Description
The objective of the activity is to design a compact L-band RF front-end for telecom applications which is based on a GaN Low NoiseAmplifier (LNA). A breadboard of a GaN microwave monolithic integrated circuit will be developed and tested. The RF front-end including the filtering function shall be modelled.Targeted Improvements: up to 30% mass and volume saving of the RF front-end (LNA and filtering) and 20 dB improvement of the LNA dynamic range in comparison to current technology. Description: Gallium Nitride semiconductor technology is widely employed to design highly efficient and high-power amplifiers. Recent work on Ka-band GaN has shown thatthis technology has also great potential for Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) applications. Noise figures comparable to standard LNA technology can be achieved whilst at the same time significantly improving the amplifier dynamic range. This allows to simplify, and in some cases even remove, the low-loss bulky front-end filters and replace them by small and more lossy filters located after the LNA.This activity will focus on on-board applications in L-band for mobile services and other narrow band applications. Due to the largelow loss filter sizes in L-band significant mass and volume savings are anticipated. A breadboard of a L-band Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) GaN LNA will be designed, manufactured and tested. The RF front-end including the filter function shall be designed to a level sufficient to demonstrate the performance and the predicted mass and volume savings. Footnote: On Delegation Request activities will only be initiated on the explicit request of at least one National Delegation.