Design and Development of a Multi-Frequency System for Microwave Heating

[ES] La utilización de sistemas de microondas para aplicaciones de calentamiento está muy extendida, principalmente por su uso en el calentamiento doméstico. El volumen de ventas del horno de microondas doméstico refleja un dato curioso: es el electrodoméstico más vendido en el mundo cada año. Por ello, el coste de producción del elemento principal, el magnetrón, presenta unos márgenes de beneficio imbatibles. Sin embargo, los avances en la fabricación de generadores de RF de alta potencia de estado sólido han puesto de manifiesto no solo las limitaciones de los sistemas basados en magnetrón sino también las grandes ventajas de la tecnología de transistores. Actualmente, los amplificadores de potencia de estado sólido han alcanzado una madurez suficiente como para competir en eficiencia, coste y calidad de la onda generada con el magnetrón. Las principales ventajas de los transistores son un reducido tamaño, tensiones de alimentación bajas, un espectro puro en frecuencia, un mayor tiempo de vida y el control digital directo. Los sistemas de microondas con esta tecnología están siendo introducidos en el mercado desde hace diez años, aunque las aplicaciones reales que los utilizan son escasas. La principal razón es la falta de diseños de aplicadores específicos para sacar el máximo provecho a las fuentes de estado sólido. , por tanto, es éste el objetivo de la tesis doctoral. Los sistemas S2MH (Solid-State Microwave Heating) se presentan en esta disertación doctoral como una alternativa que ofrece un calentamiento mejorado. La posibilidad de seleccionar la frecuencia exacta, ajustar la potencia de salida y realizar barridos de fase de forma coherente con múltiples iluminadores proporcionan al sistema un control preciso del proceso de calentamiento. El resultado directo de éste es un calentamiento homogéneo y el uso de la tecnología de microondas en procesos de alto valor añadido y fuerte dependencia con la temperatura. Esta tesis doctoral presenta el trabajo realizado en el diseño y fabricación de dos sistemas S2MH: el primero es un horno estático versátil para diferentes procesos químicos, y el segundo un horno de transporte para el secado de almendras. Estos dos sistemas están formados por el SSMGS (Solid-State Microwave Generator System), que incluye cuatro amplificadores de estado sólido (SSPA) con una generación de la onda coherente, y el aplicador. Para el diseño del SSMGS se han tenido en cuenta los requisitos de potencia y frecuencia de cada aplicación. Se ha utilizado un SSMGS con cuatro PA de 250 W a 2,450 MHz para el horno de aplicaciones químicas, mientras que el secado de almendras necesita cuatro PA de 500 W a 915 MHz. Los dos sistemas de generación de microondas permiten un control individual o combinado de los parámetros de los cuatro módulos amplificadores, i.e., potencia, frecuencia y fase. Todo el proceso de diseño ha sido llevado a cabo mediante modelado multi-físico, poniendo un especial cuidado en las propiedades termofísicas y dieléctricas de los alimentos y soluciones acuosas que tienen una importante dependencia con la temperatura. El comportamiento completo del sistema aplicador se ha estudiado con estas herramientas. Tras la fabricación de los dos prototipos o pruebas de concepto (PoC), los resultados obtenidos presentan un comportamiento similar al modelo y muestran, además, prometedoras mejoras frente a los sistemas actuales. El sistema de aplicaciones químicas presenta mejoras en la distribución de campo, independientemente de la aplicación y la carga. Y el sistema de secado de almendras proporciona un mayor control sobre el proceso evitando la pérdida de material por sobrecalentamiento.[CA] La utilització de sistemes de microones en aplicacions d'escalfament està molt estesa, principalment pel seu us en escalfament domèstic. El volum de ventes del forn de microones domèstic reflexa una informació curiosa: es l'electrodomèstic més venut anualment al món. Per això, el cost de producció del seu element principal, el magnetró, presenta uns marges de benefici imbatibles. No obstant això, els avanços en la fabricació de generadors de RF d'alta potencia d'estat sòlid han posat de manifest tant les limitacions dels sistemes basats en magnetró, com els grans avantatges de la tecnologia de transistors. Actualment, els amplificadors de potència d'estat sòlid son el suficientment madurs com per competir en eficiència, cost i qualitat de l'ona generada amb el magnetró. Els principals avantatges dels transistors son les dimensions reduïdes, tensions d'alimentació baixes, un espectre pur en freqüència, major temps de vida i el control digital directe. Els sistemes de microones amb aquesta tecnologia estan sent introduïts al mercat des de fa deu anys, malgrat les aplicacions reals son escasses. El principal motiu és la falta de dissenys de aplicadors específics per obtindré el màxim profit de les fonts d'estat sòlid. , por tanto, es éste el objetivo de la tesis doctoral. Els sistemes S2MH es presenten en esta dissertació doctoral com una alternativa que ofereix un escalfament millorat. La possibilitat de seleccionar la freqüència exacta, ajustar