Adaptive control system for pulsed megawatt klystrons
AssigneeUniversity of New Mexico
InventorVictor W. Bolie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides an arrangement for reducing waveform errors such as errors in phase or amplitude in output pulses produced by pulsed power output devices such as klystrons by generating an error voltage representing the extent of error still present in the trailing edge of the previous output pulse, using the error voltage to provide a stored control voltage, and applying the stored control voltage to the pulsed power output device to limit the extent of error in the leading edge of the next output pulse.
Claims16
The method of speeding up error correcting responses of waveform control systems such as control loops which adjust waveform characteristics such as phase and/or amplitude of a non-linear pulsed output device susceptible to drift and interdependent phase-amplitude effects, by reducing initial errors in the waveform characteristics occurring in the beginning of output pulses of the pulsed output device, said output pulses being adjustable through the waveform control system to reduce the extent of error in the waveform characteristics therein, there nevertheless remaining in the waveform control system at the end of the last preceding output pulse an amount of uncorrected error in the waveform characteristics normally due to drift in the output device or transients in the control loop, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. storing in a computer memory a signal value for each waveform characteristic based on the level of error in the waveform characteristic at the end of the previous output pulse of the pulsed output device, each said signal value thus being constant over long periods and not susceptible to deterioration, leakage, or charging;
- b. producing a control voltage corresponding to each of said stored signal values;
- and,
- c. applying each control voltage to the pulsed output device to thereby limit the initial error in each waveform characteristic of the next output pulse to essentially the exact level of error existing in the waveform characteristic at the end of the preceding pulse,
- whereby the amount of error that needs to be corrected in the waveform control system is limited to the level of error including zero existing in the waveform characteristic at the end of the preceding output pulse, and further, whereby the individual characteristics of drift of the pulsed output device are retained and thus learned.
Apparatus for speeding up error correcting responses for waveform control systems such as control loops which adjust waveform characteristics including phase and/or amplitude of a non-linear pulsed output device susceptible to drift and interdependent phase-amplitude effects, by reducing initial errors in the waveform characteristics occurring in the beginning of pulses of the pulsed output device, said output pulses being adjustable through the waveform control system to reduce the extent of error in the waveform characteristic therein, there nevertheless remaining in the waveform control system at the end of the last preceding output pulse an amount of uncorrected error in the waveform characteristic due to drift in the pulsed output device or transients in the waveform control system, comprising:
- a. means for storing in a computer memory a signal value for each waveform characteristic based on the level of error in the waveform characteristic at the end of the previous output pulse of the pulsed output device, said memory being characterized by the property of sustaining each said signal value at a constant level for a long period without deterioration or leakage;
- b. means for producing a control voltage corresponding to each of said stored signal values;
- c. means for applying each control voltage to the pulsed output device to thereby limit the initial error in each waveform characteristic of the next output pulse of the device to essentially the exact level of error existing in the waveform characteristic at the end of the preceding pulse,
- whereby the amount of error that needs to be corrected in the waveform control system is limited to the level of error including zero existing in the waveform characteristic at the end of the preceding output pulse and further, whereby the individual characteristics of drift of the pulsed output device are retained and thus learned.
Apparatus for accelerating error correcting responses for controlling output pulses produced by a non-linear pulsed output device characterized by drift and interdependent phase-amplitude effects, said apparatus affording a limit on the correction needed for a next pulse of the output device by remembering the phase and amplitude error level at the end of the preceding pulse and limiting the initial phase and amplitude correction in the next pulse to that level, said apparatus comprising:
- a. means for providing phase and amplitude reference voltages;
- b. means for measuring the differences in phase and amplitude between said reference voltages and the output pulses the last of which is always the preceding pulse;
- c. means for integrating the measured difference between phase and amplitude to provide analog voltages respectively representing a continuing update of said phase and amplitude differences;
- d. converting said phase and amplitude analog voltages into digital signals;
- e. a computer having a memory section for receiving and storing said digital phase and amplitude signals including those representing an update of said phase and amplitude differences relating to the preceding output pulse;
- f. means for receiving from said computer said stored digital phase and amplitude signals at selected times and converting said signals into analog signals;
- g. modulating means for receiving via said integrating means said analog signals corresponding to updated phase and amplitude differences related to the phase and amplitude error of the preceding pulse to provide phase modulation and amplitude summation signals selectively switchable to control and limit the change in initial phase and amplitude of the next pulse of the pulsed output device to the levels of phase and amplitude error at the end of the preceding pulse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.