SBIR-STTR Award

The CEI Team proposes to develop a resilient, wide band linear RF amplifier (4-8 GHz) architecture incorporating a custom GaN front end. This front end will be equipped with adaptive circuits to combat jamming attacks including an active interference filter. This circuitry will be automatically controlled by algorithms implemented in the digital back end which are based on digital signal processing after a high-performance analog to digital conversion. Digital and analog filtering techniques will be combined to obtain a highly linear, interference-hardened RF transmitter with high data rate capability that offers an alternative in satellite communication denied military environments.

Benefit:
The CEI/CUB Team believes adaptation of this linear, wide band RF amplifier could be utilized for commercial systems to provide a hardened, information assurance-enabled wide band RF communications amplifier and provide an asset for communications systems that can be made more resilient in the future. The team will work with various DoD and commercial contacts (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon Technology) to drive adaptation of this linear RF amplifier for use across the commercial and DoD spectrum.

Keywords:
Adaptive Anti-Jamming Inference, Adaptive Anti-Jamming Inference, Hardened RF Transmitter, Linear RF Amplifier

Future Navy operations require the capability for multiple, simultaneous Radio Frequency (RF) transmissions to different personnel in different geographical locations, requiring multiple, RF transmitted beams in different directions across a wide, RF carrier bandwidth. When multiple, widely spaced signals are amplified simultaneously by a non-linear, efficient Power Amplifier (PA), the linearity and efficiency degrade due to the resulting, high peak-to-average power ratio envelope waveform. Current RF Power Amplifier (RFPA) designs have difficulty producing the linearity performance required without reduction in the RF output power, bandwidth, and efficiency. Commercial products and applications have not met these Navy requirements due to limitations in allocated bandwidth and shorter link ranges as compared to military links.  During Phase II, the Team will investigate these new PA requirements for integration into an active phased array that meets the Navy’s communications needs. For Phase II, we will prototype the wideband, efficient, linear RFPA designed in Phase I,  with a 500 MHz RF bandwidth within C band (4-6 GHz), capable of transmitting multiple, simultaneous narrowband signals with a variable peak power from 36 to 46 dBm.