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Analysis of a basic class-D amplifier circuit configuration shows its adaptability to a variety of applications. The feedback, input and output configuration and the frequency spectrum of the pulse-width-modulated signal are analyzed.
Performance analysis for switching mode amplifier configuration
An improved design for the reflectance spectrometer is described to be used on various terrestrial body missions. These improvements were made on the original Lunar Polar Orbiter design. These include a larger entrance mirror, rectangular aperture, multiple optical beams, spatial resolution, and a bandwidth extension to 5 microns. In addition, detailed electronic designs were produced for a charge amplifier and an amplifier/demodulator/integrator. Design of a microprocessor driven test system was begun. Laboratory tests were performed on a tuning fork chopper.
The mechanisms of aerodynamic noise generation at the trailing edge of an airfoil is investigated. Instrumentation was designed, a miniature semiconductor strain-gauge pressure transducer and associated electronic amplifier circuitry were designed and tested and digital signal analysis techniques applied to gain insight into the relationship between the dynamic pressure close to the trailing edge and the sound in the acoustic far-field. Attempts are made to verify some trailing-edge noise generation characteristics as theoretically predicted by several contemporary acousticians. It is found that the noise detected in the far-field is comprised of the sum of many uncorrelated emissions radiating from the vicinity of the trailing edge. These emissions appear to be the result of acoustic energy radiation which has been converted by the trailing-edge noise mechanism from the dynamic fluid energy of independent streamwise 'strips' of the turbulent boundary layer flow.
The research results that were obtained are reviewed. Then the robot actuator, the selection of the data acquisition system, and the design of the power amplifier will be discussed. The machine design of the robot manipulator will then be presented. After that, the integration of the developed hardware into the open-loop system will also be discussed. Current and future research work is addressed.
Current NASA studies of Space Solar Power Systems for delivery from GEO of electric power at 5.8 GHz envision use of a 500m diameter phased array transmitting of order 2GW to yield 1.2 GWe output to the electric grid from Earth based rectenna arrays.
An improved generic design has been devised for implementing signal chains involved in readout from complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors and for other readout integrated circuits (ICs) that perform equivalent functions. The design applies to any such IC in which output signal charges from the pixels in a given row are transferred simultaneously into sampling capacitors at the bottoms of the columns, then voltages representing individual pixel charges are read out in sequence by sequentially turning on column-selecting field-effect transistors (FETs) in synchronism with source-follower- or operational-amplifier-based amplifier circuits. The improved design affords the best features of prior source-follower-and operational- amplifier-based designs while overcoming the major limitations of those designs. The limitations can be summarized as follows: a) For a source-follower-based signal chain, the ohmic voltage drop associated with DC bias current flowing through the column-selection FET causes unacceptable voltage offset, nonlinearity, and reduced small-signal gain. b) For an operational-amplifier-based signal chain, the required bias current and the output noise increase superlinearly with size of the pixel array because of a corresponding increase in the effective capacitance of the row bus used to couple the sampled column charges to the operational amplifier. The effect of the bus capacitance is to simultaneously slow down the readout circuit and increase noise through the Miller effect.
Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have designed a signal conditioning amplifier which automatically matches itself to almost any kind of transducer. The product, called Universal Signal Conditioning Amplifier (USCA), uses state-of-the-art technologies to deliver high accuracy measurements. USCA's features which can be either programmable or automated include: voltage, current, or pulsed excitation, unlimited resolution gain, digital filtering and both analog and digital output. USCA will be used at Kennedy Space Center's launch pads for environmental measurements such as vibrations, strains, temperatures and overpressures. USCA is presently being commercialized through a co-funded agreement between NASA, the State of Florida, and Loral Test and Information Systems, Inc.
The conceptual design of a dual-amplifier constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer is described. This hot-wire anemometer consists of three basic independent modules: a Wheatstone bridge in which the hot wire is one of its arms, an error-correction amplifier, and a voltage-controlled current source. The last two modules constitute the feedback network of this hot-wire anemometer. Thus the output voltage across the wire is a true function of the instantaneous changes in the wire resistance induced by the cooling effect of the flow. The dual-amplifier is capable of reaching relatively high frequency response through adequate selection of its active elements. Suitable gain of the error-correction amplifier and proper choice of the transfer function of the current source has yielded a frequency bandwidth up to 200 kHz.
Two documents present wide-ranging discussions of some issues in the design and operation of signal-conditioning circuits. The first document focuses on active low-pass filter circuits that contain resistors, capacitors, and operational amplifiers. It describes design and operational problems encountered previously, deficiencies of prior designs, and four design improvements to overcome the deficiencies. These improvements are as follows: 1. An offset-calibration feature in which an electronic switch isolates a filter capacitor in order to preserve its voltage during a calibration performed to measure the offset voltage of the operational amplifier; 2. Configuring a pair of complementary operational amplifiers to prevent latchup and decrease the degree of nonlinearity in overall response; 3. Minimizing distortion by taking the filter output from the operational-amplifier output nodes instead of from one of the other nodes as in prior designs; and 4. Providing for switching different feedback resistors to change filter break frequencies. The second document addresses topics in the architecture of signal-conditioning and multiplexing circuitry. Improvements are described as being made with respect to greater compactness, increased flexibility in accommodating a variety of inputs, improvements in filter performance, simplification of wiring, and reconfigurability of designs.
