Design and Evaluation of Digital Baseband Converter Sub-channel Delay Compensation Method on Bandwidth Synthesis

The effect of sub-channel delay on bandwidth synthesis is investigated to eliminate the “phase step” phenomenon in bandwidth synthesis during the test of CDBE (Chinese Digital Backend). Through formula derivation, we realize that sub-channel delay may cause phase discontinuity between different sub-channels. Theoretical analysis shows that sub-channel delay can induce bandwidth synthesis error in group delay measurement of the linear system. Furthermore, in the differential delay measurement between two stations, bandwidth synthesis error may occur when the LO (Local Oscillator) frequency differences of corresponding sub-channels are not identical. Error-free conditions are discussed under different applications. The phase errors among different sub-channels can be removed manually. However, the most effective way is the compensation of sub-channel delay. A sub-channel delay calculation method based on Modelsim is proposed. The compensation method is detailed. Simulation and field experiments are presented to verify our approach.