A Ka-Band Reconfigurable Output Power PA MMIC

The design and experimental results for a 4-level GaAs Ka-band output power reconfigurable amplifier MMIC is presented. The PA delivers up to 1.0W of CW power when set to the maximum power mode. The MMIC can be electronically reconfigured for output powers of 1.0W, 0.75W, 0.5W and 0.25W. The small gain and return loss over the 17.3-20.2GHz design band is typically 18dB and less than -10dB respectively. The power added efficiency exceeds 30% for all 4 power settings and the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics track between the power levels. The output power is reconfigured via three 0V/-4V control lines. An on-chip bias circuit automatically deactivates the appropriate unused amplifier channels without any alteration or adjustment of the drain voltage supply. Since the power levels are electronically reconfigurable this amplifier MMIC enables the possibility of dynamic amplitude taper adjustment for an operating antenna array.