Application Note 91

October 2002
Low Cost Coupling Methods for
RF Power Detectors Replace
Directional Couplers
by Shuley Nakamura and Vladimir Dvorkin
INTRODUCTION
Minimizing size and cost is crucial in wireless applications
such as cellular telephones. The key components in a
typical GSM cellular telephone RF transmit channel consist of an RF power amplifier, power controller, directional
coupler and diplexer. Some of the more recent RF power
amplifiers incorporate a directional coupler in their module, reducing component count and board area. Most
power amplifiers, however, require an external directional
coupler. Unfortunately, directional couplers come at a
price and sometimes a performance loss. While cost is an
issue, long lead-time and wide variations in coupling loss
are other concerns facing cell phone designers.
The directional coupler commonly used (Murata
LDC21897M190-078) is unidirectional (forward) and dual
band. One input is for low frequency signals (897.6MHz
17.5MHz) and has a coupling factor of 19dB 1dB. The
second input is for higher frequency signals (1747.5MHz
37.5MHz) and has a coupling factor of 14dB 1.5dB. The
Murata LDC21897M190-078 directional coupler is housed
in a 0805 package and requires an external 50 termination resistor.
When a signal is passed through one of the inputs, a small
portion of RF signal, equal to the difference between POUT
and the coupling factor, appears at the coupling output.
The remainder of the signal goes to the corresponding
signal output. In typical RF feedback configurations, the
coupled RF output is passed through a 33pF coupling
capacitor and 68 shunt resistor (Figure 1a).
Linear Technology has developed a coupling scheme for
LTC RF power controllers and RF power detectors which
is lower cost, more readily available and features tighter
tolerance. This coupling method eliminates the 50 termination resistor, 68 shunt resistor and 33pF coupling

capacitor used in traditional coupling schemes. Instead, a

0.4pF capacitor and 50 series resistor replace the directional coupler and its external components (Figure 1b)1 .
Alternate Coupling Solutions for use with an LTC
Power Controller

Method 1
The DC401B demo board was designed to demonstrate
the performance of the tapped capacitor coupling method
(Figure 2). RF signal is coupled back to the LTC4401-1 RF
input through a 0.4pF capacitor and 50 series resistor as
shown in Figure 1b. The RF signal is fed directly to the
diplexer from the power amplifier. The component count
is reduced by two.
The 0.4pF series capacitor must have a tolerance of
0.05pF or less. The tolerance directly affects how much
RF signal is coupled back to the power controller RF input.
ATC has ultralow ESR, high Q microwave capacitors with
the tight tolerances desired. The ATC 600S0R4AW250XT
is a 0.4pF capacitor with 0.05pF tolerance. This capacitor
comes in a small 0603 package. The series resistor is
49.9 (AAC CR16-49R9FM) with 1% tolerance.

Method 2
The second solution implements a 4.7nH shunt inductor.
The inductor compensates for the parasitic shunt capacitance associated with the RF input on the power controller.
Consequently, it improves the power control voltage range
and sensitivity. In dual-band applications, the inductor
value is chosen to increase the sensitivity of one frequency
band over the other. Using an inductor requires that a
capacitor be placed between the RF input pin and the
, LTC and LT are registered trademarks of Linear Technology Corporation.

Note 1: This method has been tested with the LTC4401-1 and the
following Hitachi power amplifiers: PF08107B, PF08122B, PF08123B.

AN91-1

Application Note 91
inductor. This capacitor provides a low impedance path
for the RF signal. A 33pF capacitor is used as shown in
Figure 1c. At each of the frequencies tested, the reactance
of the 33pF capacitor is lower than the inductors.
This method uses the same 0.4pF capacitor and 50
resistor implemented in Method 1. The Murata film type
inductor, LQP15MN4N7B00D, comes in a 0402 package
and has 1nH tolerance. The 33pF capacitor is an AVX
06035A330JAT1A, comes in a 0603 package and has 5%
tolerance. Tight tolerance for the shunt inductor and 33pF
capacitor is not critical.
VPC

