A coaxial loudspeaker in which the woofer and tweeter oscillate at angular frequencies ω_1 and ω_2 respectively, is known to produce sum and difference frequencies ω_± = ω_1 ± ω_2. The generation of these can be attributed to both the nonlinearity of the equations of motion and the Lagrangian boundary behaviour of the low-frequency transducer. In order to characterize the phenomena of interest a perturbation expansion of the field variables is introduced (sometimes called quasi-linear approximation). After deriving a second-order equation for pressure, from which the intermodulation frequencies are obtained, an attempt is made to justify the dominance of the boundary mechanism over that of the fluid nonlinearity. An exact integral solution is then given for the spatial factor of the ω_± pressure terms. In the special case of a farfield on-axis observer an analytic solution is obtained. Several numerical investigations are performed and compared with experiment.

A coaxial loudspeaker in which the woofer and tweeter oscillate at angular frequencies ω_1 and ω_2 respectively, is known to produce sum and difference frequencies ω_± = ω_1 ± ω_2. The generation of these can be attributed to both the nonlinearity of the equations of motion and the Lagrangian boundary behaviour of the low-frequency transducer. In order to characterize the phenomena of interest a perturbation expansion of the field variables is introduced (sometimes called quasi-linear approximation). After deriving a second-order equation for pressure, from which the intermodulation frequencies are obtained, an attempt is made to justify the dominance of the boundary mechanism over that of the fluid nonlinearity. An exact integral solution is then given for the spatial factor of the ω_± pressure terms. In the special case of a farfield on-axis observer an analytic solution is obtained. Several numerical investigations are performed and compared with experiment.

Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) is the preferred third generation (3G) communication standard for mobile communications and will provide worldwide coverage, a convenient software technology and very high data rate. The high data rate, especially, requires the use of bandwidth-efficient modulation schemes such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK). But modulation schemes such as QPSK need, in turn, a very linear power from the output of the transmitter power amplifier in order to meet the spectral requirements. A linear power amplifier, traditionally, has very low energy efficiency. Poor energy efficiency directly affects operational costs and causes thermal heating issues in base station transmitters. Thus the power amplifier designer is forced to trade-off between linearity and efficiency. As a result of this trade-off a Class-AB power amplifier is most often used in QPSK based systems. Class-AB power amplifiers provide acceptable linearity at efficiency values around 45-50% typically. This compromise is not a satisfactory solution but is inevitable while using traditional power amplifier design techniques. This thesis details the use of a Class-F amplifier with carefully chosen bias points and harmonic traps to overcome this problem. Class-F amplifiers are usually considered as very high efficiency (80% or more power-added efficiency) amplifiers where the high efficiency is obtained through the use of harmonic traps (L-C filters or quarter-wavelength transmission lines), which provide suitable terminations (either open or short) for the harmonics generated. By doing this, a square wave drain voltage and a peaked half-sinusoidal drain current out-of-phase by 180 are produced. Since only a drain voltage or a drain current exists at any given time, the power dissipation is ideally zero resulting in 100% theoretical efficiency. These very high efficiency values are usually associated with poor linearity. However the linearity can be improved to meet the design standards but compromising on efficiency. Even after this is done, efficiencies are usually 10 to 15% greater than a traditional Class AB power amplifier with similar linearity performance. Thus efficiency can be improved without affecting linearity by the use of Class-F power amplifiers. In order to verify this theory, a Class-AB and a Class-F power amplifier are designed using Motorola's high voltage laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor. The choice of bias points and the design of the harmonic traps are very critical for the Class-F performance and hence were designed after careful consideration. The designs were simulated on Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) and the simulated results were compared for three different power levels namely, the peak power, 3 dB below peak power and 6 dB below peak power. At all of these power levels it was noted that the Class-F and Class-AB power amplifiers have very similar linearity performance whereas the Class-F power amplifiers show about 10% improvement in efficiency in comparison to the Class-AB power amplifiers. / Master of Science

Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology is capable of very high power levels but suffers from high non-linearity. With the advent of 5G technologies, high linearity is in greater demand due to complex modulation schemes and crowded RF (Radio Frequency) spectrum. Because of the non-linearity issue, GaN power amplifiers have to be operated at back-off input power levels. Operating at back-off reduces the efficiency of the power amplifier along-with the output power. This research presents a technique to linearize GaN amplifiers. The linearity can be improved by splitting a large device into multiple smaller devices and biasing them individually. This leads to the cancellation of the IMD3 (Third-order Intermodulation Distortion) components at the output of the FETs and hence higher linearity performance. This technique has been demonstrated in Silicon technology but has not been previously implemented in GaN. This research work presents for the first time the implementation of this technique in GaN Technology. By the application of this technique, improvement in IMD3 of 4 dBc has been shown for a 0.8-1.0 GHz PA (Power Amplifier), and 9.5 dBm in OIP3 (Third-order Intercept Point) for an S-Band GaN LNA, with linearity FOM (IP3/DC power) reaching up to 20. Large-signal simulation and analysis have been done to demonstrate linearity improvement for