Design of Mechanically Reconfigurable Couplers Based on Cross-shape Metallic Cavity for 5G Millimeter Wave Communication

To support the flexible 5G communication, two mechanically reconfigurable couplers are designed in millimeter wave band based on cross-shaped metallic cavity. In Coupler I, by changing the height of three metallic cylinders inserted into each arm of the cavity, the frequency can be tuned within a wide range from 24.7 to 27 GHz. At the center of the cross-shaped metallic cavity, a rectangular post is inserted with certain height. By adjusting its length inserted into the cavity, the coupling coefficient can be tuned from 1 dB to 10 dB. In Coupler II, the rectangular post is replaced by a rotatable one. The output ports can be reconfigured by rotating the rectangular post at certain angles. By rotating the post from 135° to 45°, the output ports of Port 2 and Port 3 can be reconfigured to Port 3 and Port 4. For verification, the two couplers are designed and simulated. The simulated results demonstrate that the highly reconfigurable couplers are well suited for used in 5G millimeter wave application.