Reviw of Square Kilometre Array LNA Technologies and Topologies
Saswata BhaumikProceedings of Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(SKADS 2009)
Sign up for access to the world's latest research
checkGet notified about relevant papers
checkSave papers to use in your research
checkJoin the discussion with peers
checkTrack your impact
Abstract
The paper concentrates on summarizing significant worldwide developments in the Low Noise Amplifier domain for the Square Kilometre Array telescope. Several technologies, design topologies and noise measurement techniques of LNAs for SKA have been proposed and analysed since the commencement of the project in 2000. Transistor technologies including GaAs mHEMT, GaAs pHEMT, SiGe HBT, CMOS, InP pHEMT have been extensively studied and characterised at multiple institutes around the world. The proposed site of SKA is either Western Australia or South Africa. Both sites experience a very significant physical temperature variation even over a 24 hour period. Hence temperature dependant studies on the DC, small signal and noise characteristics of different transistors have been carried out. Cryogenic characterisation down to 15K physical temperature of certain types of transistor technologies has also been performed. Both hybrid and MMIC LNAs based on the above technologies have been designed and measured. Depending on the antenna topology and impedance, both single ended and differential LNAs with various input impedances have been explored. Performance of LNA integrated with the antenna has been simulated and the effect of the variation of antenna impedance on the overall performance of the before mentioned components have been studied. Design, development and comprehensive analysis of measured data of both variations of LNA and their pros and cons have been portrayed in this paper. Due to system architecture requirements, differential input-single ended output LNA configuration has been designed and measured. In this paper their advantages, disadvantages and their sources will be identified. Some interesting theories and techniques of differential noise measurements have been proposed during SKA project and will also be explained as part of this paper.
Related papers
Verification of Differential Low Noise Amplifier Measurement
Proceedings of Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(SKADS 2009), 2011
Differential input to single ended output Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) designs and fabrications are required for the front end of 2-PAD project in SKADS. The differential input for these LNAs are essential to match the differential output of the Bunny Ear Comb-line Antenna (BECA) connected before these LNAs. A low noise amplifier has been designed, fabricated and tested for 2-PAD project. Detailed explanation of this designed amplifier and its results will be described. A commercially available amplifier was used to devise a robust test plan to measure s-parameter responses and noise of various topologies of LNA designs for 2-PAD LNAs. This commercially available amplifier is ideal for this study as it allows us to use it in three different modes of operation including single ended input to differential output, differential input to differential output and differential input to single ended output. Therefore the later mode of operation is our interest. S-parameter response tests were carried out for the differential input to differential output and differential input to single ended output modes of this amplifier using a 4 port vector network analyzer. A noise measurement model for differential amplifiers was proposed by the author in more detail in Bhaumik et al. (2009). The commercially available amplifier and the designed LNAs operate in the same frequency range as well as having differential input and single ended output feature; therefore these tests and method of measurements are particularly useful for the reason that can be utilized in measuring the low noise amplifiers designed for 2-PAD project. As a result, the procedure used for measuring the differential input to single ended output operation mode of the commercially available amplifier would verify the precision and suitability of this method for the designed LNAs.
Sub-0.6 dB NF Low Power Differential to Single-Ended MMIC LNA Designs for the SKA using InGaAs/InAlAs/InP pHEMTs
Proceedings of Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(SKADS 2009), 2011
The fundamental questions to be addressed by the Square Kilometre Array remain relevant today, despite the passage of time since the SKA Science book was published over four years ago. The answer to the questions of Dark Energy, Cosmic Magnetism, Gravitation in Extreme Fields, and the Epoch of Reionisation, all require observational statistics on a very large scale. As a result, the SKA is being designed mainly as a large survey machine. Survey requirements place specific demands on the technical definition of the SKA, and the cost of implementation puts restrictions on the ultimate capability of the SKA. At the same time, we must not trade-off too much of the versatility of the SKA because, as has been seen many times in the past, it is the unexpected discoveries which turn out to be the most important contribution of an instrument.
Design of a wideband CMOS LNA for low frequency band SKA application
2015
This paper presents the design of a wideband (50-350 MHz) low noise amplifier (LNA), employing a bandwidth constrained noise figure optimization technique targeted for a low frequency band Square Kilometer Array radio telescope. In this application, noise figure and power consumption optimization is crucial. In fact, the LNA optimization and analysis considers the effect of the induced gate noise in the MOS devices. The LNA is designed in a standard 0.18 µm CMOS process and provides a forward gain higher than 30 dB across the whole bandwidth, with a noise figure of less than 0.65 dB while consuming 72 mW from a 1.5 V supply.
