EKT 441

MICROWAVE COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPTER 6:
MICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS

1
INTRODUCTION

Most RF and microwave amplifiers today used transistor devices

such as Si or SiGe BJTs, GaAs HBTs, GaAs or InP FETs, or GaAs
HEMTs.

Microwave transistor amplifiers are rugged, low cost, reliable and

can be easily integrated in both hybrid an monolithic integrated
circuitry.

2
 General Amplifier Block Diagram

vs(t) DC supply
vi(t)
ii(t) vo(t)
Zs Input Output
Amplifier
Matching Matching
Network Network io(t)
Pin PL
Vcc
Vs
ZL

The active
component

Input and output voltage relation of the amplifier

can be modeled simply as:
vo t a1vi t a2vi 2 t a3vi 3 t H .O.T .
3
 Amplifier Classification

Amplifier can be categorized in 2 manners.

According to signal level:
Small-signal Amplifier. Our approach in this chapter
Power/Large-signal Amplifier.

According to D.C. biasing scheme of the active component:

Class A.

Class B.

Class AB.

Class C.

There are also other classes, such as Class D (D stands for

digital), Class E and Class F. These all uses the transistor/FET as
a switch.

4
 Small-Signal Versus Large-Signal Operation
Usually non-sinusoidal waveform

Large-signal: vo t a1vi t a2vi 2 t a3vi 2 t H .O.T .

Nonlinear

Small-signal: Linear vo t a1vi t

Sinusoidal waveform
Zs
vi(t)

Vs vo(t)
ZL

5
 Small-Signal Amplifier (SSA)
All amplifiers are inherently nonlinear.
However when the input signal is small, the input and output
relationship of the amplifier is approximately linear.

vo t a1vi t a2vi 2 t a3vi 3 t H .O.T . a1vi t

Linear relation
When vi(t)0 (< 2.6mV) vo t a1vi t (1.1)
This linear relationship applies also to current and power.
An amplifier that fulfills these conditions: (1) small-signal operation (2)
linear, is called Small-Signal Amplifier (SSA). SSA will be our focus.
If a SSA amplifier contains BJT and FET, these components can be
replaced by their respective small-signal model, for instance the
hybrid-Pi model for BJT.

6
Example 1.1 - An RF Amplifier Schematic (1)
DC supply

Zs Input Output
Amplifier
Matching Matching
Network Network

Vs
ZL

RF power flow

7
 Typical RF Amplifier Characteristics

To determine the performance of an amplifier, the following

characteristics are typically observed.
1. Power Gain.
2. Bandwidth (operating frequency range).
Important to small-signal
3. Noise Figure. amplifier
4. Phase response.
5. Gain compression.
6. Dynamic range. Important parameters of
7. Harmonic distortion. large-signal amplifier
(Related to Linearity)
8. Intermodulation distortion.
9. Third order intercept point (TOI).

8
 Power Gain
For amplifiers functioning at RF and microwave frequencies, usually
of interest is the input and output power relation.
The ratio of output power over input power is called the Power Gain
(G), usually expressed in dB.

G 10 log 10
Output Power
Power Gain dB (1.2)
Input Power
There are a number of definition for power gain as we will see shortly.
Furthermore G is a function of frequency and the input signal level.

9
 Why Power Gain for RF and Microwave
Circuits? (1)
Power gain is preferred for high frequency amplifiers as the
impedance encountered is usually low (due to presence of parasitic
capacitance).
Power = Voltage x Current

For instance if the amplifier is required to drive 50 load the voltage

across the load may be small, although the corresponding current
may be large (there is current gain).
For amplifiers functioning at lower frequency (such as IF frequency), it
is the voltage gain that is of interest, since impedance encountered is
usually higher (less parasitic).
For instance if the output of IF amplifier drives the demodulator
circuits, which are usually digital systems, the impedance looking into
the digital system is high and large voltage can developed across it.
Thus working with voltage gain is more convenient.

10
 Why Power Gain for RF and Microwave
Circuits? (2)
Instead on focusing on voltage or current gain, RF engineers focus on
power gain.
By working with power gain, the RF designer is free from the
constraint of system impedance. For instance in the simple receiver
block diagram below, each block contribute some power gain. A large
voltage signal can be obtained from the output of the final block by
attaching a high impedance load to its output.
v(t) 4.90 V
IF signal
RF signal power 7.5 mW
power 15 W
75 W
1 W BPF BPF t
LNA IF Amp.
400
2
V
RF Portion LO IF Portion Paverage
(900 MHz) (45 MHz) 2R

11
Harmonic Distortion (1)
When the input driving signal is
small, the amplifier is linear.
Harmonic components are
almost non-existent.

