Exactly what is this when it comes to semiconductors and why is it such an important process?
In: Engineering
I’m not sure about lp3, but p1db, at least from my field, is the 1-dB compression point. That is, if you have a system, you feed in a given input at a specific power, you get an output of some power. At low power levels, every step you make in input increases output at a linear rate. For example, for each 1 dB increase of input power, you might get a 0.95 dB increase in output power. However, as you keep increasing power, you eventually reach a point where this linear relationship breaks down, and increasing the input power has a lesser effect on output power (i.e. in compression). If you extrapolate the linear line from the lower input levels, the p1db is where the actual output power is 1 dB below the line. It’s important to know, because as the output compresses, you get a lot more interference from harmonics and noise, creating unpredictable and undesirable results. Thus it is often used to calculate the maximum input power you want to allow to your system.
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