Comparison of Low Pulse-Repetitive-Frequency Pulsed Power Supplies With Extremely Small Storage Capacitor

In active phased array radar, the T/R modules are powered by a low-voltage pulsed power supply (PPS). When the pulse repetitive frequency (PRF) is quite low, bulky storage capacitor or input LC filter is often used in the PPS, resulting in a low power density. The two-stage PPS and the active capacitor converter (ACC) based PPS can greatly reduce the storage capacitor by intentionally increasing its voltage ripple. In this article, the two kinds of PPSs with extremely small storage capacitor are compared in terms of the configuration, operating principle, main components and efficiency, and it is shown that the ACC-based PPS is more superior for low PRF than the two-stage PPS.