SAW filters for military and spacecraft applications

The small size, rugged construction, wide frequency range, and the commercial availability of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) devices make them an attractive solution to many signal processing problems. An eight channel frequency multiplexer is described, taking into account the various techniques used to realize the overall frequency response. The use of a SAW multiplexer in a linear frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar is also discussed. These SAW devices are currently employed in a low power solid-state millimeter-wave radar for the guidance of antiarmor munitions. A linear FMCW radar transmits a periodic waveform in which the frequency varies linearly versus time. The simplest SAW resonator is the surface-wave equivalent of the bulk-acoustic mode crystal resonator which is used extensively in oscillators and narrowband filters. Applications of SAW resonators are also considered.