A compact broadband, six-bit MMIC phasor with integrated digital drivers

Abstract

Digital and microwave technologies have been successfully combined on a single chip to realize a broadband, 6-b monolithic microwave IC (MMIC) phase shifter. It exhibits low insertion loss, good voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), and exceptional phase performance with less than 3 degrees RMS phase error for all 64 phase states over the entire 7.2-10.2 GHz band. Compared to previous designs, the number of required control lines has been reduced by a factor of two due to the integration of the digital drive circuitry. Phase shifter and digital driver design, fabrication, and performance are described.<>