RFI mitigation at a 2GHz band by using a wide-band hightemperature superconductor filter

E. Kawai, J. Nakajima, H. Takeuchi, H. Kuboki, and T. Kondo Kashima Space Research Center, NICT K. Saito, and M. Suzuki DENSO CORPORATION Research Laboratories

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

Kashima 34-m antenna

Contents
RFI situation at Kashima High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) filter Results Future possibilities Conclusions

RFI situation at Kashima

0 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 2100 RX output (dBm)

After RFI Before RFI

2200
VBW 1KHz

2300 RX freq. (MHz)

2400

2500
SWP 4s ec

RBW 300KHz

Vicinity of Kashima 34-m antenna and the base stations

6.2km
B2 B1

2.6km

2.4km
B3

34-m antenna 0.75km

C1

1.7km
B6

8.2km
B4

6.1km
B5

IMT-2000 frequency assignment and Kashima 34-m antenna receiving frequency

Service start: Company B 2nd March 2002, Company C 1st July 2003

Is LNA saturated?
If LNA is not saturated, we can take countermeasure after LNA. Maximum LNA output of interference signal was -17.6dBm. We performed to measure LNA linearity.

LNA linearity test

Dewar RHCP Coupler LNA SG Spectrum Analyzer

Cable loss -1.5dB

Test block diagram

LNA linearity test result

LNA linearity test
0 LNA output (dBm) -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
LNA input (dBm) LNA input (uncorrected) (dBm)

IMT-2000 RFI level -17.6dBm at present

1dB compression -6.5dBm

Current margin is 11.1dB.

Countermeasure
LNA dewar HTS Filter subsystem D/C To Obs. room

Receiver block diagram

HTS filter
Low loss: 0.5dB Sharp cut-off: 60dB/23MHz Wide-band: 280 MHz Small size: 60mm in diameter
60 mm

The filters were fabricated on superconductor YBCO films on MgO substrates. HTS filter operating temperature is 70 K.
From http//www.kreynet.de/asc/ybco.html

HTS filter
LNA output D/C input To observation room

60 mm

Cryogenic subsystem

filter unit

Low loss
Due to low resistance of HTS films in microwave frequency, Tsys increase can be very small even if the filter is installed before LNA. HTS filter 0.5dB/32 sections Conventional filter 1dB/19 sections

Sharp cut-off
32 sections was possible due to low resistance of HTS films. 60dB/23MHz Resulting extension of observable frequency range than conventional filter.

Wide-band
Wide-band by new filter design. Bandwidth ratio 1% ->12%(280MHz)

Small size
Miniaturization by new filter design. Diameter 60mm, thickness 14mm

HTS filter specifications

Pass band 2193-2473 MHz Attenuation >60 dB at 2170MHz Insertion Loss <0.5dB at 2333MHz Dimension 60 x 14 mm 32 sections
(model RA-S-32)

Attenuation (dB)

Frequency (GHz)

Inside of HTS filter subsystem

Weight 11.5kg Width 270 mm Depth 170 mm Height 270 mm

A case, a controller, and a power supply are not included.

Chamber temperature (1 hour)

70.03 Chamber temperature (K) 70.02 70.01 70.00 69.99 69.98 69.97 0 600 1200 1800 Time (S) 2400 3000 3600

Temperature characteristics of cut-off frequency

100kHz/K(at70K) 100kHz x 0.01K =1kHz

S-band receiver output characteristics

-40 RX output (dBm) -50 -60
Coventional filter HTS filter

57MHz

-70 -80

RFI perfectly suppressed

-90 2100
RBW 300kHz

2200
VBW 1kHz

2300 RX freq. (MHz)

2400

2500
SWP 4sec

The frequency of 2193 to 2350MHz became observable.

Base station distance and LNA output

0 LNA output (dBm) -10 maximum traffic -20 -30 -40 0 2 4 6 8 Distance from 34-m antenna (km) 10 no traffic LNA saturation level -6.5dBm

Future possibility
The countermeasure for LNA saturation

As IMT-2000 is becoming popular, the interference level will increase. HTS filter can be installed before LNA as a countermeasure. The increase of Tsys can be minimized by using the HTS filter.
Increase in Tsys with a filter

Conventional filter 62K HTS filter 8K

Conclusions
S-band observations became difficult after IMT-2000 service started. We succeeded to develop HTS filter to mitigate the RFI in S-band. Because of its low loss characteristics, the HTS filter can be installed before LNA.