A 38GHz Deep Back-Off Efficiency Enhancement PA with Three-Way Doherty Network Synthesis Achieving 11.3dBm Average Output Power and 14.7% Average Efficiency for 5G NR OFDM

We propose a mmWave three-way Doherty output network synthesis methodology that can realize close-to-ideal dual-peaking Doherty active load modulation while absorbing the device parasitic capacitance. Following this methodology, we present a 38GHz PA prototype, achieving 13.7% / 11.0% PAE at 9.5dB / 11.5dB back-off, which are the highest among reported silicon PAs operating at 30GHz and above. Tested under 1-CC and 2-CC 5G NR FR2 64-QAM OFDM signals in the Band n260, the PA demonstrates state-of-the-art average output power (11.3dBm) and average efficiency (14.7%).