Broadband active differential array for the mid-frequency SKA band
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, 2014
This paper presents the design and characterization process of an active array demonstrator for the mid-frequency range (i.e., 300 MHz-1000 MHz) of the future Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. This demonstrator, called FIDA3 (FG-IGN: Fundacion General Instituto Geografico Nacional-Differential Active Antenna Array), is part of the Spanish contribution for the SKA project. The main advantages provided by this design include the use of a dielectricfree structure, and the use of a fully-differential receiver in which differential low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are directly connected to the balanced tapered-slot antennas (TSAs). First, the radiating structure and the differential low-noise amplifiers were separately designed and measured, obtaining good results (antenna elements with low voltage standingwave ratios, array scanning capabilities up to 45°, and noise temperatures better than 52 K with low-noise amplifiers at room temperature). The potential problems due to the differential nature of the proposed solution are discussed, so some effective methods to overcome such limitations are proposed. Second, the complete active antenna array receiving system was assembled, and a 1 m 2 active antenna array tile was characterized.
Realization and Measurement of High Frequency Low Noise Amplifier for Satellite Applications
International Journal of Engineering Development and Research, 2014
Low Noise Amplifier is an electronic amplifier used to amplify possibly very weak signals. It is usually located very close to the detection device to reduce This active antenna arrangement is frequently used in microwave systems like GPS, because coaxial cable feedline is very lossy at microwave frequencies. An LNA is a key component which is placed at the frontend of the radio receiver circuit. Using an LNA, the effect of noise from subsequent stages of the receive chain is reduced by the gain of the LNA, while the noise of the LNA itself is injected directly into the received signal. Thus, it is necessary for an LNA to boost the desired signal power while adding as little noise and distortion as possible, so that the retrieval of this signal is possible in the later stages in the system. For low noise, the amplifier needs to have a high amplification in its first stage. The four most important parameters in LNA design are: gain, noise figure and impedance matching. The design for LNA is based mainly upon the S-parameters of a transistor.
Wide-band Hybrid Single-Ended and Differential LNA Designs Using GaAs pHEMTs and Comparison with In-house InP pHEMT Based LNA Design
Proceedings of Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(SKADS 2009)
The fundamental questions to be addressed by the Square Kilometre Array remain relevant today, despite the passage of time since the SKA Science book was published over four years ago. The answer to the questions of Dark Energy, Cosmic Magnetism, Gravitation in Extreme Fields, and the Epoch of Reionisation, all require observational statistics on a very large scale. As a result, the SKA is being designed mainly as a large survey machine. Survey requirements place specific demands on the technical definition of the SKA, and the cost of implementation puts restrictions on the ultimate capability of the SKA. At the same time, we must not trade-off too much of the versatility of the SKA because, as has been seen many times in the past, it is the unexpected discoveries which turn out to be the most important contribution of an instrument.
Low Frequency End Performance of a Symmetrical Configuration Antenna for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
The Square Kilometre Array: An Engineering …, 2005
The selection of an SKA site requires comprehensive characterization of the radio-frequency environment at candidate locations. While the SKA will feature advanced radio-frequency interference (RFI) mitigation, the science goals also demand a radio-quiet setting. As part of an international engineering collaboration, a specialist team from The Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (ASTRON) is working with local engineers in Argentina, Australia, China and South Africa to investigate candidate sites. The picture on the cover shows the facility established by ASTRON and South African engineers at the remote K3 candidate site, in the Karoo wilderness of South Africa. Similar camps will be set-up for measurements in the other countries during 2005. Photo credit:
Noise-from a receiver perspective
Proceedings of the 34th Annual Convention and …, 2005
His research and thesis was on the analysis and design of H-field antennas for low-frequency applications. Mr. Pelgrum started his PhD at Delft University of Technology in 2002. His PhD study, partly financed by The Gauss Research Foundation, involves studying the theoretical and practical performance and design of low-frequency radio navigation systems in various environments. Wouter Pelgrum works part-time for Reelektronika B.V. since 2001 on low frequency antennas as also on the development and implementation of algorithms for Reelektronika's integrated GPS-Loran-C 'LORADD' receiver. During the second half of 2005, Mr. Pelgrum works at the Avionics Engineering Department of Ohio University on ASF measurements and analysis and on the collection and processing of LF-noise data.
