Phase noise reduction techniques of radar's TWTA

Abstract

The reduction of phase noise of TWTAs in radar transmitters is imperative because strongly reflected clutter can mask the signal of a moving target. This paper provides better understanding of the phase noise behavior of a TWTA and proposes two new methods to substantially suppress this noise. Multi-PSK digital communication and modern radar transmitters have stringent requirements on their power amplifier amplitude and phase stability response. The TWTA in radar systems is operating at fully saturated power, causing the phase noise to be the dominant noise component. We propose two novel methods that can be complementary to further reduce the overall phase noise. These methods are superior to the present complicated noise filtering devices because of their simple implementation, lightness and inexpensiveness.