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TheunfortunatesideeffectofthisNONlinearityisInterModulationDistortion(IMD),someofwhich resultsinsplatter.Consequently,onthepanadaptersofourSDRsitseasytoseesignalsthatextend outsideanormaltransmitbandwidth.ThisphenomenonismoreevidentonstrongsignalsastheIMD maybe25dBormoredownfromthepeakofthesignal.ThisIMDpollutesourbandsandraisesthe interferenceandnoiselevelsforamateursthatmaybeoperatingmanykilohertzawayfromthe offendingtransmitters.SomeoftheIMDislessvisibleonpanadaptersbecauseitfallsINBAND,i.e., withinthebandwidthofthetransmittedsignal.Thisaddsdistortiontothesignal. Fortunately,severaltechniqueshavebeendevelopedtoimprovethelinearityofanalogamplifiersand therebyreducetheIMDlevelsthattheygenerate.OnesuchmethodisPredistortionmakingthe amplifiersoutputmorelinearbypredistortingtheinputsignalinsuchawayastooffsetthedistortion thattheamplifierwillproduce.Theoutputoftheamplifiercanthereforebecorrectedtobehavevery muchliketheidealcaseshownabove.(Seefigurebelow.)
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Inadditiontotheamplitudedistortionshownintheabovefigures,thereisalsoaphasedistortion (amplifierphaseshiftvariesasafunctionofsignalamplitude)thatmustbecorrectedtoachieve significantreductionsinIMD. ThecomputingpowerinourSDRscanbeusedtocalculatetherequiredcorrectionsandthentoapply thosecorrectionstothedigitaltransmitsamples.However,tobeabletocalculatethecorrections,itis necessarytoknowtheamplitudeandphasecharacteristicsoftheamplifiertobecorrected.Each amplifierisslightlydifferentanditscharacteristicsalsovarywithfrequency,temperature,load impedance,andsupplyvoltage.Itfollowsthat,forbestresults,wemusthaveamethodtomeasurethe characteristicsoftheamplifierwhileitisinuseandtoadaptthecorrectionasconditionschange.This approach,usedinPureSignal,isoftencalledAdaptivePredistortion. WecanmeasurethecharacteristicsoftheamplifierbyusingthereceiverofourSDRtoreceivethe amplifiersoutputandthencomparingthesignalsgoingintoandcomingoutoftheamplifier.Note, however,thatreceivingtheamplifiersoutputsignalrequiresafeedbackpathtobeestablishedfrom theamplifieroutputtothereceiverinputduringthetimethatwearetransmitting.Clearlythismustbe donewithadirectionalcoupler/attenuatororsampler/attenuatorsoastodeliverONLYtherequired amountofpowerbackintothereceiverinput.
Hardware Configuration
Feedback
Asmentionedabove,calibrationrequiresthattheamplifieroutputbefedbacktothereceiverduring transmit.Generally,thiswillinvolveusingoneormorerelayssuchthatthereceiveris(1)connectedto theantennaduringreceive,and(2)connectedtoANAPPROPRIATELYATTENUATEDsampleofthe transmitteroutputduringtransmit.
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Alex Feedback ForsystemsusingtheAlexfilters,youhavetwooptionsforPureSignalfeedback.OntheSetup> General>Alex>Antennatab,checkboxes"RX1INonTX"and"RX2INonTX"areprovided.Ifoneof theseischecked,duringtransmit,othersettingswillbeoverriddenandthechosenRXconnectorwillbe connectedtothereceiverinputfilters.Therefore,youcaninputyourfeedbacktothechosenRX connector.Alternatively,ifyouprovideyourownT/Rswitching(suchasusingtherelayonthecoupler designedbyHelmut,DC6NY,andreferencedabove),youcaninsertfeedbackbetweenthe"OuttoRx" connectorandyourreceivercardinput. ANAN100/D Feedback FortheANAN100/D,ontheSetup>General>Ant/Filters>Antennatab,twocheckboxes,"Ext2onTx" and"Ext1onTx"areprovided.Ifoneoftheseischecked,duringtransmit,othersettingswillbeover riddenandthechosenEXTconnectorwillbeconnectedtothereceiverinput.Therefore,acoupler providingfeedbackcanbeconnectedtothechosenEXTconnector. FortheANAN100/D,testershavenotedthatthereisaveryhighlevelofcrosstalkbetweenthe transmitteroutputandreceiverinputevenwithoutadirectfeedbackconnection.ThatfeedbackMAY besufficientforaccuratecalibrationofa"barefoot"ANAN100/D.Onedisadvantageofthatapproachis thatthisfeedbackisduetostraycouplingandthefeedbacklevelislikelytovarysubstantiallyfromband toband.UsingthisstraycouplingwillNOTworktolinearizeafollowinglinearamplifiersince"clean" feedbackfromtheoutputoftheamplifiermustbeprovided. ThefollowingdiagramillustratestheANAN100/Dwithanexternalamplifierandcoupler.