la potència d'eixida i realitzar un rastreig de fase de forma coherent amb molts il·luminadors proporcionen al sistema un control precís del procés d'escalfament. El resultat directe d'aquest es un escalfament homogeni i el us de la tecnologia de microones en processos d'alt valor afegit i alta sensibilitat a la temperatura. Aquesta dissertació doctoral presenta el treball realitzat en el disseny i fabricació de dos sistemes S2MH: el primer és un forn estàtic i versàtil per a diferent processos químics, i el segon es tracta d'un forn de transport per l'assecatge d'ametles. Tots dos sistemes estan formats pel SSMGS, que inclou quatre amplificadors d'estat sòlid (SSPA) amb generació coherent de l'ona, i l'aplicador. Per al disseny del SSMGS s'han tingut en compte els requisits de potència i freqüència de cada aplicació. S'ha utilitzat un SSMGS amb quatre PA de 250 W a 2,450 MHz per al forn d'aplicacions químiques, mentre que per al d'assecat d'ametla es necessita quatre PA de 500 W a 915 MHz. Ambdós sistemes de generació de microones permeten un control individual o combinat dels paràmetres dels quatre mòduls amplificadors, i.e., potència, freqüència i fase. Tot el procés de disseny ha sigut realitzat amb l'ajuda del modelat multi-físic, prestant una especial atenció a les propietats termofísiques i dielèctriques dels aliments i solucions aquoses, que tenen una important dependència de la temperatura. El comportament complet del sistema aplicador ha sigut estudiat amb estes ferramentes digitals. Després de la fabricació dels dos prototips o proves de concepte (PoC), els resultats obtinguts presenten un comportament similar al model i, a més a més, mostren millores prometedores front als sistemes actuals. El sistema d'aplicacions químiques presenta millores en la distribució de camp, independentment de l'aplicació i la càrrega. I el sistema d'assecatge d'ametlles proporciona un major control sobre el procés, evitant la pèrdua de material per sobreescalfament.[EN] Microwave systems are widely used for heating applications, mainly domestic food heating. The microwave oven sales figures place it as the first domestic appliance, giving its core element, the magnetron, an unbeatable production cost margin. However, recent improvements in RF high-power generator manufacturing have pointed out not only the limitations of these systems based on the magnetron but also the main benefits of the transistors technology. Nowadays, solid-state power amplifiers are mature enough to compete in efficiency, cost and quality with the magnetron. Transistors' main benefits are their reduced size, low operation voltages, pure frequency spectrum, lifetime, and straightforward digital control. Microwave systems based on solid-state power amplifiers have been recently introduced, although the real applications making use of them are rare. The main issue is the lack of applicator designs for specific solid-state sources that fully exploit the mentioned advantages; therefore, this is the main objective of the present PhD thesis. Solid-State Microwave Heating (S2MH) systems are presented in this PhD dissertation as an alternative that offers enhanced heating. Fine frequency selection, adjustable output power and coherent phase sweep in multiple outputs provide the system with accurate control over the heating process. The direct outcome of this control is the production of homogeneous heating and the application of microwave technology into high-added-value temperature-sensitive processes. The complete design and manufacture of two S2MH systems have been carried out and presented in this PhD thesis. The two designed systems are a multi-process chemical lab batch oven and an almond drying conveyorized oven. These two systems are composed of the Solid-State Microwave Generator System (SSMGS), consisting of four Solid-State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) with coherent wave generation, and the applicator. The design of the SSMGS has been carried out according to the power and frequency requirements of the application. A 4 x 250 W SSPA at 2,450 MHz SSMGS has been used for the chemical processes oven, while the almond drying application needs 4 x 500 W SSPA at 915 MHz. Both SSMGS allow the individual or combined digital control of the parameters of the four amplifying modules, i.e., power, frequency and phase. Multiphysics modelling has been thoroughly studied with special attention to the temperature-dependent thermophysical and dielectric properties of food and liquid solutions. The overall applicators' behaviour has been analysed with this tool. After completing the two PoC (Proof of Concept), the results show good agreement with the models. Both PoCs have shown promising improvements to the current state-of-the-art systems. The chemical applications PoC shows electromagnetic field distribution improvements, independent of the application or load. On the other hand, the almonds drying system provides increased control over the process avoiding material losses through overheating.Santón Pons, P. (2022). Design and Development of a Multi-Frequency System for Microwave Heating [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/19132