A 5 GHz LNA for a Radio-Astronomy Experiment
Arxiv preprint arXiv: …, 2011
The paper describes the project, implementation and test of a C-band (5GHz) Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) using new low noise Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistors (pHEMTS) from Avago. The amplifier was developed to be used as a cost effective solution in a receiver chain for Galactic Emission Mapping (GEM-P) project in Portugal with the objective of finding affordable solutions not requiring strong cryogenic operation, as is the case of massive projects like the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), in Earth Sensing projects and other niches like microwave reflectometry. The particular application and amplifier requirements are first introduced. Several commercially available low noise devices were selected and the noise performance simulated. An ultra-low noise pHEMT was used for an implementation that achieved a Noise Figure of 0.6 dB with 13 dB gain at 5 GHz. The design, simulation and measured results of the prototype are presented and discussed.
Measuring Noise Temperatures of Phased-Array Antennas for Astronomy at CSIRO
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2014
We describe the development of a noise-temperature testing capability for phased-array antennas operating in receive mode from 0.7 GHz to 1.8 GHz. Sampled voltages from each array port were recorded digitally as the zenith-pointing array under test was presented with three scenes: (1) a large microwave absorber at ambient temperature, (2) the unobstructed radio sky, and (3) broadband noise transmitted from a reference antenna centred over and pointed at the array under test. The recorded voltages were processed in software to calculate the beam equivalent noise temperature for a maximum signal-to-noise ratio beam steered at the zenith. We introduced the reference-antenna measurement to make noise measurements with reproducible, well-defined beams directed at the zenith and thereby at the centre of the absorber target. We applied a detailed model of cosmic and atmospheric contributions to the radio sky emission that we used as a noisetemperature reference. We also present a comprehensive analysis of measurement uncertainty including random and systematic effects. The key systematic effect was due to uncertainty in the beamformed antenna pattern and how efficiently it illuminates the absorber load. We achieved a combined uncertainty as low as 4 K for a 40 K measurement of beam equivalent noise temperature. The measurement and analysis techniques described in this paper were pursued to support noise-performance verification of prototype phased-array feeds for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope.
Related topics
Related papers
Broadband Noise System Allows Measurements According to Both Standard Methods
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2000
A system that completely characterizes the noise temperature of a linear two-port over the 100-MHz-2.9-GHz band is presented. The system is based on a "long" transmission line and frequency variation. It allows measurements through the classical y-factor method or the more recent "cold" method. When applying the y-factor method, the system uses a broadband mismatched noise source and an autocalibration feature. To check the accuracy, a passive device is measured with its noise parameters computed from the S-parameters. The results produced by both methods are compared together and with respect to the values derived from the S-parameters. Index Terms-Microwave measurements, noise measurements. I. INTRODUCTION T HE SYSTEM we present is intended to characterize the noise of linear two-ports like transistors or amplifiers. It should be viewed as an alternative hardware solution replacing tuners. Its advantages are as follows. 1) The hardware has no mechanical moving pieces, with the exception of a switch, which ensures good repeatability. 2) The system is very broadband (relative bandwidth of 29/1 and potentially larger). 3) The hardware is simple and cheap; it can be built by almost any laboratory. An interesting feature is that measurements according to both standard procedures are possible: the classical y-factor method and the more recent "cold" or Adamson method, which we will call hereafter the z-factor method. II. ABOUT THE y-AND z-FACTOR METHODS The y-factor method [1] is the classical method for measuring the noise temperature of a linear two-port as a function of the source reflection factor. Its fundamental characteristic is that all measurements are made with noise sources. The matched measurement is straightforward, as commercial noise sources are quasi-matched devices. However, to completely characterize the noise, at least three mismatched measurements are also needed. They are generally made by cascading the noise source with a reactive network (typically a tuner) that creates nonzero reflection factors. The parasitic Manuscript
SKA antenna systems; outlook for non-astronomy applications
International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 2011
The globally endorsed Square Kilometre Array project primarily aims to advance high sensitivity radio astronomy using a distributed collection of radio telescope stations spiraling outward from the core along three to five arms out to 3000km. This planned highly sensitive instrument covering a frequency range from 70MHz up to 10GHz will be used as wideband, high resolution, wide observing field
Low cost low noise phased-array feeding systems for SKA pathfinders
2009 13th International Symposium on Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics and the Canadian Radio Science Meeting, 2009
Developments in radio astronomy instrumentation drive the need for lower cost front-ends due to the large number of antennas and low noise amplifiers needed. This paper describes cost reduction techniques for the realization of antennas and low noise amplifiers in combination with a noise budget calculation for array systems in the absence of cryogenic cooling.