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Amplifiers
ThecurrentPureSignalalgorithmdoesnotattempttodynamicallycompensateformemoryeffects. MemoryEffectsarephenomenawherebytheamplifiergainandphasearenotonlyafunctionofthe currentinputsignal,theyarealsoafunctionofpastinputsignals.Theamplifierrememberssignals thatwentthroughinthepast.Theseeffectscanbethermalorbias/powersupplyrelated.For example,supposethatastrongsignaloveraperiodofsomemillisecondsheatedtheactivedevicesof theamplifiertherebychangingtheirgainandothercharacteristics.Thentheamplifierremembers thosecharacteristicsuntilitcoolsbackdowneventhoughaweakersignalmaypassthroughinthe meantime.So,forthesameweaksignallevel,theamplifiercharacteristicisdifferentdependingupon whetheritishotorcooler,dependingupontheprecedingsignals.Asimilarsituationexistswithbias andsupplyvoltages.Supposeastrongsignalmomentarilycausesaslightdropinpowersupplyvoltage. Ifthesupplydoesnotrecoverinstantaneously(whichittypicallywillnot)theamplifiersgainwillhave beenchangedforasubsequentweaksignal. Amplifierswithweakmemoryeffectswillbemoreeffectivelycorrectedthanthosewithstrongmemory effects.Amongsolidstateamplifiers,currentexperiencesuggeststhatLDMOSamplifiersusinghigher voltage(~50V)suppliesproducethebestresults.Inanyparticularamplifierdesign,factorsthatcan minimizememoryeffectsinclude: Highvoltage/lowcurrentdesignstominimizepowersupplydroop. Stiffpowersourcestominimizevoltagesag. Lowercapacitancedevices(suchasLDMOS). Excellentheatsinking,probablyincludingacopperheatspreader. Page 4
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Firmware Requirements
SpecialfeaturesarerequiredinthefirmwareforPureSignaloperation. FirmwareforHermes/ANAN100mustbeHermes_v2.5orlater. FirmwareforAngelia/ANAN100DmustbeAngelia_v2.2orlater. FirmwareisnotcurrentlyavailabletoenablePureSignalonAtlasbasedsystems.
PowerSDR_mRX Settings
SampleRate:OntheSetup>Audiotab,pleasesetthesamplerateto192K.WhenGigabit Ethernetfirmwareisavailable,inthefuture,wewillmoveto384K.
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Operationofthebuttonsandindicatorsisasfollows. Information:Clickinginformationopensapdfdocumentgivinganoverviewoflinearity,pre distortion,andhowtousePureSignal. AutoCalibrate:Activates/deactivatesautomaticcalibration.Thebuttonbackgroundcolorwill begreenwhenautomaticcalibrationisturnedON.NotethatmerelyturningONAutoCalibrate doesnotensurethatyouareactuallycalibratingandcorrectingyoursignal.Moreonthislater. Whenautomaticcalibrationisfunctioningcorrectly,thesoftwarewillberepeatedlymeasuring theamplifierresponseandadaptingthecorrectiontoadjusttocurrentoperatingconditions. SingleCalibrate:Theremaybeinstanceswhereyoudonotwishtorepeatedlycalibrate;but, youinsteadwishtojusttakeonesetofamplifiermeasurements,calibrateoncebasedupon thosemeasurements,andcontinuetocorrectwiththatcalibrationdata.Clickingthisbutton initiatessuchasequence. OFF:OFFturnsoffanycurrentcorrectionandcollectionofamplifierdata.ItleavesPureSignal inaresetstate.YouwillneedtoclickAutoCalibrate,SingleCalibrate,orRestoreacalibration datasettoreturnPureSignaltoanoperatingmode. Correcting:TheLEDlabeledCorrectingwillbegreenwhencorrectionisenabledandavalid setofcalibrationdatahasbeencomputedorloaded.Whengreen,yourtransmitsignalwillbe correctedusingthecalibrationdata.
