INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT UNIT (IFMU)

This proposal describes an approach to reduce the size and power consumption of broadband IFM units using high-speed gallium-arsenide (GaAs) integrated circuit chips. The core function of IFM is performed by digital frequency discriminator (DFD) which consists of microwave correlators and A/D converters. The proposed design approach for the correlator is based on the broadband MMICmixer designs with in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) IF outputs demonstrated at Hittite Microwave Corporation. The A/D converter design will be implemented in GaAs with a new design of high-speed comparator integrated with other standard digital circuit cells available at GaAs foundries. The proposed design based on GaAs ICs will reduce the size of the IFM package and improve the speed of frequency measurement without incurring the penalty of high power drain.