Microwave front end receiver using supercomponent approach

Modern airborne multimode radars increasingly demand higher performance with small size, low weight and high reliability. In order to address these problems of microwave and RF receiver designers, an attempt has been made by adapting the technique of integrating various microwave subassemblies to form a single unit, known as the "supercomponent". This article discusses the design and development of a microwave front end receiver using the supercomponent approach. An account of design of various types of MICs that are used in the integrated receiver is presented along with test results. The results of the integrated receiver and the advantages of this supercomponent approach over the conventional method of developing a receiver by integrating individual discrete components are highlighted.