JP2008147943A - Transmission and reception module device and driving method of transmission and reception module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmission and reception module device capable of reducing distortion of a transmission RF output pulse waveform by stabilizing drain voltage. <P>SOLUTION: The transmission and reception module device is provided with a control circuit 13 which alternately switches a first period of time for performing transmission and a second period of time for performing reception, performs pulse drain driving that applies drain voltage to a GaN amplifier 8 during transmission and disconnects the drain voltage from the GaN amplifier 8 during nontransmission when the first period of time is longer than a threshold (prescribed period of time), and performs pulse gate driving that applies a gate control signal to the GaN amplifier 8 during transmission when the first period of time is shorter than a threshold (prescribed period of time) and disconnects the gate control signal from the GaN amplifier 8 during nontransmission while keeping the drain voltage constant. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission / reception module mounted on a pulse radar device or the like, and particularly a transmission / reception module device equipped with a transmission / reception module for mounting a semiconductor element made of a GaN-based material together with a power supply and a control circuit, and a method for driving the transmission / reception module It is about.

  Conventionally, as a transmission / reception module mounted on a pulse radar device or the like, a transmission / reception module on which a semiconductor element made of GaAs (gallium arsenide) is mounted is used. As a driving method of the GaAs amplifier, a pulse gate driving method, that is, a driving method in which the drain voltage is kept constant and turned on / off by a gate control signal is generally used (for example, non-patent document). 1 and 2).

Introduction to Airborne Radar, George W. Stimson (p329-p334, p473-p477) Introduction to Radar Systems, Merrill I. Skolnik (p423-479)

  According to the above-described prior art, a transmission / reception module incorporating a GaAs amplifier has a low drain voltage and a small current due to restrictions on the withstand voltage of the GaAs element. Therefore, the transmission / reception module is relatively independent of the pulse width by the pulse gate driving method. The drain voltage can be easily stabilized.

  On the other hand, a transceiver module with a built-in GaN (gallium nitride) amplifier has a high GaN device withstand voltage and allows a large current to flow, so a high output is possible, but a large pulse current flows to the drain terminal. In order to stabilize the drain voltage when a sag voltage drop occurs, it is necessary to take measures such as inserting a capacitor bank having a large capacity on the drain power supply side. In particular, as the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal to be transmitted increases, the charge / discharge energy increases, so a capacitor bank having a large capacity is required, and improvement has been desired.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a transmission / reception module device and a transmission / reception module driving method capable of stabilizing drain voltage and reducing distortion of a transmission RF output pulse waveform. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a transmission / reception module apparatus according to the present invention is a transmission / reception module apparatus that transmits and receives signals while alternately switching between a first period for transmission and a second period for reception. When the first period is longer than a threshold value (predetermined period), the amplifier performs pulse drain driving for applying a drain voltage during transmission and cutting the drain voltage during non-transmission. When the first period is shorter than the threshold (predetermined period), the amplifier is pulse-gate driven to keep the drain voltage constant, apply a gate control signal during transmission, and disconnect the gate control signal during non-transmission. And a control circuit.

  Further, the transmission / reception module device according to the present invention includes a switching unit that switches a path of a transmission / reception signal according to a first period in which transmission is switched alternately and a second period in which reception is performed, and a shift that adjusts the phase of the transmission / reception signal. A phase shifter, an attenuator that adjusts the amplitude of a transmission / reception signal, a first amplifier that amplifies the transmission signal to a predetermined level, and a semiconductor element made of a GaN-based material are mounted, and the output signal of the first amplifier is a high power A transmission / reception module having a second amplifier for converting, a filter for removing an unnecessary wave signal of a reception signal, a low noise amplifier for performing blanking at the time of transmission and amplifying the reception signal to an appropriate level, and When the power source for supplying the drain voltage and the first period is longer than a threshold value (predetermined period), the drain voltage is set to the second amplifier during transmission. When the first period is shorter than a threshold value (predetermined period), the drain voltage is kept constant with respect to the second amplifier and the transmission is performed during transmission. And a control circuit for performing pulse gate driving for applying a gate control signal and cutting the gate control signal at the time of non-transmission.

