INTRACOM DEFENSE RF MODULE

Hardware Modules

INTRACOM DEFENSE RF MODULEThe Power Amplifier (PA) team of INTRACOM DEFENSE has the responsibility for the design and development of PAs in the areas of Wideband Tactical Communication Systems, Data Links and Short Range Communication Systems.

The team combines expertise and competences available from the different technological areas of the company (RF, Baseband, Power Supply and Mechanical design) and is dynamically developing through continuous training and involvement in turn key Research and Development projects, to offer quality solutions within schedule and cost objectives.

All the developed PAs are based on specifications that follow Military Standards for Environmental and EMI/EMC characteristics. 

The PA designs of INTRACOM DEFENSE operate in Class A or Class AB, providing very good linearity and high 1 dB compression points. The PAs are fully protected against a high VSWR by integrating either an isolator or a clever VSWR control loop. They exhibit nominal output power levels ranging from 2W to 100W covering various frequency ranges and military applications. Being unconditionally stable they provide excellent input and output return loss, very low harmonics & spurious signals and input overdrive protection circuits.

The PAs products have modular design, consisting of several stages. Mechanical structure results from an exhaustive thermal analysis in order to decide the heat sink size. Metal housings are milled from solid to the exact dimensions of the transistor or RF module, in order to achieve the best mechanical fit thus providing the best possible RF and thermal grounding. Optimized routing paths are also provided for the DC, RF cables and for DC-feedthroughs. All metal parts are protected against corrosion using surface passivation with high conductivity, thus increasing the reliability of the product.

The power amplifiers have state of the art power supply designs, using the latest technologies and materials, providing very high switching efficiencies. They have a number of control loops that continuously monitor all different RF stages, taking different actions to protect or operate the amplifier with reduced but safe power levels. Power supply circuits are an integral part of the system and thus designed together with the other sections. Power supply section is strategically placed within the modular PA, to ensure very high isolation and provide the shortest possible pathways for feeding the transistors or other sections. In this way high frequency resonances are avoided increasing the isolation and improving the EMI performance.

Technologies – Applications

INTRACOM DEFENSE follows closely technology evolutions in conjunction with the military market needs. In this direction the designs of the PAs are based on GaN, LDMOS, GaAs transistors. PA linearization techniques are also applied.

INTRACOM DEFENSE has the capabilities to design and manufacture PAs to customer specifications for the following application fields:  

  • Tactical Communication Systems
  • Small and high power radar systems from L to Ku band
  • Replacement of classical TWTA with solid state
  • Civil radars
  • Airborne (UAVs)
  • Electronic Warfare

Available products :

  • PA-40-L: 40 W (1dB compression point) Solid State L-Band High Power Amplifier
  • PA-65-L: 65 W (1dB compression point) Solid State L-Band High Power Amplifier
  • PA-80-S: 80 W (1dB compression point) Solid State S-Band High Power Amplifier
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