The scope of this chapter is limited to the transmitter portion of a generic radar or communication system, mostly focusing on descriptions of current approaches for transmitter design to provide a departure point from which to propose architectures for future implementations. The first section briefly discusses the EM and operational environments from a radar perspective. The EM environment includes the portion of the spectrum in which sensing is performed along with the related propagation effects, while the operational environment includes practical issues such as how the transmitter interacts with other proximate receivers and emitters, and the regulatory framework that defines and constrains what the transmitter is permitted to do.

Chapter Contents:

• 11.1 Spectral, propagation, and regulatory environment for transmitters
• 11.2 Transmitter architectures: past, present, and future
• 11.2.1 Current transmitter design philosophy: radar vs. communication
• 11.2.2 Future transmitter architectures
• 11.2.2.1 Software-defined radio
• 11.2.2.2 Adaptive/Cognitive/Distributed transmitters
• 11.3 Transmitter components
• 11.3.1 Microwave tubes
• 11.3.1.1 Magnetron
• 11.3.1.2 Cross-field amplifier
• 11.3.1.3 Traveling wave tube
• 11.3.1.4 Klystron
• 11.3.1.5 Multiple beam klystron
• 11.3.2 Pulse modulators
• 11.3.3 Solid-state transmitter architectures
• 11.3.3.1 Solid-state devices
• 11.3.3.2 Combining solid-state power amplifiers
• 11.3.4 Microwave power module
• 11.3.5 Classes of power amplifiers
• 11.4 Radar transmitters and the future of radar
• 11.4.1 Legacy versus new radar developments
• 11.4.2 Transmit/Receive modules
• 11.4.3 Power amplifier linearization
• 11.5 Transmitter emission measurements
• 11.6 Future research
• References
• Further reading

Inspec keywords: radar transmitters; electromagnetic wave propagation

Other keywords: transmitter architectures; propagation effects; regulatory framework; EM environment; operational environments; communication system; operational environment; generic radar; transmitter design; radar-communication spectral coexistence

Subjects: Radar equipment, systems and applications