Beyond the Bandwidth Limit: A Tutorial on Low-Noise Amplifier Circuits for Advanced Systems Based on III-V Process

Xu Yan, Jingyuan Zhang, Si-Ping Gao, Yongxin Guo

Abstract: With the fast development of advanced communication systems, wideband low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) have become more and more critical as they determine the overall performance of the communication systems. A well-designed LNA can keep enough margin for the successive sub-circuits in the receiver chain. At the same time, with the maturity of III-V semiconductor technologies, the performance of LNA, especially the bandwidth has been greatly enhanced. This brief discusses the design process considerations and the limiting factors of LNA bandwidth. Subsequently, a comprehensive review of the recent advances in III-V-based LNA circuits and the techniques for operating bandwidth extension and performance improvement is presented. Finally, we compare the III-V-based LNA architectures and point out a few possible improvements and trends for III-V-based LNAs.