Zs

Vs
ZL

Pout

Small-signal
operation
region
Pin
12
Harmonic Distortion (2)
When the input driving signal is
too large, the amplifier becomes
nonlinear. Harmonics are
introduced at the output.

Zs

Vs
ZL f
0 f1 2f1 3f1 4f1
f
f1
Pout harmonics
Harmonics generation reduces the gain
of the amplifier, as some of the output
power at the fundamental frequency is
shifted to higher harmonics. This result in
gain compression seen earlier! Pin
13
Power Gain, Dynamic Range and Gain
Compression
Input and output at same frequency
Pout
Pin Pout Ideal amplifier
(dBm)
Gain compression Device
30 1dB
occurs here Burn
20 out
10
Saturation
0 Linear Region
-10 Nonlinear
-20 Dynamic range (DR) Region
-30 Power gain Gp =
-40 Pout(dBm) - Pin(dBm)
= -30-(-43) = 13dB 1dB compression
-50 Point (Pin_1dB)
Noise Floor
-60
Pin
-70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 (dBm)
14
 Bandwidth

Power gain G versus frequency for small-signal amplifier.

Po dBm

Pi dBm
Po dBm
G/dB
3 dB

Pi dBm

Bandwidth

0 f / Hz

15
 Noise Figure (F)
The amplifier also introduces noise into the output in
addition to the noise from the environment.
Assuming small-signal operation.

Smaller SNRin

Zs

Noise Figure (F)= SNRin/SNRout

Since SNRin is always larger
Vs
than SNRout, F > 1 for an ZL
amplifier which contribute noise.
SNR:
Signal to Noise
Ratio
Larger SNRout
16
 Power Gain Definition

From the power components, 3 types of power gain can be defined.

Power delivered to load PL
Power Gain G p (2.1a)
Input power to Amp. Pin
Available load Power PAo
Available Power Gain G A (2.1b)
Available Input power PAs
Power delivered to load PL
Transducer Gain GT (2.1c)
Available Input power PAs

The effective power gain

GP, GA and GT can be expressed as the S-parameters of the amplifier

and the reflection coefficients of the source and load networks. Refer
to Appendix 1 for the derivation.

17
Naming Convention
In the spirit of high-
Zs frequency circuit design,
Amplifier where frequency response
of amplifier is characterized
Vs ZL by S-parameters and
reflection coefficient is
used extensively
instead of impedance,
power gain can be expressed
in terms of these parameters.
s
L
2 - port
Source
Network
Load
Network s11 s12 Network
s s22
21

in out 18
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

Figure 7.1: A two port network with general source and load impedance.

19
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN
Power Gain = G = PL / Pin is the ratio of power dissipated in the load ZL to
the power delivered to the input of the two-port network. This gain is
independent of Zs although some active circuits are strongly dependent on
ZS.
Available Gain = GA = Pavn / Pavs is the ratio of the power available from
the two-port network to the power available from the source. This assumes
conjugate matching in both the source and the load, and depends on ZS but
not ZL.
Transducer Power Gain = GT = PL / Pavs is the ratio of the power delivered
to the load to the power available from the source. This depends on both ZS
and ZL.
If the input and output are both conjugately matched to the two-port, then
the gain is maximized and G = GA = GT

20
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

From the definition of S parameters:

V1 S11V1 S12V2 S11V1 S12LV2 [7.1a]

V2 S21V1 S22V2 S21V1 S22LV2 [7.1b]

Eliminating V2- from [7.1a]:

V1 S S Z Z0
in S11 12 21 L in [7.2]
V1 1 S 22L Z in Z 0

V2 S S Z Z0
out S 22 12 21 S out [7.3]
V2 1 S11S Z out Z 0

21
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

By voltage division:

V1 V1 V1 1 in
Z in
V1 VS [7.4]
Z S Z in
Using:
1 in
Z in Z 0 [7.5]
1 in
Solving for V1+:
VS 1 S

V [7.6]
2 1 S in
1

22
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN
The average power delivered to the network:

1 8Z 1 S
1
2 2
1 2 VS
Pin
2 2
V [7.7]
1 in in
1 S in
2
2Z 0 0
The power delivered to the load is:
2

PL
V2

2Z 0
1 L
2
[7.8]

