SBIR Phase I: High-efficiency Multi-carrier Ribbon-beam Amplifier for Wireless Communications

这项SBIR第一阶段的研究计划将展示一种创新的带状光束放大器（RBA），它将显著推进固态和真空电子射频（RF）放大技术的发展。目标是确定高效（56%）、宽带（1930-1990 MHz）和高功率（连续波工作时为100 W）的带状光束放大器的可行性。作为下一代射频放大器，RBA预计将适用于第三代（3G）无线通信以及新兴的第四代（4G）和超宽带（UWB）无线通信等未来无线通信平台。如果成功，该项目将导致商用部署的RBA产品克服现有固态多载波功率放大器（mpca）的限制，这些限制具有低效率，复杂和昂贵的线性化电路，以及狭窄的瞬时带宽（30 MHz）。所提出的技术将显著降低商用无线基站放大器的资本成本和运营成本。与目前的固态产品相比，效率提高了2到3倍，从而降低了放大器本身的初级功率使用成本；由于备用电源（如电池和备用发电机）在停电情况下所需的较低功率输出要求，降低了运营成本和资金成本；更小的电源；还有更小更便宜的冷却系统。

This SBIR Phase I research proposal will demonstrate an innovative Ribbon-Beam Amplifier (RBA) which significantly advances the state-of-the-art in solid-state and vacuum electronic Radio Frequency (RF) amplification. The goal is to determine the feasibility of a ribbon-beam amplifier that is highly efficient (56%), broadband (1930-1990 MHz), and high power (100 W in continuous-wave operation). As a next-generation RF amplifier, the RBA is expected to be applicable to third-generation (3G) wireless communications and future wireless communication platforms such as emerging fourth generation (4G) and ultra-wide-band (UWB) wireless communications. If successful, this project will lead to commercially deployable RBA products overcoming the limitations of existing solid-state multi-carrier power amplifiers (MPCAs) which have low efficiency, complex and expensive linearization circuits, and narrow instantaneous bandwidth (30 MHz).The proposed technology will significantly lower both the capital cost and operating cost of commercial wireless base station amplifiers. Using increases in efficiency of a factor of 2 to 3 over current solid state products provides for cost reduction in primary power usage by the amplifiers themselves; operating cost and capital cost reduction from lower power output requirements of backup power sources such as batteries and auxiliary power generators needed for power outage conditions; smaller power supplies; and smaller less expensive cooling systems.