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MOXWait:AfteryouactivatePTTortripVOX,asmallamountoftimewillberequiredbefore signalisactuallyflowing,relayshaveengaged,amplifierbiashasbeenenabled,etc.MOXWait istheamountoftimefromyourinitiationoftransmituntilthesoftwarewillbegincollecting dataforacalibration.Thedefaultof0.1secondsshouldbemorethansufficientformostcases. CalibrationWait:Theamountoftime(inseconds)betweenthecompletionofcomputationofa calibrationandthebeginningofdatacollectionforthenextcalibration.Ifsettozero, calibrationswillproceedinrapidsuccessionaslongasvalidsamplesetscanbecollected. HighernumberswillincreasethetimebetweencalibrationsandsaveafewCPUcycles. AmplifierDelay:Allanalogamplifiersintroducesomeamountofsignaldelay.Forsolidstate PAs,thelargestcomponentofdelayisgenerallyintroducedbythelowpassoutputfilters.The algorithmusedtocomputecalibrationisreasonablytolerantofdelayandtoanextent automaticallyadjustsforit.However,youmayfindthatyougetimprovedresultsbyadjusting thiscontroltomanuallyoffsetthedelaythroughtheamplifier.Thisoffsetcanbeadjustedin 20nsincrements. FeedbackLevel:ThisLEDindicatesthestrengthofthefeedbacksignal(theamplifieroutput signalthatisbeingreceivedbackthroughyourreceiver).TheindicatorwillbeupdatedONLY whenacompletesetofdatahasbeencollectedforcalibrationandwillthengraduallyfadeto thebackgroundcolorafteritsupdate.BlueindicatesthatyouareclosetoADCOverloadand shouldprobablyDECREASEyourfeedbacklevel;greenindicatesanexcellentfeedbacklevel; yellowindicatesthatfeedbackislowerthanrequiredforoptimumresults;redindicatesthatthe feedbacklevelisverylowanderraticorerroneousresultsarelikelytobeproduced.Notethatif acompletesetofdataisnotabletobecollected,thisindicatorwillneverupdate;itwillremain atthebackgroundcolor. TwotoneGen:Forconvenience,atwotonegeneratorbuttonisprovidedherefortesting.This buttonactivatestheTwotonegeneratorontheSetup>Teststab.ForusewithPureSignal,set theLevelto0.0dBsothatPureSignalcancollectdataacrossthefulloutputrange. CorrectionSave/Restore:Anytimeavalidsetofcalibrationdataisinuse,thatdatacanbe savedtoafileforlaterretrieval.ClickingSaveopensthefilesavedialogforthatprocess. ClickingRestoreopensthefiledialogtoretrieveapreviouslystoredsetofcalibrationdata. Restoringasetofdataautomaticallyactivatescorrection. RelaxTolerance:CheckingthisboxisNOTrecommendedfortypicaloperation.Itrelaxesa requirementonconsistencyofsamplescollectedforacalibration.Whenmightthisbeuseful? IfyouhaveanamplifierwithseverememoryeffectsforwhichPureSignalrefusestocalibrate, OR,inasituationsuchasatubetypeamplifierwithACrippleontheplatesupplythatis modulatingtheoutput.Theriskincheckingtheboxisthatitincreasesthepossibilityofan invalidcalibrationthatthealgorithmbelievesisvalid. AmpView:ClickingtheAmpViewbuttonwillopentheAmpViewform.AmpViewprovidesa utilitytoeasily,inrealtime,visualizethegainandphasecharacteristicsofyouramplifierANDto simultaneouslyvisualizethecorrectionthatisbeingappliedbyPureSignal.
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Thebluedotsshowtheoutputmagnitudeversusinputmagnitudeoftheuncorrectedamplifier. Similarly,theyellowdotsshowtheuncorrectedphasecharacteristicversusinputmagnitudeforthe amplifier.Notethatthesearediscretedotsatthepointsofthesamplescollectedtoperformthe PureSignalcalibration.Theredandgreenlinesthenshowthecalculatedmagnitudeandphase correctionsthatarebeingappliedtooutgoingtransmitsamples. ThisformcurrentlyrequiresquiteafewCPUcycles.Checkingthe"LowRes"boxwillreducethenumber ofplottedsamplesbyafactoroffour,therebyreducingtheCPUrequirements.(Ifsomeonewantsto writesomeefficientgraphicscodeforthis,theCPUrequirementcouldundoubtedlybedecreased substantially!) Checkingthe"ShowGain"boxchangestheleftMagnitudeAxistoaGainAxis.Therefore,youhavethe optionoflookingatGainversusInputMagnituderatherthanOutputMagnitudeversusInput Magnitude. Notethatviewingtheamplifiercharacteristicswillallowyoutospotproblemssuchasnoisyfeedbackor significantmemoryeffects.Itcanalsobeusefulforthingslikebiasadjustments.
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Correction Bandwidth
PureSignalcanonlycomputecorrectionforIMDproductsthatitcan"see."I.e.,itcanonlycompute correctionforIMDproductswithinthebandwidthofthereceiverusedtoreceivetheoutputofthe amplifier.So,forexample,at192Ksamplerate,andallowingforalittlefilterrolloff,wehavea bandwidthof~186K,or+/93Kfromthetransmitfrequency. However,PureSignalcanonlycorrectwithinthebandwidthofthechannelbetweenthecorrection algorithmandtheamplifiertobecorrected.Weusea48KsampleratetotransfertransmitI/Qsamples fromthecomputertotheradiohardware.So,allowingforalittlefilterrolloff,thecorrection bandwidthis~40Khz,or+/20Khzfromthetransmitcenterfrequency. Unlessyouhaveaverydirtyamplifieroraresignificantlyoverdrivingyouramplifier,nearlyALLofyour IMDenergyshouldfallwithinthis+/20Khzbandwidth.
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Example Results
Example 1: "barefoot" Hermes card on 6M (results from Warren Pratt, NR0V) Uncorrected
Corrected
Example 2: ANAN100D, Stray Coupling Feedback (results from Bill Diaz, KC9XG)
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