Internal Local Oscillator Research Articles

Indigenous Development of MIC-Based C-Band Dual Chain Down Converter Unit for GEOSAT- Spacecraft Checkout System

As part of miniaturization, the development work for the C-band dual-chain down converter, which is extensively used in TM (Telemetry) data acquisition system in GEOSAT spacecraft checkout system has been taken up in MIC (Microwave Integrated Circuit) approach using microstrip line structure. A prototype unit is realized using standard surface mount devices (SMD) and few indigenously developed MIC components namely, the directional couplers, the power dividers etc. The MIC-based down converter module, which forms the heart of the unit is housed in an Aluminium milled box having the dimension of 150 x 150 x 25 mm3. Except internal Local Oscillator (LO), RF Switches and Power supply, all other circuitry are mounted withinthis milled box which is housed in 1U chassis. It meets all the requirements of a conventional down converter. The paper describes the salient features of the unit, its detailed design approach and realization plan and finally the test and evaluation results of the prototype unit developed indigenously.

Development of the Q-band ECE imaging system in the large helical device

In this study, we developed the Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) system with the Q-band in the Large Helical Device (LHD). ECEI measurement makes it possible to obtain the spatiotemporal structure of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) instabilities in the high-β plasma. Although there were several difficulties for realizing the multi-channelization, such as local oscillator (LO) optics and an expensive high-power LO source, we have solved these problems by developing a Local Integrated Antenna array (LIA) which has an internal LO supply, using a frequency doubler integrated circuit on each channel, instead of a conventional Horn-antenna Mixer Array (HMA) with common LOs. In addition, we have made some improvements to enhance the quality of the measurement signal. First, we developed and introduced notch filters that prevent the strong Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) stray signal from being mixed into the measurement circuit. Second, the position of the doubler built in the printed circuit board was reconsidered to prevent the mixing of higher harmonic components into the mixer. Also, we have adopted the Logarithmic detector (LOG detector) to deal with the wide dynamic range of the plasma fluctuation. After these improvements, for the first time, we could successfully obtain the initial results of the two-dimensional temperature distribution and its fluctuation distribution in the LHD.

A low-cost uniplanar sampling down-converter with internal local oscillator, pulse generator, and IF amplifier

In this paper, we report on the development of a new integrated-circuit sampling down-converter having its own pulse generator, local oscillator (LO), and IF amplifier. The internal pulse generator uses a step recovery diode together with a unique ultra-wide-band hybrid junction to generate sub-nanosecond balanced pulses for gating the sampling diodes. The down-converter exhibits a conversion gain from 12 to 15.5 dB over an RF frequency of 0.01-3 GHz with 10-MHz LO and sampling pulses of about 100 ps. Return loss at the RF port is better than 15 dB over this RF bandwidth. The down-converter exhibits a good linearity and low harmonic levels. This down-converter employs a coplanar waveguide and slot line to make the entire circuit uniplanar and is, thus, suitable for low-cost production. In addition, if has an internal pulse generator, LO, and IF amplifier, making it a compact receiver subsystem, which can readily be used in many microwave systems.

Superconducting chip receivers for imaging application

Experimental details of a unique superconducting imaging array receiver are discussed. Each pixel contains an internally pumped receiver chip mounted on the back of the elliptical microwave lens. Each chip comprises a quasi-optical SIS mixer integrated with a superconducting flux-flow oscillator (FFO) both fabricated from the same Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb trilayer on a silicon substrate. Properties of the integrated lens antenna were studied using an externally pumped reference SIS mixer which showed antenna sidelobes below /spl sim/17 dB and a receiver double side band noise temperature, T/sub RX/(DSB), below 100 K within the frequency range 460-500 GHz that is close to the quantum noise. For the imaging array T/sub RX/(DSB)=150 K has been measured at 500 GHz using the internal flux-flow oscillator as a local oscillator (LO). A balanced SIS mixer was tested showing T/sub RX/(DSB)<100 K within the range of 480-510 GHz using the internal LO. A computer system was developed to control simultaneously the dc bias of the SIS mixer and the frequency and power provided by FFO. The system also performs automatic optimization of the receiver noise temperature.

A micropower CMOS, direct-conversion, VLF receiver chip for magnetic-field wireless applications

A micropower CMOS, direct-conversion very low frequency (VLF) receiver is described for receiving low-level magnetic fields from resonant sensors. The single-chip, phase locked loop (PLL)-synthesized receiver covers a frequency range of 10-82 kHz and provides both analog and 9-b digital baseband I and Q outputs. Digital I and Q outputs are accumulated in a companion digital chip which provides baseband signal processing. Emphasis is plated on the receiver micropower RF preamplifier which uses a lateral bipolar input device because of the significant increase in flicker noise illustrated for PMOS devices in weak inversion. Lateral bipolar transistors are also utilized in the mixer and IF stages for low flicker noise and low dc offsets. Special attention is given to isolating the internal local oscillator signals from the low-level RF input (0.3 /spl mu/V noise floor in 300 Hz BW), and local oscillator feedthrough is indiscernible in the RF preamplifier output noise spectrum. The 100% duty-cycle receiver, intended for miniature, battery-operated wireless applications, operates approximately four months at 80 /spl mu/A from a 6-V, 220-mA-hr battery.

Intrinsic emission and mixing processes in high-T c Josephson junctions

AC Josephson effect and frequency conversion processes have been investigated in the different high-Tc junctions in the millimeter wave band. Intrinsic radiation up to 140 GHz was directly detected. A down-conversion mode with internal local oscillator was realized in high-Tc Josephson junction for the first time.