Emulation of Doherty Amplifiers Using Single- Amplifier Load-Pull Measurements

Journal article, 2020

A measurement-based approach for the analysis of Doherty power amplifiers (DPAs) is presented. The DPA behavior is emulated using an active load-pull setup, exciting a single device under test (DUT) in either of two states, corresponding to the main and auxiliary branches in a DPA. The dynamic loading condition in one state is determined from the Doherty combiner parameters and the knowledge of the DUT behavior in the other state. By iterating between these states, the measurements converge to the true behavior of a complete DPA. This method provides measurement-based insights in the dynamic loading conditions and the corresponding individual device performance without having to manufacture the full DPA. The method is demonstrated by emulating and cross-verifying a 2.14-GHz DPA.