MMIC family for DBS down-converter with pulse-doped GaAs MESFETs

A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) family was demonstrated as a low-noise block (LNB) downconverter for use in direct broadcast satellite (DBS) receivers operating from 11.7 to 12 GHz. A 12-GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA), a 12-GHz mixer (MIX), a 10.7-GHz dielectric resonator oscillator (DRO), and a 1-GHz IF amplifier (IFA) were designed with GaAs MMIC technology. These MMIC chips were designed to form a complete LNB downconverter function with the exception of the dielectric resonator. The most significant result of this work is that practical low-noise performance can be achieved without the use of high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) in a preceding stage of the MMIC LNB downconverter. Almost noise-free satellite broadcast TV pictures were seen by using a parabolic antenna, 40 cm in diameter, without needing any additional circuit adjustment.<
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