Design and implementation of a X-band transmitter and frequency distribution unit for a synthetic aperture radar

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can provide high-resolution images of extensive areas of the earth's surface from a platform operating at long ranges, despite adverse weather conditions or darkness. A local consortium was established to demonstrate a consolidated South African SAR ability to demonstrate to the local and international communities, by generating high quality images with a South African X-band demonstrator. This dissertation forms part of the project. It aims to describe the design and implementation of the transmitter and associated frequency distribution unit (FDU) for the SASAR II, X-band SAR. Although the transmitter and FDU are two separate units, they are ultimately linked. The transmitter has the task of taking a low-power, baseband, chirp waveform and. through a series of mixers, filters and amplifiers, converting it to a high-power, microwave signal. The FDU is essentially the heart of the transceiver and provides drive to all the mixer local oscillator (LO) inputs. It also clocks the DAC and ADC which allow the essentially analogue transceiver to communicate with the digital circuitry. It is found that the chirp signal produced is of satisfactory fidelity. LO feed through, however, is superimposed at the chirps' centre frequency. As a result of previous stages, spurious signals exist at 16 MHz offset from the chirps' centre frequency and at 9142 MHz. The system transfer function reveals that 2 dB roll-off is present at the outer frequencies of the chirp signal. Group delay in the transmitter filters and amplifiers is held responsible for this

