A compact reconfigurable rat‐race coupler with tunable frequency and tunable power dividing ratio is proposed for the first time. Varactors and two single control voltages are used to obtain both the tunable frequency and the tunable power dividing ratio in this article. The structure of the rat‐race coupler involves 50 Ω parallel‐strip lines only and a phase inverter is used for size reduction. Theoretical equations for the relationship among S‐parameters and the capacitance of varactors are derived. The graphic method is used to choose capacitance for the desired operation frequency and the desired power dividing ratio. For demonstration, a prototype is designed and fabricated. The measured results show that the rat‐race coupler's frequency and the power dividing ratio can be effectively tuned in 0.69 GHz ∼ 0.81 GHz and 3 dB ∼ 14 dB, respectively with isolation better than 20 dB, phase difference less than 7°and return loss better than 20 dB. The theoretical simulation, electromagnetic simulation, and measured results show good agreement in this design.
This paper describes a frequency-tunable phase inverter based on a slot-line resonator for the first time. The control circuit is designed and located on the defected ground. None of dc block capacitors are needed in the microstrip line. A wide tuning frequency range is accomplished by the use of the slot-line resonator with two varactors and a single control voltage. A 180-degree phase inverter is achieved by means of reversing electric field with two metallic via holes connecting the microstrip and ground plane. The graphic method is used to estimate the operation frequency. For verification, a frequency-tunable phase inverter is fabricated and measured. The measured results show a wide tuning frequency range from 1.1 GHz to 1.75 GHz with better than 20-dB return loss. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated ones.
This article introduces a novel two-section frequency-tunable branch line coupler, which is realized by inserting a narrow band frequency-tunable phase inverter into a wideband two-section branch line coupler's middle branch line. Such frequencytunable method is different from the conventional one. Furthermore, in this bias feeding design, there are only one control voltage, two varactors, two resistors, and two capacitors are utilized. The measured results show that the operation frequency of the branch line coupler can be tuned from 0.73 to 1.33 GHz, and the return loss is >20 dB, the isolation >20 dB, the amplitude imbalances <1 dB, and the phase imbalances is <28. Through the comparison, the measured results basically conform to the simulated results in this design.
K E Y W O R D Sbranch line coupler, frequency-tunable, phase inverter, resonant frequency
Abstract-A miniaturized rat-race coupler with arbitrary power division ratio is proposed in this paper. The design formulas of the rat-race coupler with arbitrary power division ratio are derived using even-odd decomposition analysis. The proposed structure demonstrates miniaturized size and perfect isolation due to adding phase inverter to the branch. For demonstration, a 20 dB rat-race coupler operating at 1 GHz with 81.34% size reduction is designed and fabricated. There is good agreement between measured and simulated results.
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