Design and realization of a broadband Single-Side-Band Mixer with a very short settling time

To achieve high range resolution in synthetic aperture radar imaging a frequency synthesizer with high bandwidth is a possible solution. To operate in the required frequency band an LF-signal usually has to be upconverted. In this paper we describe the design and realization of a broadband Single-Side-Band Mixer with a very short settling time between frequency steps of arbitrary length inside a high bandwidth. Compared to already existing SSB-Mixers, our novel concept has three major advantages: At first, the mixer could be used in combination with an arbitrary signal source. Due to a modular circuit concept it is possible to use the system for different input frequency ranges. Moreover, just by changing single modules, the output frequency-range can be adapted to individual requirements. Thirdly, as a main advantage, the system is able to generate a high frequency output span with a very fast settling time between frequency steps. Even with applied steps up to 400 MHz, the settling time remains below 3 1/4s, which is more than 5 times faster than the settling time of similar synthesizers.