Temperature-Dependent Characterization of Power Amplifiers Using an Efficient Electrothermal Analysis Technique

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques Vol. 70; no. 2; pp. 1349 - 1360
• Main Authors: Taghikhani, Parastoo, Buisman, Koen, Versleijen, Martin, Perez-Cisneros, Jose-Ramon, Fager, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.02.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Analytical models; CAD; Computational modeling; Computer aided design; Computer simulation; Curve fitting; Data models; Electrothermal characterization; error vector magnitude (EVM); EVM; Finite element method; heat dissipation; Heating systems; Impedance; Integrated circuit modeling; Integrated circuits; power amplifier (PA) linearity; power amplifier linearity; Power amplifiers; Temperature dependence; Temperature effects; Thermal analysis; thermal impedance identification; thermal modeling; thermal network extraction; Thermal simulation
• ISSN: 0018-9480; 1557-9670; 1557-9670
• DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2021.3134664

In this article, we propose an efficient methodology for the electrothermal characterization of power amplifier (PA) integrated circuits. The proposed electrothermal analysis method predicts the effect of temperature variations on the key performances of PAs, such as gain and linearity, under realistic dynamic operating conditions. A comprehensive technique for identifying an equivalent compact thermal model (CTM), using data from 3-D finite element method thermal simulation and nonlinear curve fitting algorithms, is described. Two efficient methods for electrothermal analysis applying the developed CTM are reported. The validity of the methods is evaluated using commercially available electrothermal computer-aided design (CAD) tools and through extensive pulsed RF signal measurements of a PA device under test. The measurement results confirm the validity of the proposed electrothermal analysis methods. The proposed methods show significantly faster simulation speed compared with available CAD tools for electrothermal analysis. Moreover, the results reveal the importance of electrothermal characterization in the prediction of the temperature-aware PA dynamic operation.