May31,2016

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Non-Linear Devices
Nonlinearmeansthattherelationshipbetweeninputpower(orvoltage)andoutputpowerdoesnotplotonagraphasastraight
line.Don'tconfusenonlinearitywithfrequencyresponse(gainversusfrequency).Ingeneral,passivecomponentsarepurely
linear(lossisconstantversusinputpower),whileactivecomponentsareallnonlinear.
Also,itisOKtospell"nonlinear"as"nonlinear",inouropinion.ThissitesuggeststhataddingthehyphenisBritishEnglish,while
omittingitisAmericanEnglish.HereatMicrowaves101weswingbothways!
Here'sapagewe'vestartedonnonlineartransmissionlines(NewforSeptember2015:we'veaddedalinktoavideoofa
soliton!)
Here'sapageonnonlinearpassivenetworks(NewforAugust2015)
Knowthedifferencebetweensmallsignalresponseandlargesignalresponse.SmallsignalimpliesthattheRFsignalislow
enoughsothatthedevicebehaveslinearly,i.e.aonedBincreaseininputpowerresultsinaonedBincreaseinoutputpower.Large
signalmeansthatyouhaveenoughRFsignalsothattheoutputisstrainingtomatchtheinputdBfordB,andinthecaseofan
amplifier,theDCquiescentpointmayactuallybeshiftedduetodrivelevel.
Amplifiernonlinearity
Mixernonlinearity
Limiternonlinearity
Multipliernonlinearity
Gaincompressionpoints
Amplif ier nonlinearit y

Pleasevisitourwebpageonamplifierstolearnmoreaboutthistopic!
Amplifiersarenonlinear,activedevices.Atsmallsignallevels,thetransfercharacteristicisconstantwithdrivelevel,andisequalto
thesmallsignalgainofthedevice.Athigherpowerlevels,theamplifier'spowergainisreduced,andissaidtoentergain
compression.Atsomepowerleveltheoutputpowersaturates,andnoadditionalpowerresultsattheoutputastheinputisdriven
evenharder.Thefamiliarinput/outputpowercharacteristicofanamplifierisshownbelow:

Becausetheyareactivedevices,amplifiersrequireoneormorepowersupplies.Theefficiencyofananamplifierismeasuredintwo
ways.Poweraddedefficiency(PAE)iscalculatedastheoutputpowerminustheinputpower,dividedbytheDCpower.Drain
efficiencyiscalculatedastheoutputpowerdividedbytheDCpower("drain"impliesthatwearediscussingaFETamplifier).Note
thatthedrainefficiencyisalwayshigherthanthepoweraddedefficiency.However,foramplifierswithhighgain(30dBfor
example),thePAEisnearlyequaltothedrainefficiency.Efficiencyisafunctionofmanythings,includingoperatingvoltage,classof
operation(A,B,AB,etc),drivelevel,frequency,temperature,etc.

Heythisshouldsay"drainefficiciency!


Mixer nonlinearit y

Amixerisusedtotranslateonefrequencytoanother.Itisapassivedevice,meaningthatnoDCpowerisapplied.Itisalsoa
nonlineardevice,meaningthatforsmallsignalsitwillexhibitconstantconversionloss(muchlikeanamplifierexhibitsconstant
gain),butatlargesignalstheresponsewillcompressandthensaturate.Inthisrespectitissimilartoanamplifier.
L imit er nonlinearit y

Movedtoaseparatepage.
Mult iplier nonlinearit y

Afrequencymultiplierhasamuchdifferentpowertransfercharacteristiccomparedtoanamplifier,mixerorlimiter.Usuallya
multiplierfollowswhatiscalleda"squarelaw"curve,meaningthattheoutputpowerisproportionaltotheinputpower(inwatts)
squared.
addfigure
Gain compression point s

First,onegeneralpointaboutP1dBmeasurements.Ifyouareworkingonareceiver,itiscustomarytospecifytheP1dBpointatthe
input.Foratransmitterorexciter,theoutputP1dBpointisspecified.Thatbeingsaid,lownoiseamplifiers,themostcritical
componentinareceiverchain,mostoftencomewithP1dBdatameasuredattheiroutput.Ifyouarethereceiverguy,youwillneedto
calculatetheworstcaseP1dBattheinputusingtherangeofavailablegainthatthepartmayprovide.

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