PL
V 1
2
S 21
2
1 L
2

1 S 22L
2
2Z 0
[7.9]

VS
2
S 21 1 L
2
2
1 S
2

8Z 0 1 S 22L 2 1 S in 2

23
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

The power gain can be expressed as:

PL S 21
2
1 2

GP G
1 S
L
[7.10]
Pin 1 in 2 22 L
2

The available power from the source:

1 S
2 2
Vs
Pavs Pin


[7.11]
in S
8Z 0 1 S 2

The available power from the network:

Pavn PL
Vs
2 2

S 21 1 out 1 S
2
2

[7.12]
L out
2
8Z 0 1 S 1 2
22 out S in
L out

24
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

The power available from the network:

S 21 1 S
2 2 2
Vs
Pavn

[7.13]
8Z 0 1 S11S 1 out 2 2

The available power gain:

P S 21 1 S
2
2

GA avn

[7.14]
Pavs 1 out 2 1 S11S 2

The transducer power gain:

GT
PL


S 21 1 S 1 L
2 2
2
[7.15]
1 S 22L 1 S in
2 2
Pavs

25
Summary of Important Power Gain Expressions
and the Gain Dependency Diagram

V1 S S Z Z0
in S11 12 21 L in (2.2a) 1 s
2 2
(2.2d)
1 s 1
V1 1 S 22L Z in Z 0 GA s
2
21
2
11 s out

V S S Z Z0
out S 22 12 21 S out

1 s 1 (2.2e)
2
V2

1 S11S Z out Z 0 (2.2b) 2 2 2

L 21 s
GT
s21 1 L
2 2
1 s22L 1 ins
2 2

GP
1 s22L 1 in
2
G
2
(2.2c)
T

Note:
GA s L GP All GT, GP, GA, 1 and 2
depends on the S-
parameters.
in out
The Gain Dependency Diagram
s11 s12
s s22
21
26
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

A special case of the transducer power gain occurs when both input and
output are matched for zero reflection (in contrast to conjugate
matching).
GT S 21
2
[7.16]

Another special case is the unilateral transducer power gain, GTU where
S12=0 (or is negligibly small). This nonreciprocal characteristic is
common to many practical amplifier circuits. in = S11 when S12 = 0, so
the unilateral transducer gain is:

GTU

S 21 1 S
2 2
1
L
2
[7.17]

1 S11S 1 S 22L
2 2

27
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

Figure 7.2: The general transistor amplifier circuit.

28
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

The separate effective gain factors:

1 S
2

GS [7.18a]
1 inS
2

G0 S 21
2
[7.18b]

1 L
2

GL [7.18c]
1 S 22L
2

29
TWO-PORT POWER GAIN

If the transistor is unilateral, the unilateral transducer gain reduces

to GTU = GSG0GL , where:

1 S
2

GS [7.19a]
1 S11S
2

G0 S 21
2
[7.19b]

1 L
2

GL [7.19c]
1 S 22L
2

30
Example 1 Familiarization with the Gain
Expressions
An RF amplifier has the following S-parameters at fo: s11=0.3<-70o,
s21=3.5<85o, s12=0.2<-10o, s22=0.4<-45o. The system is shown
below. Assuming reference impedance (used for measuring the S-
parameters) Zo=50, find:
(a) GT, GA, GP.
(b) PL, PA, Pinc.

40

Amplifier

5<0o ZL=73
s11 s12
s
21 s22

31
 Example 1 Cont...
Z s Zo Z Z
0.111 L Z L Zo 0.187
Step 1 - Find s and L . s Z s Zo L o
s11 L s s
Step 2 - Find 1 and 2 . in s11 12 21 L 0.146 j 0.151
1 s22L 1 s22L
Step 3 - Find GT, GA, GP. s s s s
out 22 s22 21 12 s 0.265 j 0.358
Step 4 - Find PL, PA. 1 s11s 1 s11s
s21 1 L
2
2

Vs
2
Try to derive
G GP
1 s22L 1 in
2
2
13.742

PA 8ReZ s
0.078W These 2 relations

2 1 s
2 2

1 s 1
Pin PA 1
Z1 Z s
Zo 0.0714W G A 14.739
s
2
21
2
Z1 Z s

11 s out

PL GP Pin 0.9814W
G
1 s 1 12.562
L
2
21
2
s
2

T
1 s22L 1 ins
2 2
Again note that this is an
analysis problem.
32
STABILITY

In the circuit of Figure 7.2, oscillation is possible if either the input or

output port impedance has the negative real part; this would imply that
|in|>1 or |out|>1.
in and out depends on the source and load matching networks, the stability
of the amplifier depends on S and L as presented by matching networks.
Unconditionally stable: The network is unconditionally stable if |in| < 1
and |out| < 1 for all passive source and load impedance (ex; |S| < 1 and
|| < 1).
Conditionally stable: The network is conditionally stable if |in| < 1 and
|out| < 1 only for a certain range of passive source and load impedance.
This case also referred as potentially unstable.

