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M
Low-Voltage, S ilic on RF Power
Amplifier/Predriver
_______________________________________________________________________________________
7
An overall loaded Q
≤
5 can be achieved with readily
available surface-mount components. This network
absorbs the parasitic elements of the surface-mount
components in such a way that they do not negatively
impact the stopband characteristics; in fact, they can
improve the overall stopband attenuation with properly
chosen components. High-Q components (Q > 100)
that have self-resonance near the 3rd harmonic of the
intended output frequency should provide good pass-
band characteristics with low loss, while offering good
attenuation of the undesired 2nd and 3rd harmonics
that are generated. Note that most applications will
require extra filtering components and good shielding
after the matching network to ensure absolute attenua-
tion of out-of-band signals in order to meet out-of-band
spurious suppression requirements.
Output Mismatc h Considerations
The MAX2430 will typically withstand an output load
mismatch of VSWR = 6:1 at any electrical phase without
exhibiting oscillatory behavior over the entire supply
voltage range of 3V to 5.5V. Resistor R
C
enhances sta-
bility under load mismatch conditions and does not
affect normal operation of the circuit.
BIAS Pin
The voltage at the BIAS pin controls the output power
transistor biasing. At BIAS = 0.6V, the output transistor
is biased to Class C, resulting in low gain and relatively
nonlinear power. Above 2V, the output stage is biased
to Class AB. Note that changing the bias voltage may
degrade the output transistor’s stability.
The shutdown pin (
SHDN
) controls the master bias cir-
cuit, which in turn provides a control current of approxi-
mately ±500μA to the external capacitor connected to
the BIAS pin. When
SHDN
transitions from low to high,
the BIAS pin capacitor charges up and clamps at
approximately 2.2V. When
SHDN
transitions from high
to low, the BIAS pin capacitor is discharged to nearly
ground. This results in a power-up/power-down ramp-
ing of the RF envelope, which can be approximated by
the following equation:
t
ramp
C
BIAS
x 2.2V / 0.5mA = 4400
x C
Therefore, a 2.2nF capacitor will give approximately
10μs ramp time.
The BIAS pin can also be used to control the final output
power and gain over a 15dB range, by forcing the BIAS
pin voltage externally between 0.6V and 2.4V. Note that
the BIAS pin driver must be able to source/sink 700μA.
Forcing the BIAS pin directly in this manner disrupts the
RF envelope timing function. To avoid this, place a
diode in series with the BIAS pin control circuit, as
shown in Figure 2.
Note that when using the BIAS pin for power control,
linearity is much degraded at the lower power levels.
Operating Frequenc y Range
The MAX2430 has been characterized for operation in
the 800MHz to 1000MHz range. Operation outside this
range is possible, but the following issues must be con-
sidered:
Gain increases substantially at lower frequencies,
possibly causing stability problems.
Useful gain and output power levels drop rapidly
above 1000MHz.
MAX2430
BIAS
10
0V TO2.0V
POWER
CONTROL
2
C
BIAS
SHDN
MASTER
BIAS
2.2V
CLAMP
OUTPUT
BIAS
Figure 2. Power-Control Application Using BIAS Pin