U1
POWER
CONTROLLER

33pF
RF
68

Figure 2. DC401B Demo Board

U2
POWER
AMPLIFIER

U3
DIRECTIONAL
COUPLER

U4
DIPLEXER

TO
ANTENNA

50
an91 F01a

Figure 1a. Typical Cellular Phone Coupling Solution

VPC

U1
POWER
CONTROLLER

RF

50

0.4pF

U2
POWER
AMPLIFIER

U4
DIPLEXER

TO
ANTENNA
an91 F01b

Figure 1b. Capacitive Coupling Method 1

Theory of Operation
The 0.4pF capacitor and 50 resistor form a voltage
divider with the input impedance of the LTC power controller. The voltage divider ratio varies over frequency. Reactance for capacitors is inversely proportional to frequency.
Thus, as frequency increases, the reactance decreases for
a fixed capacitance. Similarly, reactance increases as
capacitance decreases. A tenth of a picofarad greatly
impacts the reactance because the value of the coupling
capacitor is so small. This is why tight tolerance is absolutely crucial. Small changes in capacitance will change
the reactance and consequently, the voltage divider ratio.
Table 1 shows the reactance of various components at
900MHz, 1800MHz and 1900MHz.
Table 1. Reactance Variations over Frequency

VPC

U1
POWER
CONTROLLER

33pF
RF

Frequency (MHz)
50

4.7nH

U2
POWER
AMPLIFIER

U4
DIPLEXER

0.4pF

Component Value

TO
ANTENNA
an91 F01c

Figure 1c. Capacitive Coupling Method 2

AN91-2

900

1800

1900

0.3pF

590

295

279

0.4pF

442

221

210

0.5pF

354

177

167

33pF

5.4

2.7

2.5

4.7nH

27

53

55

The resistor value is determined by the series capacitor

value and additional shunt and placement parasitics. When
a shunt inductor is utilized, a smaller capacitor can be
used, yielding less loss in the main line. The shunt inductor
method is tuned to a particular frequency band at the
expense of other frequency bands. The second coupling

Application Note 91
method, for example, is tuned to DCS band frequencies.
The coupling loss for this method closely resembles the
coupling loss of the directional coupler (Figure 3b).
1600

PCTLMAX VOLTAGE (V)

1400

WITH DIRECTIONAL COUPLER

1200
WITH 0.4pF AND 49.9
1000
WITH 0.4pF AND 4.7nH
800
600

Test Setup and Measurement

5

10

15

20
25
POUT (dBm)

30

35

AN91 F03a

Figure 3a. GSM900 PCTL vs POUT

1600
1400
PCTLMAX VOLTAGE (V)

There are several factors to consider when using either

coupling method, such as board layout and loading in the
main line. Conservative parts placement is necessary in
order to minimize the distance between the TX output 50
line and the RF input pin on the power controller. Parasitic
effects can also greatly alter the feedback network characteristics. With good layout techniques and use of tight
tolerance components, this directional coupler substitute
can be used over GSM, DCS and PCS band frequencies.

400
200

WITH DIRECTIONAL COUPLER

1000
WITH 0.4pF AND 49.9
800
600
WITH 0.4pF AND 4.7nH
400

10
15
20
POUT (dBm)

25

30
AN91 F03b

Figure 3b. DCS1800 PCTL vs POUT

1600
1400

Three different coupling methods were tested using the

DC401A and the DC401B demo boards. The DC401A RF
demo board has a triple-band directional coupler and
served as the control board. The coupling factor is 19dB at
900MHz and 14dB at 1800MHz and 1900MHz. The DC401B
was used to test the two capacitive coupling methods
described earlier (Figure 8).
Each of these demo boards contains an LTC4401-1 power
controller and a Hitachi PF08123B triple-band power
amplifier. The component layout of the two boards is
identical, except for the components that make up the
coupling scheme.

1200

200

PCTLMAX VOLTAGE (V)

Considerations

WITH DIRECTIONAL COUPLER

1200
1000
WITH 0.4pF AND 49.9
800
600
WITH 0.4pF AND 4.7nH
400

A key measurement of interest is coupling loss. One

method of measuring coupled RF signal is to select an RF
output power level and compare the PCTL voltages applied
in each of the three coupling methods. Figure 4 shows
what a typical PCTL waveform looks like. Only the maximum level amplitude (maximum PCTL voltage) is adjusted for each measurement. The PCTL waveform is
generated by Linear Technologys ramp shaping program,
LTRSv2.vxe and is programmed onto the DC314A demo
board. The DC314A digital demo board provides regulated
power supplies, control logic and a 10-bit DAC to generate
the SHDN signal and the power control PCTL signal. Input
power applied to each power amplifier channel is 0dBm. A
nominal battery voltage of 3.6V is used. Figure 7 illustrates
the test setup.

