Hunting for High Power at IMS

June 14, 2019

Armed with new products and various demos, this company used IMS 2019 as an opportunity to showcase its latest high-power technology.

Related To: Microwaves & RF

High-power technology was on display throughout the IMS 2019 show floor, as companies showcased high-power solutions for applications like wireless communications, satellite communications (satcom), and radar. No doubt, gallium-nitride (GaN) technology is a key enabler in the high-power RF space, evidenced at IMS from companies like Wolfspeed (a Cree company), which launched several new products in time for the event. Furthermore, just prior to IMS, Cree announced plans to invest $1 billion to expand its silicon-carbide (SiC) capacity.

One of the new products given the spotlight by Wolfspeed is the CMPA1D1E080F, an 80-W GaN monolithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) power amplifier (PA) (Fig. 1). The company maintains that this device offers benchmark performance in terms of high power for satcom applications.

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1. The CMPA1D1E080F is an 80-W PA targeted for Ku-band satcom applications.

Intended for the Ku-band arena, the CMPA1D1E080F has an operating frequency range of 13.75 to 14.5 GHz. The device delivers over 28 dB of small-signal gain across the entire operating band. Its power-added efficiency (PAE) is greater than 17% when delivering 40 W of average output power. Furthermore, the CMPA1D1E080F comes in a 14-lead metal/ceramic flanged package that measures 17.4 × 24 mm.

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2. Designed for S-band radar systems, the CGHV35120F can deliver 120 W of output power.

The company’s new CGHV35120F 120-W GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) was also front and center at IMS (Fig. 2). Intended for S-band radar systems, this device covers a frequency range of 3.1 to 3.5 GHz. At 3.1 GHz, the CGHV35120F achieves a power gain of 13 dB at a case temperature of +85°C. Furthermore, it was highlighted at IMS in a live demo in which the CMPA2735015S GaN MMIC was used as a driver amplifier (Fig. 3).

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3. In this demo, the CGHV35120F device was driven by the CMPA2735015S GaN MMIC. The overall gain was over 45 dB.

Wolfspeed unveiled another new device for radar applications: the CMPA901A035F GaN MMIC (Fig. 4). Under continuous-wave (CW) operating conditions at frequencies from 9 to 11 GHz, the CMPA901A035F delivers greater than 35 W of power. At 10 GHz, the device achieves a small-signal gain of 34 dB. In addition, the CMPA901A035F has a PAE of 34% when driven by a 10-GHz CW signal with an amplitude of +23 dBm.

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4. Intended for X-band radar applications, the CMPA901A035F provides more than 35 W of power under CW operating conditions.

Rounding out Wolfspeed’s other latest products are the CMPA2060035F, GTRA384802FC, and GTRA374902FC. The CMPA2060035F is a 35-W GaN MMIC PA that operates from 2 to 6 GHz. It achieves 28.5 dB of small-signal gain at 4 GHz.

Then there’s the GTRA384802FC thermally enhanced 400-W GaN-on-SiC HEMT. Intended for use in multi-standard cellular PA applications, the GTRA384802FC covers a frequency range of 3.6 to 3.8 GHz. The device features an asymmetrical Doherty design.

Finally, the GTRA374902FC is a thermally enhanced 450-W GaN-on-SiC HEMT that covers a frequency range of 3.6 to 3.7 GHz. Like the GTRA384802FC, it features an asymmetrical Doherty design and is intended for multi-standard cellular PA applications.