Illustration with three examples of architecture
RF and microwave Power amplifier architectures

The aim of this chapter is to use an example specification to show the impact of architecture choices on amplifier performance.

The three architecture examples are evaluated for the same specification. A broadband amplifier in the 6 to 18 GHz band with 100 W output power at saturation for a RADAR countermeasure application. The architectures presented and evaluated are :

• Progressive Wave Tube (PWT) ;

• solid-state amplifier (SSPA) with tree recombination by T-Hybrid for recombination ;

• solid-state amplifier (SSPA) with parallel recombination by spatial combination.