  Furthermore, the transmission / reception module driving method according to the present invention is a transmission / reception module driving method for transmitting / receiving signals while alternately switching between a first period for transmission and a second period for reception. When the first period is longer than a threshold value (predetermined period) for the amplifier to be amplified, pulse drain driving is performed in which a drain voltage is applied during transmission and the drain voltage is disconnected during non-transmission. When it is shorter than a threshold value (predetermined period), the gate voltage is kept constant, the gate control signal is applied during transmission, and the gate control signal is cut off during non-transmission.

  When the first period is longer than the threshold (predetermined period), that is, when the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal to be transmitted is longer than the predetermined length, the drain voltage is applied during transmission and the drain voltage is set during non-transmission. By performing the pulse drain driving to cut off, the drain voltage is stabilized to reduce the deterioration of the device performance due to the distortion of the transmission RF output pulse waveform, and when the first period is shorter than the threshold (predetermined period), that is, When the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal to be transmitted is shorter than a predetermined length, pulse gate driving is performed to keep the drain voltage constant and apply the gate control signal during transmission and disconnect the gate control signal during non-transmission. Thus, the disadvantage of shortening the reception period is avoided.

  Embodiments of a transceiver module device and a transceiver module driving method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. For example, for a transmission / reception module with a built-in GaN amplifier mounted on a pulse radar device, a sag voltage drop occurs in the drain voltage due to a large pulsed current flowing through the drain terminal in the conventional pulse gate drive system. Causes transmission RF output pulse waveform distortion. The following embodiments are intended to prevent this. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a transceiver module device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the transmission / reception module device of the present embodiment includes a transmission / reception module 1, a power supply 12, and a control circuit 13. A portion surrounded by a dotted line in FIG.

  The transmission / reception module 1 includes switches 2, 3, and 6 that switch signal paths during transmission and reception, a phase shifter 4 that adjusts the phase of the transmission / reception signal, an attenuator 5 that adjusts the amplitude of the transmission / reception signal, A driver amplifier (first amplifier) 7 that amplifies a transmission signal to an appropriate level and an amplifier (second amplifier) that includes a semiconductor element (transistor) made of GaN and increases the output signal of the driver amplifier 7 ) 8, a circulator 9 that switches between transmission and reception to separate a transmission signal and a reception signal, a filter 10 that removes an unnecessary wave signal from the reception signal, and a blanking signal at the time of transmission and a reception signal at an appropriate level at the time of reception And a low noise amplifier 11 for amplification.

  The switches 2, 3 and 6 and the circulator 9 constitute switching means for switching transmission / reception of the transmission / reception module and switching of the path of the transmission / reception signal by a transmission / reception switching signal given from the host device. The power supply 12 supplies the drain voltage of the amplifier 8. The control circuit 13 generates an amplifier gate signal input to the amplifier 8 and a reception gate signal input to the low noise amplifier 11. The transmission / reception module device having such a configuration will be described as being mounted on a pulse radar device as an example of a host device.

  The amplifier 8 of the present embodiment mounts a semiconductor element made of GaN. However, not only GaN but also a GaN-based material can provide substantially the same effect. Here, the GaN-based material is a generic term for materials in which a part of the Ga composition is replaced with Al (aluminum) or In (indium).

  Next, the operation will be described. The transmission RF input signal inputted from the power feeding circuit (not shown) side at the time of transmission is appropriately switched at the time of transmission by the switch 2 and the switch 3, and the phase and amplitude are shifted by the phase shifter 4 and the attenuator 5. After each adjustment, the power is amplified by the amplifier 8 after being sent to the driver amplifier 7 via the switch 6 and amplified to the input level necessary for the amplifier 8. The amplifier 8 amplifies only when a gate bias is applied by an amplifier gate signal input from the control circuit 13, and does not amplify at other timings because it is pinched off. The high power signal is sent to an antenna (not shown) via the circulator 9.

  On the other hand, the received signal input from the antenna at the time of reception is sent to the filter 10 via the circulator 9 to remove unnecessary signals, and is amplified to an appropriate level by the low noise amplifier 11. The low noise amplifier 11 amplifies only when a gate bias is applied by the reception gate signal input from the control circuit 13, and does not amplify at other timings because it is pinched off. While the transmission RF pulse output signal is being output, the low-noise amplifier 11 is blanked by the reception gate signal in order to prevent the transmission RF pulse output signal from leaking into the reception system. Thereafter, the received signal is switched by the switch 3, the phase and amplitude are appropriately adjusted by the phase shifter 4 and the attenuator 5, and sent to the power feeding circuit side via the switch 6 and the switch 2.

