Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Drummond, Christopher
Language:	English
Published:	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2019
Subjects:	Electrical Engineering microwave amplifier satellite communications GaN solid-state
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1576068375266326

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin15760683752663262021-08-03T07:13:36Z Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications Drummond, Christopher Electrical Engineering microwave amplifier satellite communications GaN solid-state The United States launches over 20 space vehicles every year. Each vehicle has an important mission to which large amounts of money have been allocated in order to support the growth of the ever-changing country and world as we move into the future. Earth science data gathered by satellites is transmitted down to Earth, and probes and rovers are sent out into our solar system to gather data about our solar system which must be transmitted back as well since these vehicles are generally expected to remain out in space forever. Sensors and other data-gathering devices are more capable now than ever of generating huge amounts of data, and it must be transmitted back to Earth at high rates with few errors. The primary focus of the research performed here was to investigate the viability of Ka-band solid-state power amplifiers for use in future space programs as replacements for travelling-wave-tube amplifiers, as well as determining optimal design techniques to fit current flight-ready technology. The research was performed as part of an Internal Research and Development (IRAD) project for L3 Technologies Cincinnati Electronics (L3 CE hereafter), which is a world-leading space communications developer. Many gain lineups were designed and simulated so that the best one could be built into a prototype. Simulations for the circuitry and microwave structures were performed in AWR Microwave Office and the best design was built and tested. The amplifier prototype was built to maximize the power efficiency and transmit bandwidth so that high-rate modulated data could be transmitted without error and without consuming too much power or generating too much excessive heat to be managed by satellite systems. A battery of typical flight-readiness tests was performed on the prototype. Afterwards, analysis of the data gathered was performed in order to illuminate the discrepancies between the simulated data and the measured data. The research demonstrated that Ka-band solid-state power amplifiers are indeed viable replacements for travelling-wave-tube amplifiers for high-rate data transmission. The power amplifier produced more than 10 watts across the bandwidth of interest. The transmit bandwidth of the prototype exceeded 1.5 GHz at a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 27.1% which is enormously beneficial for the efficient transmission of huge amounts of data. With that bandwidth and efficiency (and improvements on them in the future), flight-ready hardware will be capable of transmitting data at rates far exceeding 1 Gbps. There is now a viable argument to be made by space communication companies about the benefits of using solid-state power amplifiers over travelling-wave-tube amplifier for very high data rate transmission. 2019 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1576068375266326 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1576068375266326 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Electrical Engineering microwave amplifier satellite communications GaN solid-state
spellingShingle	Electrical Engineering microwave amplifier satellite communications GaN solid-state Drummond, Christopher Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
author	Drummond, Christopher
author_facet	Drummond, Christopher
author_sort	Drummond, Christopher
title	Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
title_short	Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
title_full	Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
title_fullStr	Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
title_full_unstemmed	Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications
title_sort	viability of ka-band solid-state power amplifiers for high-rate data transmission in space communications
publisher	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate	2019
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1576068375266326
work_keys_str_mv	AT drummondchristopher viabilityofkabandsolidstatepoweramplifiersforhighratedatatransmissioninspacecommunications
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Viability of Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifiers For High-Rate Data Transmission In Space Communications

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