Characterization of concurrent dual-band power amplifiers using a dual two-tone excitation signal

摘要

A method to characterize the memory effects in a nonlinear concurrent dual-band transmitter is presented. It is an extension of the conventional two tone test for power amplifiers to concurrent dual band transmitters. The output signal of a concurrent dual-band transmitter is affected not only by intermodulation products but also by cross-modulation products. In one frequency band, the transmitter is excited by a two tone signal which frequency separation is swept. In the second band the transmitter is concurrently excited by an other two tone signal with slightly wider frequency separation. The frequency difference of the two signals is fixed during the frequency sweep. The two tone test is made at different power levels. The upper and lower third-order inter- and cross-modulation products are measured. The asymmetry between the upper and lower third-order inter- and cross-modulation products are measures of the transmitter's memory effects. The measurement results show that the memory effects are more dominant in the third-order intermodulation products than in the cross modulation products. An error analysis and system calibration was performed and measurement results for two different devices are presented.