Design and evaluation of a linearized C-band helix TWT for digital communications experiments

Author

Abe, D.K. ; Levush, B. ; Antonsen, T.M., Jr. ; Whaley, D.R. ; Danly, B.G.

Author_Institution

Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA

fYear

2002

fDate

2002

Firstpage

312

Lastpage

313

Abstract

Reduction in amplifier distortion is often achieved by backing-off from saturation. As an alternative to aggressively backing-off in output power to meet new demands of linearity, this work explores techniques to optimize the pitch profile of TWT helices to reduce distortion. A C-band helix TWT circuit optimized for linearity was designed at NRL and subsequently built by Northrop Grumman. We describe the circuit design and the design methodology, and compare the measured TWT performance with model predictions.

Keywords

circuit optimisation; digital communication; electric distortion; linearisation techniques; microwave amplifiers; microwave tubes; travelling wave tubes; TWT helices; TWT linearity; TWT modeling; amplifier distortion reduction; amplifier output power; circuit design methodology; digital communications experiments; helical travelling wave tube; linearized C-band helix TWT; pitch profile optimization; Bandwidth; Circuits; Design optimization; Digital communication; Digital modulation; Distortion measurement; Linearity; Performance gain; Power amplifiers; Power generation;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Vacuum Electronics Conference, 2002. IVEC 2002. Third IEEE International

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7256-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IVELEC.2002.999396

Filename

999396