Analysis of C-band spaceborne scatterometer thermal noise
Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, Coastal Waters, and Large Water Regions 2014, 2014
A scatterometer is a radar designed to measure the backscattering coefficient of distributed targets. In order to compute the backscatter from the received power, the scatterometer measures also the thermal noise power. This noise signal is composed of two components, the receiver thermal noise and the viewed ground radiance. The first component is instrument dependent and hence independent of the target and viewing geometry. The second component is target and viewing geometry dependent, it is proportional to the ground target brightness temperature. In this paper the noise signal measured by C-band scatterometers on-board ERS-2 and Metop-A satellites is analyzed. It was found that the noise signal carries valuable geophysical information, which is worth to be exploited. It is shown that the noise signal varies spatially, temporally and with viewing geometry. Thus, different targets (ocean, sea ice, land) could be easily identified. A comparison was carried out between the scatterometer noise and AMSR-E radiometer brightness temperature and high correlation was found. The noise signal processing (mainly noise subtraction) is discussed, including the assessment of the Noise Equivalent Sigma Zero and the Signal-to-noise ratio. This analysis leads to a better understanding of the noise signal and its impact on the backscatter processing.
Noise Performance of a Phased-Array Feed with CMOS Low-Noise Amplifiers
IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 2016
The University of Calgary and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada are developing a low-noise ambient-temperature phased-array demonstrator for possible use in the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope. In December 2014 NRC made noise measurements of the Advanced Focal Array Demonstrator (AFAD) equipped with CMOS low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) designed by the University of Calgary. The LNAs were specifically designed for the antenna array operating in the range from 0.7 to 1.5 GHz. Array beam-equivalent noise measurements, using an ambient load as a hot load and the sky as a cold load, show array beam-equivalent noise temperatures as low as 20 K.
Integrated Active Antenna Noise Figure Characterization Using a Cryogenic Anechoic Noise Source
31st European Microwave Conference, 2001, 2001
On-wafer noise-parameter measurements at w -band
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2003
Effect of gain and phase errors on SKA1-low imaging quality from 50-600 MHz
2014
Simulations of SKA1-low were performed to estimate the noise level in images produced by the telescope over a frequency range 50-600 MHz, which extends the 50-350 MHz range of the current baseline design. The root-mean-square (RMS) deviation between images produced by an ideal, error-free SKA1-low and those produced by SKA1-low with varying levels of uncorrelated gain and phase errors was simulated. The residual in-field and sidelobe noise levels were assessed. It was found that the RMS deviations decreased as the frequency increased. The residual sidelobe noise decreased by a factor of ∼ 5 from 50 to 100 MHz, and continued to decrease at higher frequencies, attributable to wider strong sidelobes and brighter sources at lower frequencies. The thermal noise limit is found to range between ∼ 10 − 0.3 µJy and is reached after ∼ 100 − 100 000 hrs integration, depending on observation frequency, with the shortest integration time required at ∼ 100 MHz. I. INTRODUCTION The SKA low frequency aperture array, SKA1-low, is proposed to cover the frequency range 50-350 MHz. At the lower end of the frequency band, images are created with relatively
FIDA3: a novel active array for the mid-SKA
Proceedings of Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array — PoS(SKADS 2009)
This paper presents an active array demonstrator for the mid-frequency range (i.e.: from 300 MHz to 1000 MHz) of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). We describe the design process of FIDA 3 (FG-IGN Differential Active Antenna Array), which is the FG-IGN contribution for the task DS4-T4 of the SKADS project. The main advantages provided by this design include the use of a dielectric-free structure, and the use of differential amplifiers directly connected to the feeding lines of the antennas. The array has been optimized in order to exhibit well active impedance matching properties in the band of interest. On the other hand, the differential low noise amplifiers are designed in order to obtain a very low noise temperature for such antenna impedance. A 1 m 2 array tile has been manufactured, and both the antenna impedance and the amplifier noise performance have been measured. Thus, the radiating structure provides scanning capabilities up to ±45 deg with acceptable impedance matching. With respect to the amplifiers, the measured noise temperature is better than 40 K.
Integrated calibration noise coupler for room temperature SKA band 1 feed system
2017 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting, 2017
This paper presents design of a novel coupler for the injection of calibration signal into the RF path of the SKA Band 1 quad-ridged flared horn, covering frequencies from 350 − 1050 MHz. The coupler is integrated in the feed horn and provides a coupling factor of −35 dB. The calibration signal is injected before the first amplification stage, without any degradation in the noise performance of the room temperature system. The design uses a mode suppression ring to damp higher order modes leaking out of the horn aperture.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.