The design of RF small-signal amplifiers is a step-by-step logical procedure with an exact solution for each problem. There are many books available on the market today that offer schematics (complete with parts values) which are adaptable to any of your circuit needs. That is, a circuit that the author may have designed for a specific set of operating conditions is offered and it may or may not meet our needs. Nonetheless, the design is presented without any design procedure attached, and the reader is left out in the cold when he tries to adapt the circuit to his particular set of operating conditions.

The chapter presented here, however, takes the opposite approach. Detailed step-by-step procedures are followed in the design process so that you can choose the transistor you want and use it under any (realistic) operating conditions that you desire. You will no longer have to adapt someone else s schematic to your needs. Rather you will create your own homemade RF amplifiers and optimize them for your personal application.

We will begin our discussion with a very brief overview of transistor biasing. We will discuss both the bipolar and the field-effect transistor (FET). As was shown in the last chapter, the quiescent bias point of a transistor has a great effect on its Y and S parameters. Biasing a transistor is, therefore, serious business and should not be taken lightly.

Next, we ll jump head first into the RF aspect of amplifiers by examining stability (tendency for oscillation),...