The stability condition of an amplifier circuit is usually frequency

dependent.

33
STABILITY CIRCLES

The condition that must be satisfied by S and L if the amplifier is

to be unconditionally stable:
S12 S 21L
in S11 1 [7.20a]
1 S 22L
S S
S 1
12 21 S
[7.20b]
1 S
out 22

11 S

The determinant of the scattering matrix:

S11S22 S12S21 [7.21]

34
STABILITY CIRCLES

The output stability circles:

CL
S 22 S 11

[7.22a]
S 22
2 2

S12 S 21
RL [7.22b]
S 22
2 2

The input stability circles:

CS
S 11 S
22
[7.23a]
S11
2 2

S12 S 21
RS [7.23b]
S11
2 2

35
STABILITY CIRCLES

Figure 7.3: Output stability circles for conditionally stable device.

(a) |S11| < 1 (b) |S11| > 1
36
STABILITY CIRCLES

If the device is unconditionally stable, the stability circles must be

completely outside (or totally enclose) the Smith chart.

CL RL 1 S11 1 [7.24a]

CS RS 1 S 22 1 [7.24b]

37
STABILITY TEST

Rollets condition:
1 S11 S 22
2 2 2

K 1 [7.25]
2 S12 S 21
the auxiliary condition:
S11S22 S12S21 1 [7.26]

the test:
1 S11
2

1 [7.27]
S 22 S11 S12 S 21

38
Example 2
The S parameters for the HP HFET-102 GaAs FET at 2 GHz with a
bias voltage of Vgs = 0 are given as follow (Z0 = 50 Ohm):

S11 = 0.894 < -60.6

S21 = 3.122 < 123.6
S12 = 0.020 < 62.4
S22 = 0.781 < -27.6

Determine the stability of this transistor using the K- test and the
test, and plot the stability circles on the Smith Chart

39
Example 2
Remember, criteria for unconditional stability is:
For the K- test:

S S S S 1
11 22 12 21

1 S11 S 22
2 2 2

K 1
2 S12 S 21
For the test:

1 S11
2

1
S 22 S S12 S 21
11

40
Example 2
Calculation results:
For the K- test:

S S S S 0.696 1
11 22 12 21

1 S S
2 2 2

K 11 22
0.607 1
2S S 12 21
For the test:

1 S
2

11
0.86 1
S S S S
22

11 12 21

Which indicates potential instability

41
Example 2
Calculation for the input and output stability circles:
Output stability circle center and radius:

C
S S
22
1.361 47 11

S
L 2 2

22

S S
R 0.50 12 21

S
L 2 2

22

Input stability circle and radius

C
S S
11
1.132 68 22

S
S 2 2

11

S S
R 0.199 12 21

S
S 2 2

42
11
STABILITY

Figure 7.4: Example of stability circles

43
SINGLE STAGE TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER DESIGN
Maximum power transfer from the input matching network to the
transistor and the maximum power transfer from the transistor to the
output matching network will occur when:

in S
[7.28a]

out L
[7.28b]

Then, assuming lossless matching sections, these conditions will

maximize the overall transducer gain:

1 L
2
1
GTmax
2
S 21 [7.29]
1 S 1 S 22L
2 2

44
SINGLE STAGE TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER DESIGN
In the general case with a bilateral transistor, in is affected by out,
and vice versa, so that the input and output sections must be matched
simultaneously.

