

A 100 MHz to 500 MHz Low Noise Feedback Amplifier using ATF-54143

Application Note 5057

Introduction

In the last few years the leading technology in the area of low noise amplifier design has been gallium arsenide (GaAs) devices, MESFET, and pHEMT. Power amplifiers based on GaAs can achieve high efficiency and linearity, as well as ity, with a second feature offering a means of reducing the overall stage gain to the specified 20 dB level. The amplifier design specification includes operation from a 5V supply with current consumption of less than 65 mA.

provide high output power. Recently, Enhancement Mode pHEMT technology has demonstrated industry leading power added efficiency (PAE) and linearity performance for amplifier applications. The E-pHEMT technology provides high gain and very low noise. The high gain at low frequen-cies enables the use of feedback to linearize the E-pHEMT device. This application note shows why E-pHEMT technology can provide superior electrical performance for low noise and high linearity amplifier design in UHF and VHF wireless communications bands.

Design GoalsThe goal of the amplifier design is to produce a 100 to 500 MHz LNA, with an output third order intercept point (OIPof +36 dBm, a noise figure below 2.0 dB, and 20 dB gain with 3) a flat gain response. RC feedback was used to provide good input and output match and to ensure unconditional stabil-The Avago Technologies’ ATF-54143 is one of a family of high dynamic range, low noise enhancement mode PHEMT discrete transistors designed for use in low cost commercial applications in the VHF through 6 GHz fre-quency range. It is housed in a 4-lead SC-70 (SOT-343) surface mount plastic package, and operates from a single regulated supply. If an active bias is desirable for r

epeatability of the bias setting—particularly desirable in h igh-volume production—the ATF-54143 requires only the addition of a single PNP bipolar junction transistor. Compared to amplifiers using depletion mode devices,

the E-pHEMT design has a lower part count and a more compact layout. Besides having a very low typical noise figure (0.5 dB), the Avago Technologies’ ATF-54143 is specified at 2 GHz and 3-volt bias to provide a +36 dBm intercept point at 60 mA drain current. A data sheet for this http://www.77cn.com.cn/litweb/pdf/5989-0034EN.pdf

device may be downloaded from: http://literature.

100M-500M低噪放设计方案

Low Noise E-pHEMT Amplifier Design

Using Avago Technologies’ EEsof Advanced Design System software, the amplifier circuit can be simulated in both linear and non-linear modes of operation. For the linear analysis the transistors can be modeled with a two-port s-parameter file using Touchstone format. More information about Avago Technologies’ EDA software may be found at: http://www.77cn.com.cn/eesof-eda. The appropriate ATF54143.s2p file can be downloaded from the Avago Technologies’ Wireless Design Center web site: http://www.type ATF-54143 in the Quick Search at the top of the page. Under Search Results, click on the underlined ATF-54143. Scroll down to the S-parameters listing for 60 mA).

For the non-linear analysis, a harmonic–balance (HB) simulation was used. HB is preferred over other non-linear methods because it is computationally fast, handles both distributed and lumped element circuitry, and can easily include higher-order harmonics and intermodulation prod-ucts. HB was used for the simulation of the 1 dB compression point (P-1dB) and output third order intercept point (OIP3). Although this non-linear transistor model closely predicts the DC and small signal behavior (including noise), it does not correctly predict the intercept point. To properly model the exceptionally high linearity of the E-pHEMT transistor, a better model is required.

Figure 1. ATF-54143 100-500 MHz HLA Active Bias Circuit Schematic.

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100M-500M低噪放设计方案

Besides providing information regarding gain, P-1dB, noise figure, and input and output return loss, the simulation provides very important information regarding circuit stability. Unless a circuit is actually oscillating on the bench, it may be difficult to predict instabilities without actually presenting various VSWR loads at various phase angles to the amplifier. Calculating the Rollett stability factor (K) and generating stability circles are two methods made considerably easier with computer simulations. Simulated and measured results show the stability factor, K>1 (see Figure 2), at the cost of reduced third-order intercept point To meet the goals for noise figure, intercept point, and gain, the drain source current (Ids) was chosen to be 60 mA. The characterization data in the device data sheet shows that 60 mA gives the best IP3, combined with a very low mini-mum noise figure (Fmin). Also, as shown in the data sheet, a 3 V drain-to-source voltage (Vds) gives a slightly higher gain and easily allows the use of a regulated 5 V supply. The use of a controlled amount of source inductance, usu-ally only a few tenths of a nanoHenry, can often be used to enhance LNA performance. This is effectively equivalent and output power, through the use of a series resistor on the output.

