Feasibility and commercial viability issues for high-power output multiplexers for space applications

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to address the issues related to the commercial viability of employing high-power high-temperature superconductor (HTS) filters and multiplexers for communication satellites. Experimental results are presented for fully integrated contiguous HTS manifold-coupled output multiplexers. Both hybrid dielectric-resonator HTS filters as well as planar HTS filters are used to construct these multiplexers. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the cooling load of HTS high-power multiplexers, and describes how it varies with the achievable filter Q and the type of I/O RF cables. It also demonstrates the role that the I/O RF cables play in determining the cooling load of HTS subsystems.