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8-12 GHz pHEMT MMIC Low-Noise Amplifier for 5G and Fiber-Integrated Satellite Applications


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15866/irease.v13i3.17998

Abstract


The fifth-generation (5G) radio access technology promises to revolutionise integrated earth-space communications applications for ubiquitous, seamless and broadband services. The assigned sub-6 GHz and millimetre-wave 5G frequencies require the sensitivity of the receiver front-end subsystem(s) to detect and amplify the desired signal at a noise floor of less than -90 dBm for a cost-effective infrastructure deployment. This paper presents a broadband Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) design based on a 0.15 µm gate length Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) technology for 5G and fiber-integrated satellite communications applications. The designed three-stage 8-12 GHz LNA implements a common-source topology. The MMIC LNA subsystem performance demonstrates an industry-leading in-band gain response of 40 dB; a noise figure of 1.0 dB; and a power dissipation of 43 mW. For a constant bandwidth receiver, the sensitivity changes by approximately 1.5 dB over the operating satellite signal frequency. Similarly, for a variable bandwidth receiver, the sensitivity changes by approximately 1.5 dB over the channel bandwidth. Moreover, the sensitivity margin of the designed LNA is 40 dB and this holds a great promise for real-time radio access component-level reconfiguration applications.
Copyright © 2020 The Authors - Published by Praise Worthy Prize under the CC BY-NC-ND license.

Keywords


Low-Noise Amplifier; Radio-Over-Fiber; Receiver Sensitivity; Satellite Communication

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References


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