Design and operation of a harmonic gyrotron based on a cusp electron gun

Strathclyde theses - ask staff. Thesis no. : T13121This thesis presents the results of successful operation of a 2nd harmonic gyrotron based on a cusp electron gun. The numerical and experimental results agreed well with the gyrotron design parameters. Two gyrotrons based on a cusp electron gun were designed: the first gyrotron operated at the 2nd harmonic and the second gyrotron was studied to look at the scaling of this concept for operation at the 7th harmonic at a frequency of 390 GHz. The cusp electron gun was used to produce the electron beam in the gyrotron which was annular in shape. The electron beam had a voltage of 40 kV, a current of 1.5A and a velocity ratio (perpendicular component to horizontal component) of 1.5. The experimental results from the first cusp electron gun and measurements of the high quality electron beam with ~8% velocity spread and ~10% alpha spread are presented. Analytical, numerical and experimental results of a DC harmonic gyrotron are presented. The 3D PIC code MAGIC was used to simulate the interaction of the harmonic gyrotron such as the TE71 mode at the 7th cyclotron harmonic with the large orbit electron beam with the beam thickness and beam spread introduced into the simulation. The interaction cavity of both gyrotrons was in the form of a smooth cylindrical waveguide. The relationship between the cavity dimensions and cavity Q values has been studied for optimized output at the design mode with the aim of suppressing other competing modes. A linear output taper was designed with low mode conversion at the gyrotron output. A Vector Network Analyzer with high frequency millmetre wave heads was used to measure the millimeter wave properties of the gyrotron cavity. Experiments were conducted using the electron gun for the harmonic gyrotron. The gyrotron and electron gun were built as well as the interlock and safety system, pulsed power supply and magnet, the cooling and vacuum system. Millimetre wave radiation was measured for the 2.6 mm diameter cavity gyrotron operating at the 2nd harmonic at a magnetic field of 2.08 T. Experiments demonstrated that the harmonic gyrotron was sensitive to the magnetic field and electron beam parameters. Millimetre wave radiation from 108GHz to 110GHz was measured with the use of a W-band rectifying crystal detector and high pass cut off filters. The frequency of the measured millimeter wave radiation agreed very well with the design and predictions of theory.This thesis presents the results of successful operation of a 2nd harmonic gyrotron based on a cusp electron gun. The numerical and experimental results agreed well with the gyrotron design parameters. Two gyrotrons based on a cusp electron gun were designed: the first gyrotron operated at the 2nd harmonic and the second gyrotron was studied to look at the scaling of this concept for operation at the 7th harmonic at a frequency of 390 GHz. The cusp electron gun was used to produce the electron beam in the gyrotron which was annular in shape. The electron beam had a voltage of 40 kV, a current of 1.5A and a velocity ratio (perpendicular component to horizontal component) of 1.5. The experimental results from the first cusp electron gun and measurements of the high quality electron beam with ~8% velocity spread and ~10% alpha spread are presented. Analytical, numerical and experimental results of a DC harmonic gyrotron are presented. The 3D PIC code MAGIC was used to simulate the interaction of the harmonic gyrotron such as the TE71 mode at the 7th cyclotron harmonic with the large orbit electron beam with the beam thickness and beam spread introduced into the simulation. The interaction cavity of both gyrotrons was in the form of a smooth cylindrical waveguide. The relationship between the cavity dimensions and cavity Q values has been studied for optimized output at the design mode with the aim of suppressing other competing modes. A linear output taper was designed with low mode conversion at the gyrotron output. A Vector Network Analyzer with high frequency millmetre wave heads was used to measure the millimeter wave properties of the gyrotron cavity. Experiments were conducted using the electron gun for the harmonic gyrotron. The gyrotron and electron gun were built as well as the interlock and safety system, pulsed power supply and magnet, the cooling and vacuum system. Millimetre wave radiation was measured for the 2.6 mm diameter cavity gyrotron operating at the 2nd harmonic at a magnetic field of 2.08 T. Experiments demonstrated that the harmonic gyrotron was sensitive to the magnetic field and electron beam parameters. Millimetre wave radiation from 108GHz to 110GHz was measured with the use of a W-band rectifying crystal detector and high pass cut off filters. The frequency of the measured millimeter wave radiation agreed very well with the design and predictions of theory

Design of Tunable Beamforming Networks Using Metallic Ridge Gap Waveguide Technology

Wireless communication is a leap of development in the history of humanity. For the past 100 years, a considerable effort has been spent to develop better standards, and technologies for a higher speed wireless communication with high system capacity for different applications. This requires the design of a high-frequency, point-to-multipoint antenna array system to achieve the mentioned goals. In addition, the reconfigurability of this antenna system is essential to change the system characteristics to achieve acceptable performance in different situations. The main goal of this thesis is to design a reconfigurable beamforming network to work on the Ka-band for waveguide applications. Among different beamforming networks in the literature, the Butler matrix is chosen due to its higher efficiency and the smaller number of components required than other beamforming networks. The Butler matrix is designed using a dual-plane topology to avoid using crossovers. Ridge gap waveguide technology is chosen among different transmission lines to implement the Butler matrix for several reasons: It does not need dielectrics to operate, so its power handling capacity is defined by the gap height, and it has no dielectric losses. Its zero-field region represents the operating principle for some tunable devices introduced here and its contactless nature, which eases the assembly of waveguide parts at the millimeter-wave frequencies. The reconfigurability of the Butler matrix is implemented such that beamwidth, maximum gain, and beam direction may be all tuned for optimum system performance. To that end, several components are designed to achieve the required target, and strict requirements are placed on several components to achieve an acceptable cascaded-system performance. These components include a ridge gap waveguide 90o-hybrid working over a more than 30% bandwidth, which can provide several coupling levels ranging from 3 dB to 33 dB and a return loss and isolation better than 30 dB. Another component is a wideband reconfigurable power splitter that has a 40% bandwidth, a return loss better than 20 dB in the worst case and the ability to achieve all power splitting ratios including switching between the two guides. In addition, a wideband reconfigurable phase shifter is designed to have 33% bandwidth and phase shift tuning range from 0o to 200o. Two coaxial-to-ridge gap waveguide transitions are designed to work over a more than 100% bandwidth to facilitate testing different ridge gap waveguide components. Analysis of the asymmetric double ridge waveguide is introduced where its impedance is deduced and may be used to design a single to double ridge waveguide transition useful for the dual-plane Butler matrix introduced here. In addition, this concept is used to develop a wideband unequal power divider in the single ridge waveguide technology. At the end, the whole system is assembled to show its performance in different tuning states. The ability of the system to produce radiation patterns of different characteristics is demonstrated. The presented Butler matrix design is a promising beamforming network for several applications like radar, base stations for mobile communications, and satellite applications

