Introduction

Linearityofanamplifierimpliesthattheoutputincreaseslinearlywithincreasesoftheinputsignal.I.e., ifaninputof5Wproducesanoutputof50W,thenaninputof10Wshouldproduceanoutputof100W. Unfortunately,theanalogamplifiersinourpoweramplifierstagesarenotsoperfect.Arealamplifier mightbehavemorelikethefigurebelow.

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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 YOUARERESPONSIBLETOENSURETHATYOURFEEDBACKISALWAYS SUFFICIENTLYATTENUATEDSUCHTHATITDOESNOTDAMAGEYOUR RECEIVERHARDWARE.

Forproperoperation,feedbackMUSTNOTcreateanADCOverload.ForPowerSDR_mRX,ADC Overloadwillbereportedviaaflashingwarningacrossthebottomofthepanadapter. Foraccuratecalibration,thefeedbacklevelmustbeascloseaspracticaltoADCOverload withoutactuallycausinganoverload.Agreenyellowredindicatorisprovidedonthe Linearityformtoreportthefeedbacklevel.(SeePureSignalControls&Operationbelow.) Witharadioattenuatorsettingof0dB,ADCOverloadoccursatapproximately11dBm.Forbest results,feedbackshouldbeabove17dBmand,asstatedabove,mustNOTcreateADC Overload.Withahigherradioattenuatorsetting,youcanrunahigherfeedbacklevelintothe receiverinput. Helmut,DC6NY,hasprovidedanexcellentdesignforanRFSamplerthatcanbeusedtocapture thefeedbacksignal. See:<http://www.hamsdr.com/data/GlobalFileUploads/9636__RF%20Sampler%20for%20Pre.pdf>, RF SamplerforPreDistortionLoop ".

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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Asyouwouldsuspectfromthislist,13.8VFETamplifierscanbechallengingtocorrect.However,stiff powersuppliesandgoodcoolingcangoalongway. Limitedtestingofthissoftwarehasbeendonewithvacuumtubeamplifiers.Yourresultsmightbeless predictablewithvacuumtubeamplifiersbecausethedelaytimesthroughtheamplifiersaremuch longerduetothehighQtunedcircuits. THEAMOUNTOFIMDCORRECTIONYOUACHIEVEWILLDEPENDUPONTHEMEMORYEFFECTSOFYOUR AMPLIFIERANDTHEQUALITYOFYOURFEEDBACKSIGNAL.

Firmware Requirements
SpecialfeaturesarerequiredinthefirmwareforPureSignaloperation. FirmwareforHermes/ANAN100mustbeHermes_v2.5orlater. FirmwareforAngelia/ANAN100DmustbeAngelia_v2.2orlater. FirmwareisnotcurrentlyavailabletoenablePureSignalonAtlasbasedsystems.

PowerSDR_mRX Settings
SampleRate:OntheSetup>Audiotab,pleasesetthesamplerateto192K.WhenGigabit Ethernetfirmwareisavailable,inthefuture,wewillmoveto384K.

PureSignal Controls & Operation

Firstofall,youmustbesurethebox"DisablePureSignal"isNOTcheckedonthe "Setup>General>HardwareConfig"tab.Whyisthisboxeventhere?HavingPureSignalenabledMAY requiremorenetworkbandwidth.Therefore,forusersthatareoperatingwirelessorhavelimited bandwidth,itwouldbebesttochecktheboxunlesstheywanttousePureSignal.Thisisverysimilarto thesituationwiththe"LimitStitchedReceivers"checkboxjustabove.Atthispoint,wehavemade StitchedReceiversandPureSignalmutuallyexclusive. ClickingLinearityonthemenustripalongthetopofthePowerSDR_mRXconsolewillopenthe PureSignalform.

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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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VERY IMPORTANT Notes About Calibration & Feedback

Collectionofasetofamplifierdataforcalibrationrequiresmeasuringtheentireamplifier characteristicfrom0%to100%oftheinputlevelforaparticularDrivesetting.(This0%to 100%referstoyourdigitalsignallevelasmeasured,forexample,bytheALCmeter;itdoesNOT relatetoyourDrivesetting.)YoursignalMUSTtraversethatentirerange(orverynearlyso) forcalibrationtoproceed.ThehighersignallevelsarewheremostoftheIMDisgenerated;so, gettingtovirtually100%isespeciallyimportantandcannotbeoverlooked.Therefore,innormal operationyourALCmeterSHOULDbeperiodically(evenfairlyfrequently)hitting0dB.Thereare alsootherreasonsthisisgoodpractice,forexample,inordertousetheDACsfulldynamic range.YouwilllikelywantafewdBofLevelergainand/orafewdBofcompressiontofacilitate thisprocess.Unlikeanalogandmanyotherdigitalradios,hittingthemaximum(0dB)doesnot generateany"flattopping"ormaterialdistortion. AutomaticCalibrationisrecommendedbecauseitadaptsdynamicallytochangingoperating conditions.ShouldyouchoosetousetheSave/Restorecapability,beawarethatcorrection thatisRestoredmustbeusedunderexactlythesameconditionsasitwasSavedtoachieve goodresults.Itsfairlyobviousthatsignificantchangesinfrequency,supplyvoltage,andload impedanceareconditionsthatwouldinvalidateaSavedcorrection.However,alsobeawarethe anychangeintheDrivesettinginvalidatesthecorrection. Duetomemoryeffects,calibrationwithatwotonesignalwillgenerallyNOTproducean optimumcalibrationforvoiceandviceversa.Again,automaticcalibrationisrecommendedto allowforadaptationtochangingconditions. PureSignalwillattempttocorrectwhateverdistortionit"sees."Sinceit"sees"thePAoutputby wayoftheSDRReceiverpath,itisCRITICALNOTTOINTRODUCEANYDISTORTIONBETWEEN THEPAOUTPUTANDTHERECEIVERADC.PureSignalwillattempttocorrectwhateveris presentedtotheADCinput.Therefore,ifyouhavesomeelementinthereceivepaththat distortsthePAoutputbeforeitgetstotheADCinput,PureSignalwilltrytolinearizethat distortionaswellasthePAoutput.Indoingso,itmaymaketheactualtransmittedIMDworse ratherthanbetter!So,hereappliesthesaying"garbagein,garbageout."Tomakematters worse,thepanadapter"sees"thesamesignalasPureSignal"sees".Therefore,PureSignalmay havemadethatsignallookquitefine;whereas,inreality,thePAoutputmaybedistorted.The importantmessagehereis,makesureyourfeedbackpathisfreeofanyelementsthatdistort yourfeedbacksignal! SimilarlytothepointaboutdistortioninthepathtotheADC,DONOTOVERLOADTHEADC. Thatwillproduceasimilarlydistortedresult. SomehavereportedthatontheANAN100/D,the6MeterLNAisapparentlyoverloadedby internalcrosstalkduringtransmit.Thiscausesthetypeofdistortiondiscussedabove. PowerSDRnowoffersanoptionto"bypass"the6MeterLNA,removingitfromthefeedback path,duringtransmit.

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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

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Example 2: ANAN100D, Stray Coupling Feedback (results from Bill Diaz, KC9XG)

Additional PureSignal Information

SeedocumentspostedbyBillDiaz,KC9XG,ontheApacheLabsYahooGroup.

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