阅读说明：本技术 一种可重构交叉耦合器 (Reconfigurable cross coupler ) 是由 张关喜 严文博 刘祥龙 沈龙 赵建平 于 2018-08-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供一种可重构交叉耦合器，包括：N阶级联的分支线，四个端口，第一电抗器件和第二电抗器件，N阶级联的分支线由N阶四边形微带分支线级联组成，N为大于或等于3的整数，其中，N阶级联的分支线的四个角分别通过阻抗匹配线连接四个端口；四个端口包括输入端口，隔离端口，交叉输出端口，直通输出端口。N阶级联的分支线的第一边的中间位置加载第一电抗器件；所述N阶级联矩形分支线的第二边的中间位置加载第二电抗器件；第一电抗器件和第二电抗器件的电抗值可变，用于调整交叉输出端口和直通输出端口的信号输出状态。采用本申请，可以实现可重构交叉耦合器中信号传输路径的切换。(A reconfigurable cross-coupler is provided, comprising: the N-order cascaded branch line is formed by cascading N-order quadrilateral microstrip branch lines, N is an integer greater than or equal to 3, and four corners of the N-order cascaded branch line are respectively connected with the four ports through impedance matched lines; the four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a through output port. Loading a first reactance device at the middle position of a first edge of the N-order cascaded branch line; a second reactance device is loaded in the middle of the second side of the N-order cascade rectangular branch line; the reactance values of the first reactance device and the second reactance device are variable and are used for adjusting the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port. By the method and the device, switching of signal transmission paths in the reconfigurable cross coupler can be achieved.)

1. A reconfigurable cross-coupler, comprising: the N-order cascaded branch line comprises N-order quadrilateral microstrip branch lines in cascade connection, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 3,

four corners of the N-step cascaded branch line are respectively connected with the four ports through impedance matching lines; the four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a through output port, and the input port and the cross transmission port are positioned at the diagonal positions of the N-order cascaded branch lines;

the middle position of the first edge of the N-order cascaded branch line is connected with one end of a first reactance device, and the other end of the first reactance device is grounded; the first edge is an edge of a branch line of the N-order cascade between the input port and the isolation port; the middle position of the second side of the N-order cascade rectangular branch line is connected with one end of a second reactance device, and the other end of the second reactance device is grounded; the second edge is an edge of a branch line of the N-order cascade rectangle between the cross output port and the through output port;

the reactance values of the first reactance device and the second reactance device are variable and are used for adjusting the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port.

2. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 1, wherein a signal input from the input port is output only through the cross output port in a state where both the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are greater than or equal to a first value.

3. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 1, wherein a signal input from the input port is output only through the through output port in a state where both the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are less than or equal to a second value.

4. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 1, wherein in a state where an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance device and an absolute value of a reactance value of the second reactance device are both smaller than a first value and larger than a second value, a signal input from the input port is output through the cross output port and the through output port, a 90-degree phase difference exists between a signal output from the cross output port and a signal output from the through output port, and the first value is larger than the second value.

5. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first reactance device is composed of a first metal post connected at a middle position of the first edge and a floor layer, the floor layer is separated from the microstrip line layer where the N-step cascaded branch line is located by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded; the reactance value of the first reactance device is a third value under the condition that the first metal column is not in contact with the floor layer; in a state where the first metal pillar is in contact with the floor layer, an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance means is a fourth value;

the second reactance device is composed of a second metal column connected to the middle position of the second edge and the floor layer; the reactance value of the second reactance device is the third value under the state that the second metal column is not in contact with the floor layer; in a state where the second metal pillar is in contact with the floor layer, the reactance value of the second reactance means is the fourth value; wherein the third value is greater than the first value; the fourth value is less than the second value.

6. The reconfigurable cross-coupler according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the microstrip line layer where the branch line of the N-step cascade is located is separated from a floor layer by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded;

the first reactance device is composed of a first covering layer arranged in the middle of the first edge and a first metal sheet arranged on the microstrip line layer, and the first covering layer comprises a first metal layer and a first dielectric layer; the first metal sheet is connected to the floor layer through a first metal probe, and the first metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second metal sheet on the microstrip line layer and the first edge through the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance means is a fifth value in a state where the first cover layer is removed; in a state where the first cover layer covers the microstrip line layer, an impedance value of the first reactance device is a sixth value; the fifth value is greater than the sixth value;

the second reactance device is composed of a second covering layer arranged in the middle of the second edge and a second metal sheet arranged on the microstrip line layer, and the second covering layer comprises a second metal layer and a second dielectric layer; the second metal sheet is connected to the floor layer through a second metal probe, and the second metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second metal sheet on the microstrip line layer and the first edge through the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance means is a fifth value in a state where the second cover layer is removed; and in a state that the second covering layer covers the microstrip line layer, the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device is the sixth value.

7. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 6, wherein the fifth value is greater than or equal to the first value and the sixth value is less than or equal to the second value when both the area of the first metal sheet and the area of the second metal sheet are greater than or equal to the first area.

8. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 6 or 7, wherein in the case where both the area of the first metal sheet and the area of the second metal sheet are smaller than the first area and larger than the second area, the fifth value is greater than or equal to the first value, and the sixth value is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value; wherein the first area is greater than the second area.

9. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of any one of claims 1,2 or 4, wherein the microstrip line layer where the branch line of the N-step cascade is located is separated from a floor layer by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded;

the first reactance device comprises a third covering layer arranged in the middle of the first edge, and the third covering layer comprises a third metal layer and a third dielectric layer; the third metal layer is separated from the middle position of the first edge on the microstrip line layer by the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device is greater than or equal to the first value in a state where the third cover layer is removed; in a state where the first cover layer covers the microstrip line layer, an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance device is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value;

the second reactance device comprises a fourth covering layer in the middle of the second edge, and the fourth covering layer comprises a fourth metal layer and a fourth dielectric layer; the fourth metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second edge on the microstrip line layer by the fourth dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance means is greater than or equal to the first value in a state where the fourth cover layer is removed; in a state where the second cover layer covers the microstrip line layer, an absolute value of a reactance value of the second reactance device is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value.

10. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 1, further comprising two phase shifters; the two phase shifters are respectively arranged between the input port and the branch line of the N-order cascade and between the cross output port and the branch line of the N-order cascade; the phase shifter includes a 180 degree phase shifter.

11. The reconfigurable cross-coupler of claim 1, wherein each side of each quadrilateral branch of the N-step cascaded branches is a microstrip line having a length of a quarter of a waveguide wavelength at a center frequency.

12. A reconfigurable cross-coupler, comprising: m-order cascaded branch lines, four ports and four switches; wherein, the branch line of M-step cascade is formed by M-step quadrilateral branch line cascade, M is an even number more than or equal to 4;

four corners of the M-step cascaded branch line are respectively connected with the four ports through impedance matching lines, and the four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a direct output port; the input port and the cross port are positioned at the diagonal position of the branch line of the M-step cascade; the isolation port and the through output port are positioned at the diagonal position of the branch line of the M-step cascade; each side of each step quadrilateral branch line of the M-step cascaded branch lines is a microstrip line with the length of one quarter of the waveguide wavelength at the central frequency;

the four switches are respectively arranged at the junction of a (M/2) -1 section of microstrip line and an M/2 section of microstrip line on a first edge, the junction of a (M/2) +1 section of microstrip line and a (M/2) +2 section of microstrip line on the first edge, the junction of a (M/2) -1 section of microstrip line and an M/2 section of microstrip line on a second edge, and the junction of a (M/2) +1 section of microstrip line and a (M/2) +2 section of microstrip line on the second edge;

wherein the first edge is an edge of a branch line of the M-step cascade between the input port and the isolation port; the second edge is the edge of the branch line of the M-step cascade between the cross output port and the through output port;

and the four switches are used for controlling the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a reconfigurable cross coupler.

Background

With the development of modern communication technology, microwave and millimeter wave circuits as radio frequency front ends are widely used, and the functions realized by the circuits are more and more, and along with the complexity of the circuits is higher and higher, the cross coupler becomes a device commonly used at the circuit cross. The conventional cross-coupler is formed of two layers of metal wires that are not in contact with each other, which increases the complexity of the circuit and requires a special process such as a jumper process. This increases processing costs and makes integration with other circuits difficult. With the increasing PCB technology, microwave circuits are rapidly developing towards planarization, so that the planarized cross-coupler is widely applied to PCB circuits, such as Butler matrix in multi-beam feed network.

At present, the output state of the cross coupler is single and inflexible.

