Performance of five 30 GHz satellite receivers

Five 30-GHz satellite receivers of various design have been developed for future satellite communication systems. The authors present and discuss the results of tests performed to determine the operating characteristics of the receivers and their ability to perform in a digital satellite link. Two hybrid, one hybrid MIC (microwave integrated circuit) and two MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) receivers were tested. In general, digital satellite communication systems are required to provide a maximum bit error rate of 10/sup -6/. One MMIC receiver did not meet this criterion at the power levels tested; the others met this criterion with a maximum E/sub b//N/sub o/ degradation of 2.6 dB for an input power of -30 dBm. System performance degradation is observed when the receiver input power is reduced to the noise figure limit of the receiver. Thus, the receiver noise figure is a limiting factor in system performance. The three hybrid receivers performed well for input powers as low as -50 dBmm, whereas the MMIC receivers performed poorly relative to the hybrid receivers.<>