)

K

( ROTCAF YTILIBATS TTELLOR0.00

024

6

FREQUENCY (GHz)

Figure 2. Simulated and measured stability factor K.

3

to increasing the source leads by approximately .025 inch. The effect can be easily modeled using an RF simulation tool such as ADS. The usual side effect of excessive source inductance is gain peaking at a high frequency and resul-tant oscillations.

Figure 3. Suggested RF layout to minimize inductance in feedback network.

100M-500M低噪放设计方案

Active Bias

The main advantage of an active biasing scheme is the ability to hold the drain to source current constant over a wide range of temperature variations. A very inexpensive method of accomplishing this is to use two PNP bipolar transistors arranged in a current mirror configuration as shown in Figure 1. Due to resistors R1 and R3, this circuit is not a true current mirror. However, if the voltage drops across R1 and R3 are kept identical, the current through R3 is stabilized and therefore Ids and Vds are also kept stable. A passive bias network is discussed in Application Note Note that the voltage drop across R1 must be set equal to the voltage drop across R3, but with a current of IR.

V– V(3) R2 ≈R

R2 sets the bias current through Q1.

Vg

(4) R4 ≈c2

R4 sets the gate voltage. Ic2 = Ie2, assuming the hfe of the 1222: 2336EN.pdf

http://www.77cn.com.cn/litweb/pdf/5988-Transistor Q1 is configured with its base and collector tied t

ogether. This acts as a simple PN junction, which helps to t

emperature compensate the emitter-base junction of Q2. To calculate the values of R1, R2, R3, and R4, the following parameters must be known or chosen:Ids is the device drain-to-source current, 60 mA.IR is the reference current for active bias, 2.1 mA.Vdd is the power supply voltage, 5V.

Vds is the device drain-to-source voltage, 3.0V.

Vds' is used in the equations due to the voltage drop across R7 and R8, 3.56V.

Vgs is the typical gate bias, 0.59V.

Vbe1 is the typical base-emitter turn-on voltage for Q1 & Q2, 0.65V.

Therefore, resistor R3, which sets the desired device drain current, is calculated as follows:

(1) R3 ≈V– V

ds c2

where Ialso equal to the reference current IC2 is chosen for stability to be 2.1 mA. This value is

R.

The next three equations are used to calculate the rest of the biasing resistors for Figure 1.

(2) R1 ≈Vdd – V

dsR

4

PNP-transistors is high. Calculated resistor values differ from actual resistors due to available component values.

Table 1. Component Parts List.C1=150 pF 0603 Chip CapacitorC2, C5=68 pF 0603 Chip CapacitorC3, C6=10 nF 0603 Chip CapacitorC4=100 pF 0603 Chip CapacitorC7=1 µF 0603 Chip CapacitorC8=180 pF 0402 Chip CapacitorC9=2.2 pF 0402 Chip CapacitorL1=150 nH TOKO LL1608-FSR15L2=120 nH TOKO LL1608-FSR12R1=680Ω 0603 Chip ResistorR2=1300Ω 0603 Chip ResistorR3=22Ω 0603 Chip ResistorR4=270Ω 0603 Chip ResistorR5=47Ω 0603 Chip ResistorR6=680Ω 0402 Chip ResistorR7, R8=4.7Ω 0603 Chip ResistorQ1, Q2 Phillips Semiconductor BCV62CQ3 Avago Technologies’ ATF-54143

Input and output RF connectors are EF Johnson end-launch

SMA connectors (p.n. 142-0701-881).The numbers associated with the chip capacitors and re-sistors refer to the dimensions of the components: 0402 = 40 x 20 mil, etc.

