Therefore, those working with designs of RF devices can obtain a more accurate assessment of the efficiency of their designs using PAE.
Therefore, it is more important now than ever that designers properly, design, assess (efficiency), and produce devices with the highest level of efficiency. The need to optimize the cost and operating time for mobile electronic systems running on batteries often comes down to one crucial system-level parameter: efficiency.
In today’s increasingly portable world, finding the optimal balance between RF power output and efficiency is becoming more complicated and more critical. It also provides a more accurate account of the efficiency of a device, including amplifiers. Power-added efficiency is a convenient parameter that is used to determine how much the DC input power contributes to the amplification of an input signal. Power-added Efficiency (PAE)Īn amplifier has the ability to amplify an input signal because of the added power by its DC source. Note: In most cases, devices with a high PAE are preferable to a device with a high drain efficiency. So, this is why most Engineers, especially RF Engineers, use PAE instead because, with PAE, the input power is a consideration. However, this type of (drain) efficiency can be misleading to Engineers and designers because it does not consider how much power is used by the amplifier.Īlso, an amplifier can have a high drain efficiency and at the same time, have a meager gain. In regards to amplifiers, efficiency is the ratio between the output power to the DC input power, and thus referred to as drain efficiency. Drain efficiency is the ratio of output RF power to the input DC power. Drain efficiency gets its name from FET devices, in which the primary terminal where DC power is supplied is the drain. Now, as I alluded to earlier, there is another method of assessing efficiency in the field of electronics, it is called drain efficiency. Generally, the PAE of a device varies between 10% and 80%, and this is while the device is in operation at frequencies between a few GHz and several tens of GHz. In summary, PAE is a measure of the efficiency by which a device converts DC or RF input power to a higher RF output. Also, PAE is the more acceptable figure-of-merit to use in the comparison of single devices. However, PAE uses a method of assessing efficiency that takes into account the RF power that is added to the device at its input, to complete the efficiency assessment. This method is a type of RF Power Amplifier efficiency that is also similar to another type of drain efficiency that I will discuss shortly. As I am sure you are aware, in PCB design, heat is generally an unfavorable property.Īlso, in terms of measuring efficiency, there is a method called Power-added efficiency (PAE). Therefore, the side effect of this inefficiency is the generation of heat. However, according to the laws of Thermodynamics, 100% efficiency is unobtainable. What is Power-Added Efficiency?īy definition, the term efficiency is a measure of how well a device converts one energy source into another. When us design engineers are asked to consider the differences between drain efficiency and power-added efficiency (PAE), well, this is where opinions start to come into play. This includes the approach one takes on measuring efficiency. There are many choices a designer must take into consideration before ultimately deciding on a design. With electronics, you’re rarely going to have a single component though. When it’s all said and done, any versus situation is a choice made where a typically individual effort or action is then placed into an arena with another. Of course we all recognize it should be placed so the sheets are under the roll, but some value the chaos that an over-the-roll approach brings more. The other side, and equally as dramatic, are choices like which side should the toilet paper roll be placed in.
Or I picture iconic images of rams butting into each other as they struggle over their chosen area of dominance, and bears wrestling and trying to topple each other. When I think of ‘versus’ I think of head-to-head matchups, athletes at their respective peaks striving to out-do each other on their fields of choice.