JPH11340755A - Microwave module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microwave module with excellent cooling efficiency improving the efficiency of power supply and stably supplying power to a microwave high power amplifier. SOLUTION: This microwave module is provided with a DC/DC converter power source circuit 14 arranged near the microwave high power amplifiers 1 (1-1-1-3) and supplying a power supply voltage to the respective microwave high power amplifiers 1 and is further provided with a pair of module cases 4 arranged back to back for housing the plural microwave high power amplifiers 1 and a cooling plate 6 interposed between a pair of the module cases 4 arranged back to back. The thickness of a pair of the module cases arranged back to back while interposing the cooling plate is made the same as the thickness of the DC/DC converter power source circuit 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microwave module used in a microwave band phased array antenna or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 10 and 11 show, for example, Transmit / Recei.
ve Module Technorogy for X-Band Active Array Radar
DAVID N. McQUIDDY et al. (PRDCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE VO
L. 79, No. 3. MARCH 1991) is a block diagram and a configuration diagram of a conventional microwave module. In these figures, 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 are microwave high power amplifiers, 2 is an RF board, 3 is a power supply wiring board, 4 is a module case, 5 is a capacitor bank circuit, and 6 is A cooling plate, P1 is an antenna RF signal terminal, P2 is a power supply system RF signal terminal, P3 is a drain power terminal, P4 is a pulse drive signal terminal, and P5 is a gate power terminal.

[0003] The microwave high power amplifier 1 comprises an RF board 2
And is mounted on the module case 4 together with the power supply wiring board 3. The module case 4 is in contact with the cooling plate 6. The connection of the microwave high power amplifier 1 is as shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 11, 7 is a microwave FET, 8 is an input matching circuit, 9 is an output matching circuit, and 10 is a gate bias circuit. Power supply wiring board 3
, A drain power supply wiring board 3-a, a gate power supply wiring board 3-b, and a pulse power supply wiring board 3-c.

Next, an outline of the operation of the microwave module will be described with reference to the configuration of FIG. 10 and the circuit of FIG. The RF signal applied from the power supply system RF signal terminal P2 is applied to the microwave high power amplifier 1-1 and amplified, and then further amplified to higher power by the microwave high power amplifiers 1-2 and 1-3. Then, the antenna RF signal terminal P1
Output from At this time, power is supplied to the microwave high power amplifier 1 via the power supply wiring board 3 and the capacitor bank circuit 5. Further, the microwave FET 7 and the module case 4 of the microwave high power amplifier 1 are in contact with the cooling plate 6, and the coolant flows in the cooling plate 6, and the heat generated by the microwave high power amplifier 1 is The heat is wasted from the cooling plate 6 to the cooling liquid via the multilayer board 2 and the module case 4.

[0005]

Since the conventional microwave module is constructed as described above, it has the following problems. (1) The voltage applied to the microwave high power amplifier 1 is usually about 10 V, and when amplifying high power, when this voltage is applied as the power supply voltage of the microwave module, the amount of current increases.

(2) In the case of a microwave module in which a plurality of microwave high-power amplifiers 1 are connected in series in a plurality of stages, the microwave high-power amplifier 1-3 disposed near the antenna RF signal terminal P1 consumes a large amount of amplified power. The current increases. However, the arrangement location is the power supply system RF signal terminal P
2 is located far away. On the other hand, since the power is supplied from the power supply system RF signal terminal P2 side, the impedance of the power supply line supplied to the microwave high power amplifier having a large amplified power becomes high, and a large current flows through the high power amplifier. The drop becomes large, and the output and efficiency of the microwave high power amplifier decrease.

(3) If the impedance of the power supply wiring is high during the pulse operation of the microwave high power amplifier 1, the voltage fluctuation due to the load fluctuation becomes large, the operation of the microwave high power amplifier 1 becomes unstable, and the microwave high power amplifier 1 becomes unstable. If the breakdown voltage exceeds 1, the microwave high power amplifier will be damaged. (4) The amount of heat generated by the microwave high power amplifier 1 increases as the amplification power increases, the FET temperature increases, and the output and efficiency decrease. (5) When an array antenna is configured using a microwave module, the size of the power supply circuit is increased because the power supply circuit is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The power supply voltage to be supplied is increased, the power supply current is reduced, the power supply efficiency is increased, and the microwave power is increased. An object of the present invention is to obtain a microwave module capable of stably supplying power to a power amplifier. Furthermore, it is another object of the present invention to provide a microwave module which can realize downsizing of a microwave module having excellent cooling efficiency and microwave characteristics and is suitable for making an array antenna small.