S12 S 21L
S11
[7.30a]

1 S 22L
S

S12 S 21S
S 22 [7.30b]
1 S11S
L

45
SINGLE STAGE TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER DESIGN
The solution is:

B B 4C
2
2

1 1 1
[7.31a]
S
2C 1

B B 4C
2
2

2 2 2
[7.31b]
L
2C 2

46
SINGLE STAGE TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER DESIGN
The variables are defined as:

B1 1 S11 S 22
2 2 2
[7.32a]

B2 1 S 22 S11
2 2 2
[7.32b]

C1 S11 S 22
[7.32c]

C2 S 22 S 11
[7.32d]

47
SINGLE STAGE TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER DESIGN
When S12 = 0, it shows that S = S11* and L = S22*, and the maximum
transducer gain for unilateral case:
1 1 [7.33]
GTU max
2
S 21
1 S11 1 S 22
2 2

When the transistor is unconditionally stable, K > 1, and the max

transducer power gain can be simply re-written as:

GTmax
S 21
S12
K K 2 1 [7.34]

The maximum stable gain with K = 1:

[7.35]
S 21
Gmsg
S12
48
Example 3
Design an amplifier for a maximum gain at 4.0 GHz. Calculate the
overall transducer gain, GT, and the maximum overall transducer gain
GTmax. The S parameters for the GaAs FET at 4 GHz given as follow
(Z0 = 50 Ohm):

S11 = 0.72 < -116o

S21 = 2.60 < 76o
S12 = 0.03 < 57o
S22 = 0.73 < -68o

49
Example 3 (Cont)
Determine the stability of this transistor using the K- test

S S S S 0.488 162
11 22 12 21

1 S S
2 2 2

K 11 22
1.195
2S S12 21

Since || < 1 and K > 1, the transistor is unconditionally stable at 4.0

GHz.

50
Example 3 (cont)
For the maximum gain, we should design the matching sections for a
conjugate match to the transistor. Thus, S = in* and L = out*, S
and L can be determined from;

B B 4C
2
2

0.872 123
1 2 1

S
2C 1

B B 4C
2
2

0.876 61
2 1 2

L
2C 2

51
Example 3
The effective gain factors can calculated as:
1
G 4.17 6.20dB
1 S
S 2

11

G S 6.76 8.30dB
2

0 21

1
2

G L
1.67 2.22dB
1 S
L 2

22 L

So the overall maximum transducer gain will be;

GTmax 6.20 8.30 2.22 16.72dB

52
UNILATERAL FOM

In many practical cases |S12| is small enough to be ignored, the device

then can be assumed to be unilateral, which greatly simplifies design
procedure
Error in the transducer gain caused by approximating |S12| as zero is
given by the ratio GT/GTU, and be bounded by:

1 G 1
T

(1 U ) G2
(1 U )
TU
2

Where U is defined as the unilateral figure of merit

S S S S
U 12 21 11 22

(1 S )(1 S )
2 2

11 22

53
Example 4
An FET is biased for minimum noise figure, and has the following S
parameters at 4 GHz:

S11 = 0.60 < -60o

S21 = 1.90 < 81o
S12 = 0.05 < 26o
S22 = 0.50 < -60o

For design purposes, assume the device is unilateral and calculate the
max error in GT resulting from this assumption.

54
Example 4 (cont)
To compute the unilateral figure of merit;

S S S S
U 12 21 11 22
0.059
(1 S )(1 S )
2 2

11 22

Then the ratio of GT/GTU is bounded as;

1 G 1
T

(1 U ) G 2
(1 U )TU
2

G
0.891 1.130 T

G TU

55
Example 4 (cont)
In dB, this is;

0.50 G G 0.53dB
T TU

Where GT and GTU are now in dB. Thus we should expect less than
about 0.5 dB error in gain.

56
CONSTANT GAIN CIRCLES

In many cases it is desirable to design for less than the max

obtainable gain, to improve bandwidth or to obtain a specific
value for an amplifier gain.
Mismatches are purposely introduced to reduce the overall gain
Procedure is facilitated by plotting constant gain circles on the
Smith Chart
Represents loci of S and L, that give fixed values of GS and GL.
To simplify the discussion, we will only treat the case of a
unilateral device

57
CONSTANT GAIN CIRCLES

The expression for the GS and GL for the unilateral case is given by:

1 1
2 2

G S
G L

1 S 1 S
S 2 2
L

11 S 22 L

These gains are maximized when S = S11* and L = S22* :

1
G max
1 G max
1 S
L 2

1 S
S 2

11 22

58
CONSTANT GAIN CIRCLES

Now we define normalized gain factors gS and gL as;

1
2

G
g (1 S )
2
S S

G max 1 S
S 2 11

S 11 S

1
2

G
g (1 S )
2
L L

G max 1 S
L 2 22

L 22 L

Thus we have that: 0 gS 1, and 0 gL 1. A fixed value of gS and gL

represents circles in the S and L planes.

