I am just starting to learn about RF.

Could someone tell me what a Digital Front End ( DFE) and a Field Programmable Gate Array is (FPGA)? Or links where I could learn more.

Also why does the signal from a DFE need to be linear?

Thanks for any help.

 

Here's an idea: Use Google (or some other search engine) and search for, oh, perhaps "Field Programmable Gate Array".

Then repeat this process searching for, perhaps, say, "Digital Front End".

Look through what pops up there and then come back armed with whatever knowledge you gain and ask some more specific questions.

 

Why does the signal from a DFE need to be linear when used with RF?

 

Look a bit more generally for why linearity is important in many RF applications.

 

"Digital front ends" normally digitise the RF spectrum they are designed for,directly--the signal is then digitally processed to produce the functions normally performed in a conventional receiver,such as tuning,filtering, detection,AGC,etc.

It was my impression that the output of these "front-ends" were still in raw digital format,where I would expect that linearity would not be a major problem.
If,however,they have used something other than simple two level data,such as a multi-level,multiphase method like that used for digital television signals,linearity may well be important.

As I am basically an analog person,I can't really add anything else useful.