mmTron has announced the release of a family of five GaN power amplifiers (PAs) for the mmWave 5G and satellite communications (Satcom) bands from 22 to 41 GHz. The family offers a range of frequency coverage and output power options, and all five were designed to optimize linearity for high data rate communications waveforms.
mmTron's GaN PA Family
— TMC211: 50 W, 27–31 GHz — Highest Power Single-Chip MMIC
— TMC2111: 40 W, 25.5–29.5 GHz
— TMC152: 10 W, 22–26 GHz
— TMC253: 6 W, 26–30 GHz
— TMC212: 5 W, 37–41 GHz
"Our customers tell us the market needs more power and better linearity to extend the reach and data rates of mmWave links, whether 5G or Satcom," said Seyed Tabatabaei, mmTron’s CEO and founder. He added: "We designed this family of GaN PAs with the goal of achieving higher power and linearity without sacrificing efficiency."
mmTron’s GaN PAs are fabricated with an advanced GaN HEMT process that provides both power density and high linearity. mmTron’s approach to optimizing for power, linearity, and efficiency is illustrated by two of the MMIC designs.
TMC211
The lead product in the family, the TMC211, was designed to be the first single-chip PA to provide 50 watts saturated output power in the 27 to 31 GHz band.
The single die integrates a single-ended, two-stage PA designed to provide 50 watts without power combining multiple MMICs with the attendant combining losses — particularly problematic at mmWave frequencies. mmTron’s single-chip PA reduces the area by some 60 percent compared to combining two MMICs.
A single, small die would typically increase the channel temperature of the MMIC. However, the TMC211’s design also reduces power consumption, which lowers the channel temperature and improves the mean time between failures (MTBF). mmTron’s design rules support 15-year satellite lifetimes. Performance specifications for the TMC211 include 30 percent power-added efficiency (PAE), 12 dB large-signal gain, and an output third-order intercept (TOI) of 53 dBm — the highest linearity reported for a PA in this band.
TMC212
For the 39 GHz 5G band, the TMC212 was designed to provide 5 watts saturated power with an output TOI of 43 dBm and 20 dB small-signal gain. The three-stage PA was simultaneously optimized for linearity and PAE: 4 percent error vector magnitude (EVM) at 27 dBm output power (with a 400 MHz, 64-QAM signal) and 26 percent PAE at saturated output power.
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