Switched attenuator diode microwave power sensor including a stack of sensor diodes

摘要

The present invention relates to a switched attenuator diode microwave power sensor and more particularly to a true average, wide dynamic range microwave power sensor utilizing a switched step attenuator on the sensor input. The present invention provides a sensor that uses a switched attenuator to always keep the signal to the sensor diodes in their "square law" region of operation has significant advantages over the prior art. Staying in the valid "square law" operating region will enable accurate measurements to be made on arbitrarily modulated signals of high peak to average ratio