Reliability Prediction of a 0.5~6GHz Wideband SSPA (Solid-State Power Amplifier) for RFBL (RF Biased Lifetime) Test System

doi:10.22716/sckt.2023.11.3.021

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2023 Vol.11, Issue 3 Next Page

Research Article

Reliability Prediction of a 0.5~6GHz Wideband SSPA (Solid-State Power Amplifier) for RFBL (RF Biased Lifetime) Test System RFBL 측정 시스템용 0.5~6GHz 광대역 SSPA의 신뢰성 예측: Chan-Joo Lee¹, Dong-Hee Jang²
이찬주¹, 장동희²; ¹Professor, Shinhan University
²Professor, Korea Polytechnics

¹신한대학교 교수
²한국폴리텍대학 교수

30 September 2023. pp. 1-12

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Abstract

본 연구에서는 RFBL(RF Biased Lifetime) 테스트용 장비 개발을 위한 SSPA(Solid-State Power Amplifier)의 신뢰성을 예측하였다. 이러한 장비는 8개의 소자를 동시에 측정 가능하며, 동작 주파수 대역은 0.5 ~ 6GHz의 광대역이고, 입력신호를 최소 30dBm을 제공한다. 전력 분배/결합기를 사용하여 3가지 다른 구조를 가정하고, 전력 증폭기는 GaN 소자를 사용하였다. 소비전력으로부터 각 소자의 최대 채널온도를 계산하고, 각각의 고장률 로부터 평균고장시간(MTTF, Mean Time To Failure)을 구하였다. 전체 사용된 소자의 개수를 고려하여 최종 평균고장시간을 구하여 가장 신뢰성이 높은 구조를 선택할 수 있었다. 예측 결과 직렬 연결하는 방식의 신뢰성을 100%라고 가정하면 상대적으로 전력 분배기를 사용하는 두 번째 경우는 26%, 전력 결합기를 사용하는 세 번째 경우는 53%의 수준이었다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 신뢰성이 가장 우수한 RFBL 측정 장비를 설계할 예정이다.

In this study, the reliability of a SSPA (Solid-State Power Amplifier was predicted for the development of RFBL (RF Biased Lifetime) testing system. This system can measure 8 devices simultaneously, operates 0.5 ~ 6 GHz wide frequency range, and provide an input signal of 30dBm above. Three different structures were assumed for the power divider/combiner, and the power amplifier used GaN devices. The maximum channel temperature was calculated from the power consumption of the device, and the MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) was obtained from the failure rate. Considering the number of devices used, the final MTTF was calculated to find the most reliable system structure. If we assume that the reliability of the cascade architecture is 100%, the second case using a power divider is 26% and the third case using a power combiner is 53%. Based on these results, we will design the most reliable RFBL test system.

Keywords

Reliability

SSPA(Solid-State Power Amplifier)

RFBL(RF Biased Lifetime)

MTTF(Mean Time To Failure)

Failure rate

References

"RF BIASED LIFE (RFBL) TEST METHOD", JESD226, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, 2013.
"Guideline for GaAs MMIC and FET Life Testing", JEP118, Electronic Industries Association, 1993.
"Reliability Qualification of Power Amplifier Modules", JESD237, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, 2014.
J. Joh, and J. A. del Alamo, "RF power degradation of GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors", 2010 International Electron Devices Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, pp. 20.2.1-20.2.4, 2010. 10.1109/IEDM.2010.5703397
W. J. Roesch, "Developing Power Amplifier Module Standards for Reliability Qualification", CS MANTECH Conference, pp. 301-304, 2014.
D. Stephens, T. Vanhoucke, and J. J. T. M. Donkers, "RF reliability of short channel NMOS devices," IEEE RFIC Symposium, 2009. 10.1109/RFIC.2009.5135554
https://www.accelrf.com
https://www.becker-rf.com
https://www.delta-v.com
"Thermal Considerations for High-Power GaN RF Amplifiers", 2020. Available: http://www.wolfspeed.com/knowledge-center/article/thermal-considerations-for-high-power-gan-rf-amplifiers
"Thermal Performance Guide for High Power SiC MESFET and GaN HEMT Transistors," APPLICATION NOTE, Available: https://www.cree.com
"Gallium-Nitride Solid-State Power Amplifier Reliability Analysis Report", White Paper, Accel-RF instrument Corporation, Available: http://www.accelrf.com
MGA-425P8, "Reliability Data Sheet", Avago Technology.

Information

Publisher :The Society of Convergence Knowledge
Publisher(Ko) :융복합지식학회
Journal Title :The Society of Convergence Knowledge Transactions
Journal Title(Ko) :융복합지식학회논문지
Volume : 11
No :3
Pages :1-12
DOI :https://doi.org/10.22716/sckt.2023.11.3.021

[1] "RF BIASED LIFE (RFBL) TEST METHOD", JESD226, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, 2013.

[2] "Guideline for GaAs MMIC and FET Life Testing", JEP118, Electronic Industries Association, 1993.

[3] "Reliability Qualification of Power Amplifier Modules", JESD237, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, 2014.

[4] J. Joh, and J. A. del Alamo, "RF power degradation of GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors", 2010 International Electron Devices Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, pp. 20.2.1-20.2.4, 2010. 10.1109/IEDM.2010.5703397

[5] W. J. Roesch, "Developing Power Amplifier Module Standards for Reliability Qualification", CS MANTECH Conference, pp. 301-304, 2014.

[6] D. Stephens, T. Vanhoucke, and J. J. T. M. Donkers, "RF reliability of short channel NMOS devices," IEEE RFIC Symposium, 2009. 10.1109/RFIC.2009.5135554

[7] https://www.accelrf.com

[8] https://www.becker-rf.com

[9] https://www.delta-v.com

[10] "Thermal Considerations for High-Power GaN RF Amplifiers", 2020. Available: http://www.wolfspeed.com/knowledge-center/article/thermal-considerations-for-high-power-gan-rf-amplifiers

[11] "Thermal Performance Guide for High Power SiC MESFET and GaN HEMT Transistors," APPLICATION NOTE, Available: https://www.cree.com

[12] "Gallium-Nitride Solid-State Power Amplifier Reliability Analysis Report", White Paper, Accel-RF instrument Corporation, Available: http://www.accelrf.com

[13] MGA-425P8, "Reliability Data Sheet", Avago Technology.

The Society of Convergence Knowledge Transactions ISSN:2287-8920(Print) 융복합지식학회논문지

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