Research On X-Band Active Phased Array TR Module Design And Test Technology

As a high-end phased array application,the spaceborne active phased array is mostly used in satellite-ground data transmission,inter-satellite links,remote sensing detection radar and other fields.Among them,the ground-based telemetry spaceborne active phased array represented by synthetic aperture radar(SAR)usually has a very large array size,which has extremely high array performance such as power consumption,size,weight,working distance,and measurement accuracy.Traditional spaceborne SARs are mostly composed of bricked transceiver modules(TR modules),but they occupy too large a size,which is not conducive to miniaturization.In order to further reduce the size and weight of the SAR array,TR modules are gradually developing into tiled structure.According to the practical application requirements of spaceborne SAR,this paper studies the internal core component TR module,and designs an X-band,low profile,tiled TR module.The module is integrated with four channels of transceiver,which has 6-bit phase shift,6-bit attenuation,2-bit delay adjustment functions,and three working modes of transmit,receive and load.In the aspect of module design: Advanced micro-assembly technology is used to integrate RF chip and power supply modulation chip in the form of a die.Compared with directly using package-level chips,thermal effects and parasitic effects caused by different packaging processes are avoided.In order to simplify the application complexity of the module system,a single power supply and serial code control are adopted to make the external interface of the module more concise.Compared with the traditional board-level circuit,the key passive components,such as power divider chip and coupler chip,designed based on Ga As IPD technology,have higher consistency and versatility.A phase compensation network is designed and reserved in the common channel of the module,which makes the module have the ability of 22.5° and 45° phase correction at the same time,and solves the problem of possible phase inconsistency between different modules.In order to avoid the influence of the resonance of the metal shell on the RF chip inside the module,the metal compartment is used to isolate each channel,so as to ensure the normal operation of the module and improve the isolation between channels.In the aspect of module test: Through comprehensive analysis and comparison of various test schemes and calibration methods,we finally select the SOLT calibration method based on database to complete the calibration of S-parameter test system,which effectively improves the operation convenience while ensuring the calibration accuracy.In this paper,the output power is measured by the vector narrow-band detection method,and the working current is measured by the digital multimeter.Compared with the traditional power parameter test scheme,the test accuracy is greatly improved.The vector cold source method,which has the highest noise test accuracy at present,is selected as the noise test scheme,and an active-passive joint measurement and evaluation method is proposed in this paper to verify the accuracy of the noise test system,which makes noise test data more accurate and reliable.Meanwhile,in order to improve the efficiency of module testing,the self-developed automated test system has realized the "one-time calibration,automatic test" function,laying a solid foundation for mass production test of active phased TR module in the future.