An advanced technology L-band light weight receiver front-end

An advanced technology L-band receiver front-end was designed and built using MIC and MMIC technologies. This unit carefully utilises the advantages of both technologies in producing a miniaturised module with state-of-the-art performance. The complete front-end section comprised MIC LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) and three single ended, easily cascadable MMIC gain stages. The typical performance of the unit is 0.70 dB NF (noise figure) at 20°C and gain exceeding 40 dB.