100M-500M低噪放设计方案

Thus, by forcing the emitter voltage (VE) of transistor Q1 equal to Vds, this circuit regulates the drain current in a manner similar to a current mirror. As long as Q2 oper-ates in the forward active mode, this holds true. In other words, the collector-base junction of Q2 must be kept reverse biased.

An evaluation board was designed for the feedback ampli-fier network. This single-layer board (see Figures 4 and 5) is 0.031-inch thickness FR-4 material with a dielectric constant of 4.2. The feedback network should be made as short as possible, since introducing inductance into the feedback network causes instability in the 5-6 GHz region. The RC feedback uses 40 x 20 mil components that are soldered close together with a small solder pad in between.

The ATF-54143 is conditionally stable below 3.5 GHz, having 29-26 dB gain in the 100-500 MHz region. The RC feedback reduces low frequency gain and increases the stability factor to >1 below 2 GHz. The amplifier uses a high-pass impedance matching network, consisting of C1 and L1, for the noise match. The circuit loss will directly relate to noise figure, thus the Q of L1 is extremely important. The Toko LL1608-FSR15 is a small multi-layer chip inductor with a rated Q of 19 at 50 MHz. The shunt inductor (L1) provides low frequency gain reduction, which can minimize the amplifier’s susceptibility to overload from nearby low frequency transmitters. It is also part of the input match-ing network along with C1. C1 also doubles as a DC block, while L1 also provides a means of inserting gate voltage for the PHEMT. This requires a good bypass capacitor in the form of C2.

Figure 4. RF Layout for Demo Board.

Figure 5. Assembly Drawing for Amplifier.

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100M-500M低噪放设计方案

This network represents a compromise between noise figure, input return loss, and gain. Capacitors C2 and C5 provide in-band stability, while resistors R5 and R7 provide low-frequency stability by providing a resistive termina-tion. The high-pass network on the output consists of a series capacitor C4 and shunt inductors L2, with L2 also providing a means of inserting drain voltage for biasing up the PHEMT. Very short transmission lines between each source lead and ground have been used. The RC feedback has a dramatic effect on in-band and out-of-band gain, stability, and input and output return loss.

Simulated vs. Actual Performance of the E-pHEMT Broadband LNAResults from the simulation of gain, NF, and for input and output return loss are shown in Figures 6 and 7, respectively. Measured gain and noise figure and input and output return loss appear in Figures 8 and 9, respectively. A summary of the measured results is shown in Table 2.

Figure 6. Simulation Results for Gain and Noise Figure.

Figure 7. Simulation Results for Input and Output Return Loss.

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100M-500M低噪放设计方案

Table 2. Measured Results.Frequency (MHz) 100 200 300 400 500

Gain (dB) 20.8 21.1 21.4 21.2 20.5

NF (dB) 1.20 0.67 0.62 0.61 0.70

P1dB (dBm) +16.6 +16.6 +16.6 +16.6 +16.8

OIP3 (dBm)+34.5+36.3+36.5+36.1+36.5

Figure 8. Measured Results for Gain and Noise Figure.

Figure 9. Measured Results for Input and Output Return Loss.

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100M-500M低噪放设计方案

References

[1] Ward, A. J. “Applications Note AN-1222: A Low Noise

High Intercept Point Amplifier for 1930 to 1990 MHz using the ATF-54143 PHEMT.”

[2] Maas, Stephan. Nonlinear Microwave Circuits. IEEE Press,

New York, 1997.

[3] Curtice, W. R. “A MESFET model for use in the design of

GaAs integrated circuits.Tech. May 1980, Vol. MTT-28, pp. 448-456. ” IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Avago Eesof Advanced Design System (ADS) electronic design automation (EDA) software for system, RF, and DSP designers who develop communications products. More information about Avago Technologies’ EDA software may be found on http://www.77cn.com.cn/eesof-eda.Performance data for Avago Technologies’ ATF-54143 may be found on http://www.77cn.com.cn/view/rf

For product information and a complete list of distributors, please go to our web site: http://www.77cn.com.cnAvago, Avago Technologies, and the A logo are trademarks of Avago Technologies, Limited in the United States and other countries.Data subject to change. Copyright © 2006-2010 Avago Technologies, Limited. All rights reserved.5989-0852EN May 12, 2010