59
CONSTANT GAIN CIRCLES

Input constant gain circles:

g S S11
CS [7.37a]
1 1 g S S11
2

RS

1 g S 1 S11
2
[7.37b]
1 1 g S S11
2

Output constant gain circles:

g L S 22
CL [7.38a]
1 1 g L S 22
2

RL

1 g L 1 S 22
2
[7.38b]
1 1 g L S 22
2

60
Example 5

Design an amplifier to have a gain of 11 dB at 4 GHz. Plot

constant gain circles for GS = 2 dB and 3 dB; and GL = 0 dB
and 1 dB. The FET has the following S parameters (Z0 = 50
):

S11 = 0.75 < -120o

S21 = 2.50 < 80o
S12 = 0.00 < 0o
S22 = 0.60 < -85o

61
Example 5 (cont)
Since S12 = 0 and |S11| < 1 and |S22| < 1, the transistor is unilateral and
unconditionally stable. We calculate the max matching section gains
as;
1
G max 2.29 3.6dB
1 S
S 2

11

1
G max 1.56 1.9dB
1 S
L 2

22

The gain of the mismatched transistor is;

G S 6.25 8.0dB
2

0 21

62
Example 5 (cont)
So the max unilateral transducer gain is

G U max 3.6 1.9 8.0 13.5dB

T

Thus we have 2.5 dB more available gain than required by

specs, since the design only requires 11 dB gain. However, the
question also asked us to analyze the effect of having:

Condition 1: GS = 3 dB and GL = 0 dB
Condition 2: GS = 2 dB and GL = 1 dB

(Note that these conditions must happens at the same time in

order to keep the gain at 11 dB.)

63
Example 5 (cont)
For condition 1 (input side), when GS = 3 dB:

G
g S
0.875
S

G max S

gS
C S 11
0.706 120
1 1 g S
S 2

S 11

R
1 g 1 SS
11
2
0.166
1 1 g S
S 2

S 11

64
Example 5 (cont)
For condition 1 (output side), when GL = 0 dB:

G
g L
0.640
L

G max L

gS
C L 22
0.440 70
1 1 g S
L 2

L 22

R
1 g 1 S
L
22
2
0.440
1 1 g S
L 2

L 22

65
Example 5 (cont)

66
LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER DESIGN

In receiver applications especially, it is often required to have a

preamplifier with as low a noise figure as possible since, the first
stage of a receiver front end has the dominant effect on the noise
performance of the overall system.

Generally it is not possible to obtain both minimum noise figure and

maximum gain for an amplifier, so some sort of compromise must
be made. This can be done by using constant gain circles and circles
of constant noise figure to select a usable trade of between noise
figure and gain.

RN 2
F Fmin YS Yopt [7.39]
GS
67
LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER DESIGN

For a fixed noise figure, F, the noise figure parameter, N, is given as:
F Fmin 2
N 1 opt [7.40]
4 RN Z 0

The circles of constant noise figure:

opt
CF [7.41a]
N 1

RF

N N 1 opt
2
[7.41b]
N 1

68
Example 6

An GaAs FET amplifier is biased for minimum noise figure and has
the following S-parameters (Z0 = 50 ):

S11 = 0.75 < -120

S21 = 2.50 < 80
S12 = 0.00 < 0
S22 = 0.60 < -85
opt = 0.62 < 100
Fmin = 1.6 dB
RN = 20

For design purposes, assume the unilateral. Then design an amplifier

having 2.0 dB noise figure with the max gain that is compatible with
this noise figure.
69
Example 6 (cont)
Next use the formulas to compute the center and radius of the 2 dB
noise figure circle:

FF
N 1 0.0986
2
min
opt
4R Z N 0

C 0.56 100
opt

N 1
F

R

N N 1 opt
2

0.24
N 1
F

The gain of the mismatched transistor is

70
Example 6 (cont)
The noise figure circle is plotted in the figure. Min noise figure (Fmin
= 1.6 dB) occurs for S = opt = 0.62<100o

GS (dB) gS CS RS
1.0 0.805 0.52<60o 0.300
1.5 0.904 0.56<60o 0.205
1.7 0.946 0.58<60o 0.150

It can be seen that GS = 1.7 dB gain circle just intersects the F = 2.0
dB noise figure circle, and any higher gain will result in a worse
noise figure.

71
Example 6 (cont)
For the output section we choose L = S22* = 0.5<60o for a max GL
of:

1
G 1.33 1.25dB
1 S
L 2

22

G S 3.61 5.58dB
2

0 21

G U max G G G 8.53dB
T S 0 L

72
Example 6 (cont)

73