Design of Power Amplifiers with Bounded Performance Technique

Since the early days of telecommunication and warfare technologies, the power amplifier has been playing a key role in signal transmission and reception as the transport portal. There are many studies and research fields that are dedicated to a single goal: improving the performance of power amplifiers. The real frequency technique (RFT) and its sister the simplified real technique (SRFT) revolutionized RF power amplifier design by allowing nonlinear treatment of RF components and initiating the use of numerical optimization to analyze and synthesize nonlinear systems. The latest research in amplifier design has been going in this direction as optimization and computation techniques become more advanced and effective in solving highly complex nonlinear systems. The novel bounded performance technique (BPT) is developed to further popularize the use of optimization in power amplifier design. The design process depends on the use of load-pull data, an effective way to characterize nonlinear devices. The method is simple: creating a highly effective cost function for the optimization of the matching network that provides the required performance of the amplifier. Additionally, BPT cost function enables an infinite degree of design freedom that allows the design of complex amplifiers. In this dissertation, the effectiveness and versatility of BPT are demonstrated in the designs of some typical and advanced amplifiers including: a medium bandwidth, an ultra-wide bandwidth, a high-efficiency class-J, a C-band Doherty, a cascade, a configurable, and a multi-band. In each design case, BPT makes the design process feasible and observable. The fabricated amplifiers are all first pass successes and show performance that is on par or exceeds that of prior or contemporary design arts. This research shows that BPT makes the design process of complex amplifiers simpler, less laborious, and more fun. This work contributes to the advancement of modern communication systems in which power amplifiers are the most critical component.