Low distortion RF component technology development

A wideband communication system architecture is being developed for the US Navy in the high frequency (HF), 2 to 30 MHz range. The goals for the architecture provide essentially instantaneous access to the entire HF spectrum for all exciters and receivers while maintaining the sensitivity and distortion performance of the best of conventional systems. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation designed and built four low power four port hybrid combiner/dividers, four low power four input single output hybrid combiner/dividers, two high power four port combiner/dividers, four each low power 7 dB and 14 dB directional couplers, and two high power 20 dB directional couplers for use in the implementation of feedforward technology. This paper briefly reviews the approach used to meet the performance requirements by first discussing the initial investigations into available ferrous materials, then presenting three design techniques used to fulfill the requirements, and finally, focusing on the performance of a representative sample of the components delivered by Westinghouse to the Navy.<>