Design of a Dual Band Local Positioning System

This work presents a robust dual band local positioning system (LPS) working in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz industrial science medical (ISM) bands. Position measurement is based on the frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar approach, which uses radio frequency (RF) chirp signals for propagation time and therefore distance measurements. Contrary to state of the art LPS, the presented system uses data from both bands to improve accuracy, precision and robustness. A complete system prototype is designed consisting of base stations and tags encapsulating most of the RF and analogue signal processing in custom integrated circuits. This design approach allows to reduce size and power consumption compared to a hybrid system using off-the-shelf components. Key components are implemented using concepts, which support operation in multiple frequency bands, namely, the receiver consisting of a low noise amplifier (LNA), mixer, frequency synthesizer with a wide band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) having broadband chirp generation capabilities and a dual band power amplifier. System imperfections occurring in FMCW radar systems are modelled. Effects neglected in literature such as compression, intermodulation, the influence of automatic gain control, blockers and spurious emissions are modeled. The results are used to derive a specification set for the circuit design. Position estimation from measured distances is done using an enhanced version of the grid search algorithm, which makes use of data from multiple frequency bands. The algorithm is designed to be easily and efficiently implemented in embedded systems. Measurements show a coverage range of the system of at least 245m. Ranging accuracy in an outdoor scenario can be as low as 8.2cm. Comparative dual band position measurements prove an effective outlier filtering in indoor and outdoor scenarios compared to single band results, yielding in a large gain of accuracy. Positioning accuracy in an indoor scenario with an area of 276m² can be improved from 1.27m at 2.4GHz and 1.86m at 5.8GHz to only 0.38m in the dual band case, corresponding to an improvement by at least a factor of 3.3. In a large outdoor scenario of 4.8 km², accuracy improves from 1.88m at 2.4GHz and 5.93m at 5.8GHz to 0.68m with dual band processing, which is a factor of at least 2.8.Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Entwurf eines robusten lokalen Positionierungssystems (LPS), welches in den lizenzfreien Frequenzbereichen für industrielle, wissenschaftliche und medizinische Zwecke (industrial, scientific, medical, ISM) bei 2,4GHz und 5,8GHz arbeitet. Die Positionsbestimmung beruht auf dem Prinzip des frequenzmodulierten Dauerstrichradars (frequency modulated continuous wave, FMCW-Radar), welches hochfrequente Rampensignale für Laufzeitmessungen und damit Abstandsmessungen benutzt. Im Gegensatz zu aktuellen Arbeiten auf diesem Gebiet benutzt das vorgestellte System Daten aus beiden Frequenzbändern zur Erhöhung der Genauigkeit und Präzision sowie Verbesserung der Robustheit. Ein Prototyp des kompletten Systems bestehend aus Basisstationen und mobilen Stationen wurde entworfen. Fast die gesamte analoge hochfrequente Signalverarbeitungskette wurde als anwendungsspezifische integrierte Schaltung realisiert. Verglichen mit Systemen aus Standardkomponenten erlaubt dieser Ansatz die Miniaturisierung der Systemkomponenten und die Einsparung von Leistung. Schlüsselkomponenten wurden mit Konzepten für mehrbandige oder breitbandige Schaltungen entworfen. Dabei wurden Sender und Empfänger bestehend aus rauscharmem Verstärker, Mischer und Frequenzsynthesizer mit breitbandiger Frequenzrampenfunktion implementiert. Außerdem wurde ein Leistungsverstärker für die gleichzeitige Nutzung der beiden definierten Frequenzbänder entworfen. Um Spezifikationen für den Schaltungsentwurf zu erhalten, wurden in der Fachliteratur vernachlässigte Nichtidealitäten von FMCW-Radarsystemen modelliert. Dazu gehören Signalverzerrungen durch Kompression oder Intermodulation, der Einfluss der automatischen Verstärkungseinstellung sowie schmalbandige Störer und Nebenschwingungen. Die Ergebnisse der Modellierung wurden benutzt, um eine Spezifikation für den Schaltungsentwurf zu erhalten. Die Schätzung der Position aus gemessenen Abständen wurde über eine erweiterte Version des Gittersuchalgorithmus erreicht. Dieser nutzt die Abstandsmessdaten aus beiden Frequenzbändern. Der Algorithmus ist so entworfen, dass er effizient in einem eingebetteten System implementiert werden kann. Messungen zeigen eine maximale Reichweite des Systems von mindestens 245m. Die Genauigkeit von Abstandsmessungen im Freiland beträgt 8,2cm. Positionsmessungen wurden unter Verwendung beider Einzelbänder durchgeführt und mit den Ergebnissen des Zweiband-Gittersuchalgorithmus verglichen. Damit konnte eine starke Verbesserung der Positionsgenauigkeit erreicht werden. Die Genauigkeit in einem Innenraum mit einer Grundfläche von 276m² kann verbessert werden von 1,27m bei 2,4GHz und 1,86m bei 5,8GHz zu nur 0,38m im Zweibandverfahren. Das entspricht einer Verbesserung um einen Faktor von mindestens 3,3. In einem größeren Außenszenario mit einer Fläche von 4,8 km² verbessert sich die Genauigkeit um einen Faktor von mindestens 2,8 von 1,88m bei 2,4GHz und 5,93m bei 5,8GHz auf 0,68m bei Nutzung von Daten aus beiden Frequenzbändern

