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A method to enhance the accuracy of RF power

measurements in particle accelerator high-frequency
systems.
Zeng Fanjian, Sun Liepeng, Shi Longbo, Jin Kean, Lu Liang, Ma Wei, Huang Guirong

levels of technical expertise and uneven processes. Commercial

Abstract—This letter proposes a method for accurately directional couplers typically achieve a directivity range of 20
calculating RF power at a standing wave (SW) transmission line dB to 30 dB, while some specially designed directional couplers
system. It uses two directional couplers and a low-level radio can occasionally reach values of around 40 dB to meet scientific
frequency(LLRF) control system. The RF power is calculated
from the proposed equations using amplitude and phase
research measurement requirements [9], [10]. However,
measurements of the coupling signals from the two directional designing such a single directional coupler for specific
couplers. The method is demonstrated adopting two directional transmission line models, frequencies, and powers requires
couplers with directivity 26 dB and 28 dB respectively at 162.5 significant time and effort from researchers. Furthermore,
MHz over a whole wavelength range. The average power errors changing application conditions necessitate redesigning,
observed when using a single directional coupler are about 6.6% producing, and debugging, leading to a heavy scientific
and 5.8% respectively, and the calculated power error can be
reduced to about 1.0% through the proposed method.
research and engineering burden.
This letter proposes a method of using two directional
Index Terms—RF power measurement, directional coupler, couplers with low directivity and the exceptional performance
LLRF. of the new generation of high-precision amplitude and phase
measurement by LLRF control system in particle accelerators
to explore the decoupling of forward and reverse signals
I. INTRODUCTION through accurate numerical calculations, thereby achieving
precise microwave signal measurement.

D
IRECTIONAL couplers are essential RF signal
extraction devices used in a wide range of applications,
including signal sampling, signal injection, power flow II. MEASUREMENT ERROR BASED ON A DIRECTIONAL COUPLER
monitoring, and more [1]-[4]. In an ideal directional coupler, In the ideal scenario of a directional coupler, which
the measured power in one direction is independent of the possesses infinite directivity, the forward signal in the main line
reverse signal. However, non-ideal directional couplers with exclusively couples with the coupling port in the auxiliary line,
poor directivity can introduce measurement errors due to cross- without any coupling to the isolation port. Similarly, the reverse
talk from the reverse signal [5]. In particle accelerator systems, signal in the main line couples solely with the isolation port,
especially in superconducting accelerator systems, the cavity is avoiding any coupling to the coupling port. In other words, the
often in a state of standing wave, unloaded, or even fully signal detected at the coupling port is exclusively associated
reflected due to aging and beam mismatch, which can cause with the forward signal in the main line and remains unaffected
significant reflections. Insufficient directivity of directional by the reverse signal. However, for a directional coupler in a
couplers during these conditions can result in low accuracy in real manufacturing process, due to inherent limitations in
power measurements, making it difficult to meet the directional performance, when measuring the forward signal,
requirements for cavity physical analysis, monitoring of interference from the reverse signal can introduce measurement
microwave power sources, and transmission line system work inaccuracies in the signal being evaluated.
status. Several approaches, such as using a wiggly line [6], V
additive lumped capacitances [7], and inductor-loading V-
methods [8], have been proposed to improve the directivity of φ
directional couplers. The accuracy of RF signal measurements V+
is often impacted by the core indicator, directivity, which is Fig. 1. The relationship between the signal V measured by
challenging to achieve the expected design goals due to varying the directional coupler and the actual signal to be measured V+