[0009]

A microwave module according to the present invention is a microwave module having a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers, the microwave module being disposed close to the plurality of microwave high power amplifiers and being connected to each of the microwave high power amplifiers. And a DC-DC converter power supply circuit for supplying a power supply voltage to the power supply.

In addition, the apparatus further comprises a pair of module cases accommodating the plurality of microwave high power amplifiers and arranged back to back, and a cooling plate interposed between the pair of module cases arranged back to back. The thickness of a pair of module cases arranged back to back with a cooling plate interposed therebetween is made equal to the thickness of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit.

The DC-DC converter power supply circuit includes a MOSFET and a DC-DC converter control circuit. The MOSFET is provided near the microwave high power amplifier and connected to the DC-DC converter control circuit. Are connected by a power supply bus bar.

Also, the microwave high power amplifier has a microwave FET, and the microwave FET
It is characterized in that it is mounted on the same substrate as the MOSFET of the C-DC converter power supply circuit.

A high-speed drive circuit is provided in addition to the DC-DC converter control circuit of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit, and the microwave high power amplifier has a bias circuit for supplying a gate voltage to the gate of the microwave FET. A pulse drive signal supplied from a pulse drive signal terminal is supplied to the high-speed drive circuit and the bias circuit.

Further, a delay circuit is provided in a path for supplying the pulse drive signal to a bias circuit of the microwave high power amplifier.

The power supply bus bar is arranged below the substrate, is connected to a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers using through holes, and has a shape that increases in thickness as approaching the DC-DC converter power circuit. It is characterized by having done.

Further, the cooling plate has a trapezoidal cross section, and has a structure in which the antenna output side is thickened and the power supply input side is thinned to mount and fix two module cases back to back. High coolant flow rate,
The power supply input side cooling flow rate is reduced.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 1 and 2 are a configuration diagram and a connection diagram showing a microwave module according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In these figures, 1-
1, 1-2, 1-3, 1 is a microwave high power amplifier, 4 is a module case, 6 is a cooling plate, 7 is a microwave FET, 8 is an input matching circuit, 9 is an output matching circuit,
0 is a bias circuit, 11 is a multilayer board, 12 is a multilayer board 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a through hole, 13 denotes a power supply busbar, 1
4 is a DC-DC converter power supply circuit, 15-1, 15-
15 is a MOSFET, 16 is a DC-DC converter control circuit, 17 is a high-speed drive circuit, P1 is an antenna RF signal terminal, P2 is a power supply system RF signal terminal, P3 is a drain power supply terminal, and P4 is a pulse drive signal terminal. , P5 are gate power supply terminals.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 are provided on a multilayer substrate 1.
1 and is connected to a DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14 through a power supply bus bar 13 through a through hole 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of module cases 4 are arranged back to back, and are in contact with the cooling plate 6. Further, the thickness of the pair of module cases 4 with the cooling plate 6 interposed therebetween is configured to be substantially the same as that of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14.

The microwave high power amplifier 1 comprises a microwave FET 7, an input matching circuit 8, an output matching circuit 9, and a bias circuit 10, as shown in the connection diagram of FIG.
The drain terminal of the microwave FET 7 is connected to a DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14 via a power supply bus bar 13. The DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14 includes:
It is composed of MOSFETs 15-1 and 15-2 and a DC-DC converter control circuit 16. Further, a high-speed drive circuit 17 is connected as shown in FIG. 2 to a pulse drive signal applied from the outside.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, after a power supply voltage applied from a drain power supply terminal P3 is converted into a low voltage by a DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14, the microwave high power amplifier 1- 1,
1-2 and 1-3. Power supply system RF signal terminal P2
Is input to the microwave high power amplifier 1-1, and the microwave high power amplifier 1
After being amplified by -1, the microwave high power amplifier 1-2,
The signal is further amplified at 1-3 and output from the antenna RF signal terminal P1. At that time, heat generated in the microwave high power amplifier 1 is wasted to the cooling plate 6 via the multilayer substrate 11 and the module case 4.

