GaN Technology for GPS L-band Space Power Amplification

ABSTRACT:To meet the demands of the A141-125 SBIR solicitation, the MaXentric team proposes the MAST (MaXentric’s Adaptive Supply Tracking), which uses envelope tracking technology to enhance efficiency of a radiation hardening Gallium Nitride (GaN) solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) for the global positioning system (GPS) block-III L1-band satellite applications. Based on Phase I efforts, it was concluded that the DC power consumption of the MAST SSPA is almost half compared with the conventional SSPA with a constant envelope multiplexing technique (i.e. 5-code CASM: coherent adaptive subcarrier modulation), and the average power added efficiency (PAE) of the MAST SSPA is 1.3 times higher than that of the digital pre-distortion (DPD) SSPA for 5.4 dB peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) GPS signal.BENEFIT:Power amplifiers are an integral part of all satellite communications, cellular phones, base stations, and radio systems. They represent one of the most expensive component sub-assemblies in modern wireless infrastructure equipment: their cost, physical size, and performance in terms of linearity, efficiency, and output power are all important drivers in system design. As transmitted waveforms become more complex (with higher peak-to-average ratios and higher signal bandwidths), new and innovative techniques and technologies will be needed to meet the challenges associated with these waveforms. The MAST solution is well suited for providing the necessary technology to meet these requirements by adaptively tracking the supply, which ensures the amplifier is running optimally, reducing the size of the power supply.