The use of power combining techniques allows the realization of millimetre wave solid
state amplifiers with output power levels that are not achievable from a single solid
state source. The need for efficient and low cost amplifiers for mm-wave systems
has propitiated an intense area of research during the last years in power combining
techniques.
This thesis presents the development of compact and efficient power amplifiers based
on new power combining structures using solid state devices. In addition, the
implementation of a mm-wave block up-converter (BUC) is included, with the aim to
evaluate the performance of the amplifier in a real system. The developed power
combiner is based on a travelling wave architecture, which is demonstrated to be
a very convenient solution at mm-wave frequencies because of its high efficiency
and compactness. The new structure proposed, consists of a double side waveguide
geometry which provides a 50% size reduction compared to existing solutions.
This structure is validated by manufacturing a 12-way power combiner and amplifier
prototype. In order to achieve the goal of testing the amplifier in a real system, an
L-to-Ka band block up-converter is then designed and implemented. The performance
of the block up-converter is demonstrated for a single and a double conversion
architectures. Finally, the performance of the BUC is demonstrated under digital
modulated signals
