70% efficient Ku-band and C-band TWTs for satellite downlinks

Author

Menninger, William L. ; Benton, Robert T. ; Choi, Mun S. ; Feicht, Jon R. ; Hallsten, Ulf R. ; Limburg, Helen Conley ; McGeary, William L. ; Zhai, Xiaoling

Author_Institution

Commun. Electron Technol. Inc., Torrance, CA, USA

Volume

52

Issue

5

fYear

2005

fDate

5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

673

Lastpage

678

Abstract

For traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifiers which transmit downlink signals from both geo-synchronous satellites and deep-space spacecraft, the single most important attribute continues to be overall dc-to-RF conversion efficiency. Currently, the most popular satellite downlink bands are 3.4 to 4.2 GHz and 10.9 to 12.75 GHz. This paper discusses recent production TWTs at L-3 Communications Electron Technologies, Inc., which are achieving dc-to-rf efficiencies of over 70% at power levels ranging from 65 to 150 W in these high-demand satellite downlink frequency bands. These TWTs continue to provide a large advantage over the use of equivalent solid-state power amplifiers.

Keywords

artificial satellites; microwave power amplifiers; satellite links; travelling wave amplifiers; 10.9 to 12.75 GHz; 3.4 to 4.2 GHz; 65 to 150 W; C-band; Ku-band; deep-space spacecraft; downlink signals; geo-synchronous satellites; microwave power amplifiers; satellite communication; satellite downlinks; solid-state power amplifiers; traveling wave tube amplifiers; Artificial satellites; Communications technology; Downlink; Electrons; Frequency; Power amplifiers; Production; Solid state circuits; Space technology; Space vehicles; Microwave power amplifiers; satellite communication; traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA); traveling wave tubes (TWT);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2005.845840

Filename

1424346