True Time Delay-based Alignment for All-digital Beamforming Transmitters

Abstract

This paper presents a digital True Time Delay (TTD) approach for runtime alignment and phase control of the Multi-Gigabit Transceivers (MGTs) channels used in all-digital beamforming transmitters. The developed TTD module achieved multiple channels synchronization and direct control over the individual delays with a resolution of one MGT sample period. Furthermore, the module requires a low resource utilization on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This approach is highly scalable for multiple channels used in antenna arrays, requiring only a single All-Digital Encoder (ADE).