Patent ID: 7760027

Claim:
A power amplifier comprising: a power supply having a power supply voltage; an amplifier stage containing a power amplifier device having a breakdown voltage, the power amplifier device having a gain bandwidth that covers multiple frequency bands such that an output voltage of the power amplifier device contains a fundamental component and a harmonic component within the gain bandwidth; a voltage reduction unit connected between the power amplifier device and the power supply, the voltage reduction unit limiting the power supply voltage such that an amplifier supply voltage supplied to the power amplifier device to provide power to the power amplifier device is less than a predetermined maximum supply voltage; and an impedance matching circuit coupled to an output of the power amplifier device, the impedance matching circuit containing a first matching element corresponding to the harmonic component and a second matching element corresponding to the fundamental component, the first and second matching elements acting in concert with the voltage reduction unit to limit the output voltage of the amplifier stage to a predetermined peak voltage that is less than the breakdown voltage.