Linearization of Power Amplifiers Used in Radio Frequency Transmitters

This presentation describes linearization of power amplifiers used in radio frequency (RF) transmitters. An overview of wireless communications is provided to establish the context of how the transmitter is used and the importance of the power amplifier (PA). Measures and models of the PA nonlinearity are reviewed, after which the core topic of PA linearization is presented. The most popular linearization technique is digital predistortion (DPD), where the correction signal is applied in the digital domain prior to the PA. Also covered are adaptive methods used to estimate the DPD coefficients that optimize the system.