Transmitter Module Design

Conclusion

This book has presented the first demonstration of a compact LTCC- based transmitter module with functional MMICs, which consist of VCO- mixer and PA implemented in a commercial GaAs MESFET technology. The up-converter MMIC demonstrated the conversion gain of 15 dB and IIP3 of 15 dBm. The PA MMIC exhibits the total gain of 31 dB and 1-dB compressed output power of 26 dBm. The compact module was made possible by embedding the filter and thereby reducing the size of the area required by 40 %compared to such a module implemented on a typical alumina substrate. The integrated strip line filter inserted between the mixer and the PA demonstrates a low insertion loss of 3 dB from 14 to 14.5 GHz. The transmitter module exhibits the total conversion gain of 41 dB and output power of 26 dBm incorporating wirebond and filter losses. Measured performance of the chipsets indicates that the output power spectral density at various data rates conforms to the spectral mask specification, thereby proving the applicability of the developed transmitter module in the Kuband satellite communication standard. This ultra-compact module is an attractive solution for low-cost Ku-band satellite outdoor units.