TABLE OF CONTENTS Here is a thorough review of the device design requirements for a general-purpose amplifier RFIC
By Chris Arnott
From APPLIED MICROWAVE & WIRELESS, VOL. 13, NO. 4, APRIL 2001
Wideband highly linear gain block amplifiers are becoming a popular, costeffective alternative to the discrete designs presently used in many systems. These wideband gain blocks offer highly repeatable linear fixed gains with internally matched impedances and minimal external component count, which reduces manufacturing costs.
Replacing existing discrete designs with gain block amplifiers further reduces manufacturing costs by decreasing tuning time during manufacture, as well as reducing initial system design time. System designs can be simplified and completed faster. This reduction in time-to-market can remove costs from product development (and increase profit margins), simply by using gain block amplifiers.
The RF3348 is the first product in RF Micro Devices RF3340 gain block amplifier series. This series offers low-cost gain blocks with performance that exceeds that of previously available units. The RF3348 amplifier is designed to replace more expensive and less reliable discrete amplifiers and permit better distortion performance for a given DC power consumption. This article addresses the methods used to design and manufacture the RF3348 wideband linear amplifier. The amplifier is realized with a simple Darlington amplifier topology. Techniques used in the design of the amplifier include minimization of small-signal nonlinear effects while achieving maximum linear amplification, gain flatness and input/output return loss.
Four distinct distortion-causing mechanisms in realistic amplifiers contribute to signal degradation, voltage...