  Here, the relationship between the various control signals and the transmission RF output pulse signal when the transmission / reception module 1 of FIG. 1 is driven by the conventional driving method will be described with reference to FIG. In the conventional gate pulse driving method, the drain voltage is kept constant, and a pulse gate signal synchronized with the transmission RF input pulse signal is applied to drive the amplifier 8.

  However, in the amplifier 8 using the GaN element, a large pulse current flows when a pulse gate signal is applied, so that a sag voltage drop occurs in the drain voltage as shown by the drain voltage waveform 15 in FIG. . As a result, the amplitude level of the transmission RF output pulse signal amplified by the amplifier 8 is attenuated toward the rear of the pulse in proportion to the drain voltage (waveform 18 in FIG. 2). This transmission RF output pulse signal is transmitted as it is from the antenna via the circulator 9.

  The distorted transmission RF output pulse waveform also distorts the echo signal from the target, which adversely affects the performance of the radar apparatus. In this phenomenon, the sag voltage drop becomes larger as the pulse width becomes longer, so that the adverse effect phenomenon becomes remarkable.

  Next, the relationship between various control signals and transmission RF output pulse signals when the transmission / reception module 1 of FIG. 1 is driven by the driving method of the present embodiment will be described. First, the case where the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal is long will be described with reference to FIG. When the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal is long, it is performed by a pulse drain driving method in which the drain voltage is applied at a timing synchronized with the transmission RF input pulse signal. Since the drain voltage of the GaN amplifier is considerably higher than that of the GaAs amplifier, the rise and fall times of the pulse drain voltage are lengthened as shown in the drain voltage waveform 21 of FIG. As shown, there is a disadvantage that the radar reception period is shortened. However, in this case, as long as the transmission RF output pulse signal is a long pulse and the pulse duty is not extremely high, the influence of the rise and fall times on the radar reception period is not a problem in general operation.

  Since the drain voltage only needs to be stabilized only during the period during which the transmission RF output pulse signal is output, it is easy to realize the drain voltage stabilization by introducing an auxiliary power circuit (not shown) in the power source 12 or the like. . Further, there is an advantage that the capacity of the capacitor bank can be reduced as compared with the conventional gate pulse driving method. By operating in this way, distortion of the transmission RF output pulse waveform output from the amplifier 8 can be suppressed.

  On the other hand, the relationship between various control signals and the transmission RF output pulse signal when the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal of this embodiment is short will be described with reference to FIG. When the pulse width of the transmission RF output pulse signal is short, the rate at which the rise and fall times of the pulse drain voltage enter the reception period increases, and the influence on the target detection performance of the pulse radar device increases. As shown in the amplifier gate signal waveform 27, the gate pulse driving method is employed to eliminate the influence of the rise and fall of the drain voltage and to ensure a sufficient reception period.

  As described above, since the magnitude of the sag voltage drop of the drain voltage is proportional to the pulse width, the drain voltage drop at the time of the short pulse is small, and as a result, the distortion of the transmission RF output pulse signal is also small, and the performance of the pulse radar device is deteriorated. Can be suppressed.

  The threshold for switching between the long pulse and the short pulse, that is, the threshold value for switching between the pulse drain drive system and the pulse gate drive system, is the capacitor bank capacity of the drain voltage supply power source 12 of the amplifier 8, the power supply drive capability, and the rise of the drain voltage. This can be determined by taking into account the reception gate shortening allowable period according to the down time.

  As described above, by using the pulse drain drive method and the pulse gate drive method in combination, the GaN amplifier drive method is appropriately changed according to the pulse width, so that the maximum and minimum pulse widths that can be used in the same transceiver module are increased. Can be provided, and the corresponding area of radar search and tracking can be expanded.

  The present invention is suitably applied to a transmission / reception module mounted on a pulse radar device or a phased array radar device.

