RF and Millimeter-wave SiGe and SOI CMOS for High Peak and Average Efficiency

QAM, carrier aggregation, and multibeam signal generation will all place significant constraints on the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) at the power amplifier. The desire for high average efficiency in RF and millimeter-wave systems has spurred interest in load and envelope modulation circuit techniques that are compatible with CMOS and/or SiGe BiCMOS technologies. This talk will present challenges confronting for wideband (up to 2 GHz) and high PAPR waveforms that have been proposed for 28 GHz and 77 GHz systems. I will present several examples of circuit solutions that we have developed to improve PA performance at back-off operating conditions through the use of outphasing at both RF and millimeter-wave bands.