An Integrated Dual-Mode CMOS Power Amplifier With Linearizing Body Network

Abstract

A dual-mode radio frequency CMOS power amplifier (PA) for Internet of Things application is presented, which is integrated with the other circuits in a 55-nm bulk CMOS process. The low-power mode is achieved by reducing the number of turn-on power transistors, which are also used for linearization. The PA has a gain control scheme that functions by controlling the transconductance (gm) of the driver stage. A simple body network is introduced to common gate power transistors to improve the linearity of the PA. It is measured with 802.11n 64-quadrature-amplitude-modulation (MCS7) signal and shows a maximum average power of 16 dBm with a supply current of 222 mA under an error-vector-magnitude of -27 dB, which is packaged in a QFN 5 x 5 mm.