two parallel and four parallel FETs. A simulation methodology has been discussed in detail using commercial CAD software. A power sampler element is used to compute the IMD3 currents coming out of various FETs due to various bias currents. Simulation results show by biasing one device in Class AB and others in deep Class AB, IMD3 components of parallel FETs can be made out of phase of each other, leading to cancellation and improvement in linearity. Improvement up to 20 dBc in IMD3 has been reported through large-signal simulation when four parallel FETs with optimum bias were used. This technique has also been demonstrated in simulation for an X-Band MMIC PA from 8-10 GHz in GaN technology. Improvements up to 25-30 dBc were shown using the technique of biasing one device with Class AB and other with deep class AB/class B. The proposed amplifier achieves broadband linearization over the entire frequency compared to state-of-the-art PA's. The linearization technique demonstrated is simple, straight forward, and low cost to implement. No additional circuitry is needed. This technique finds its application in high dynamic range RF amplifier circuits for communications and sensing applications. / Doctor of Philosophy / Power amplifiers (PAs) and Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) form the front end of the Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver systems. With the advent of complex modulation schemes, it is becoming imperative to improve their linearity. Through this dissertation, we propose a technique for improving the linearity of amplifier circuits used for communication systems. Meanwhile, Gallium Nitride (GaN) is becoming a technology of choice for high-power amplifier circuits due to its higher power handling capability and higher breakdown voltage compared with Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Silicon Germanium (SiGe) and Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. A circuit design technique of using multiple parallel GaN FETs is presented. In this technique, the multiple parallel FETs have independently controllable gate voltages. Compared to a large single FET, using multiple FETs and biasing them individually helps to improve the linearity through the cancellation of nonlinear distortion components. Experimental results show the highest linearity improvement compared with the other state-of-the-art linearization schemes. The technique demonstrated is the first time implementation in GaN technology. The technique is a simple and cost-effective solution for improving the linearity of the amplifier circuits. Applications include base station amplifiers, mobile handsets, radars, satellite communication, etc.

The recent trend in modern information technology has been towards the increased use of portable and handheld devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless networks. This trend presents the need for compact and power efficient radio systems. Typically, the most power inefficient device in a radio system is the power amplifier (PA). PA inefficiency requires increased battery reserves to supply the necessary DC bias current, resulting in larger devices. Alternatively, the length of time between battery charges is reduced for a given battery size, reducing mobility. In addition, communications channels are becoming increasingly crowded, which presents the need for improved bandwidth efficiency. In order to make more efficient use of the frequency spectrum allocated for a particular system, there is a push towards complex higher order digital modulation schemes in modern radio systems, resulting in stricter linearity requirements on the system. Since power efficient amplifiers are typically nonlinear, this poses a major problem in realizing a bandwidth and power efficient radio system. However, by employing various linearization techniques, the linearity of a high efficiency PA may be improved. The work presented in this thesis focuses on diode predistortion linearization, particularly for PA RFICs in digital radios. Background discussion on common linearization techniques available to the PA designer is presented. In addition, a discussion of traditional and modern methods of nonlinearity characterization is presented, illustrating the nonlinear PA effects on a modulated signal. This includes the use of two-tone analysis and the more modern envelope analysis. The operation of diode predistortion linearizers is discussed in detail, along with diode optimization procedures for PA linearization with minimum impact on return loss and gain. This diode optimization is effective in improving the ability to integrate the predistorter into a single, linearized PA RFIC chip. MESFET and HBT based diode linearizers are studied for use with corresponding MESFET and HBT based PAs in the 2.68 GHz and 1.95 GHz frequency bands, respectively. Results show an improvement in adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) due to the linearizer in both MESFET and HBT cases. A fully integrated 1.95 GHz linearizer and PA RFIC in HBT technology is also presented. Design considerations, simulations, and layouts for this design are presented. Finally, several recommendations are made for continued research in this area. / Master of Science

Barium strontium titanate thin film varactors have been widely investigated for the purpose of creating tunable front-ends for RF and microwave systems. There is an abundance of literature observing the capacitance-voltage behavior and methods on improving tunability. However, there is a lack of thorough investigations on the nonlinear behavior, specifically the third order intermodulation distortion, and the parameters that impact it. There is also a research void that needs to be filled for nanoscale barium strontium titanate varactors as nanotechnology becomes increasingly prevalent in the design of RF and microwave components. This work aims to advance the understanding of nonlinear properties of barium strontium titanate varactors. Temperature and voltage impacts on the third order intermodulation distortion products of BST varactors are observed by two-tone measurements. The material properties of the films are correlated with the nonlinear behavior of the varactors. Additionally, size reduction capabilities are shown by fabricating planar barium strontium titanate interdigital varactors with nanoscale size gaps between the electrodes. Modeling techniques are also investigated.

