Blogs

Military forces have fought for control of land, sea, and air for centuries. Now, a different type of contest unfolds across the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike traditional combat zones, success here is measured not by territory gained, but by the ability to communicate, detect, and disrupt.

As military operations increasingly leverage space-based assets for surveillance and communications, both performance and reliability of RF and microwave products become defining factors in operational success.

A Competitive and Congested Environment

The NewSpace revolution is transforming satellite technology development and deployment. Satellite manufacturing companies have shown that commercial space ventures can deploy sophisticated satellite communications faster than ever before.
This new landscape requires:

The testing and characterization of wideband radio frequency (RF) converters present significant challenges, particularly for product designers and engineers working on Electronic Warfare (EW) and Satellite Communication (Satcom) systems. Inefficient or inadequate testing can lead to compromised system performance, increased development costs, and even jeopardize mission success.

Traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) have traditionally been used in high-power radar systems for meteorology, air traffic control, defense, and maritime services. But now, there is a new technology to consider: solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs). Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based microwave SSPAs that handle higher power densities, operate effectively at elevated temperatures, and can drive TWTs in high-power radar systems.

With failure not an option, the selection of the appropriate High Power Amplifier (HPA) for aerospace applications warrants consideration of several key factors. HPAs must be able to generate high power levels while maintaining efficiency and reliability, even in harsh environments.

RF and Microwave Mixers play a crucial role in altering signal frequencies within radio frequency (RF) and microwave communication systems. They are essential in various applications, including signal modulation, RF signal demodulation, and frequency conversion in up/down converters.

To optimize system performance, it’s important to understand their key performance metrics and why they matter. Among those are conversion loss and conversion gain.

The Role of a Mixer

The challenges in aerospace technology development are excellent fuel for innovation. For the ERZIA team, it was the strict standard for assembly processes, established by the European Space Agency (ESA), that generated a new method for solving the long-standing problem of QFN thermal cycling.

In a recent Tech Brief published by ERZIA, we explore the various advantages offered to microwave circuit and assembly designers by air cavity based, suspended substrate stripline filters (SSSFs).

There are several methods for making noise figure (NF) measurements of RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave low noise amplifiers (LNAs), each with a wide number of options, instruments, and techniques. In a recent Tech Brief, Erzia reviews how we came up with an approach using standard laboratory equipment that can easily be followed by trained personnel working at higher frequencies to obtain optimal NF data.

The traditional approach to delivering hardware to be installed in satellites and space probes is driven by extensive design, analysis, and testing phases, with long-term delivery times and budgets, which can be tens or hundreds of times bigger than their equivalent for commercial and terrestrial applications. These extensive deliveries and larger budgets are justified by the expectation of the hardware to survive and operate in the extremes of the space environment, without any possibility of reparation or replacement.