An MMIC active phase shifter using a variable resonant circuit [andMESFETs]

This paper describes a monolithic-microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) active phase shifter using a variable resonant circuit with a large amount of variable phase. We first propose a novel active phase-shifter configuration that uses a variable resonant circuit with second-order all-pass network characteristics. Phase can be changed with a constant amplitude by varying the capacitance or the inductance of the resonant circuit. Next, an experimental MMIC active phase shifter with input active matching is presented. A phase shift of over 100° and an insertion loss of 4±1 dB are obtained from 2.2 to 2.8 GHz. The chip size is less than 1.0 mm². Finally, an experimental 360° MMIC active phase shifter is presented. Over the bandwidth of 40 MHz at 2.44 GHz, the insertion gain is 2.0±0.7 dB and the phase error is within ±4° when measured in 30° steps     

Millimetre-wave wideband reflection-type CPW MMIC phase shifter

A reflection-type coplanar waveguide (CPW) phase shifter fabricated using a standard monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) process is presented. Air-gap overlay CPW couplers were employed for wideband 3 dB coupling and low loss at millimetre wave. The two-stage cascaded analogue phase shifter showed insertion losses of 6.9 ± 1.6 dB, return losses > 10 dB, and maximum rms phase error of +5.5° for the relative phase shift from -20° to 135°, over a wideband 27 to 47 GHz     

A low-cost 8 to 26.5 GHz phased array antenna using a piezoelectrictransducer controlled phase shifter

A new phased array antenna of wide bandwidth and good beam scanning angle has been developed using a low cost multiline phase shifter controlled by a piezoelectric transducer (PET) and a stripline fed Vivaldi antenna array. The multiline progressive PET phase shifter has a low perturbation loss of less than 2 dB and a total loss of less than 4 dB up to 40 GHz with a maximum phase shift of 480°. The proposed phased array antenna consists of four E- or H-plane Vivaldi antennas, a PET phase shifter, and a power divider. The phased array shows a wide beam scanning capability of ±27° over a wide bandwidth from 8 to 26.5 GHz covering X, Ku, and K bands     

Design and performance of a Ka-band monolithic phase shifterutilizing nonresonant FET switches

This paper describes design consideration and performance of a Ka-band monolithic phase shifter utilizing nonresonant FET switches. The switches show broad-band on/off characteristics up to 60 GHz without using inductors; thus, robust circuit design is possible for a switched-line phase shifter. To determine circuit topology, we introduce a schematic design approach. As a result, desired phase shift as well as good matching characteristics can be realized. The developed 4-bit monolithic phase shifter demonstrates an overall phase deviation less than 5° rms and an insertion loss variation less than 0.65 dB rms from 33 to 35 GHz. For all 16 states, the insertion loss is measured to be 13.1±1.1 dB and the VSWR is less than 1.6. The chip size of the monolithic phase shifter is 2.5 mm×2.2 mm     

Compact reflective-type phase-shifter MMIC for C-band using alumped-element coupler

The design and results of an ultra-compact single-load reflective-type monolithic-microwave integrated-circuit phase shifter at 6.2 GHz for a satellite radar system is presented in this paper, which has been fabricated using a commercial 0.6-μm GaAs MESFET process. A 3-dB 90° coupler with lumped elements enables significant circuit size reduction in comparison to former approaches applying microstrip branch line or Lange couplers. Phase control is enabled using MESFET varactors with capacitance control ratios (C_max/C_min ) of only four. Equations are derived to precisely describe the phase control ranges versus capacitance control ratios for different load configurations to allow efficient optimizations. Furthermore, the design tradeoff between low loss and high phase control range is discussed. Within a phase control range of 210°, a loss of 4.9 dB±0.9 dB and a 1-dB input compression point of higher than 5 dBm was measured for the designed phase shifter. The circuit size is less than 0.5 mm², which, to our knowledge, is the smallest reflective-type phase-shifter size reported to date     

Optimum field theory design of broad-band E-plane branchguide phase shifters and 180° couplers

Optimum rectangular waveguide E-plane branch guide phase shifters and 180° branch guide couplers are designed with the rigorous method of field expansion into normalized eigenmodes. The design includes both the higher order mode interaction between the step discontinuities and the finite step and branch heights. The phase shifter design applies the Schiffman principle to branch guide couplers where two ports are short-circuited. The 180° coupler design combines the advantage of the broadband potential of multiple-branch couplers with the low-insertion-loss qualities of E-plane stub-loaded phase shifters. A computer-optimized phase shifter prototype for the waveguide Ku-band (12-18 GHz) shows a 90°±1° differential phase shift with reference to an empty waveguide within about 23% bandwidth. Five-branch three-stub coupler prototypes, designed for 3±0.2 dB coupling, for the waveguide Ku- and Ka-bands (26-40 GHz) achieve a 180°±1° differential phase shift at the output ports within about 19% bandwidth, as well as more than 30 dB isolation and return loss. The theory is verified by measured results     