The large unlicensed 3 GHz overlapping bandwidth that is available worldwide at 60 GHz has resulted in renewed interest in 60 GHz technology. This frequency band has made it attractive for short-range gigabit wireless communication. The power amplifier (PA) directly influences the performance and quality of this entire communication chain, as it is one of the final subsystems in the transmitter. Spectral efficient modulation schemes used at 60 GHz pose challenging requirements for the linearity of the PA. To improve the linearity, several external linearisation techniques currently exist, such as feedback, feedforward, envelope elimination and restoration, linear amplification with non-linear components and predistortion. This thesis is aimed at investigating and characterising the distortion components found in PAs at mm-wave frequencies and evaluating whether an adaptive predistortion (APD) linearisation technique is suitable to reduce these distortion components. After a thorough literature study and mathematical analysis, it was found that the third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) components were the most severe distortion components. Predistortion was identified as the most effective linearisation technique in terms of minimising these IMD3 components and was therefore proposed in this research. It does not introduce additional complexity and can easily be integrated with the PA. Furthermore, the approach is stable and has lower power consumption when compared to the aforementioned linearisation techniques. The proposed predistortion technique was developed compositely through this research by making it a function of the PA’s output power that was measured using a power detector. A comparator was used with the detected output power and the reference voltages to control the dynamic bias circuit of the variable gain amplifier. This provided control and flexibility on when to apply the predistortion to the PA and therefore allowing the linearity of the PA to be optimised. Three-stage non-linear and linear PAs were also designed at 60 GHz and implemented to compare the performance of the APD technique and form part of the hypothesis verification process. The 130 nm silicon-germanium (SiGe) bipolar and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology from IBM was used for the simulation of the entire APD and PA design and for the fabrication of the prototype integrated circuits (ICs). This technology has the advantage of integrating the high performance, low power intensive SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with the CMOS technology. The SiGe HBTs have a high cut-off frequency ( > 200 GHz), which is ideal for mm-wave PA applications and the CMOS components were integrated in the control logic of the digital circuitry. The simulations and IC layout were accomplished with Cadence Virtuoso. The implemented IC occupies an area of 1.8 mm by 2.0 mm. The non-linear PA achieves a of 11.97 dBm and an of -10 dBm. With the APD technique applied, the linearity of the PA is significantly improved with an of -6 dBm and an optimum IMD3 reduction of 10 dB. Based on the findings and results of the applied APD technique, APD reduced intermodulation distortion (especially the IMD3) and is thus suitable to improve the linearity of PAs at mm-wave frequencies. To the knowledge of this author, no APD technique has been applied for PAs at 60 GHz, therefore the contribution of this research will assist future PA designers to characterise and optimise the reduction of the IMD3 components. This will result in improved linear output power from the PA and the use of complex modulation schemes at 60 GHz. ## Die groot ongelisensieerde oorvleuelde bandwydte van 3 GHz wat wêreldwyd by 60 GHz beskikbaar is, het hernude belangstelling in 60 GHz-tegnologie tot gevolg gehad. Hierdie frekwensieband het dit aantreklik gemaak vir kortafstand-gigabis draadlose kommunikasie. Aangesien die drywingsversterker een van die finale subsisteme in die seintoestel is, het dit ’n direkte invloed op die werkverrigting en kwaliteit van die hele kommunikasieketting. Spektraaldoeltreffende modulasieskemas wat by 60 GHz gebruik word, stel uitdagende vereistes vir die lineariteit van die drywingsversterker. Om die lineariteit te verbeter, is daar tans verskeie eksterne linearisasietegnieke beskikbaar, soos terugvoer, vooruitvoer, omhullende eliminasie en -restorasie, lineêre versterking met nie-lineêre komponente en predistorsie. Hierdie tesis het ten doel om die