Disclosure of Invention

The application discloses a reconfigurable cross coupler, which can realize the switching of signal transmission paths in the reconfigurable cross coupler.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a reconfigurable cross-coupler comprising: the N-order cascaded branch line comprises N-order quadrilateral microstrip branch line cascades, N is an integer more than or equal to 3,

four corners of the N-step cascaded branch line are respectively connected with the four ports through impedance matching lines; the four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a through output port, and the input port and the cross transmission port are positioned at the diagonal positions of the branch lines of the N-order cascade;

the middle position of the first side of the N-order cascaded branch line is connected with one end of a first reactance device, and the other end of the first reactance device is grounded; the first edge is the edge of the branch line of the N-step cascade between the input port and the isolation port; the middle position of the second side of the N-order cascade rectangular branch line is connected with one end of a second reactance device, and the other end of the second reactance device is grounded; the second edge is the edge of the branch line of the N-order cascade rectangle between the cross output port and the through output port;

the reactance values of the first reactance device and the second reactance device are variable and are used for adjusting the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port.

The application provides a reconfigurable cross coupler, and the switching of the transmission state of the reconfigurable cross coupler can be realized by changing the reactance values of two reactance devices.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a state where both the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are greater than or equal to a first value, a signal input from the input port is output only through the cross output port. That is, when the absolute values of the reactance values of both the reactance devices are greater than or equal to the first value (which may be 300 ohms), the cross-transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler is achieved

With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a state where both an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance device and an absolute value of a reactance value of the second reactance device are smaller than or equal to a second value, a signal input from the input port is output only through the through output port. That is, when the absolute values of the reactance values of both reactance devices are less than or equal to the second value (which may be 10 ohms), a shoot-through transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler is achieved

With reference to the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a state where an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance device and an absolute value of a reactance value of the second reactance device are both smaller than a first value and larger than a second value, a signal input from the input port is output through the cross output port and the through output port, a phase difference of 90 degrees exists between a signal output from the cross output port and a signal output from the through output port, and the first value is larger than the second value. That is, when the absolute values of the reactance values of both reactance devices are smaller than the first value (which may be 300 ohms) and larger than the second value (which may be 10 ohms), the coupled transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler is realized.

With reference to the first aspect or the first to the second possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first reactance device is composed of a first metal pillar connected to a middle position of the first edge and a floor layer, the floor layer is separated from the microstrip line layer where the N-step cascaded branch line is located by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded; the reactance value of the first reactance device is a third value under the condition that the first metal column is not in contact with the floor layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device is a fourth value under the state that the first metal column is in contact with the floor layer;

the second reactance device is composed of a second metal column connected to the middle position of the second edge and the floor layer; the reactance value of the second reactance device is the third value under the state that the second metal column is not in contact with the floor layer; the reactance value of the second reactance device is the fourth value under the state that the second metal column is in contact with the floor layer; wherein the third value is greater than the first value; the fourth value is less than the second value.

In the present application, a reconfigurable cross-coupler is provided, which includes two reactance devices composed of metal pillars and a floor layer, and can control the disconnection or connection of the metal pillars (first metal pillar and second metal pillar) and the floor layer, and can implement passive intermodulation when switching between the cross transmission state and the through transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 400.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first to third possible implementations of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, the microstrip line layer where the N-step cascaded branch line is located is separated from the floor layer by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded;

the first reactance device is composed of a first covering layer arranged in the middle of the first edge and a first metal sheet arranged on the microstrip line layer, and the first covering layer comprises a first metal layer and a first dielectric layer; the first metal sheet is connected to the floor layer through a first metal probe, and the first metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second metal sheet on the microstrip line layer and the first edge through the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device is a fifth value under the state that the first covering layer is removed; the impedance value of the first reactance device is a sixth value under the state that the first covering layer covers the microstrip line layer; the fifth value is greater than the sixth value;

the second reactance device is composed of a second covering layer arranged in the middle of the second edge and a second metal sheet arranged on the microstrip line layer, and the second covering layer comprises a second metal layer and a second dielectric layer; the second metal sheet is connected to the floor layer through a second metal probe, and the second metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second metal sheet on the microstrip line layer and the first edge through the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device is a fifth value in a state that the second covering layer is removed; the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device is the sixth value in a state that the second covering layer covers the microstrip line layer.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, when both the area of the first metal sheet and the area of the second metal sheet are greater than or equal to the first area, the fifth value is greater than or equal to the first value, and the sixth value is less than or equal to the second value.

