1. Selection criteria for a power amplifier

1.1 Main criteria

With the exception of low- and very-high-power applications, where the techniques are self-evident, the choice of technology involves a number of criteria that depend on the applications and users in question. The main ones are as follows:

• the purchase cost often comes first, taking into account design and industrialization costs if the device sought is not commercially available;

• the cost of ownership adds to the cost of purchase the cost of maintaining the equipment that will house the amplifier: power consumption; amplifier lifetime; cost of maintenance, repairs, management of electronic component obsolescence... ;

• electrical efficiency, if the equipment...