distorsiekomponente wat by millimetergolffrekwensies in drywingsversterkers gevind word, te ondersoek en te karakteriseer en om te bepaal of ’n aanpassende predistorsielinearisasietegniek geskik is om hierdie distorsiekomponente te verminder. Na ’n deeglike literatuurstudie en wiskundige analise is gevind dat die derde-orde-intermodulasiedistorsiekomponente (IMD3) die ergste distorsiekomponente was. Predistorsie is geïdentifiseer as die mees effektiewe linearisasietegniek om hierdie IMD3-komponente te minimeer en die gebruik daarvan is gevolglik in hierdie navorsing voorgestel. Dit bring nie addisionele kompleksiteit mee nie en kan maklik met die drywingsversterker geïntegreer word. Daarbenewens is die benadering stabiel, met laer kragverbruik in vergelyking met die linearisasietegnieke wat voorheen genoem is. Die voorgestelde predistorsietegniek is in hierdie navorsing ontwikkel deur dit ’n funksie van die drywingsversterker se uitsetkrag te maak, wat gemeet is deur ’n kragdetektor te gebruik. ’n Vergelyker is saam met die gemete uitsetkrag en die verwysingspannings gebruik om die dinamiese voorspanningsbaan van die veranderlike winsversterker te beheer. Dit het toegelaat vir beheer en buigsaamheid in die aanwending van die predistorsie op die drywingsversterker en gevolglik vir die optimering van die lineêriteit van die drywingsversterker. Driefase- nie-lineêre en lineêre drywingsversterkers is ook by 60 GHz ontwerp en geïmplementeer om die werkverrigting van die aanpassende predistorsietegniek te vergelyk en dit vorm deel van die verifikasieproses van die hipotese. Die 130 nm-silikon-germanium (SiGe) bipolêre en metaaloksiedhalfgeleier- (BiCMOS) tegnologie van IBM is gebruik vir die simulasie van die hele aanpassende predistorsietegniek- en drywingsversterkerontwerp en vir die vervaardiging van die prototipe- geïntegreerde stroombane. Hierdie tegnologie het die voordeel dat dit die hoë werkverrigting en lae krag-intensiewe SiGe-heterovoegvlak-bipolêre transistors (HBTs) met die CMOS-tegnologie integreer. Die SiGe-HBTs het ’n hoë afsnyfrekwensie ( > 200 GHz), wat ideaal is vir mm-golfdrywingsversterkeraanwendings en die CMOS-komponente is in die beheer-logika van die digitale stroombaan geïntegreer. Die geïntegreerde stroombaan beslaan ’n area van 1.8 mm by 2.0 mm. Die nie-lineêre drywingsversterker behaal ’n van 11.97 dBm en ’n van -10 dBm. As die APD-tegniek toegepas word, word die lineariteit van die drywingsversterker beduidend verbeter tot ’n van -6 dBm en ’n optimum-IMD3-vermindering van 10 dB. Volgens die bevindings en resultate van die APD-tegniek wat toegepas is, verminder APD intermodulasiedistorsie (veral die IMD3) en is gevolglik geskik om die lineariteit van drywingsversterkers by mm-golffrekwensies te verbeter. Na die wete van hierdie skrywer is daar nie voorheen enige APD tegniek toegepas vir drywingsversterkers by 60 GHz nie, gevolglik sal die bydrae van hierdie navorsing toekomstige drywingsversterkerontwerpers help om die vermindering van die IMD3-komponente te karakteriseer en optimeer. Dit sal verbeterde lineêre uitsetkrag van die drywingsversterker tot gevolg hê, asook meer komplekse modulasieskemas by 60 GHz toelaat. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / unrestricted

One of the major factors in RF circuit design is the ability to predict the performance of these circuits in the presence of uncertainty in the key design parameters. This is referred to as uncertainty quantification in the mathematical literature. Uncertainty about the key design parameters arises mainly from the difficulty of controlling the physical or geometrical features of the underlying design, especially at the nanometer level. With the constant trend to scale down the process feature size, uncertainty quantification becomes crucial in shortening the design time. This thesis presents a new approach to statistically characterize the variability of the Harmonic Balance analysis and its application to Intermodulation distortion analysis in the presence of uncertainty in the design parameters. The new approach is based on the concept of Polynomial Chaos (PC) and Stochastic Galerkin (SG) methods. However, unlike the traditional PC, the proposed approach adopts a new mathematical formulation that decouples the Polynomial Chaos problem into several problems whose sizes are equal to the size of the original Harmonic Balance problem. The proposed algorithm produces significant CPU savings with equivalent accuracy to traditional Monte Carlo and standard PC approaches.

