X-Band Radar Power Supply

In Phase I, Diversified Technologies, Inc. I proposes to design and demonstrate a new flexible, modular multi-phase buck regulator power supply for use in phased array radars. The proposed design is substantially more efficient and reliable than either thetransformer-coupled DC-DC converters or conventional buck regulators presently in use. Its use will reduce the converter's cooling requirements and enable the Navy to achieve the desired converter specifications of a power density of over 100 W/in3,efficiency over 90%, and a cost of less than $1 / W. The power converter will be based upon unique DTI high voltage buck regulator technology, demonstrated to be more than 95% efficient. In Phase II, DTI will refine the production design of the prototypeBuck Regulator Power Supply and build a representative, subarray sized power supply system capable of providing at least 100 kW of power, at high efficiency, and at significantly reduced size and weight. Higher efficiency lessens the amount of power lostas heat within the converter, so the overall size and weight of the converter can be reduced significantly. For example, increasing the converter efficiency to 95% reduces the cooling load (and the supporting infrastructure) by a factor of more than four.In addition, multi-phase buck regulators can be built at power levels from a few hundred watts, to multi-MWs. There are no single points of failure within this design, so it has very high reliability at any power level.This new design opens a wide range of possibilities for driving solid-state phased array antennas. The converter can be built to drive a single T/R module or a full subarray. It can be located on- or off-array, without compromising system reliability. Thisflexibility allows examination of the optimal power converter sizing, taking into account size, weight (on- and off-array), efficiency, and cost.