High Efficiency, Linearized Power Amplifier for Communication Satellites

A high efficiency, very linear high power solid-state amplifier for mobile communication satellite payload is being described. The amplifier provides an output power in excess of 9 W for a multicarrier signal operation with an associated dc-to-rf efficiency greater than 28 %. The noise power ratio (NPR) for this operating point is 14 dBc. This high performance is achieved by designing the power amplifier in class F configuration with an power added efficiency (PAE) greater than 55 %, and an efficient linearizer. The linearized amplifier shows an improvement of more than 2 dB in the output backoff compared to classical amplifier for the given NPR of 21 dBc.