With reference to the fifth or sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, when both the area of the first metal sheet and the area of the second metal sheet are smaller than the first area and larger than the second area, the fifth value is greater than or equal to the first value, and the sixth value is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value; wherein the first area is larger than the second area.

In the application, a reconfigurable cross coupler is provided, which includes two reactance devices composed of a cover layer (a first cover layer and a second cover layer) and a metal sheet on a microstrip line layer, and in the case that the area of the first metal sheet or the second metal sheet is greater than or equal to the first area (which may be 100 square millimeters), the first cover layer and the second cover layer can be removed or covered, so that the switching between the cross transmission state and the through transmission state of the reconfigurable cross coupler can be realized. In the case where the area of the first metal sheet or the second metal sheet is smaller than the first area and larger than the second area (which may be 1 mm square), the switching between the cross transmission state and the coupling transmission state of the reconfigurable cross coupler may be achieved by removing or covering the first cover layer and the second cover layer.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first or third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the microstrip line layer where the branch line of the N-step cascade is located is separated from the floor layer by a substrate layer, and the floor layer is grounded;

the first reactance device comprises a third covering layer arranged in the middle of the first edge, and the third covering layer comprises a third metal layer and a third dielectric layer; the third metal layer is separated from the middle position of the first edge on the microstrip line layer by the dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device is greater than or equal to the first value in the state that the third covering layer is removed; in a state where the first cover layer covers the microstrip line layer, an absolute value of a reactance value of the first reactance device is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value;

the second reactance device comprises a fourth covering layer in the middle of the second edge, and the fourth covering layer comprises a fourth metal layer and a fourth dielectric layer; the fourth metal layer is separated from the middle position of the second edge on the microstrip line layer by the fourth dielectric layer; the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device is greater than or equal to the first value in a state where the fourth covering layer is removed; in a state where the second cover layer covers the microstrip line layer, an absolute value of a reactance value of the second reactance device is smaller than the first value and larger than the second value.

In the present application, by providing a reconfigurable cross-coupler including two reactive devices composed of cover layers (a third cover layer and a fourth cover layer), switching between a cross-transmission state and a coupling-transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler can be achieved by removing or covering the two cover layers (the third cover layer and the fourth cover layer).

With reference to the first aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the reconfigurable cross-coupler further includes two phase shifters; the two phase shifters are respectively arranged between the input port and the branch line of the N-order cascade and between the cross output port and the branch line of the N-order cascade; the phase shifter includes a 180 degree phase shifter. That is, by loading two phase shifters (e.g., 180 degree phase shifters), it can be realized that the reconfigurable cross-coupler changes the signal transmission path while keeping the phase of the output signal unchanged.

With reference to the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, each side of each step quadrilateral branch line in the N-step cascaded branch lines is a microstrip line with a length of a quarter of a waveguide wavelength at a center frequency.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a reconfigurable cross-coupler, comprising: m-order cascaded branch lines, four ports and four switches; wherein, the branch line of M-step cascade is formed by M-step quadrilateral branch line cascade, M is an even number more than or equal to 4;

four corners of the M-step cascaded branch line are respectively connected with the four ports through impedance matching lines, and the four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a direct output port; the input port and the cross port are positioned at the diagonal position of the branch line of the M-step cascade; the isolation port and the through output port are positioned at the diagonal position of the branch line of the M-step cascade; each side of each step quadrilateral branch line of the M-step cascaded branch line is a microstrip line with the length of one quarter of the waveguide wavelength at the central frequency;

the four switches are respectively arranged at the junction of a (M/2) -1 section of microstrip line and an M/2 section of microstrip line on the first edge, the junction of a (M/2) +1 section of microstrip line and a (M/2) +2 section of microstrip line on the first edge, the junction of a (M/2) -1 section of microstrip line and an M/2 section of microstrip line on the second edge, and the junction of a (M/2) +1 section of microstrip line and a (M/2) +2 section of microstrip line on the second edge;

wherein, the first edge is the edge of the branch line of the M-step cascade between the input port and the isolation port. The second edge is the edge of the branch line of the M-step cascade between the cross output port and the through output port;

the four switches are used for controlling the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port.

