Wideband CATV amplifier with microprocessor-based slope and gain control

摘要

A broadband amplifier has a microcontroller having tables the entries of which correspond to desired variable slope and gain characteristics of the amplifier. The entries in the tables are derived from known temperature characteristics of a specific amplifier/cable combination; multiple tables are used to support multiple different configurations. The microcontroller retrieves values from the tables based on temperature data supplied thereto via a serial bus; these values are output to digital-to-analog converters which generate slope and gain control signals to control slope and gain compensation circuits in a PIN diode attenuator in the amplifier.