A SIX-PORT MEASUREMENT DEVICE FOR HIGH POWER MICROWAVE VECTOR NETWORK ANALYSIS

The changes experienced in technology due to the third industrial revolution have over the years contributed immensely to the development of efficient devices and systems. As a result, solutions have been provided to challenges encountered in the heating industry. However, higher efficiency and better performance has undoubtedly been highly sort after. This paper presents the complete industrial development of a new system of a microwave device for use in S-band networks (2.45 GHz ISM band in this application): a vector network analyzer (VNA). The VNA, which is designed based on the six-port measurement principle, provides accurate measurements of both magnitude and phase of the load reflection coefficient. The device is designed to have high power handling capabilities and works under the full operating conditions of high-power microwave generators. Initial measurements show that the device perform stable and can perform temperature-independent measurements over protracted periods. The system is suited for on-line monitoring and control of network parameters in industrial waveguide applications.

Development of a solid state amplifier for the 3rd harmonic cavity for ALBA synchrotron light source

In Synchrotron Light Source facilities with high energy and low emittance electron beams different techniques for improving the quality of the synchrotron light for the users are applied. With this aim ALBA, the Spanish 3rd generation Synchrotron Light Source, is developing a 3rd Harmonic radiofrequency (RF) system as a system additional to the main RF system of the storage ring. This system will consist of four normal conducting active cavities at 1.5 GHz that will provide the required 1.1 MV accelerating voltage to the electron beam and will be fed by four 20 kW power transmitters. This power will be generated by modular Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) in a continuous wave mode at 1.5 GHz. On the basis of preliminary studies it has been decided that the architecture of each 20 kW power transmitter is a tree diagram made up of primary 1 kW SSPA modules connected in parallel in a combination array. The present PhD thesis is devoted to the design, building and evaluation of a prototype of the 1 kW SSPA module formed four 250 W primary power amplifier modules. Accordingly, all subsystems, namely input and output matching networks of the 250 W primary module, and a four-way power splitter, a four-way power combiner and a novel directivity compensated directional coupler for the non-invasive power monitoring of the 1 kW power amplifier were also designed and their prototypes were tested. A final evaluation of the combined 1 kW SSPA prototype module was successfully carried out and has shown good performance.En las instalaciones de tipo Fuentes de luz de sincrotrón de haz de electrones de alta energía y baja emitancia se aplican diferentes técnicas de mejora de la calidad de la luz de sincrotrón. Con este objetivo, el ALBA, la fuente española de luz de sincrotrón de la tercera generación, está desarrollando un sistema de radiofrecuencia (RF) de la 3ª Harmónica como un sistema adicional al sistema de RF principal del anillo de almacenamiento. Este sistema consistirá de cuatro cavidades activas de conductividad normal de frecuencia 1,5 GHz que suministrarán un voltaje acelerador de 1.1 MV necesario para el haz de electrones y que serán alimentadas por cuatro transmisores de potencia de 20 kW. Esta potencia será generada en modo de onda continua a frecuencia 1.5 GHz por amplificadores de potencia de estado sólido (APES) de estructura modular. A partir de unos estudios preliminares se ha decidido que la arquitectura de cada transmisor de potencia de 20 kW es de tipo diagrama de árbol que consiste de APES primarios de potencia 1 kW conectados en paralelo formando una matriz de combinación. El tema de la presente tesis es el diseño, la construcción y la caracterización de un prototipo del módulo de APES de potencia 1 kW formado por cuatro amplificadores primarios de 250 W de potencia. También, todos subsistemas, concretamente los circuitos de adaptación de entrada y de salida del módulo primario de 250 kW, así como un divisor de cuatro salidas, un combinador de cuatro entradas y un acoplador direccional con una nova solución de compensación de directividad para una monitorización no invasiva han sido diseñados y sus prototipos han sido testeados. La evaluación final de funcionamiento del APES de 1 kW de potencia ha sido realizada con éxito y ha demostrado su buen rendimiento.Postprint (published version

