A 2.4 GHz Wide-Range CMOS Current-Mode Class-D PA with HD2 Suppression for Internet of Things Applications

Abstract

Short-range Internet of Things (IoT) sensor nodes operating at 2.4 GHz must provide ubiquitous wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with energy-efficient, wide-range output power (POUT). They must also be fully integrated on a single chip for wireless body area networks (WBANs) and wireless personal area networks (WPANs) using low-power Bluetooth (BLE) and Zigbee standards. The proposed fully integrated transmitter (TX) utilizes a digitally controllable current-mode class-D (CMCD) power amplifier (PA) with a second harmonic distortion (HD2) suppression to reduce VCO pulling in an integrated system while meeting harmonic limit regulations. The CMCD PA is divided into 7-bit slices that can be reconfigured between differential and single-ended topologies. Duty cycle distortion compensation is performed for HD2 suppression, and an HD2 rejection filter and a modified C-L-C low-pass filter (LPF) reduce HD2 further. Implemented in a 28 nm CMOS process, the TX achieves a wide POUT range of from 12.1 to −31 dBm and provides a maximum efficiency of 39.8% while consuming 41.1 mW at 12.1 dBm POUT. The calibrated HD2 level is −82.2 dBc at 9.93 dBm POUT, resulting in a transmitter figure of merit (TX_FoM) of −97.52 dB. Higher-order harmonic levels remain below −41.2 dBm even at 12.1 dBm POUT, meeting regulatory requirements.