Demonstration of 2.4 GHz vector modulator for RF wireless systems on cellulose-based substrates

Abstract

This paper presents a 2.4 GHz vector modulator fabricated on mechanically flexible, low-cost, environmentally friendly, celluose-based substrate. This circuit can be adopted either as a digitally controlled target for radars' testing, or, more in general, as an I/Q modulator in RF systems. The system is composed by a directional coupler, two mixers and a Wilkinson divider, all of them designed in microstrip technology and resulting in a (64 × 119) mm2 planar device. The modulator functionality is demonstrated by showing the results of a wired test in which the modulator is connected to a signal generator (input), to a spectrum analyzer (output) and digitally controlled by means of an Arduino board.