In the application, by providing a reconfigurable cross coupler, which includes four switches, switching of a transmission state of the reconfigurable cross coupler can be realized by adjusting opening or closing of the four switches.

Drawings

The drawings used in the embodiments of the present application are described below.

Fig. 1 is a functional schematic diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler provided in the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler provided in the present application.

Figures 3A-3F are schematic transmission effect diagrams of reconfigurable cross-coupler based circuit schematics provided herein.

Fig. 4A-4B are schematic structural diagrams of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5A-5B are schematic diagrams illustrating transmission effects of a re-cross coupler according to a first embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6A to 6D are schematic structural diagrams of another reconfigurable cross-coupler provided in the second embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7A-7B are schematic transmission effect diagrams of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a second embodiment provided in the present application.

Fig. 8A to 8D are schematic structural diagrams of another reconfigurable cross-coupler provided in the second embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9A to 9C are schematic diagrams of transmission effects of another reconfigurable cross-coupler according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 10A to 10C are schematic structural diagrams of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a third embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11A to 11C are schematic transmission effect diagrams of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a third embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic circuit diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a fourth embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13A-13B are schematic diagrams illustrating transmission effects of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to four embodiments provided in the present application.

Fig. 14 is a schematic circuit diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a fifth embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 15A to 15D are schematic transmission effect diagrams of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to a fifth embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a functional schematic diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler 100 related to the present application is described with reference to fig. 1, and as shown in fig. 1, the cross-coupler 100 has four ports, which include an input port, a cross-output port, a coupled output port, and an isolated port. If port 1 110 is the input port, port 2 120 is the isolated port, port 3 130 is the cross-port, and port 4 140 is the pass-through output port. If 2-port 120 is the input port, 1-port 110 is the isolated port, 4-port 140 is the cross-port, and 3-port 130 is the pass-through output port. If 3-port 130 is an input port, 4-port 140 is an isolated port, 1-port 110 is a cross-port, and 2-port 120 is a pass-through output port. If 4-port 140 is an input port, 3-port 130 is an isolated port, 2-port 120 is a cross-port, and 1-port 110 is a pass-through output port.

In the following, taking 1 port 110 as an input port, 2 port 120 as an isolated port, 3 port 130 as a cross output port, and 4 port 140 as a through output port as examples, three transmission states of the four-port transmitter 100 are specifically described: cross transmission state, through transmission state, coupling transmission state.

The cross transmission state means that a signal input from the input port is output only through the cross output port, that is, signal transmission between the 1 port 110 and the 3 port 130 and signal transmission between the 2 port 120 and the 4 port 140 are realized.

The through transmission state means that a signal input from the input port is output through only the through output port. Namely, signal transmission between the 1 port 110 and the 4 port 140 and signal transmission between the 2 port 120 and the 3 port 130 are realized.

The coupling transmission state means that when a signal inputted from the input port is outputted through the cross output port and the through output port, a phase difference of 90 degrees exists between the signal outputted from the cross output port and the signal outputted from the through output port. That is, the signal input from the 1 port 110 is realized to be output from the 3 port 130 and the 4 port 140, wherein the phase difference between the signal output from the 3 port 130 and the signal output from the 4 port 140 is 90 degrees.

According to the reconfigurable cross coupler, switching among a cross transmission state, a direct transmission state and a coupling transmission state can be realized, various transmission states are provided for the reconfigurable cross coupler, and switching of signal transmission paths in the reconfigurable cross coupler is realized.

The main design concept of the reconfigurable cross-coupler of the present application is presented below.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic circuit structure diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 includes an N-order cascaded branch line 210, four ports (i.e., 1 port 221, 2 port 222, 3 port 223, 4 port 224), a first reactive device 230, and a second reactive device 240. The branch line 210 of the N-order cascade is formed by cascading branch lines 211 of an N-order quadrilateral, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 3.

Four corners of the branch line 210 of the N-step cascade are connected to four ports through impedance match lines 250, respectively. The four ports comprise an input port, an isolation port, a cross output port and a through output port. The input port and the cross transmission port are located at diagonal positions of the branch line 210 of the N-th cascade. The isolated port and the through output port are located diagonally to the N-th cascaded branch line 210. Each side of each step rectangular branch line 211 in the N-step cascaded branch line 210 is a microstrip line 214 with a length of a quarter waveguide wavelength at the center frequency.

