Designing Robust 5G Power Amplifiers for the Real World
应用文章
Shift Left for 5G Power Amplifier Predictability
Datasheets have been a mainstay of electronic design practices for decades. Manufacturers do their best to characterize the most important parameters of a component, leaving engineers to carefully select components and design them into systems. This approach relies on predictability — expecting a component placed in a system will not deviate from its advertised behavior under any conditions.
5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) design shatters naïve predictability assumptions. Parts tested in synthetic conditions with signals at a few frequencies fall under the influence of hard-to-predict effects when subjected to complex, wideband 5G modulation. Waiting until the hardware prototyping stage, where reduced performance or instability can trigger expensive respins, to run authentic modulation against a 5G power amplifier (PA) design is risky.