Optimum design of waveguide E-plane stub-loaded phaseshifters

Broadband low-insertion-loss E-plane stub-loaded rectangular waveguide phase shifters are designed with the method of field expansion into normalized eigenmodes, which includes higher-order mode interaction between the step discontinuities. Computer-optimized three-stub prototypes of 90° differential phase shift with reference to an empty waveguide of appropriate length, designed for R140-band (12.4-18 GHz) and R320-band (26.5-40 GHz) waveguides, achieve typically ±0.5° phase shift deviation within about 20% bandwidth. For two-stub designs, the corresponding values are about +2.5°/-1° and 17%. Both designs achieve minimum return loss of 30 dB. The theory is verified by measurements of a compact R120-band (10-15 GHz) waveguide phase shifter design example milled from a solid block, showing measured insertion loss of about 0.1 dB and about +2.5°/-0.5° phase error between 10.7 and 12.7 GHz     

A 10- to 21-GHz, low-cost, multifrequency, and full-duplexphased-array antenna system

This paper presents a novel phased-array antenna system with multifrequency, full-duplex operation, and wide-beam scanning. The system consists of a wideband power divider, a low-loss and low-cost multiline phase shifter controlled by dual piezoelectric transducers (PETS), a four-channel multiplexer, microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers, and a stripline-fed Vivaldi antenna array. The multiline PET phase shifter has a low perturbation loss of less than 2 dB and a total loss of less than 4 dB up to 40 GHz, with a maximum phase shift of 650°. Using dual-aligned PETS for bidirectional phase shifting results in wide scan angles of 38.6°, 37.6°, 43°, and 40° for the four channels at 10, 12, 19, and 21 GHz, respectively. The four-channel diplexer demonstrates low insertion loss with high isolation between channels. The new multifrequency phased-array system provides wide-beam scanning and full-duplex capability using a simple, low-cost architecture. The system can be used for applications in mobile satellite communications     

Ultracompact reflective-type phase shifter MMIC at C-band with360° phase-control range for smart antenna combining

An ultracompact reflective-type monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) phase shifter is presented, fabricated using a commercial 0.6-μm GaAs MESFET process. The circuit has been developed for low-cost smart antenna receivers, operating in accordance to the IEEE 802.11a and the high-performance radio local area network (HIPERLAN) wireless network standards at C-band. Capacitance control, required for phase control, is performed by usual MESFETs with capacitance control ratios (C_max/C_min) of less than four. The impact of the reflective terminations on the maximum phase-control range and the corresponding loss is discussed. This investigation comprises single capacitive terminations, single resonated terminations, and terminations with two resonated loads-in parallel (DRL). With the DRL terminations, phase-control ranges of over 360° have been reached even with such limited capacitance control ranges. A transformation network is proposed for the DRL termination to reduce loss and loss variations. In this configuration, maximum signal losses of 9 and 3 dB, and 1-dB input compression points of higher than 2 and 8 dBm were measured for the phase shifter at 5.2 GHz within phase-control ranges of 360° and 90°, respectively. The branch-line coupler of the phase shifter has been realized by using lumped elements, thereby minimizing the circuit size. The total chip area is only 0.9 mm², which to our knowledge is the smallest size for a passive reflective-type phase shifter with 360° phase-control range reported to date     

Linear tunable phase shifter using a left-handed transmission line

We demonstrate a compact, linear, and low loss variation hybrid phase shifter using a left-handed (LH) transmission line. For frequencies from 4.3 to 5.6 GHz, this phase shifter gives a nearly linear phase variation with voltage, with a maximum deviation of /spl plusmn/7.5/spl deg/. Within this frequency range, the maximum insertion loss is 3.6 dB, and the minimum insertion loss is 1.8 dB over a continuously adjustable phase range of more than 125/spl deg/, while minimum return loss is only 10.2 dB. Furthermore, this phase shifter requires only one control line, and it consumes almost no power.     

