A 2.4-GHz 0.18-μm CMOS Class E single-ended switching power amplifier with a self-biased cascode

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a 2.4-GHz CMOS Class E single-ended power amplifier (PA) for WLAN applications in TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS technology. The Class E PA proposed in this paper employs cascode topology with a self-biasing technique to prevent device stress and to decrease the requirement for additional bond pads. Further, all inductors are realized by bondwires for high PA performance. The post-layout simulation results indicate that the PA delivers 23 dBm output power and 44.5% power added efficiency with 3.3 V power supply into a 50 Ω load.