The first side 212 of the N-step cascaded branch line 210 is connected to one end of a first reactance device 230 at an intermediate position, and the other end of the first reactance device 230 is grounded. The first side 212 is the side of the N-order rectangular branch line between the input port and the isolated port. The second side 213 of the N-th order cascaded rectangular branch line 210 is connected to one end of a second reactance device 240 at an intermediate position, and the other end of the second reactance device is grounded. The second side 213 is the side of the branch line of the N-step cascade between the cross output port and the through output port.

The first reactance device 230 and the second reactance device 240 may be resistors, inductors, or capacitors, and may also be series-parallel structures of any one or more of resistors, inductors, and capacitors. The four ports may each be externally connected to a transmission line having a characteristic impedance of 50 ohms.

As shown in fig. 2, in the present application, the configuration of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 is described by taking a four-step cascade rectangular branch line, with 1 port 221 as an input port, 2 port 222 as an isolated port, 3 port 223 as a cross output port, and 4 port 224 as a through output port, but the configuration is not limited thereto. In a specific implementation, when port 1221 is an input port, port 2 222 is an isolated port, port 3 is a cross output port 223, and port 4 is a pass-through output port 224. When 2 port 222 is an input port, 1 port 221 is an isolated port, 4 port 224 is a cross output port, and 3 port 223 is a pass-through output port. When the 3 port 223 is an input port, the 4 port 224 is an isolated port, the 1 port 221 is a cross output port, and the 2 port 222 is a pass-through output port. When the 4-port 224 is an input port, the 3-port 223 is an isolated port, the 2-port 222 is a cross-port, and the 1-port 221 is a pass-through output port.

When the order N of the N-order cascaded rectangular branch line 210 is an odd number greater than or equal to 3, the first side 212 and the second side 213 of the N-order cascaded rectangular branch line 210 each have N microstrip lines 214, and since N is an odd number, the first reactance device 230 may be loaded at a middle position of the (N +1)/2 microstrip line 214 in the direction from the 1 port to the 2 port of the first side 212, so the second reactance device 240 may be loaded at a middle position of the (N +1)/2 microstrip line 214 in the direction from the 4 port to the 3 port of the second side 213, for example, taking the 3-order cascaded rectangular branch line as an example, the first reactance device 230 may be loaded at a middle position of the 2 microstrip line 214 in the direction from the 1 port to the 2 port of the first side 212.

When the order N of the N-order cascaded rectangular branch line 210 is an even number greater than 3, the first reactance device 230 may be loaded at a boundary position of the (N/2) +1 st microstrip line 214 and the (N/2) +2 nd microstrip line 214 in the direction from the 1-port to the 2-port of the first side 212. The second reactance device 240 may be loaded at a junction position between the (N/2) +1 st microstrip line 214 and the (N/2) +2 nd microstrip line 214 in the direction from 4 ports to 3 ports on the second side 213, for example, taking a 4-step cascaded rectangular branch line as an example, the first reactance device 230 may be loaded at a junction position between the 2 nd microstrip line 214 and the 3 rd microstrip line 214 in the direction from 1 ports to 2 ports on the first side 212, and the second reactance device 240 may be loaded at a junction position between the 2 nd microstrip line 214 and the 3 rd microstrip line 214 in the direction from 4 ports to 3 ports on the second side 213.

The reactance values of the first reactance device 230 and the second reactance device 240 may be varied and may be used to adjust the signal output states of the cross output port and the through output port.

When the absolute values of the reactance values of the first reactance device 230 and the second reactance device 240 are both greater than or equal to the first value, the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 realizes a cross-transmission state in which a signal input from the input port is output only through the cross-output port. Signal transmission between the 1 port 221 and the 3 port 223 and signal transmission between the 2 port 222 and the 4 port 224 are realized. A preferred value of the first value may be 300 ohms, and when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device 230 and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device 240 are both greater than or equal to 300 ohms, signal transmission between the 1 port 221 and the 3 port 223 and signal transmission between the 2 port 222 and the 4 port 224 may be achieved.