An antenna diversity MMIC vector modulator for HIPERLAN with lowpower consumption and calibration capability

The design and performance of a vector-modulator-based phase shifter for high-performance radio local area networks at 5.2 GHz is presented in this paper. Low power consumption is achieved using a 0.6-μm GaAs MESFET process. At a voltage supply of 1.4 V and with a current consumption between 3.5-7 mA, the gain is 0.6 dB and the 1-dB input compression point is -9 dBm. A full 360° phase control range is achieved by combining two of the three vectors, which have phase offsets of 120°, with variable amplitude. Chip size is only 1.3 mm ². The proposed vector modulator applies a new circuit configuration of variable-gain amplifiers to compensate their transmission phase errors. Within a gain control range of 20 dB, the phase error can be reduced to ±3°, which is about a factor of eight better than the results obtained by single FET amplifiers. A simple calibration procedure for the proposed vector modulators is presented to improve the manufacturing yield and to decrease the impact due to temperature changes and aging. A maximum gain error of ±0.8 dB and a maximum phase error of ±7° have been measured after applying this calibration to the designed vector modulator     

A production ready, 6-18-GHz, 5-b phase shifter with integratedCMOS compatible digital interface circuitry

A producible, high-yield, monolithic 6-18-GHz, 5-b phase shifter with integrated standard CMOS compatible digital interface circuitry has been developed for use over the -55 to +90°C temperature range. Differential phase shift is achieved using high-pass and low-pass filter structures. The integrated digital interface circuitry produces complementary outputs that are used to bias the phase-shifter bits. The integration of the digital interface circuitry, made with microwave FETs, reduced the phase-shifter bit control bias lines by a factor of 2. The phase shifter was fabricated at both Raytheon's and Texas Instruments' GaAs foundries in production quantities using a standard microwave process. Complete on-wafer RF tests were performed to screen the phase-shifter circuits and determine electrical yield. The phase shifter has an r.m.s. phase error <10° from 6.5 to 18 GHz, maximum insertion loss of 14 dB, and an r.m.s. amplitude error <0.8 dB over the 6-18-GHz band     

InGaAs microwave switch transistors for phase shifter circuits

A new InGaAs insulated-gate FET (IGFET) with 1 μm gate length and three different gate widths has been designed, fabricated and characterized as switch devices for microwave control applications in phase shifter circuits. The devices employed a plasma deposited silicon dioxide gate insulator and had multiple air bridged source regions. The details of the DC current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and small signal S-parameter measurements up to 20 GHz are presented. The switch IGFET's had a drain saturation current density of 300 mA/mm gate width with breakdown voltages of higher than 35 V. An insertion loss of 1.0, 0.6, and 0.4 dB at 10 GHz and 1.4, 0.8, and 0.4 dB at 20 GHz have been measured for the 300, 600, and 1200 μm gate width IGFET's, respectively. Equivalent circuit models fitted to the measured S-parameters for IGFET's yielded on-state resistances from 10.7 to 3.3 Ω, off-state resistances from 734.4 to 186.8 R and off-state capacitances from 0.084 to 0.3 pF as the gate width is increased from 300 to 1200 μm The simulation results using IGFET models for the phase shifter circuits indicated a maximum phase error of 0.11°, 0.26°, and 0.479 with 0.74, 0.96, and 1.49 dB maximum insertion loss and greater than 33, 26, and 19 dB return loss for the 11.25°, 22.5°, and 45° phase bits, respectively, over the 9.5-10.5 GHz frequency band     

A Ku‐Band 5‐Bit Phase Shifter Using Compensation Resistors for Reducing the Insertion Loss Variation

This paper describes the performance of a Ku‐band 5‐bit monolithic phase shifter with metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) switches and the implementation of a ceramic packaged phase shifter for phase array antennas. Using compensation resistors reduced the insertion loss variation of the phase shifter. Measurement of the 5‐bit phase shifter with a monolithic microwave integrated circuit demonstrated a phase error of less than 7.5° root‐mean‐square (RMS) and an insertion loss variation of less than 0.9 dB RMS for 13 to 15 GHz. For all 32 states of the developed 5‐bit phase shifter, the insertion losses were 8.2 ± 1.4 dB, the input return losses were higher than 7.7 dB, and the output return losses were higher than 6.8 dB for 13 to 15 GHz. The chip size of the 5‐bit monolithic phase shifter with a digital circuit for controlling all five bits was 2.35 mm × 1.65 mm. The packaged phase shifter demonstrated a phase error of less than 11.3° RMS, measured insertion losses of 12.2 ± 2.2 dB, and an insertion loss variation of 1.0 dB RMS for 13 to 15 GHz. For all 32 states, the input return losses were higher than 5.0 dB and the output return losses were higher than 6.2 dB for 13 to 15 GHz. The size of the packaged phase shifter was 7.20 mm × 6.20 mm.     

