Date: 24/09/2010

High linearity power amp from IXYS operates in 4.4 to 5.1 GHz frequency range

IXYS subsidiary MicroWave Technology has introduced a family of three GaAs and GaN based high linearity RF power amplifier products with various power levels. These new power amplifiers, targeted at the emerging applications for the 4.4 to 5.1 GHz frequency band, are WPS-445133-02, WPS- 444924-02, and MGA-444940-02.

The WPS-445133-02 has 2W output power at 1dB gain compression point and 26 dBm linear output power (burst power) at 2.5% EVM (Error-Vector-Magnitude) under the 64 QAM 802.11 digital signal modulation scheme. This multiple-stage power amplifier has 33 dB of gain. The WPS-444924-02 produces 4W output power at 1dB gain compression point and 29 dBm linear output power at 2% EVM with 10 dB gain. As a GaN based high power amplifier that requires 28 Volts on the drain bias, the MGA-444940-02 achieves
10W output power at 2dB gain compression point and 33 dBm linear power at 2.5% EVM with 12 dB gain. The power added efficiency at 2W linear power level for this power amplifier is as high as 20%.

These devices are praised for high RF performance and are suggested as ideal devices for emerging applications in the 4.4 to 5.1 GHz frequency band, including telemetry, dedicated high data rate wireless network, point to point wireless communications, military wireless communications, etc. All three power amplifiers are fully matched for
both input and output terminals for easy cascade and are packaged in the low cost MwT -
02 surface mount package with RoHS compliance. The MTBF (mean-Time-Before-
Failure) for these microwave/RF power amplifiers is over 100 years at 85 degrees
Centigrade ambient temperature.