The IRX, using the latest technology widely used in the telecommunications market, is made up of the following submodules:
• Receiver Channel (RX_1) receives the microwave signal from the radar antenna and converts it to IF. This channel has two IF outputs with different gains to allow for an ultra-high dynamic range (>100 dB for the entire system).
• Second Receiver Channel (RX_2), identical to the first (RX_1), is supplied when the radar system processes two polarizations.
• Sample Transmitter Channel (TXS) converts a sample of the TX pulse microwave signal to IF. The output of this channel is used by the digital receiver to enable phase/amplitude correction for coherent receiver systems.
• TX Drive Channel is used to generate the low-power microwave pulse, derived from an IF pulse, to drive the radar power amplifier. The TX section has another output, TSG_OUT, to generate a test microwave pulse signal for automatic calibration procedures and other testing purposes.
The LO & LOGIC module generates the first and second Local Oscillator (LO) signals for use by the RX_1, RX_2, TXS, and TX modules. This module draws external power and generates all the voltages required by the entire IRX. External communication ports are provided to control all functions, such as operating frequency, BITE, status, and diagnostics. All control operations are executed by FPGA and RISC microprocessors. The LO signals are generated by a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) chip in combination with a single-band quadrature modulator (SSB) chip driven by a crystal-controlled precision clock.
Ethernet and RS232 serial are available via RJ45 and RJ11 connectors for receiving commands and sending status information.
Key features
include: three RX channels for horizontal and vertical bias and TX-burst
; TX drive-up conversion channel
; signal calibration generation
; and double-conversion architecture (large image and interference rejection).
• Fully coherent operation with the integrated converter
• Very wide dynamic range (> 100 dB)
• Operating bandwidth up to 500 MHz
• Available in C, S, and X band versions
• Low noise
• Online BITE
• High integration in a single 6U Eurocard-sized module 
IRX Configurations:
IRX can be factory-configured in several different versions:
a) Magnetron radar, single polarization or dual polarization switching.
b) Magnetron radar, single polarization or dual polarization switching with TX sampling function.
c) Magnetron radar, simultaneous dual polarization.
d) Magnetron radar, simultaneous dual polarization and with TX sampling function.
e) Klystron (or solid-state) radar, single polarization or dual polarization switching and with TX sampling function.
f) Klystron (or solid-state) radar, simultaneous dual polarization and with TX sampling function.
Note: It is also possible to use two IRXs (4 RX channels and 2 TX Burst channels).
