2 GHz +14 dBm CMOS power amplifier for Low Power Wide Area Networks

The design of a radiofrequency power amplifier (RF PA) for narrowband low-power wide area networks is presented in this thesis. Particularly, this RF PA is compliant with the 3GPP TS 36.101 standard for a NB1 device within the Power Class 6. To minimize silicon area consumption, this CMOS RF PA employs a single-ended single-stage topology, avoiding inter-stage matching network inductors and output baluns. This RF PA produces +14 dBm of output power with a PAE of 25% and an EVM better than 4% (−28 dB). Also, its out-of-band and spurious emissions satisfy the standard specifications with a large margin. Furthermore, it provides high ruggedness, tolerating an antenna mismatch with a VSWR of 8:1.