A new high performance phase shifter using BaxSr1-xTiO3 thin films

In this paper, a new device topology has been proposed to implement parallel plate capacitors using Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ (BST) thin films. The device layout utilizes a single parallel capacitor and minimizes conductor losses in the base electrode. The new design simplifies the monolithic process and overcomes the problems associated with electrode patterning. An X-band 180° phase shifter has been implemented using the new device design. The circuit provided 240° phase shift with an insertion loss of only 3 dB at 10 GHz at room temperature. We have shown a figure of merit 93°/dB at 6.3 GHz and 87°/dB at 8.5 GHz. To our knowledge, these are the best figure of merit results reported in the literature for distributed phase shifters implemented using BST films at room temperature     

Ka波段0/Π MEMS移相器

报道了一种Ka波段实时延MEMS移相器芯片。该移相器基于开关线式移相器设计原理,集成了4个MEMS三端口直接接触式毫米波开关单元,使用共面波导(CPW)传输线,利用阶梯阻抗的方式实现传输线拐角和CPW空气桥结构的传输线阻抗匹配。芯片采用RF MEMS表面牺牲层工艺制作在400μm厚的高阻硅衬底上,面积为1.4 mm×2.8 mm。测试显示,在34~36 GHz频率范围内,相移误差3.2°,插入损耗2 dB,反射损耗小于-15 dB。     

A hybrid phase shifter circuit based on TlCaBaCuO superconductingthin films

A superconductor-semiconductor hybrid reflection-type phase shifter circuit has been designed, fabricated, and characterized for 180° phase bit with center frequency of 4 GHz and bandwidth of 0.5 GHz for operation at 77 K. All of the passive components of the phase shifter circuit such as input/output feed lines, 3 dB Lange coupler, impedance matching networks, and transmission lines consisted of thallium based superconducting TlCaBaCuO thin films of 4000 Å thickness on lanthanum aluminate substrate. Metal-Schottky field-effect-transistors (MESFET's) on GaAs semiconductor were used as active devices for switching action (on-state and off-state) in the phase shifter circuit. The phase shift and insertion losses were investigated as a function of frequency from 3.6 to 4.6 GHz at 77 K. The circuit exhibited a fairly flat response of 180° phase shift with a maximum deviation of less than 2° and a maximum insertion loss of 2 dB for on-state and 2.2 dB for off-state conditions over 0.5 GHz bandwidth at 4 GHz. The insertion losses were also fairly flat within the bandwidth. The insertion losses were constant between 50 and 80 K, giving the circuit a large range of operation at or below 77 K. The performance of this circuit as compared to a gold microstrip-semiconductor circuit designed identically was superior by a factor of 1.5, and may be due to lower conductor losses and lower surface resistance in the superconducting microstrips     

用于移动通信电调天线的宽频移相器*

提出一种用于移动通信电调天线的宽频移相器。该移相器通过介质滑动来改变相位,通过局部阻抗匹配保证介质滑动过程中各支路阻抗的小幅波动,实现稳定的功率分配。仿真和实测结果表明,该移相器在1. 71GHz-2. 69 GHz 范围内,电压驻波比(VSWR)小于1. 25,传输系数波动不超过依1dB,在最大相移位置,相位离散性在7.5%以内。该移相器具有工作频带宽、通用性强、布局紧凑、体积小等优点。     

0.13-μm CMOS Phase Shifters for X-, Ku-, and K-Band Phased Arrays

Two 4-bit active phase shifters integrated with all digital control circuitry in 0.13-mum RF CMOS technology are developed for X- and Ku-band (8-18 GHz) and K-band (18-26 GHz) phased arrays, respectively. The active digital phase shifters synthesize the required phase using a phase interpolation process by adding quadrature-phased input signals. The designs are based on a resonance-based quadrature all-pass filter for quadrature signaling with minimum loss and wide operation bandwidth. Both phase shifters can change phases with less than about 2 dB of RMS amplitude imbalance for all phase states through an associated DAC control. For the X- and Ku-band phase shifter, the RMS phase error is less than 10^o over the entire 5-18 GHz range. The average insertion loss ranges from to at 5-20 GHz. The input for all 4-bit phase states is typically at -5.4 plusmn1.3 GHz in the X- and Ku-band phase shifter. The K-band phase shifter exhibits 6.5-13 of RMS phase error at 15-26 GHz. The average insertion loss is from 4.6 to at 15-26 GHz. The input of the K-band phase shifter is at 24 GHz. For both phase shifters, the core size excluding all the pads and the output 50 Omega matching circuits, inserted for measurement purpose only, is very small, 0.33times0.43 mm² . The total current consumption is 5.8 mA in the X- and Ku-band phase shifter and 7.8 mA in the K-band phase shifter, from a 1.5 V supply voltage.     

交直流隔离的分布式MEMS移相器设计

设计了一种五位分布式微电子机械系统（MEMS）移相器,通过分析对比传统分布式MEMS移相器加载直流偏置的两种方式,提出了一种新的直流偏置的加载方式,能解决传统方式带来的交直流干扰和引线繁杂问题,同时工艺容易实现。采用ADS软件对移相器进行级联仿真,优化了微波性能参数,仿真得出移相器在35 GHz时移相精确度小于3°,移相器的插入损耗小于0.5 dB,回波损耗大于23 dB。给出了五位分布式MEMS移相器的工艺流程,同时验证了所设计加载直流偏置方式工艺简单的优势。