Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A13-039

Description

In response to the Army need, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to mature, in Phase II, the new Predistortion-Based Amplifier Linearization Module (PALM) developed and proven feasible in Phase I. POC designed a compact (35 in.^3), low power (10 W) PALM system in Phase I that can be attached to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) amplifiers with up to 500 W RF output power via standard RF connections. PALM is designed to automatically remove or reduce user-specified harmonic content while preserving the fundamental signal with high fidelity. A prototype PALM system with 2.5 GHz bandwidth developed in Phase I, incorporating key objective components, showed up to 70 dB reduction in nonlinear spurs when attached to COTS amplifiers. In Phase II, a robust prototype system will be developed based on the Phase I design. The prototype will be attached to COTS amplifiers via standard RF connections and will also feature versatile integration with the RF signal generator. The improvement in reduction of amplifier nonlinear spurs offered by the PALM prototype will be evaluated and demonstrated to the government. Based upon Phase II results, POC will develop a plan for Phase III improvement and/or modification of the PALM design for specific military and commercial applications.