Power Amplifiers

Power Amplifiers
are used in the
transmitter
There are different classes for the power
amplifier
Class A, Class B, Class AB, Class C, Class
D
and Class E
Those amplifier differs in their angle of
conduction, efficiency, linearity and the in
the amount of distortion they introduce to
the system
1

Power Amplifiers

Class A
The amplifier conducts through the
full 360 of the input. The Q-point
is set near the middle of the load
line.

Class B
The amplifier conducts through
180 of the input. The Q-point is set
at the cutoff point.
2

Power Amplifiers
Class

AB
This is a compromise between the
class A and B amplifiers. The amplifier
conducts somewhere between 180
and 360 . The Q-point is located
between the mid-point and cutoff.
Class C
The amplifier conducts less than 180
of the input. The Q-point is located
below the cutoff level.
3

Power Amplifiers
Class

D
This is an amplifier that is biased
especially for digital signals.

Class C power amplifiers

Class C amplifier is obtained if the output

current conduction angle is less than 180
Class C have a greater efficiency than both
class A and class B
Class C also have larger distortion compared
with the A and B
Class C amplifier is used when there is no
variation in signal amplitude and the output
circuit contains a tuned circuit to filter out the
harmonics
Class C amplifier is used for applications similar
to FM Modulation
5

Class C power amplifiers

The output of the class C conducts for

less than 180 of the AC cycle
The Q-point is below cutoff as shown
below

Power Amplifiers Class C

Class C power amplifier

The
circuit
shown to the
left
will
be
considered in
analysis of the
class
C
amplifier

Class C power amplifier

The amplifier efficiency can be computed

from the following equation
Po PAC

Pi PDC

The output power is the AC power flowing

in the load resistance
The input power is the supply power which
can be determined from the multiplication
of the supply voltage and the average
collector current
The main step in the analysis is to
compute the average collector current

Class C power amplifier

According to the
figure shown to
the
left,
the
collector current
is given by

Where
ID
given by

is

10

Class C power amplifier

The direct collector current is determined

by its average value which is given by
t2
1
I Cav ( I p sin t I D )dt
T t1

It is desired to find the current as a

function of the angles 1 and 2 rather than
t1 and t2
1
2
t2
This cant1 be achieved
by using the

following mapping
and

11

Class C power amplifier

The average collector current can be

2
rewritten as
1
I Cav ( I p sin t I D )dt
T 1

By evaluating this equation we may have

the following
I expression
Cav

To simplify the notation, the conduction

angle will be defined as
12

Class C power amplifier

By substituting the conduction angle

expression into the average collector
current equationI pwe get
I Cav (sin cos )

Now the supplied input power can be

written as
VCC
Pi VCC I Cav
I p (sin cos )

If the output RLC circuit is a narrow band

filter tuned to the fundamental frequency
of the current pulses, then the output
power will be
13

Class C power amplifier

Where I1 is the amplitude of the

fundamental current components which is
determined by the trigonometric Fourier
series as shown below

By solving the previous equation we may

have

PO I RL VCC I1
1
2

2
1

1
2

VCC I p

(2 sin 2 )

4 can be written as
The output power now
14

Class C power amplifier

The efficiency of the amplifier can be

written as
PO 12 VCC I1
2 sin 2

Pi VCC I Cav 4(sin cos )

A plot of the efficiency as a a function of

the conduction angle is shown below

15

Class C power amplifier

design

There are four important design

parameters are of great importance for
PA design in general
These parameters are

The output power

Transistor power dissipation
Maximum collector to emitter voltage VCEmax

The maximum transistor output current Ip

16

Class C power amplifier

design
The maximum collector current is given by
Since
The collector current can be rewritten as

The maximum current in terms of the output

current can be written as

Note that the value of the collector voltage VCC

can be written as
17

Class C power amplifier

design

Now the maximum collector current can

be rewritten as
A normalized peak collector current is
defined as

18

Class C power amplifier

design

A plot of the normalized peak current

versus the conduction angle is shown
below

19

Class C power amplifier

design

The power dissipated in the transistor is given

by
VCC I P
VCC I1
PT Pi PO
( Sin cos )

2
Note the value of Ip can be expressed as

IM
Ip
1 cos
we can conclude that

From

1
If the value of Ip is
in the PT equation
I p substituted

2 sin 2
then

2I

20

Class C power amplifier

design

The power dissipated in the transistor is

given byP 2V I ( sin cos ) VCC I1
T

CC 1

2 sin 2

Or PT can be rewritten as

21

Class C power amplifier

design

A normalized plot of PT/PO versus theta is

shown below

22

Class C power amplifier

design example
Example: Design a class C amplifier that will
deliver 5-W average power to a 50 load
at a frequency of 1 MHz using a transistor
with a safe power dissipation rating of 0.5
W
Solution:
The average output power is given by

Or

VCC 2 RL PO 2 50 5 22.4 V

23

Class C power amplifier

design example
Solution:
Since the allowable power dissipation is
The maximum conduction angle can be
found from the graph shown in slide 19
57.5
or by solving the PT/PO equation
The value of the normalized current
corresponds to this angle is
refer to the figure in slide 16
The peak collector current is given by

24

Class C power amplifier

design

An alternate design procedure for class

C amplifiers is

Select the power supply

Select the transistor
Determine the maximum output power
without exceeding the transistor ratings
The transistor then can be driven to its
maximum allowed value of output current
Determine the value of the load resistance
that twill result in the maximum current
according to
25

Class C power amplifier

design

Now the transistor power equation can

be modified as

The
normalized
transistor
dissipation is given by

Where
f ( )

power

4(sin cos ) (2 sin 2 )

1 cos

26

Class C power amplifier

design

27

Class C power amplifier

design example 2
Example 2: Determine the maximum
output power and the conduction angle
of a class C amplifier using a transistor
with maximum power dissipation rating
of 4 W and a maximum output current of
1.5 A. The supply voltage is 48 V
Solution:
The
normalized
maximum
transistor
dissipation is given by

28

Class C power amplifier

design example 2
Solution:
The conduction angle for maximum
normalized transistor power PT is found
to be as
If we refer back (PT/PO vs ) plot we find
that
the
value
of
PT/PO
which
corresponds to this angle is
The output power now can be found as

29

Class C power amplifier

design example 2
Solution:
Finally the value of the load resistance that
results in this output power is given by

30