Manuscript received October 11, 2023; revised xx xx, xxxx; accepted xx xx, Zeng Fanjian is with Institute of Advanced Science Facilities Shenzhen,
xxxx. Date of publication xx xx, xxxx; date of current version xx xx, xxxx. 518107, China (e-mail: zengfanjian@mail.iasf.ac.cn)
“This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation Lu Liang and Ma Wei are with Sun Yat-Sen University, Sino-French
of China 11975288.” (Corresponding author: Zeng Fanjian). Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Zhuhai, China.
Sun Liepeng, Shi Longbo, Jin Kean and Huang Guirong are with Chinese Color versions of one or more of the figures in this article are available
Academy of Sciences, Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, China. online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LMWC.xxxx.xxxxxx
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along with the reverse crosstalk signal V- is described. directional coupler power measurement under full reflection
As shown in Figure 1, in the high-frequency system of a conditions and the directivity.
particle accelerator, the actual forward power delivered by the In particle accelerator systems, particularly in the
high-frequency power source to the cavity load is as follows superconducting accelerator systems, the cavities often spend a
(normalized impedance): significant portion of their operation in conditions characterized
Pfront = V+ 2 (1) by substantial reflection, and sometimes even full reflection,
However, owing to cavity reflections and the directional such as conditioning, load-pulling and beam mismatch. In these
coupler's limited directivity, the actual signal extracted from the situations, as depicted in Figure 2, the directivity of the
directional coupler is as follows: directional coupler plays a crucial role in determining the
uncertainty associated with power measurements. For instance,
V = cV+ + kV− e j (2)
considering a directional coupler with a directional
In the equations above, c and k respectively refer to coupling performance of 20 dB (d = 0.1), under full reflection conditions
coefficients and isolated coefficients of the directional coupler, (Γ = ±1), the measurement error for both forward and reverse
while φ represents the phase difference between the forward power can reach up to approximately 20%. This illustrates a
and backward signals that are coupled to the directional substantial level of uncertainty in power measurements.
coupler.
The relationship between the coupling coefficient c and III. PROPOSED MEASUREMENT METHOD
coupling factor C in decibels, the isolated coefficient k and
The new generation of LLRF control system at China
isolation factor I in decibels, as well as the directional
initiative Accelerator Driven System (CiADS) delivers
coefficient d and directivity factor D of the directional coupler
exceptional precision in measuring the amplitude and phase of
are as follows:
C
microwave signals, with accuracy within 0.1% and 0.1°,
−
c = 10 20
(4) respectively [11]-[13]. Based on this, the applicant has
−
I investigated the potential of utilizing high-performance LLRF
k = 10 20
(5) control system already present in particle accelerators to
−
D decouple reverse signal crosstalk caused by directional couplers
d = 10 20
(6) with insufficient directionality, enabling the precise
Where, measurement of microwave power during full reflection. The
D = I −C (7) specific process and theoretical analysis are described below.
Based on the above relationship equations, the signal V
extracted from the directional coupler and its corresponding
power are as follows:
V = cV+ (1 + dΓe j )
LLRF
(8)
2
Pfront ' = V 2 = V+ 2 1 + dΓe j (9) V1 V2
Δφ
In the equations above, d represents the directional V+ Coupler 1 V-
Coupler 2
coefficient, and Γ denotes the reflection coefficient. P+ P-
Hence, the relative error between the forward power Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of microwave measurement using
measured through the directional coupler and the actual forward two directional couplers and a LLRF control system.
power is as follows: As shown in Fig. 3, the signals V1 and V2 extracted from the
Pfront ' − Pfront 2
error = = 1 + dΓe j − 1 (10) coupling ends of directional couplers 1 and 2, respectively, can
Pfront be expressed as equation 2:
Especially when the system is in a state of full reflection V1 = c1V+ + k1V− e j (12)
(Γ=±1) and φ=nπ(where n=0, ±1, ±2, etc.), the measurement V2 = c2V+ e− j  + k2V− e
j ( + )
(13)
error reaches its maximum, referred to as uncertainty:
Where  denotes the phase difference between the two
errormax = 1  d − 1 = d 2  2d  2d
2
(11)
directional couplers.
V2