It is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a transceiver module device concerning the present invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the various control signals at the time of driving the transmission / reception module of FIG. 1 with the conventional drive system, and a transmission RF output pulse signal. It is a figure which shows the case where the pulse width of a transmission RF output pulse signal is long among the relationship between the various control signals at the time of driving the transmission / reception module of FIG. 1 with the drive system which concerns on this invention, and a transmission RF output pulse signal. It is a figure which shows the case where the pulse width of a transmission RF output pulse signal is short among the relationship between the various control signals at the time of driving the transmission / reception module of FIG. 1 by the drive system which concerns on this invention, and a transmission RF output pulse signal.

Explanation of symbols

1 Transceiver module 2, 3, 6 Switch (switching means)
4 Phase shifter 5 Attenuator 7 Amplifier (first amplifier)
8 GaN amplifier (second amplifier)
9 Circulator (switching means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Filter 11 Low noise amplifier 12 Power supply 13 Control circuit 14 Transmission RF input pulse signal 15 Drain voltage 16 Amplifier gate signal 17 Transmission RF output pulse signal 18 Transmission RF output pulse signal 19 Reception gate signal 20 Transmission RF input pulse signal 21 Drain voltage 22 Amplifier gate signal 23 Transmission RF output pulse signal 24 Reception gate signal 25 Transmission RF input pulse signal 26 Drain voltage 27 Amplifier gate signal 28 Transmission RF output pulse signal 29 Reception gate signal

Claims (8)

In a transmission / reception module device that transmits and receives signals while alternately switching between a first period for transmission and a second period for reception,
An amplifier for amplifying the transmission wave;
When the first period is longer than a threshold, the amplifier is subjected to pulse drain driving that applies a drain voltage during transmission and disconnects the drain voltage during non-transmission, and when the first period is shorter than the threshold, A transmission / reception module device comprising: a control circuit that performs pulse gate driving for maintaining a drain voltage constant, applying a gate control signal during transmission, and cutting the gate control signal during non-transmission to the amplifier. The transceiver module device according to claim 1, wherein the amplifier includes a semiconductor element made of a GaN-based material. The transmission / reception module device according to claim 2, wherein the GaN-based material is GaN. The threshold value is determined from at least one of a capacitor bank capacity of a drain voltage supply power source of the amplifier, a power supply driving capability, and a reception gate shortening allowable period according to a drain voltage rising / falling time. 4. The transmission / reception module device according to any one of 1 to 3. Switching means for switching the path of the transmission / reception signal in accordance with a first period in which transmission is switched alternately and a second period in which reception is performed;
A phase shifter that adjusts the phase of transmitted and received signals,
An attenuator that adjusts the amplitude of transmitted and received signals,
A first amplifier for amplifying the transmission signal to a predetermined level;
A second amplifier which mounts a semiconductor element made of a GaN-based material and increases the output signal of the first amplifier;
A filter that removes unwanted wave signals from the received signal, and a transmission / reception module having a low-noise amplifier that applies blanking during transmission and amplifies the received signal to an appropriate level;
A power supply for supplying a drain voltage of the second amplifier;
When the first period is longer than a threshold value, pulse drain driving is performed on the second amplifier to apply a drain voltage during transmission and cut the drain voltage during non-transmission,
When the first period is shorter than a threshold value, the second amplifier is controlled to perform pulse gate driving that maintains a drain voltage constant, applies a gate control signal during transmission, and disconnects the gate control signal during non-transmission. And a transmission / reception module device. In a driving method of a transmission / reception module that transmits and receives signals while alternately switching between a first period for transmitting and a second period for receiving,
For an amplifier that amplifies the transmitted wave,
When the first period is longer than a threshold value, pulse drain driving is performed to apply a drain voltage during transmission and disconnect the drain voltage during non-transmission,
When the first period is shorter than a threshold value, the drain voltage is kept constant, and the gate control signal is applied during transmission and the gate control signal is disconnected during non-transmission. . The transmission / reception module driving method according to claim 6, wherein the amplifier is an amplifier on which a semiconductor element made of a GaN-based material is mounted. The threshold value is determined from at least one of a capacitor bank capacity of a drain voltage supply power source of the amplifier, a power supply driving capability, and a reception gate shortening allowable period depending on a drain voltage rising / falling time. Or a transmitting / receiving module driving method according to 7;

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