Reconfigurable and highly-miniaturized low-noise amplifiers based on tunable filtering loads

Fontana, Andrés; Cheng, Steven Matthew; Psychogiou, Dimitra

Reconfigurable and highly-miniaturized low-noise amplifiers based on tunable filtering loads

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Reconfigurable_and_Highly-Miniaturized_Low-Noise_Amplifiers_Based_on_Tunable_Filtering_Loads.pdf(2.09 MB)

Published Version

Date

2025-03-05

Authors

Fontana, Andrés

Cheng, Steven Matthew

Psychogiou, Dimitra

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Published Version

10.1109/access.2025.3548311

Abstract

This article reports on new types of reconfigurable and multifunctional low-noise amplifier filters (LNAF) for sub-6 GHz New Radio (NR) S-band applications. The proposed LNAF concepts are based on complex-terminated bandpass filter (BPF)-type output matching networks that facilitate quasi-elliptic transfer functions that can be tuned in terms of bandwidth (BW), center frequency ( fcen ), and can be intrinsically switched-off. To validate the proposed approaches, four proof-of-concept LNAF prototypes were realized by means of static and varactor-loaded microstrip resonators. Further size reduction is introduced in one of the prototypes through a co-designed filtering-based LNAF using tapped line resonators. For practical validation purposes, four alternative prototypes, namely LNAF I-IV, were manufactured and tested. They exhibit the following features: i) LNAF I: passband mode with fcen tuning: 2.64-3.25 GHz, fractional bandwidth (FBW) tuning: 11.9-31.6% (2.65:1), gain: 16.5 dB, noise figure (NF) <0.86 dB, third order output intercept point (OIP3): 10.87 dBm, and an intrinsically switched-off mode with isolation >39 dB; ii) LNAF II: passband mode with fcen tuning: 3.61-3.82 GHz, FBW: 6.3%, gain: 10.2-12.6 dB, NF <0.95 dB, OIP 3>11.15 dB, and an intrinsically switched-off mode with isolation >37.07 dB; iii) LNAF III: passband mode with fcen : 3.99 GHz, FBW: 6.48%, gain: 14.3 dB, NF <1.1 dB, OIP 3>13.2 dB, and footprint reduction of 49% with respect to LNAF II. A 2-stage LNAF prototype, named LNAF IV, is implemented to achieve higher gain of 22.6 dB and NF <1.1 dB at 3.98 GHz with 15% less area than LNAF II.

Keywords

Bandwidth tuning , Center frequency tuning , Co-design , Low-noise amplifier , Reconfigurable LNA , Filter LNA , Tunable filter

Citation

Fontana, A., Cheng, S. M. and Psychogiou, D. (2025) 'Reconfigurable and highly-miniaturized low-noise amplifiers based on tunable filtering loads', IEEE Access, 13, pp. 51718-51728. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3548311