Real-time imbalance compensator for wideband receiver applications

To increase the bandwidth of a wideband receiver for surveillance applications, an in-phase/quadrature-phase (I/Q) channel-based receiver is a potential approach. However, the image caused by an imperfect coupler prevents the I/Q channel-based receiver from becoming a reality. Air Force Research Laboratory developed an imbalance compensation method covering two Nyquist zones. In this study, the authors present its implementation with a field-programmable gate array board. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed imbalance compensation algorithm and its feasibility.