Microwave High Power Amplifiers (Hpas) For Satellite Communication (Satcom) Applications

Microwave High Power Amplifiers (HPAs)
for Satellite Communication (SATCOM)

Applications
By
Raghuvir Tomar
The LNM Institute of Information Technology
Jaipur, India
5/30/2019 Dr. Raghuvir Tomar, LNM Institute of Information Technology, Jaipur, India 1
Microwave High Power
Amplifiers (HPAs) for
Satellite Communication
(SATCOM) Applications
Mobile Earth Station
(MES) versus Fixed Earth
Station (MES)
AGENDA
 Typical SATCOM Topology
 Typical SATCOM Transceiver
Architecture
 HPA Architecture
 Understanding HPA specifications
 Design Example 1 (250mW Driver)
 Design Example 2 (12W HPA )
 Design Example 3 (60W HPA )
A Typical SATCOM System
A Typical SATCOM Transceiver
SATCOM HPA Design Challenges
 HIGH OUTPUT POWER,GOOD LINEARITY,GOOD

EFFICIENCY.
 Commercially available semiconductor devices (including
transistors for HPAs) are usually for terrestrial bands
(market economics!).
 Extensive characterization of devices at SATCOM
frequencies is generally lacking.
 Input and output impedance-matching networks need to
be designed, tested, and optimized for the SATCM band
of interest (L-band in this presentation).
Typical HPA Lineup
Understanding HPA
Specifications
 Bandwidth vs. power are the two main conflicting
requirements. Good impedance matching
techniques are needed.
 Power rating is usually expressed in continuous
wave (CW) mode.
 Tolerance limit on gain and/or output power needs
to be specified to capture HPA performance
changes with frequency, temperature, input power
level, aging, etc.
Understanding HPA
Specifications Contd...
Conservative power
and bandwidth
ratings imply
availability of extra
headroom, and
indicate a good
design!
Understanding HPA
 Specifying minimum power (over frequency,
temperature, and other electrical and
environmental parameters) is the most desirable
approach since enough power headroom will be
available to users.
 Nominal power is also usually specified since it
gives users a more realistic view of the HPA
capabilities.
Understanding HPA
 HPA bandwidth is the frequency range outside
which the output power falls below the minimum
power specification, or below the range of flatness
specification.
 Beware of 3-dB definition of bandwidth in this
context!
 Oscillation-free operation under high VSWR
loading is a must.
Understanding HPA
Pout

Pin
Pout
PAE 
Pin  PinRF
Linearity
 Linearity describes HPA ‘s ability to generate a faithful

replica of its input signal at its output.
 Linearity is a critical issue with advanced digital
modulation techniques like Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM) and with multi-carrier operations.
1-dB Gain Compression Point
Multi-Carrier Operation
Third-Order Intercept
HPA Linearization
 Linearizer is a device for reducing
distortion.
 Feedback linearization is relatively
narrow-band and also displays
stability problems.
 Feed-forward linearization is
complex to implement but wide-
band operation is possible.
HPA Linearization
continued
 Pre-distortion is a very favored
linearization technique.
 Pre-distortion is based on
generating a transfer characteristic
(both magnitude and phase) that is
opposite of the saturation
characteristic of the HPA.
Pre-distortion example
Pre-distortion example
continued
HPA Pre-Driver Stage
 Pre-driver usually handles low signal levels (<0 dBm).
 Standard 50-ohm input/output operation of pre-driver
achievable thru commercially available devices ,without
major re-design effort for SATCOM bands.
HPA Driver Stage
 Driver typically has to handle medium power (up to
500mW, or even 1W in some cases).
 Driver linearity plays an important role in the overall
linearity budget.
HPA Final Stage
 Most critical stage in the HPA lineup.
 Linearity specifications can be very demanding and may
not even be met, without the aid of an external
linearizer.
HPA Linearizer
 Spectrally efficient modulation schemes are here to stay
(more and more traffic packed in a limited bandwidth!).
 Digital modulation generates time-varying waveform
envelopes which pass through a non-linear HPA and
generate inter-modulation distortion which leads to
interfering signals in adjacent channels.
 Linearizer brings inter-modulation signals to acceptable
levels.
 Two commonly used methods of HPA linearization are
feed-forward and pre-distortion. Pre-distortion can be
either at base-band or at RF.
Design Example 1 (Driver Amplifier) :
Design Goals
 Frequency = 1626.5MHz-1660.5MHz
 Nominal RF gain = or >18dB
 Gain flatness (over frequency) = +/-0.3dB
 Max. RF input power = 0dBm
 1-dB compression point P1dB >24dBm
 Third-order intercept IP3>34dBm
 Input/output return loss < –9.5dB
Design Example 1
(D.C./Environmental/Mechanical
Requirements)
 D.C. voltage +12V nominal
 D.C. current 300mA maximum
 Thermal dissipation <3.5W
 Operating temperature -400C to +850C
 Storage temperature -550C to +1250C
 Size 3.75” by 0.75” by 0.5” maximum
Design Example 1 : Device Line-up
(Devices are from WJ Communications,
which is now owned by Triquint
Semiconductors)
Design Example 1 : AM1 Data Sheet
Design Example 1 : AH102 Data
Sheet
Design Example 1 : AH102 Data
Sheet Continued...
Design Example 1 : Key Performance
Parameters of Selected Devices
 Key Performance Parameters of

