A CMOS power amplifier using current combining technique with transformer for WLAN applications

Abstract

This paper represents a CMOS RF power amplifier using a current combining technique to improve the linearity of WLAN applications. This technique, based on a transformer, is composed of partially combined 2-metal layers to minimize the resistive loss induced by the transformer. To verify the feasibility of the proposed power amplifier using 180-nm RF CMOS process, we obtain a measured output power of 19 dBm with EVM of -25 dB in 802.11b/g modulated. © IEEE.