A 3.6 GHz Polar Reflection-Type Vector Modulator Phase Shifter With Amplitude Control Capability

This paper presents a new passive vector modulator phase shifter (VMPS) based on a polar architecture suitable for use in advanced beamforming feeding networks. The cascaded structure of a reflection-type bi-phase variable attenuator (RTBVA) and a reflection-type phase shifter (RTPS) allows great flexibility regarding phase and amplitude control, and reduces amplitude errors in phase shifting. A printed circuit operating at a central frequency of 3.6 GHz with 5-bit phase resolution was designed and implemented to validate the proposed concept. The measured results showed a 360° phase shift range, an average insertion loss of 2.4 dB at 3.6 GHz, a root-mean-square phase, and a gain error of 1.3° and 0.06 dB, respectively. This VMPS also allows an amplitude control range of ~25 dB and an operational bandwidth of 0.7 GHz (19.4%).