The detailed operation of each unit in FIG. 2 is as follows. DC-DC power supply circuit 1 from drain power supply terminal P3
4 is converted to a low voltage by the DC-DC converter control circuit 16 and the MOSFETs 15-1 and 15-2 and applied to the drain terminal of the microwave high power amplifier 1. Microwave high power amplifier 1
Is input to the gate of the microwave FET 7 and amplified, and then impedance-matched and output by the output matching circuit 9.

A bias circuit 10 is connected to the gate of the microwave FET 7, and the bias circuit 10 is gated by a gate voltage applied from a gate power supply terminal P5 and a pulse drive signal applied from a pulse drive signal terminal P4. ON / OFF of microwave FET7 by controlling voltage
Perform control. Further, the pulse drive signal is supplied to the high-speed drive circuit 1
7 and operates in parallel with the DC-DC converter control circuit 16 to control the voltage fluctuation at a high speed in response to the pulse operation, so that the drain voltage of the microwave FET 7 fluctuates during the pulse operation and is always constant. Voltage.

By configuring the microwave module in this manner, the DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14 is brought close to the microwave high power amplifier 1, and the power supply current is increased by increasing the drain power supply voltage supplied to the microwave high power amplifier 1. It acts to increase the efficiency of power supply. The high-speed drive circuit 17 acts to suppress the voltage fluctuation at the drain terminal of the microwave FET 7 when the microwave high power amplifier 1 is pulse-driven.

That is, according to the first embodiment, a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers are mounted on a multilayer board instead of the conventional RF board, and the drain power supply terminal of the microwave FET is connected to the power supply bus bar through the through hole. Connect and D
Since the power supply circuit is configured by connecting to the power supply circuit constituted by the C-DC converter using the power supply bus bar instead of the power supply wiring, the multi-layer substrate and the through-hole can connect the power supply circuit of the microwave high power amplifier to the power supply bus bar over a short distance. The power supply busbars act to connect these wires to the DC-DC converter power supply with low impedance. Further, in the DC-DC converter, the power supplied from the outside at a high voltage and a low current is converted into an operating voltage of the microwave high power amplifier and supplied to the power supply bus bar.

Also, the cooling plate is arranged so that the two module cases are back to back, and the thickness is the same as that of the power supply circuit constituted by the DC-DC converter.
The size of the array antenna formed by using a large number of these microwave modules is reduced, and the power supply of the array antenna acts so as to be distributed to each microwave module.

Further, a drive circuit portion of a DC-DC converter power supply circuit and a MOSFET which is an output circuit are separately arranged, and a MOSFET is arranged near a microwave high power amplifier to constitute these circuits and a DC-DC converter. By connecting the control circuit of the converter with the power supply busbar, the MOSFET is placed near the microwave high power amplifier, and the microwave FET operates in a pulsed manner. It acts to reduce fluctuations.

Further, the MOSFET is configured as a microwave high power amplifier by configuring and integrating the MOSFET forming the DC-DC converter power supply circuit and the microwave FET configuring the microwave high power amplifier on the same GaAs substrate. It can be integrated on a GaAs substrate as an MMIC circuit and acts to increase the switching speed of the DC-DC converter power supply to enable high-speed operation.

Further, a high-speed drive circuit is provided in parallel with the control circuit of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit, and a pulse operation signal of the microwave high-power amplifier is inputted and the microwave high-power amplifier is operated in synchronization with the high-frequency drive circuit. It acts to correct a voltage change due to a load change due to the pulse operation of the power amplifier.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 shows a configuration block diagram of the second embodiment. 3, the same parts as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. As a new code, reference numeral 18 denotes a delay circuit, which is applied from a pulse drive signal terminal P4 to respond to a higher-speed pulse drive signal.
A pulse drive signal to be applied to the oscilloscope for a predetermined time (high-speed drive circuit 1
(Control time of No. 7) to eliminate the time delay of the voltage fluctuation correction. Operations other than the above are the same as those in the first embodiment.

