Characterization and Linearization of Multi-band Multi-channel RF Power Amplifiers

Sammanfattning: The World today is deeply transformed by the advancement in wireless technology. The envision of a smart society where interactions between physical and virtual dimensions of life are intertwined and where human interaction is mediated by machines, e.g., smart phones, demands increasingly more data traffic. This continual increase in data traffic requires re-designing of the wireless technologies for increased system capacity and flexibility. In this thesis, aspects related to behavioral modeling, characterization, and linearization of multi-channel/band power amplifiers (PAs) are discussed.When building a model of any system, it is advantageous to take into account the knowledge of the physics of the system and include into the model. This approach could help to improve the model performance. In this context, three novel behavioral models and DPD schemes for nonlinear MIMO transmitters are proposed.To model and compensate distortions in GaN based RF PAs in presence of long-term memory effects, novel models for SISO and concurrent dual-band PAs are proposed. These models are based on a fixed pole expansion technique and have infinite impulse response. They show substantial performance improvement. A behavioral model based on the physical knowledge of the concurrent dual-band PA is derived, and its performance is investigated both for behavioral modeling and compensation of nonlinear distortions.Two-tone characterization is a fingerprint method for the characterization of memory effects in dynamic nonlinear systems. In this context, two novel techniques are proposed. The first technique is a dual two-tone characterization technique to characterize the memory effects of self- and cross-modulation products in concurrent dual-band transmitter. The second technique is for the characterization and analysis of self- and cross-Volterra kernels of nonlinear 3x3 MIMO systems using three-tone signals.