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GaN PA MMICs Serve mmWave 5G and Satcom Apps

June 8, 2023

The series of GaN HEMT PAs is designed to optimize output power and linearity in high-data-rate communications waveforms without sacrificing efficiency.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

This article is part of our IMS 2023 coverage.

mmTron’s new family of five gallium-nitride (GaN) power amplifiers (PAs) will be a highlight of the company’s Booth 343 at IMS 2023. The PAs, which cover from 22 to 41 GHz, offer a range of frequency coverage and output power options, and all were designed to optimize output power and linearity for high-data-rate communications waveforms without sacrificing efficiency.

The lead product in the family, the TMC211, is designed to be the first single-chip PA to provide 50 W of saturated output power in the 27- to 31-GHz band. The single die integrates a single-ended, two-stage PA designed to provide 50 W without combining multiple MMICs with the attendant combined losses, which is particularly problematic at mmWave frequencies. mmTron’s single-chip PA reduces the area by some 60% compared to combining two MMICs.

For the 39-GHz 5G band, the TMC212 was designed to provide 5 W of saturated power with an output TOI of 43 dBm and 20-dB small-signal gain. The three-stage PA was simultaneously optimized for linearity and PAE: 4% error vector magnitude (EVM) at 27-dBm output power (with a 400-MHz, 64-QAM signal) and 26% PAE at saturated output power.

mmTron’s TMC212, TMC2111, TMC152, and TMC253 die are available now for production orders. TMC211 die will be available in production volumes in the third quarter of 2023. All MMICs in the family will also be available in packaged versions.

For more information, visit the company's website.

For more IMS 2023 coverage, visit our digital magazine.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.