With this configuration, it is possible to correct the time delay of the voltage control of the high-speed drive circuit 17, and to operate to make the drain voltage of the microwave FET constant during the Hals operation.

That is, when the pulse operation signal is applied to the bias circuit of the microwave high power amplifier, the pulse operation signal is applied to the bias circuit by delaying the pulse operation signal by a delay circuit for a time equal to the delay time of the high-speed drive circuit, and the microwave high power amplifier is operated. The configuration in which the microwave FET is configured to be 0 N / OFF has an effect of correcting a load change and eliminating a time difference.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram of the third embodiment. In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a power supply bus bar 13-2 is provided between the MOSFET 15 and the DC-DC converter control circuit 16.

With this configuration, the power supply is D
It acts to reduce the voltage drop between the C-DC converter control circuit 16 and the MOSFET 15 to reduce the fluctuation of the drain voltage of the microwave FET 7 during the pulse operation.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a power supply bus bar 13-2 is provided between the MOSFET 15 and the DC-DC converter control circuit 16,
Further, a delay circuit 18 is provided.

With such a configuration, the power supply is DC-DC
By reducing the voltage drop between the converter control circuit 16 and the MOSFET 15, the time delay of the voltage control by the high-speed drive circuit 17 is corrected more accurately.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of the fifth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the microwave FET 7 and the MOSFET 15 are formed on the same GaAs substrate when the microwave high power amplifier 1 is formed.

With this configuration, the MOSFET 15
, And the switching speed of the DC-DC converter power supply is increased to enable high-speed operation. Further, since the distance between the microwave FET 7 and the MOSFET 15 is reduced, the voltage drop is also reduced.

Embodiment 6 FIG. FIG. 7 shows a configuration diagram of the sixth embodiment. In the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the microwave FET 7, the MOSFET 15, the input matching circuit 8, the output matching circuit 9, the bias circuit 10, and the delay circuit 18 are provided on the same GaAs substrate, and the microwave high power amplifier 1 It is what constituted.

With such a configuration, the time delay of the pulse drive signal can be more accurately corrected, and the microwave high power amplifier can be configured in a small size.
The length of the power supply bus bar 13 can be reduced, and the voltage drop can be reduced.

Embodiment 7 FIG. 8 shows a configuration diagram of the seventh embodiment. In the seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the thickness of the power supply bus bar 13 is increased in accordance with the amount of drain current of the microwave high-power amplifier 1 flowing through the power supply bus bar 13 as it approaches the power supply side of the DC-DC converter. It was done. Further, the thickness of the cooling plate 6 and the flow path of the cooling liquid is increased on the side of the antenna RF signal terminal P1 of the microwave module, and the feeding system RF signal terminal P
The two sides are configured to be thin.

Since the drain current of the microwave high power amplifier 1 at each stage is added as approaching the power supply side, the amount of current per unit length increases. However, with such a configuration, the current is generated in the power supply bus bar 13. It acts to make the voltage drop per unit length constant. The amount of heat generated by the microwave high power amplifier 1 is larger on the antenna side because the power is amplified, but the cooling plate is configured in this manner. It acts to increase the cooling efficiency according to the calorific value of the stage. Further, the thickness of the microwave module is constant.

Embodiment 8 FIG. FIG. 9 shows a configuration diagram of the eighth embodiment. Embodiment 8 shown in FIG. 9 is an example in which the above-mentioned microwave module is configured as an array antenna using a plurality of element antennas 19, a microwave distributor 20, and a power distributor 21. The microwave signal is distributed by the microwave distributor 20 and applied to the power supply system RF signal terminal P2. An element antenna 19 is connected to the antenna RF signal terminal P1, and the amplified microwave signal is radiated from the element antenna 19 and combined as an array antenna. The power and pulse drive signal distributed by the power distributor 21 are applied to a drain power terminal P3, a pulse drive signal terminal P4, and a gate power terminal P5.

With this configuration, a relatively high voltage can be used in the power distributor 21 and the voltage drop can be reduced. Further, by arranging the DC-DC converter power supply circuit 14 in a distributed manner near the high power microwave amplifier 1, it is possible to reduce the size of the array antenna.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the power supply current is reduced by increasing the drain power supply voltage supplied to the microwave module, and the power supply efficiency is improved. Further, there is an effect that the voltage drop of the drain voltage supplied to the microwave high power amplifier is reduced. Further, there is an effect of reducing the number of types of drain power supply voltage supplied to the microwave module.

