Tomonori Tanoue

Thermal Gain Variation Compensation Technique Using Thermistor on HPA Module for W-CDMA System

The thermal gain variation of a high-power amplifier (HPA) module for a wide-band code division multiple access (W-CDMA) system application was reduced to within ±1dB by applying a thermistor to compensate the gain variation. Two techniques for gain variation compensation with respect to temperature were investigated: base bias control according to temperature, and use of a thermistor in a matching network. Experimental comparison of two techniques indicated that the thermistor-based technique was more effective in reducing the gain variation without affecting linearity. A fabricated two-stage HPA module with a thermistor in its input matching network achieved a small gain variation within ±1dB and ±5MHz offset adjacent channel leakage power ratio (first ACLR) below -36dBc over the temperature range from -10 to +85°C, where the first ACLR was measured under a load-mismatched condition with a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.4 : 1.