AM1 and AH102
Design Example 1 : Design
Challenges
 Large-power scattering parameters (S-parameters) for
AM1 and AH102 need to be measured for 1626.5MHz-
1660.5MHz frequency band.
 Vendor-recommended impedance-matching circuitry
needs to be re-assessed and optimized for 1626.5MHz-
1660.5MHz
Design Example 1 : Circuit Schematic
Design Example 1 : PCB Layout
Bottom Layer
Top Layer
Two 14 Thou GETEK substrates sandwiched to create a 3-layer PCB
(Middle GND, Bottom DC Generating Circuitry, Top RF,J2 Input)
Design Example 1 : Measured Gain
(1000MHz-2000MHz)
Design Example 1 : Measured Gain
(1626.5MHz-1660.5MHz)
Design Example 1 : Measured P1dB
Design Example 1 : Measured Output
Return Loss
Design Example 1 : Measured Input
Return Loss
Design Example 1 : Compliance
Matrix
Design Example 1 : Conclusion
 All specifications met or exceeded.
 The only exception is the input return loss for which a
1.5dB shortfall in meeting -9.5dB specification was seen
(not an issue for practical purposes, since RF pads will
be used at the RF input to adjust gain to 18dB
requirement, thereby improving the overall input return
loss).
Design Example 2 (12W HPA) : Key
Design Parameters
 Frequency 1626.5MHz-1660.5MHz
 P1dB=12W or higher
 Gain=40dB nominal
 Gain Flatness=+/-0.3dB
 Input/Output Return Loss<-9.5dB
 Unconditional Stability over DC-18GHz
Design Example 2 : Design
Challenges
 Poor yield (due to device-to-device variations) is a big
challenge if narrow-band (34MHz) impedance matching
networks are used.
 A practical solution is to redesign impedance-matching
circuitry for relatively broader bandwidth (~100MHz)
so that the design can absorb the effects of device-to-
device variations.
Design Example 2 : Device Selection
 Q1 : MRFIC1818 (GaAs MMIC,Motorola, now
available as MRFIC1819)
 Q2 : PTF10053 (Laterally Diffused MOS,Ericsson)
Design Example 2 : Impedance-
Matching using Conventional Method
Design Example 2 : Impedance-
Matching using New Method
Design Example 2 :Design Schematic
Design Example 2 : Inter-stage
Matching Network
Design Example 2 : Output Matching
Network
Dimensions in mil, Drawing not to scale

Design Example 2 : PCB Layout
Single-layer PCB using 30-mil thick GETEK substrate

Design Example 2 : Measured Large-
Signal Gain
Design Example 2 : Measured P1dB
Design Example 2 : Measured Input
Return Loss
Design Example 2 : Conclusion
 Conclusion
Design Example 3 (60W HPA)
Design Example 3 : Highlights
 General-purpose WJ Communications devices in pre-
driver stage.
 Fujitsu bipolar transistors in driver stage.
 Four 30W Ultra-RF LDMOS devices in parallel in the
output stage.
 No linearizer necessary since P1dB~80W in open-loop.
 Many power splitters and power combiners needed.
 Isolator at the output (guarantees unconditionally stable
operation with variations in output load).
 Temperature-compensation circuitry included in driver
(to meet +/-1dB gain flatness over temperature).
Design Example 3
Contd..
What This Means
 Designing highly-linear HPAs for SATCOM bands is a
research area of wide interest, especially because
vendors produce and characterize devices mostly for
terrestrial bands.
 SATCOM-specific designs for other RF components
(LNAs,diplexers,filters,power combiners,isolators,etc.)
are rare too.
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER
 SATCOM HPAs are required to be highly linear.
 Linear HPA design without linearizer pleases
management (cost savings!). This is a worthy goal and
achievable too (example 3 of this presentation).
 Be prepared to do device characterization & matching
network design in-house, for your frequency band of
interest, since most vendors are not of much help (not
much interested either).
Next Steps
 Research latest SATCOM product specifications
for HPAs and other RF components like LNAs,
diplexers, power combiners, etc.
 Research latest SATCOM vendors.
 Identify need for original experimental design
work.
 Research RF test methodologies unique to
SATCOM specifications.

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Microwave High Power Amplifiers (HPAs)

for Satellite Communication (SATCOM)

 HIGH OUTPUT POWER,GOOD LINEARITY,GOOD

 Linearity describes HPA ‘s ability to generate a faithful

 Key Performance Parameters of

Dimensions in mil, Drawing not to scale

Single-layer PCB using 30-mil thick GETEK substrate

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