Behavioral modeling and characterization of nonlinear operation in rRF and microwave systems

by 1975- Walker, Aaron L.

WALKER, AARON L. Behavioral Modeling and Characterization of Nonlinear Operation in RF and Microwave Systems. (Under the direction of Professor Michael B. Steer). Modeling and characterization strategies were developed to capture the complex nonlinear behavior of both the components within an RF circuit and within an assembled system. Metrology techniques using common laboratory instrumentation were developed for the remote characterization of assembled RF devices and the result of this characterization is presented here for the first time. In addition, two novel intermodulation relative phase measurement systems were developed that have 90 dB of dynamic range which is a considerable improvement over existing systems. This enables the measurement of weaker nonlinearities and increases the accuracy of these measurements. A behavioral modeling architecture and extraction procedure were developed to take advantage of the metrology techniques to allow the separation of odd-ordered nonlinear effects and baseband upconversion effects in several amplifiers. The results of applying this modeling strategy has produced a general model capable of predicting both magnitude and phase asymmetries in nonlinear components for the first time. Concepts from the remote characterization, intermodulation phase measurement systems, and the modeling efforts were combined to demonstrate the extraction of two-port transmission parameters from one-port measurements in a archetypal circuit of an integrated bandpass filter in an RF front-end. It is shown how this information can be used to tune a filter. Behavioral Modeling and Characterization of Nonlinear Operation in RF and Microwave Systems by Aaron L. Walker A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Electrical Engineering Raleigh 2005