200
0

10
15
20
POUT (dBm)

25

30
AN91 F03c

Figure 3c. PCS1900 PCTL vs POUT

AN91-3

Application Note 91
A higher PCTL voltage indicates less coupling loss (i.e.,
more RF signal is being coupled back). Having too little
coupling loss can be a problem at higher power levels
because the PCTL value may exceed the maximum voltage
that the DAC can output. Having too much coupling loss
can make achieving lower output power levels difficult.
Using a PCTL voltage less than 18mV is not recommended, since the RF output will be unstable. Thus, the
minimum output power, POUT, is limited by PCTL = 18mV.
At 900MHz (GSM900), PCTL voltage measurements were
taken at the following output power levels: 5dBm, 10dBm,
13dBm, 20dBm, 23dBm, 30dBm and 33dBm. At 1800MHz
(DCS1800) and 1900MHz (PCS1900), PCTL measurements were recorded for the following output powers:
0dBm, 5dBm, 10dBm, 15dBm, 20dBm, 25dBm and 30dBm.
Figures 3a, 3b and 3c relate the output power to the applied
PCTL voltage for each coupling method. In general, the
capacitive coupling solutions have more coupling loss
than the directional coupler. The full output range was
achieved using both coupling methods.

Coupling Solution for LTC5505 Power Detector 2

The tapped capacitor method can also be utilized in
systems using the LTC5505 power detector. For example,
in the circuit in Figure 5, a shunt inductor is implemented
at the RF input pin to tune out the parasitic shunt capacitance of the power detector package (5-pin ThinSOTTM)
and the PCB at the actual operating frequency. Using a
shunt inductor improves the sensitivity of the LTC5505-2
by a factor of 2dB to 4dB. If operating between 3GHz to
3.5GHz, the shunt inductor is not recommended because
the bond wire inductance compensates for the input
parasitic capacitance. A DC blocking capacitor (C4) is
needed, because Pin 1 of the LTC5505-2 is internally DC
biased.
Figure 6 illustrates an example of dual band mobile phone
transmitter power control with an LTC5505-2 and a capacitive tap instead of a directional coupler. A 0.3pF
capacitor (C1) followed by a 100 resistor (R1) forms a
tapping circuit with about 20dB loss at cellular band
(900MHz) and 18dB loss at PCS (1900MHz) band referenced to the LTC5505-2 RF input pin. For best coupling
accuracy, C1 should have tight tolerance (0.05 pF).

MAX LEVEL AMPLITUDE

STEP
AMPLITUDE

0V
AMPLITUDE

MAX LEVEL TIME

INITIAL
OFFSET
STEP
TIME

RISE
TIME

FALL
TIME

12s

ZERO
TIME
AN91 F04

Figure 4. Typical PCTL Ramp Waveform

C1

C4
5

RF INPUT

L1

SHDN

VCC
C2

LTC5505-2
4

R1
RSSI OUTPUT
C3
AN91 F05

Figure 5. LTC5505-2 Application Diagram with a Shunt Inductor

ThinSOT is a trademark of Linear Technology Corporation.

AN91-4

Note 2: Consult factory for more applications information on LTC

power detectors.

Application Note 91

C1
0.3pF

R1
100

Tx PA MODULE
RF 1
2

SHDN

CELL BAND

5 VCC

DIPLEXER
C2
0.1F

LTC5505-2

Li-ION
PCS BAND

4 VOUT

VPC

MOBILE PHONE DSP

BSEL

AN91 F06

Figure 6. LTC5505-2 Tx Power Control Application Diagram with a Capacitive Tap

AGILENT
E4433B
RF SIGNAL
GENERATOR

AGILENT
HP8594E*
SPECTRUM
ANALYZER

AGILENT
3631A
5V, 3A
SMA CABLE
3dB ATTENUATOR
PC
RUNNING
LTRSv2.VXE

SMA CONNECTOR

SERIAL CABLE
DC314A-A
SHDN

SMA CABLE
EXT
TRIGGER
INPUT

DC401
SMA CONNECTOR
20dB ATTENUATOR
COAXIAL CABLE

*HP85722B AND HP85715B FOR DCS AND GSM MEASUREMENT PERSONALITIES

AN91 F07

Figure 7. PCTL Measurement Test Setup

AN91-5

AN91-6

BSEL

SHDN

RAMP

VBATT

BSEL

SHDN

RAMP

VBATT

C1
0.1F

C2
100pF

L1
4.7nH
(OPT)

