The present status and future development of low noise amplifiers for satellite communications

The LNAs for use in satellite communications have made remarkable progress in recent years. This paper describes the present status and future prospects of the two principal LNA types, the parametric LNA and the GaAs FET LNA, operating in the 2 GHz band through millimetric wavelength range, as regards their noise temperature characteristics. In a few years to come, the parametric LNA and the GaAs FET LNA will be coexistent, but the former will be restricted to the cryogenically cooled and the super-low-noise thermoelectrically cooled type, while the latter will occupy the majority of the LNAs for satellite communications use.