Part 1 – Overview and Trends

Get an introduction to radar, including its key functional units and technological evolution.

Radar systems are designed to detect and identify an object’s location. They use short bursts of energy to transmit radio frequency (RF) and microwave signals and gather information from the echoed signal returned by the object. Here, we’ll introduce radar, including its key functional units and technological evolution. 

Part 2 – Duplexing

In radar systems with a traditional Tx/Rx antenna, duplexers separate Tx/Rx signals during operation, allowing the antenna to be used for transmitting and receiving signals. This function is particularly important for maintaining performance in high-power radar systems. There are two main approaches to duplexing in modern systems. One leverages a circulator and a hybrid coupler. The other uses a single pole double throw switch (SPDT).

Part 3 – Switch Filter Banks for Agile RF Receiver Design in Radar

Agile RF receivers can be optimized moment-to-moment to adjust to evolving parameters. This level of control is accomplished using fully digital receivers with analog filter protection to evade blockers and prevent receiver damage. Nimble analog RF components, like switch filter banks, are critical to accomplish this level of optimization. Switch filter banks are traditionally associated with larger footprints, but Knowles Precision Devices is leveraging materials science innovations to shrink the size of each individual filter. 

Part 4 – Filters in Radar Receivers

In this post, we will dive more into the jobs filters must perform in radar receivers. In general, filters are responsible for solving a variety of problems in the radar receiver. You can think of a filter as the problem-solving assistant in the system that comes along and tidies up different messes that are either outside the radar or made by components in the radar itself.

Part 5 – The Influence of Phase in Filters for Radar

In this post, we’ll discuss what phase can tell us about filter performance in radar applications. Characterizing phase is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of assessing filter performance. Phase performance can be described in several different ways, including phase linearity, phase stability across temperatures, and phase length repeatability.

Part 6 – Fundamental Capacitor Functions in the World of Electronics

When considering capacitor selection for a given circuit, whether you’re focused on power electronics or deep in the world of RF, it's important to remember that some of a capacitor’s fundamental roles are universal. 

Part 7 – Capacitor Support in Power Amplification for Radar Systems

In radar systems, power amplifiers serve an essential role in transmitting signals that probe the environment of interest. They boost signal strength and maintain its quality to achieve the intended range and resolution of the overall system.

Part 8 – Capacitors Support Radar MMIC Amplifiers via Bypassing

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers are widely used in defense radar systems. The industry recognizes them as a compact, high-performance option that’s reliable and easy to integrate. Whether they serve a receive (e.g., low noise amplifier (LNA)) or transmit (e.g., power amplifier (PA)) function, MMIC amplifiers rely on bypass capacitors to perform their core function to amplify microwave signals. 

Part 9 – Selecting Capacitors for Charge Storage in Radar Power Amplifiers

As radar systems grow more and more complex, component-level decisions have an increasingly significant impact on overall performance. To support the transition to fully digital arrays, power amplifier modules must be designed to fit in smaller spaces. From functions like signal conditioning to noise reduction, capacitors support many critical functions in power amplification within radar systems. We review a key consideration for selecting charge storage capacitors, a uniquely important component in transmit amplifier circuits for radar.  

Part 10 – Enhancing Radar Performance: The Role of Gain Equalizers in RF Receivers

In radar systems, low-noise amplifiers are crucial for enhancing weak signals without compromising their signal-to-noise ratio, thereby improving target detection accuracy. However, RF amplifiers often exhibit uneven gain across their operational bandwidth, leading to signal distortion. Integrating passive gain equalizers into amplifier designs can counteract natural gain roll-off, resulting in a more uniform frequency response. 

Part 11 – The Roles of Couplers, Combiners, and Dividers in Radar Power Amplifiers

In radar systems, high-power amplifiers are essential for boosting signal strength to enhance range and resolution. To maximize system performance, solid-state power amplifiers often employ power combiners and dividers. Power dividers split an incoming signal into multiple paths, each amplified separately, and power combiners merge the amplified signals into a single high-power output.