Miniaturization of RF subsystems for robust miniature applications

Aircraft and missiles in flight require communication links with the ground for guidance, mid-course correction, targeting, and other data exchange functions. For small platforms, equipment for such data transfer must be light-weight, small and dissipate minimum prime power. This proposal addresses requirements for light-weight miniature transceivers. The proposed approach is based on utilization of MMIC chips and high-efficiency amplifiers, application of the same technology which brought the multi-function portable phones to the market. The major portion of the program will be devoted to design of the transmitter power amplifier as it will be the dissipator of the largest portion of the prime power. The proposed amplifier is based on a switched amplifier design with a pulse modulation directly applied to the bias port of the amplifier. A GaAs P-HEMT device is envisioned for the amplifier. Preliminary analysis shows that an efficiency of 85% is attainable. The proposed system will be developed for operation in L-band, based on availability of devices for the amplifier and potential future benefits to the cell-phone and commercial wireless communications market. The goal is to design a transceiver capable of 50 km of range with 5 MB of data with equipment weighing less than 500 grams.