The large unlicensed 3 GHz overlapping bandwidth that is available worldwide at 60 GHz has resulted in renewed interest in 60 GHz technology. This frequency band has made it attractive for short-range gigabit wireless communication. The power amplifier (PA) directly influences the performance and quality of this entire communication chain, as it is one of the final subsystems in the transmitter. Spectral efficient modulation schemes used at 60 GHz pose challenging requirements for the linearity of the PA. To improve the linearity, several external linearisation techniques currently exist, such as feedback, feedforward, envelope elimination and restoration, linear amplification with non-linear components and predistortion. This thesis is aimed at investigating and characterising the distortion components found in PAs at mm-wave frequencies and evaluating whether an adaptive predistortion (APD) linearisation technique is suitable to reduce these distortion components. After a thorough literature study and mathematical analysis, it was found that the third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) components were the most severe distortion components. Predistortion was identified as the most effective linearisation technique in terms of minimising these IMD3 components and was therefore proposed in this research. It does not introduce additional complexity and can easily be integrated with the PA. Furthermore, the approach is stable and has lower power consumption when compared to the aforementioned linearisation techniques. The proposed predistortion technique was developed compositely through this research by making it a function of the PA’s output power that was measured using a power detector. A comparator was used with the detected output power and the reference voltages to control the dynamic bias circuit of the variable gain amplifier. This provided control and flexibility on when to apply the predistortion to the PA and therefore allowing the linearity of the PA to be optimised. Three-stage non-linear and linear PAs were also designed at 60 GHz and implemented to compare the performance of the APD technique and form part of the hypothesis verification process. The 130 nm silicon-germanium (SiGe) bipolar and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology from IBM was used for the simulation of the entire APD and PA design and for the fabrication of the prototype integrated circuits (ICs). This technology has the advantage of integrating the high performance, low power intensive SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with the CMOS technology. The SiGe HBTs have a high cut-off frequency (fT > 200 GHz), which is ideal for mm-wave PA applications and the CMOS components were integrated in the control logic of the digital circuitry. The simulations and IC layout were accomplished with Cadence Virtuoso. The implemented IC occupies an area of 1.8 mm by 2.0 mm. The non-linear PA achieves a Psat of 11.97 dBm and an IP1dB of -10 dBm. With the APD technique applied, the linearity of the PA is significantly improved with an IP1dB of -6 dBm and an optimum IMD3 reduction of 10 dB. Based on the findings and results of the applied APD technique, APD reduced intermodulation distortion (especially the IMD3) and is thus suitable to improve the linearity of PAs at mm-wave frequencies. To the knowledge of this author, no APD technique has been applied for PAs at 60 GHz, therefore the contribution of this research will assist future PA designers to characterise and optimise the reduction of the IMD3 components. This will result in improved linear output power from the PA and the use of complex modulation schemes at 60 GHz. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD

Électromagnétisme, sécurité et guerre électronique sont étroitement liés depuis des décennies. Leur association rassemble des applications de surveillance radar, de neutralisation de systèmes électroniques ou de détection d’électroniques cachées. Aujourd’hui, la multiplication des EEI (Engins Explosifs Improvisés) aussi bien sur les théâtres d’opération que dans les milieux urbains conduit à la nécessité de leur détection. Les travaux de cette thèse peuvent entrer dans cette thématique et proposent une nouvelle alternative qui permet de mettre en évidence la présence de récepteurs RF cachés. Le radar non-linéaire est particulièrement adapté à la détection de dispositifs contenant des métaux et des semi-conducteurs (électroniques). Une technique populaire consiste à transmettre une seule fréquence f1 et à recevoir la seconde harmonique générée par la cible. Une autre technique, moins courante, consiste à transmettre deux fréquences, f1 et f2, et à recevoir les produits d'intermodulation d’ordre 3 (2f1 - f2 et 2f2 - f1). Un état de l’art approfondi des systèmes radars non-linéaires est effectué dans un premier chapitre avec une comparaison de leurs caractéristiques. Dans un second chapitre, un banc de test en mode conduit est développé permettant la mesure de l’IM3 réfléchi d’une cible RF. Ainsi des analyses et des ordres de grandeurs seront connus aidant au développement du radar. Dans le chapitre 3, Le démonstrateur du radar à IM3 est développé. Un large panel de systèmes RF, commerciaux ou non, susceptibles d’être trouvé dans des milieux opérationnels est mis sous test. Leur détection va permettre de valider la technique de récupération de l’IM3. Un nouveau bilan de liaison réaliste du radar IM3 est mis en place afin d’estimer la portée de détection réelle du radar, pour différentes cibles RF. Dans le dernier chapitre les travaux s’orientent sur l’identification et la classification d’une cible RF. L’étude porte sur la possibilité d’extraire tous paramètres pouvant aider à une classification (évaluation du danger) de récepteurs RF dans un milieu opérationnel. Le travail de recherche présenté dans ce manuscrit contribue à l’amélioration des techniques de détection d’électroniques cachées. Un protocole de détection a été proposé décrivant les faits et gestes du radar IM3. Il inclut un balayage en fréquence puis en puissance. Les premiers tests ont été effectués sur un Talkie-Walkie démontrant la possibilité de détecter sa bande passante via la réémission d’IM3, à plus de 2 m. La répétabilité des tests sur un panel élargi de récepteurs RF valide le protocole de détection et l’intérêt du radar IM3. Une puissance d’émission du radar IM3 de 40 dBm, à une fréquence d’IM3 de 400 MHz, peut potentiellement détecter un récepteur à 80 m. Enfin dans un dernier travail exploratoire nous avons démontré que, par l’observation de la réponse de l’IM3 réfléchi suite à un balayage en puissance, le radar IM3 peut ajouter de nouveaux critères d’identification discriminant les récepteurs détectés entre eux. / Electromagnetism, security and electronic warfare have been closely linked for decades. Their association gathers applications of radar surveillance, neutralization of electronic systems or detection of hidden electronics. Today, the multiplication of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) both in theatres of operation and in urban environments leads to the need for their detection. The works of this thesis can enter into this theme and propose a new alternative that allows to highlight the presence of hidden RF receivers. The nonlinear radar is particularly suitable for detecting devices containing metals and (electronic) semiconductors. A popular technique is to transmit a single frequency f1 and receive the second harmonic generated by the target. Another less common technique consists of transmitting two frequencies, f1 and f2, and receiving intermodulation products of order 3 (2f1 - f2 and 2f2 - f1). An in-depth state of the art of nonlinear radar systems is made in a first chapter with a comparison of their characteristics. In a second chapter, an inductive test bench is developed to measure the reflected IM3 of an RF target. Thus analyses and orders of magnitude will be known helping the development of radar. In chapter 3, the IM3 radar demonstrator is developed. A wide range of RF systems, commercial and non-commercial, that may be found in operational environments are being tested. Their detection will validate the IM3 recovery technique. A new realistic IM3 radar link budget is implemented to estimate the actual radar detection range for different RF targets. In the last chapter the work focuses on the identification and classification of an RF target. The study focuses on the possibility of extracting all parameters to assist in a classification (hazard assessment) of RF receptors in an operational environment. The research work presented in this manuscript contributes to the improvement of hidden electronic detection techniques. A detection protocol was proposed describing the actions of the IM3 radar. It includes a frequency scan and then a power scan. The first tests were carried out on a walkie-talkie demonstrating the possibility of detecting its bandwidth via IM3 retransmission, at more than 2 m. The repeatability of the tests on an extended panel of RF receivers validates the detection protocol and the interest of the IM3 radar. An IM3 radar transmission power of 40 dBm, at an IM3 frequency of 400 MHz, can potentially detect a receiver at 80 m. Finally in a final exploratory work, we demonstrated that by observing the IM3 response reflected following a power scan the IM3 radar can add new identification criteria that discriminate the hidden receivers detected between them.