α V1
Fig. 4. Microwave signals output from the coupling ends of
the two directional couplers.
The LLRF control system can accurately measure the
Fig. 2. The relationship between the maximum error in
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amplitudes and phases of the signals V1 and V2 . As shown in sliding short circuit is connected at the load end. By adjusting the
Fig. 4, V2 can be represented by V1 as bellow: position of the short circuit, the phase difference between the
forward and reverse signals is changed, and data is recorded over
V2
V2 = V1   e j (14) one standing wave cycle, which corresponds to half a wavelength,
V1 approximately 923mm.
 =  2 − 1 (15)
Then, the forward signal and forward power in the
transmission line can be determined as follows:
LLRF digital
V k
1 − 2 1 e j ( − ) system
V V1 k2 SSA source
V+ = 1  (16)
c1 c k
1 − 2 1 e − j 2  Coupler for calibration
c1 k2 Coupler 1
2 Coupler 2
V+
P+ = (17)
2Z 0 Sliding short
The constants c1 , c 2 , k1 , k 2 , and φ can be calibrated by
the network analyzer. V1 , V2 , and  are the parameters that
are measured by the LLRF control system for the signals from
the coupling ends of the two directional couplers. Fig. 5. Schematics of high-power test setup.
Moreover, this measurement method also has the potential As shown in Fig. 6, the results within one standing wave period
for wide bandwidth applications： are presented. The forward power measurement errors separately
V2 ( k1 ) f j ( −(  ) f )
obtained using directional couplers 1 and 2 were 6.6% and 5.8%,
1− e respectively. However, the error of the forward power calculated
V1 V1 ( k2 ) f
(V+ ) f =  (18)
using the formula 16 and 17 was reduced to 1.0%. The experiment
c1 ( c2 ) f ( k1 ) f − j 2 (  ) f
verifies that using the method proposed can significantly improve
1− e
( c1 ) f ( k2 ) f the measurement accuracy.
Power vs the displacement of the plunger
3.2
Here, (  ) f is proportional to the frequency, and ( c1 ) f ,
Calculation
Calibration
3.0 Coupler 1
Power（kW）

Coupler 2

( c2 ) f , ( k1 ) f , ( k2 ) f can be calibrated with frequency variation 2.8

2.6
over a wide bandwidth using a network analyzer. Therefore, as 2.4
long as the LLRF control system can accurately measure the
2.2
amplitude, frequency, and phase of the coupling signals V1 and
2.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
V2 within the bandwidth, the equation can be used to accurately Power vs the displacement of the plunger
calculate the signal at any frequency within the bandwidth. Fig. 6. Results within one standing wave period.

IV. EXPERIMENT RESULTS V. CONCLUSION

The experiment was conducted on the CiADS RF high-power This letter presents a novel method for achieving highly accurate
experimental platform, using a 162.5 MHz solid-state microwave measurement of microwave power in high-power transmission
power source as shown in fig. 5. It is important to highlight that, systems. The method utilizes two low-directional directional
due to the limited isolation of the circulator within the solid-state couplers and leverages the high-precision amplitude and phase
power, the reflected signal can impact the output of the power measurement capabilities of the particle accelerator LLRF control
amplifier. As a result, under the same excitation from the power system. The method has been validated on a high-power
source, a change in terminal reflection phase will lead to variations microwave test platform. By using directional couplers with
in the output of the solid-state power source. Consequently, we directionalities of 26 dB and 28 dB, the average measurement
error of power measurement under any phase full reflection is
cannot assume that the output of the solid-state power source
reduced to approximately 1%, thereby significantly improving the
remains constant under the same excitation and use it for
accuracy of microwave power measurement. This method has the
calibrating experimental data. Therefore, we customized a
potential to operate across a wide frequency band and will
directional coupler from Exir Broadcasting for calibration with the undergo further verification in future research.
model DIRC-R318-A0, and a directivity of 40 dB.
The directional couplers 1 and 2 have directivities of 26 dB and
28 dB, respectively. In order to simulate a condition where the
terminal is in a state of full reflection with an arbitrary phase, a
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