Multi look-up table FPGA implementation of an adaptive digital predistorter for linearizing RF power amplifiers with memory effects

This paper presents a hardware implementation of a digital predistorter (DPD) for linearizing RF power amplifiers (PAs) for wideband applications. The proposed predistortion linearizer is based on a nonlinear auto-regressive moving average (NARMA) structure, which can be derived from the NARMA PA be...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gilabert Pinal, Pere Lluís|||0000-0001-6183-6977, Cesari Bohigas, Albert, Montoro López, Gabriel|||0000-0002-1328-4175, Bertran Albertí, Eduardo|||0000-0002-6960-7527, Dilhac, Jean Marie
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2008
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/2028
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/2028
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Power amplifiers
Radio frequency
Multi-LUT predistortion
Power amplifier linearization
Amplificadors de potència
Radiofreqüència
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria electrònica::Electrònica de potència
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria de la telecomunicació::Radiocomunicació i exploració electromagnètica
Descripción
Sumario:This paper presents a hardware implementation of a digital predistorter (DPD) for linearizing RF power amplifiers (PAs) for wideband applications. The proposed predistortion linearizer is based on a nonlinear auto-regressive moving average (NARMA) structure, which can be derived from the NARMA PA behavioral model and then mapped into a set of scalable lookup tables (LUTs). The linearizer takes advantage of its recursive nature to relax the LUT count needed to compensate memory effects in PAs. Experimental support is provided by the implementation of the proposed NARMA DPD in a field-programmable gate-array device to linearize a 170-W peak power PA, validating the recursive DPD NARMA structure for W-CDMA signals and flexible transmission bandwidth scenarios. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that a recursive structure is experimentally validated for DPD purposes. In addition to the results on PA efficiency and linearity, this paper addresses many practical implementation issues related to the use of FPGA in DPD applications, giving an original insight on actual prototyping scenarios. Finally, this study discusses the possibility of further enhancing the overall efficiency by degrading the PA operation mode, provided that DPD may be unavoidable due to the impact of memory effects.