| dbo:abstract
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- An RF chain is a cascade of electronic components and sub-units which may include amplifiers, filters, mixers, attenuators and detectors. It can take many forms, for example, as a wide-band receiver-detector for electronic warfare (EW) applications, as a tunable narrow-band receiver for communications purposes, as a repeater in signal distribution systems, or as an amplifier and up-converters for a transmitter-driver. In this article, the term RF (radio frequency) covers the frequency range "Medium Frequencies" up to "Microwave Frequencies", i.e. from 100 kHz to 20 GHz. The key electrical parameters for an RF chain are system gain, noise figure (or noise factor) and overload level. Other important parameters, related to these properties, are sensitivity (the minimum signal level which can be resolved at the output of the chain); dynamic range (the total range of signals that the chain can handle from a maximum level down to smallest level that can be reliably processed) and spurious signal levels (unwanted signals produced by devices such as mixers and non-linear amplifiers). In addition, there may be concerns regarding the immunity to incoming interference or, conversely, the amount of undesirable radiation emanating from the chain. The tolerance of a system to mechanical vibration may be important too. Furthermore, the physical properties of the chain, such as size, weight and power consumption may also be important considerations. An addition to considering the performance of the RF chain, the signal and signal-to-noise requirements of the various signal processing components, which may follow it, are discussed because they often determine the target figures for a chain. (en)
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| rdfs:comment
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- An RF chain is a cascade of electronic components and sub-units which may include amplifiers, filters, mixers, attenuators and detectors. It can take many forms, for example, as a wide-band receiver-detector for electronic warfare (EW) applications, as a tunable narrow-band receiver for communications purposes, as a repeater in signal distribution systems, or as an amplifier and up-converters for a transmitter-driver. In this article, the term RF (radio frequency) covers the frequency range "Medium Frequencies" up to "Microwave Frequencies", i.e. from 100 kHz to 20 GHz. (en)
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