Development of a solid state amplifier for the 3rd harmonic cavity for ALBA synchrotron light source

In Synchrotron Light Source facilities with high energy and low emittance electron beams different techniques for improving the quality of the synchrotron light for the users are applied. With this aim ALBA, the Spanish 3rd generation Synchrotron Light Source, is developing a 3rd Harmonic radiofrequency (RF) system as a system additional to the main RF system of the storage ring. This system will consist of four normal conducting active cavities at 1.5 GHz that will provide the required 1.1 MV accelerating voltage to the electron beam and will be fed by four 20 kW power transmitters. This power will be generated by modular Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) in a continuous wave mode at 1.5 GHz. On the basis of preliminary studies it has been decided that the architecture of each 20 kW power transmitter is a tree diagram made up of primary 1 kW SSPA modules connected in parallel in a combination array. The present PhD thesis is devoted to the design, building and evaluation of a prototype of the 1 kW SSPA module formed four 250 W primary power amplifier modules. Accordingly, all subsystems, namely input and output matching networks of the 250 W primary module, and a four-way power splitter, a four-way power combiner and a novel directivity compensated directional coupler for the non-invasive power monitoring of the 1 kW power amplifier were also designed and their prototypes were tested. A final evaluation of the combined 1 kW SSPA prototype module was successfully carried out and has shown good performance.En las instalaciones de tipo Fuentes de luz de sincrotrón de haz de electrones de alta energía y baja emitancia se aplican diferentes técnicas de mejora de la calidad de la luz de sincrotrón. Con este objetivo, el ALBA, la fuente española de luz de sincrotrón de la tercera generación, está desarrollando un sistema de radiofrecuencia (RF) de la 3ª Harmónica como un sistema adicional al sistema de RF principal del anillo de almacenamiento. Este sistema consistirá de cuatro cavidades activas de conductividad normal de frecuencia 1,5 GHz que suministrarán un voltaje acelerador de 1.1 MV necesario para el haz de electrones y que serán alimentadas por cuatro transmisores de potencia de 20 kW. Esta potencia será generada en modo de onda continua a frecuencia 1.5 GHz por amplificadores de potencia de estado sólido (APES) de estructura modular. A partir de unos estudios preliminares se ha decidido que la arquitectura de cada transmisor de potencia de 20 kW es de tipo diagrama de árbol que consiste de APES primarios de potencia 1 kW conectados en paralelo formando una matriz de combinación. El tema de la presente tesis es el diseño, la construcción y la caracterización de un prototipo del módulo de APES de potencia 1 kW formado por cuatro amplificadores primarios de 250 W de potencia. También, todos subsistemas, concretamente los circuitos de adaptación de entrada y de salida del módulo primario de 250 kW, así como un divisor de cuatro salidas, un combinador de cuatro entradas y un acoplador direccional con una nova solución de compensación de directividad para una monitorización no invasiva han sido diseñados y sus prototipos han sido testeados. La evaluación final de funcionamiento del APES de 1 kW de potencia ha sido realizada con éxito y ha demostrado su buen rendimiento

