Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/3589-the-book-end

The Book End

February 1, 2003

High-Power Microwave Sources and Technologies

Robert J. Barker and Edl Schamiloglu, Editors
IEEE Press
483 pages; $125
ISBN: 0-7803-6006-0


This book is meant to serve as a definitive reference book for all individuals interested in high power microwave (HPM) sources for possible military applications. It does not discuss full military HPM systems concepts, nor does it cover specific military HPM applications. Security classification restrictions would obviously not permit such discussion in the open literature.

Nevertheless, the military focus, combined with a rich bibliography provided for each chapter, makes this book important and unique.

The book presents a snapshot of the status in time of research on high power microwave sources and technologies in the US circa 1999. Its focus is on HPM topics that are of particular interest to the US Department of Defense (DoD). Much of what is presented is the result of high power narrowband source research that has been sponsored by, or closely aligned with, the DoD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) to investigate novel high energy microwave sources. "Closely aligned" means that research that was performed internationally, yet whose results were shared in a common forum among scientists with significant interaction, has taken place. This MURI program officially came into existence in 1995 and ended in the spring of 2000.

The first chapter of the book orients the subject matter, defines needed terminology and describes the underlying structure of the presentations. Following that introduction, Chapter 2 presents HPM source research in the broad context of DoD interest in RF sources. Chapters 3 to 6 present advances in HPM sources and a better understanding of the pulse-shortening issue that has received a great deal of attention. Chapters 7 to 11 present advances in enabling technologies that are essential not only to achieve a better understanding of the physics of HPM sources, but also to make HPM practical. Finally, alternate approaches to achieving HPM and future challenges in this nascent area of research are described in Chapter 12.

To order this book, contact:
IEEE Press,
445 Hoes Lane,
P.O. Box 1331,
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331
(800) 678 4333 (US and Canada) or (732) 981-0060.

RF and Microwave Oscillator Design

Michal Odyniec, Editor
Artech House Inc.
398 pages; $109, £80
ISBN: 1-58033-320-5

Oscillators are at the heart of all kinds of communications systems and other electronic devices. They are intrinsically nonlinear circuits that exhibit a wealth of nonlinear phenomena, some of which are desirable, while others are not.

This book aims to make advanced design tools available to practicing engineers. It presents the state-of-the-art in design in language accessible to the hands-on engineer. It focuses on nonlinear design and is structured to guide the reader to its most important aspects.

The book consists of five chapters. The first three provide tutorials on oscillator design. The last two present advanced methods in real-life design, including device modeling and circuit simulation methods. Chapter 1 describes the development of nonlinear design, including the pioneering work of Kurokawa, who relates the evolution of design methods to development in instrumentation and measurements. Chapter 2 introduces methods of nonlinear analysis, using a simple IC structure as an example. It relates the classic Van der Pol approach to the theory of dynamical systems and to the high Q oscillator described by Kurokawa. Chapter 3 introduces phase noise analysis. It uses time domain description to carefully explain noise behavior. Chapter 4 presents the full design of a modern oscillator and focuses on the reproducible performance of the low phase noise transistor oscillator, including a high volume MMIC VCO. This chapter starts with the nonlinear modeling of active devices, then discusses linear and nonlinear simulation and noise analysis. The ideas presented in Chapters 1 and 2 are combined with modern simulation tools. Phase noise analysis includes spectral description, as well as the method developed in Chapter 3. Chapter 5 discusses the harmonic balance methods that proved to be so effective in oscillator analysis and design. It also discusses nonlinear phenomena encountered even in simple oscillators, including the bifurcation of oscillations from a quiescent point and the bifurcation of almost periodic oscillations from existing periodic oscillations.

To order this book, contact:
Artech House Inc.,
685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062
(781) 769-9750 ext. 4030;

or

46 Gilligham St.,
London SW1V 1HH, UK
+44 (0) 207 596-8750.