Design and development of low noise traveling wave amplifiers for 18 to 75 GHz frequency range
A submillimeter-wave monolithic integrated- circuit (S-MMIC) amplifier has been designed and fabricated using an indium phosphide (InP) 35-nm gate-length high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device, developed at Northrop Grumman Corporation. The HEMT device employs two fingers each 15 micrometers wide. The HEMT wafers are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and make use of a pseudomorphic In0.75Ga0.25As channel, a silicon delta-doping layer as the electron supply, an In0.52Al0.48As buffer layer, and an InP substrate. The three-stage design uses coplanar waveguide topology with a very narrow ground-to-ground spacing of 14 micrometers. Quarter-wave matching transmission lines, on-chip metal-insulator-metal shunt capacitors, series thin-film resistors, and matching stubs were used in the design. Series resistors in the shunt branch arm provide the basic circuit stabilization. The S-MMIC amplifier was measured for S-parameters and found to be centered at 320 GHz with 13-15-dB gain from 300-345 GHz. This chip was developed as part of the DARPA Submillimeter Wave Imaging Focal Plane Technology (SWIFT) program (see figure). Submillimeter-wave amplifiers could enable more sensitive receivers for earth science, planetary remote sensing, and astrophysics telescopes, particularly in radio astronomy, both from the ground and in space. A small atmospheric window at 340 GHz exists and could enable ground-based observations. However, the submillimeter-wave regime (above 300 GHz) is best used for space telescopes as Earth s atmosphere attenuates most of the signal through water and oxygen absorption. Future radio telescopes could make use of S-MMIC amplifiers for wideband, low noise, instantaneous frequency coverage, particularly in the case of heterodyne array receivers.
We describe the design and operation principle of a new displacement sensor with a substantial improvement in resolution over what is currently possible.
A device has been developed for coherent detection of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). A two-stage amplifier has been designed that covers 75-110 GHz. The device uses the emerging 35-nm InP HEMT technology recently developed at Northrop Grumman Corporation primarily for use at higher frequencies. The amplifier has more than 18 dB gain and less than 35 K noise figure across the band. These devices have noise less than 30 K at 100 GHz. The development started with design activities at JPL, as well as characterization of multichip modules using existing InP. Following processing, a test campaign was carried out using single-chip modules at 100 GHz. Successful development of the chips will lead to development of multichip modules, with simultaneous Q and U Stokes parameter detection. This MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) amplifier takes advantage of performance improvements intended for higher frequencies, but in this innovation are applied at 90 GHz. The large amount of available gain ultimately leads to lower possible noise performance at 90 GHz.
Synthesis and design of passive electric system realizing frequency patterns of transmission long line - designing nonreflecting four terminal amplifier with negative impedance
This paper describes recent progress in the Ka-band MMIC power amplifier program. New materials, material growth techniques, device designs and circuit design techniques have made it possible to design and fabricate MMIC amplifiers with both high efficiency and high power at Ka-band and higher frequencies. MMIC amplifiers using pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMT devices presently achieve 400 mW with 25 percent efficiency at Ka-band and 1 W, 35 percent efficient amplifiers are being developed.
HEMT-based receiver arrays with excellent noise and scalability are already starting to be manufactured at 100 GHz, but the advances in technology should make it possible to develop receiver modules with even greater operation frequency up to 200 GHz. A prototype heterodyne amplifier module has been developed for operation from 140 to 170 GHz using monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) low-noise InP high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifiers. The compact, scalable module is centered on the 150-GHz atmospheric window using components known to operate well at these frequencies. Arrays equipped with hundreds of these modules can be optimized for many different astrophysical measurement techniques, including spectroscopy and interferometry. This module is a heterodyne receiver module that is extremely compact, and makes use of 35-nm InP HEMT technology, and which has been shown to have excellent noise temperatures when cooled cryogenically to 30 K. This reduction in system noise over prior art has been demonstrated in commercial mixers (uncooled) at frequencies of 160-180 GHz. The module is expected to achieve a system noise temperature of 60 K when cooled. An MMIC amplifier module has been designed to demonstrate the feasibility of expanding heterodyne amplifier technology to the 140 to 170-GHz frequency range for astronomical observations. The miniaturization of many standard components and the refinement of RF interconnect technology have cleared the way to mass-production of heterodyne amplifier receivers, making it a feasible technology for many large-population arrays. This work furthers the recent research efforts in compact coherent receiver modules, including the development of the Q/U Imaging ExperimenT (QUIET) modules centered at 40 and 90 GHz, and the production of heterodyne module prototypes at 90 GHz.
Computer assisted design of a gallium arsenide solid state dc-to-RF converter with supportive fabrication data was investigated. Specific tasks performed include: computer program checkout; amplifier comparisons; computer design analysis of GaSa solar cells; and GaAs diode evaluation. Results obtained in the design and evaluation of transistors for the microwave space power system are presented.