In addition, there is an effect that the size of the array antenna formed by using a large number of microwave modules is reduced, and that the power source for the array antenna is dispersedly arranged in each microwave module to reduce the size.

Also, the high power microwave amplifier performs pulse driving, and the microwave FET performs ON / OFF pulse operation,
Even if the drain current fluctuates, there is an effect of reducing the voltage drop and the voltage fluctuation of the drain voltage applied to the microwave FET.

Further, the switching speed of the DC-DC converter power supply is increased to enable high-speed operation,
There is an effect that the distance between the microwave FET and the MOSFET is reduced, and the voltage drop and the voltage fluctuation during the distance are reduced.

There is also an effect of correcting a voltage change due to a load change of a drain current due to pulse driving of a microwave high power amplifier.

Further, there is an effect that a time delay in correcting a load change due to a pulse operation of the microwave high power amplifier is reduced.

Further, the effect of reducing the electric resistance of the portion having a large amount of current, reducing the voltage drop per unit length generated in the power supply bus bar, and reducing the drain voltage drop and fluctuation of the microwave high power amplifier at each stage. There is.

Further, there is an effect that the cooling efficiency is increased in accordance with the amount of heat generated in each stage of the microwave high power amplifier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional microwave module.

FIG. 11 is a connection diagram showing a conventional microwave module.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 (1-1 to 1-3) Microwave high power amplifier, 4
Module case, 6 cooling plate, 7 microwave FE
T, 10 bias circuit, 11 multilayer board, 12 through hole, 13 power supply busbar, 14 DC-DC
Converter power supply circuit, 15 (15-1, 15-2) M
OSFET, 16 DC-DC converter control circuit, 1
7 High-speed drive circuit, 18 delay circuit, P1 antenna R
F signal terminal, P3 drain power supply terminal, P2 power supply system R
F signal terminal, P4 pulse drive signal terminal, P5 gate power supply terminal.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A microwave module having a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers, wherein a DC-DC converter power supply circuit is disposed near the plurality of microwave high power amplifiers and supplies a power supply voltage to each of the microwave high power amplifiers. A microwave module, comprising: 2. The microwave module according to claim 1, wherein a pair of module cases accommodating the plurality of microwave high power amplifiers and arranged back to back,
A cooling plate interposed between the pair of module cases arranged back to back, and a thickness of the pair of module cases arranged back to back with the cooling plate interposed therebetween, the thickness of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit A microwave module characterized by having the same thickness. 3. The microwave module according to claim 1, wherein the DC-DC converter power supply circuit includes a MOSFET and a DC-DC converter control circuit, and the MOSFET is located near the microwave high power amplifier. A microwave module, wherein the microwave module is provided and connected to a DC-DC converter control circuit by a power supply bus bar. 4. The microwave module according to claim 3, wherein the microwave high power amplifier is a microwave FE.
A microwave module having T, wherein the microwave FET is mounted on the same substrate as the MOSFET of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit. 5. The microwave module according to claim 3, wherein a high-speed drive circuit is provided in addition to the DC-DC converter control circuit of the DC-DC converter power supply circuit, and the microwave high-power amplifier is a microwave FET. A bias circuit that supplies a gate voltage to the gate of the microwave module, and supplies a pulse drive signal supplied from a pulse drive signal terminal to the high-speed drive circuit and the bias circuit. 6. The microwave module according to claim 5, wherein a delay circuit is provided in a path for supplying the pulse drive signal to a bias circuit of the microwave high power amplifier. 7. The microwave module according to claim 3, wherein the power supply bus bar is arranged below the substrate and connected to a plurality of microwave high power amplifiers using through holes. A microwave module having a shape that increases in thickness as approaching a DC-DC converter power supply circuit. 8. The microwave module according to claim 2, wherein the cooling plate has a trapezoidal cross section, and has a thicker antenna output side and a thinner feeding input side. A microwave module characterized in that the module case is mounted and fixed back-to-back, the coolant flow rate on the antenna output side is increased, and the cooling flow rate on the power supply input side is reduced.