SHDN

PCTL
C4
33pF

VIN
VPC

GND

LTC4401-1

RF

U1

C13
33pF
(OPT)

VCTL

POUT_DCS

POUT_GSM

6
VDD2

PF08123B

PIN_DCS

VAPC

PIN_GSM

3
VDD1

C7
330pF

Figure 8. DC401B Schematic

C3
15pF

8
DCS
INPUT
(0dBm)

1
2

C9
0.1F

GSM
INPUT
(0dBm)

C10
1F

POUT_GSM
POUT_DCS

C6
1000pF

C8
330pF

P5

LFDP20N0020A

P1 GND GND GND

2
4
6

P2

U3

C5
1F

R1
49.9

C11
33pF SMA

C12
0.4pF

an91 F08

RF
OUPUT

Application Note 91

Application Note 91
Conclusion
Laboratory measurements have shown that the capacitive
coupling method is an effective means of coupling the RF
output signal. If coupling capacitors with tight tolerances
are used, the coupling factor will be consistent. On the
other hand, a directional couplers coupling factor can
vary up to 1.5dB. The total number of components decreases if the series resistor and capacitor are used. Cost
will also be reduced.

The capacitive coupling scheme has been shown to work

with the LTC4401-1 power controller and Hitachi PF08123B
power amplifier. This scheme can be applied to all LTC
power controllers (LTC1757A, LTC1758, LTC1957,
LTC4400, LTC4401, LTC4402 and LTC4403) and supported power amplifiers, as well as LTC power detectors.
When used with different power controller and power
amplifier combinations, the capacitor and resistor values
may need to be adjusted. Decreasing the coupling capacitor or increasing the series resistor will increase the
coupling loss. Linear Technology currently supports
Anadigics, Conexant, Hitachi, Philips and RFMD power
amplifiers. DC401B demo boards are available upon request.

Information furnished by Linear Technology Corporation is believed to be accurate and reliable.

However, no responsibility is assumed for its use. Linear Technology Corporation makes no representation that the interconnection of its circuits as described herein will not infringe on existing patent rights.

AN91-7

Application Note 91

PARTS LIST
REFERENCE

(Demo Board DC401B)

QUANTITY

PART NUMBER

DESCRIPTION

VENDOR

C1, C9

0603YC104MAT1A

0.1F 16V 20% X7R Capacitor

AVX

C2

06035A101JAT1A

100pF 50V 5% NPO Capacitor

AVX

C3

06035A150JAT1A

15pF 50V 5% NPO Capacitor

AVX

C4, C11, C13 (OPT)

06035A330JAT1A

33pF 50V 5% NPO Capacitor

AVX

C5, C10

EMK212BJ105MG-T

1F 16V 20% X5R Capacitor

Taiyo Yuden

C6

06033C102KAT1A

1000pF 25V 10% X7R Capacitor

AVX

C7, C8

06035A331JAT1A

330pF 50V 5% NPO Capacitor

AVX

C12

600S0R4AW 250 XT

0.4pF 0.5pF NPO Capacitor

ATC

L1 (OPT)

LQP15MN4N7B00

4.7nH 0402 0.1nH Inductor

Murata

R1

CR16-49R9FM

49.9 1/16W 1% Chip Resistor

AAC

U1

LTC4401-1

SOT-23-6 RF Power Control IC

LTC

U2

PF08123B

Power Amplifier SMT IC

Hitachi

U3

LFDP21920MDP1A048

Dual Wideband Diplexer SMT IC

Murata

AN91-8

Linear Technology Corporation

an91f LT/TP 1002 2K PRINTED IN USA

1630 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035-7417

(408) 432-1900 FAX: (408) 434-0507

www.linear.com

LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION 2002