Design and Simulation Study of Matching Networks of a Common-Source Amplifier

This technical paper presents a design and study of impedance matching networks of a common-source amplifier, for Radio-Frequency (RF) applications. Input and output matching networks of the amplifier were designed and computed ensuring unconditional stability. Inductor parameters were computed and designed using Analysis and Simulation of Spiral Inductors and Transformers for ICs (ASITIC) and Integrated Spiral Inductor Calculator (SpiralCalc). Both software design tools are available for academic and research purposes. Impedance matching is necessary in RF circuit design to provide maximum possible power transfer between the input or source and the output or load. Design tradeoffs are inevitable and should be carefully handled when designing the impedance matching networks, to optimize the performance of the amplifier.