A New Generation Of Gallium Nitride (GaN) Based Solid State Power Amplifiers For Satellite Communication

By C. Damian, VP Product Line Management and Business Development, and D. Gelerman, President and CEO, Advantech Wireless Inc.

The introduction of Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors (GaN HEMT) in early 2000 has left an undeniable mark on the entire satellite communication landscape. It is now possible for the first time since the introduction of the Solid State Microwave Technology to design and manufacture Power Amplifiers that exceed by several orders of magnitude the reliability, linearity, power density and energy efficiency of all existing technologies, being GaAs, LDMOS, or TWT.

A comparison study between these technologies is presented in the current paper, with emphasis on linearity and efficiency.