Journal of Machine and Computing


A High Efficiency 28 GHz Three Way Doherty Power Amplifier in 180nm CMOS Technology for Industrial Internet of Things Applications



Journal of Machine and Computing

Received On : 10 February 2025

Revised On : 18 June 2025

Accepted On : 20 October 2025

Published On : 25 October 2025

Volume 06, Issue 01

Pages : 329-339


Abstract


The exponential growth of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications demands power-efficient millimeter-wave transmitters capable of sustaining high efficiency across wide power-backoff ranges. This paper presents a novel three-way Doherty power amplifier (DPA) operating at 28 GHz and implemented in cost-effective 180 nm CMOS technology. The suggested hybrid architecture connects a two-stage Class-AB carrier amplifier with two Class-E peaking amplifiers using a load-modulation network that has been optimized. Advanced simulations show that the highest output power is 18.36 dBm and the highest power-added efficiency (PAE) is 30.85%. The amplifier is important because it maintains backoff efficiencies of 23.198% and 16.19% at 3 dB and 6 dB power backoff, respectively. This meets the strict standards for signals with a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Also, the design is very linear, with an error vector magnitude (EVM) of 2.9% and a third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) of −28 dBc at a 6 dB backoff. This allows for the use of complex modulation schemes. This work is a big step forward in the design of cost-effective millimeter-wave power amplifiers. It works well with older CMOS technology and improves battery life and power use for next-generation IIoT deployments.


Keywords


Doherty Power Amplifier, Millimeter-Wave, 28 GHz, CMOS Technology, Industrial IoT, Power-Added Efficiency, Load Modulation, Class-AB Amplifier, Class-E Amplifier, 5G Communications.


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CRediT Author Statement


The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows:

Conceptualization: Abdulmunam Abtan, Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; Methodology: Abdulmunam Abtan and Sirous Toofan; Software: Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; Data Curation: Abdulmunam Abtan and Sirous Toofan; Writing- Original Draft Preparation: Abdulmunam Abtan, Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; Visualization: Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; Investigation: Abdulmunam Abtan and Sirous Toofan; Supervision: Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; Validation: Abdulmunam Abtan and Sirous Toofan; Writing- Reviewing and Editing: Abdulmunam Abtan, Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan; All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.


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Author(s) thanks to University of Tabriz for research lab and equipment support.


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Cite this article


Abdulmunam Abtan, Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan, “A High Efficiency 28 GHz Three Way Doherty Power Amplifier in 180nm CMOS Technology for Industrial Internet of Things Applications”, Journal of Machine and Computing, vol.6, no.1, pp. 329-339, 2026, doi: 10.53759/7669/jmc202606024.


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© 2026 Abdulmunam Abtan, Sirous Toofan and Ziaddin Daie Kuzekan. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.