Recent Progress in Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Systems

Kenji MUKAI; Hiroshi OKABE; Satoshi TANAKA

doi:10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005

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Recent Progress in Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Systems

Kenji MUKAI, Hiroshi OKABE, Satoshi TANAKA

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The Fifth-Generation new radio (5G NR) services that started in 2020 in Japan use a higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a modulated signal with a maximum bandwidth of up to 100MHz and support multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems even in mobile handsets, compared to the Third-Generation (3G) and/or Fourth-Generation (4G) handsets. The 5G NR requires wideband operation for power amplifiers (PAs) used in handsets under a high PAPR signal condition. The 5G NR also requires a number of operating bands for the handsets. These requirements often cause significand degradation of the PA efficiency, consequently. The degradation is due to wideband and/or high PAPR operation as well as additional front-end loss between a PA and an antenna. Thus, the use of an efficiency enhancement technique is indispensable to 5G NR handset PAs. An envelope tracking (ET) is one of the most effective ways to improve the PA efficiency in the handsets. This paper gives recent progress in ET power amplifiers (ETPAs) followed by a brief introduction of ET techniques. The introduction describes a basic operation for an ET modulator that is a key component in the ET techniques and then gives a description of some kinds of ET modulators. In addition, as an example of a 5G NR ETPA, the latest experimental results for a 5G ETPA prototype are demonstrated while comparing overall efficiency of the ET modulator and PA in the ET mode with that in the average power tracking (APT) mode.

Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics Vol.E104-C No.10 pp.516-525

Publication Date: 2021/10/01

Publicized: 2021/03/19

Online ISSN: 1745-1353

DOI: 10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005

Type of Manuscript: Special Section INVITED PAPER (Special Section on Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Technologies)

Category

Authors

Kenji MUKAI
  Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Hiroshi OKABE
  Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Satoshi TANAKA
  Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Keyword

5G NR, mobile handset, power amplifier, envelope tracking

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Kenji MUKAI, Hiroshi OKABE, Satoshi TANAKA, "Recent Progress in Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Systems" in IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics, vol. E104-C, no. 10, pp. 516-525, October 2021, doi: 10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005.
Abstract: The Fifth-Generation new radio (5G NR) services that started in 2020 in Japan use a higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a modulated signal with a maximum bandwidth of up to 100MHz and support multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems even in mobile handsets, compared to the Third-Generation (3G) and/or Fourth-Generation (4G) handsets. The 5G NR requires wideband operation for power amplifiers (PAs) used in handsets under a high PAPR signal condition. The 5G NR also requires a number of operating bands for the handsets. These requirements often cause significand degradation of the PA efficiency, consequently. The degradation is due to wideband and/or high PAPR operation as well as additional front-end loss between a PA and an antenna. Thus, the use of an efficiency enhancement technique is indispensable to 5G NR handset PAs. An envelope tracking (ET) is one of the most effective ways to improve the PA efficiency in the handsets. This paper gives recent progress in ET power amplifiers (ETPAs) followed by a brief introduction of ET techniques. The introduction describes a basic operation for an ET modulator that is a key component in the ET techniques and then gives a description of some kinds of ET modulators. In addition, as an example of a 5G NR ETPA, the latest experimental results for a 5G ETPA prototype are demonstrated while comparing overall efficiency of the ET modulator and PA in the ET mode with that in the average power tracking (APT) mode.
URL: https://globals.ieice.org/en_transactions/electronics/10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005/_p

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@ARTICLE{e104-c_10_516,
author={Kenji MUKAI, Hiroshi OKABE, Satoshi TANAKA, },
journal={IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics},
title={Recent Progress in Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Systems},
year={2021},
volume={E104-C},
number={10},
pages={516-525},
abstract={The Fifth-Generation new radio (5G NR) services that started in 2020 in Japan use a higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a modulated signal with a maximum bandwidth of up to 100MHz and support multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems even in mobile handsets, compared to the Third-Generation (3G) and/or Fourth-Generation (4G) handsets. The 5G NR requires wideband operation for power amplifiers (PAs) used in handsets under a high PAPR signal condition. The 5G NR also requires a number of operating bands for the handsets. These requirements often cause significand degradation of the PA efficiency, consequently. The degradation is due to wideband and/or high PAPR operation as well as additional front-end loss between a PA and an antenna. Thus, the use of an efficiency enhancement technique is indispensable to 5G NR handset PAs. An envelope tracking (ET) is one of the most effective ways to improve the PA efficiency in the handsets. This paper gives recent progress in ET power amplifiers (ETPAs) followed by a brief introduction of ET techniques. The introduction describes a basic operation for an ET modulator that is a key component in the ET techniques and then gives a description of some kinds of ET modulators. In addition, as an example of a 5G NR ETPA, the latest experimental results for a 5G ETPA prototype are demonstrated while comparing overall efficiency of the ET modulator and PA in the ET mode with that in the average power tracking (APT) mode.},
keywords={},
doi={10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005},
ISSN={1745-1353},
month={October},}

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TY - JOUR
TI - Recent Progress in Envelope Tracking Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handset Systems
T2 - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SP - 516
EP - 525
AU - Kenji MUKAI
AU - Hiroshi OKABE
AU - Satoshi TANAKA
PY - 2021
DO - 10.1587/transele.2021MMI0005
JO - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SN - 1745-1353
VL - E104-C
IS - 10
JA - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
Y1 - October 2021
AB - The Fifth-Generation new radio (5G NR) services that started in 2020 in Japan use a higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a modulated signal with a maximum bandwidth of up to 100MHz and support multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems even in mobile handsets, compared to the Third-Generation (3G) and/or Fourth-Generation (4G) handsets. The 5G NR requires wideband operation for power amplifiers (PAs) used in handsets under a high PAPR signal condition. The 5G NR also requires a number of operating bands for the handsets. These requirements often cause significand degradation of the PA efficiency, consequently. The degradation is due to wideband and/or high PAPR operation as well as additional front-end loss between a PA and an antenna. Thus, the use of an efficiency enhancement technique is indispensable to 5G NR handset PAs. An envelope tracking (ET) is one of the most effective ways to improve the PA efficiency in the handsets. This paper gives recent progress in ET power amplifiers (ETPAs) followed by a brief introduction of ET techniques. The introduction describes a basic operation for an ET modulator that is a key component in the ET techniques and then gives a description of some kinds of ET modulators. In addition, as an example of a 5G NR ETPA, the latest experimental results for a 5G ETPA prototype are demonstrated while comparing overall efficiency of the ET modulator and PA in the ET mode with that in the average power tracking (APT) mode.
ER -