Advanced High Efficiency and Broadband Power Amplifiers Based on GaN HEMT for Wireless Applications

In advanced wireless communication systems, a rapid increase in the mobile data traffic and broad information bandwidth requirement can lead to the use of complex spectrally efficient modulation schemes such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). Generally, complex non-constant envelope modulated signals have very high peak-to-average ratios (PAPR). Doherty Power Amplifier (DPA) is the most commonly used power amplifier (PA) architecture for meeting high efficiency requirement in advanced communication systems, in the presence of high PAPR signals. However, limited bandwidth of the conventional DPA is often identified as a bottleneck for widespread deployment in base-station application for multi-standard communication signals. The research in this thesis focuses on the development of new designs to overcome the bandwidth limitations of a conventional PA. In particular, the bandwidth limitation factors of a conventional DPA architecture are studied. Moreover, a novel design technique is proposed for DPA’s bandwidth extension. In the first PA design, limited bandwidth and linearity problems are addressed simultaneously. For this purpose, a new Class-AB PA with extended bandwidth and improved linearity is presented for LTE 5 W pico-cell base-station over a frequency range of 1.9–2.5 GHz. A two-tone load/source-pull and bias point optimization techniques are used to extract the sweet spots for optimum efficiency and linearity from the 6 W Cree GaN HEMT device for the whole frequency band. The realized prototype presented saturated PAE higher than 60%, a power gain of 13 dB and an average output power of 36.5 dBm over the desired bandwidth. The proposed PA is also characterized by QAM-256 and LTE input communication signals for linearity characterization. Measured ACPRs are lower than -40 dBc for an input power of 17 dBm. The documented results indicate that the proposed Class-AB architecture is suitable for pico-cell base-station application. In the second PA design, an inherent bandwidth limitation of Class-F power amplifier forced by the improper load harmonics terminations at multiple harmonics is investigated and analyzed. It is demonstrated that the impedance tuning of the second and third harmonics at the drain terminal of a transistor is crucial to achieve a broadband performance. The effect of harmonics terminations on power amplifier’s bandwidth up to fourth harmonics is investigated. The implemented broadband Class-F PA achieved maximum saturated drain efficiency 60-77%, and 10 W output power throughout (1.1-2.1 GHz) band. The simulated and measured results verify that the presented Class-F PA is suitable for a high-efficiency system application in wireless communications over a wide range of frequencies. In the third PA design, a single- and dual-input DPA for LTE application in the 3.5 GHz frequency band are presented and compared. The main goal of this study is to improve the performance of gallium–nitride (GaN) Doherty transmitters over a wide bandwidth in the 3.5 GHz frequency band. For this purpose, the linearity-efficiency trade-off for the two proposed architectures is discussed in detail. Simulated results demonstrate that the single- and dual-input DPA exhibited a peak drain efficiency (DE) of 72.4% and 77%, respectively. Both the circuits showed saturated output power more than 42.9 dBm throughout the designed band. Saturated efficiency, gain and bandwidth of dual-input DPA are higher than that of the single-input DPA. On the other side, dual-input DPA linearity is worse as compared to the single-input DPA. In the last PA design, a novel design methodology for ultra-wide band DPA is presented. The bandwidth limitation factors of the conventional Doherty amplifier are discussed on the ground of broadband matching with impedance variation. To extend the DPA bandwidth, three different methods are used such as post-matching, low impedance transformation ratio and the optimization of offset line for wide bandwidth in the proposed design. The proposed Doherty power amplifier was designed and realized based on two 10 W GaN HEMT devices from Cree Inc. The measured results exhibited 42-57% of efficiency at the 6-dB back-off and saturated output power ranges from 41.5 to 43.1 dBm in the frequency range of 1.15 to 2.35 GHz (68.5% fractional bandwidth). Moreover, less than -25 dBc ACPRs are measured at 42 dBm peak output power throughout the designed band. In a nutshell, all power amplifiers presented in this thesis are suitable for wideband operation and their performances are satisfying the required operational standard. Therefore, this thesis has a significant contribution in the domain of high efficiency and broadband power amplifiers