Radio frequency power amplifiers for drone application

Abstract

This report discusses the construction of the non-linear RF power amplifies for FPV (First Person View) on a GPS guided UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle). FPV video transmission will be based on FM. A non-linear RF power amplifier with a fundamental frequency of 5.8GHz will be designed to maximize the RF transmission efficiency with commercially available GaN HEMT NPTB00004A. As this project was initiated by a company which specialized in drone manufacture, manufacturing concerns and limitations will be presented. This report shows some crucial technique in designing different types of the power amplifier, namely class AB, class C, class E. Simulations was made combined with theoretical work. Class AB and Class C variation of the power amplifier has been fabricated for tuning using a network analyser and spectrum analyser for measurement. A design with a proposed model CGHV1F006S with a maximum operational frequency of 15 GHz has been measured for class C and E implementation.