When the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device 230 and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device 240 are both smaller than or equal to the second value, the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 realizes a through transmission state in which a signal input from the input port is output only through the through output port. Signal transmission between the 1 port 221 and the 4 port 224 and signal transmission between the 2 port 222 and the 3 port 223 are realized. A preferred value of the second value may be 10 ohms, and when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device 230 and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device 240 are both less than or equal to 10 ohms, signal transmission between the 1 port 221 and the 4 port 224 and signal transmission between the 2 port 222 and the 3 port 223 may be achieved.

When the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device 230 and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device 240 are both smaller than the first value and larger than the second value, the reconfigurable cross coupler 200 realizes a coupled transmission state in which a signal input from the input port is output through the cross output port and the through output port, a 90-degree phase difference exists between a signal output from the cross output port and a signal output from the through output port, and a 90-degree phase difference between a signal input from the 1 port 221 and a signal output from the 3 ports 223 and the 4 ports 224 can be realized, and a phase difference between a signal output from the 3 ports 223 and a signal output from the 4 ports 224 is 90 degrees. The first value is greater than the second value. The preferred value of the first value may be 300 ohms, the preferred value of the second value may be 10 ohms, and when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device 230 and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device 240 are both less than 300 ohms and greater than 10 ohms, it is possible to realize that the phase difference between the signal input from the 1 port 221 and the signals output from the 3 port 223 and the 4 port 224 is 90 degrees.

Analysis of beneficial effects:

next, based on the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 shown in fig. 2, the output state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 when an input signal is input to an input port will be described in detail. In the embodiment of the present application, a port 1 in fig. 2 is taken as an input port, a port 2 is taken as an isolation port, a port 3 is taken as a cross output port, and a port 4 is taken as a through output port.

Referring to fig. 3A, fig. 3A is a graph illustrating an energy transmission spectrum when an input signal is provided at an input port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3A shows the S-parameter of the reconfigurable cross-coupler when the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz and the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler are both 300 ohms. Wherein, dB (S (1,1)) represents the ratio of the input echo power of the 1 port to the input power of the 1 port when the 1 port has signal input; dB (S (2,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 2 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (3,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 3 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (3,1)) represents the ratio of the output power of 4 ports to the input power of 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input at 1 port. As can be seen from fig. 3A, in the frequency of 1.7GHz-2.7GHz, the transmission coefficient dB (S (3,1)) from 1 port to 3 ports is greater than-0.3 dB, and the isolation | dB (S (2,1)) | and | dB (S (4,1)) | of 1 port to 2 ports and 1 port to 4 ports are both greater than 20dB, which satisfies the requirement of isolation, that is, when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are both greater than or equal to 300 ohms, the cross-transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e., transmission between 1 port and 3 ports, isolation between 1 port and 2 port, and 4 port) is achieved.

Referring to fig. 3B, fig. 3B is a graph illustrating an energy transmission spectrum when an input signal is provided at an input port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3B shows the S-parameters of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 when the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz and the absolute values of the reactance values of the first reactance device and the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 are both 10 ohms. Wherein, dB (S (1,1)) represents the ratio of the input echo power of the 1 port to the input power of the 1 port when the 1 port has signal input; dB (S (2,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 2 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (3,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 3 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (4,1)) represents the ratio of the output power of 4 ports to the input power of 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input at 1 port. As can be seen from fig. 3B, in the frequency of 1.7GHz-2.7GHz, the transmission coefficient dB (S (4,1)) from 1 port to 4 ports is greater than-0.3 dB, and the isolation | dB (S (2,1)) | and | dB (S (3,1)) | from 1 port to 2 ports and from 1 port to 3 ports are both greater than 20dB, which satisfies the requirement of isolation. I.e. when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactive device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactive device are both less than or equal to 10 ohms, the through output state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e. transmission between 1 port to 4 port, isolation of 1 port to 2 port, 3 port) can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 3C, a diagram of an energy transmission spectrum when an input signal is provided at an input port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 according to the embodiment of the present application is provided. Fig. 3C shows S-parameters of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 when the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz and the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 are both 200 ohms. As can be seen from fig. 3C, in the frequency of 1.7GHz-2.4GHz, the transmission coefficient dB (S (3,1)) from 1 port to 3 ports is about-1 dB, the transmission coefficient dB (S (4,1)) from 1 port to 4 ports is about-7 dB, and the isolation | dB (S (2,1)) | from 1 port to 2 ports is greater than 15dB, which satisfies the requirement of isolation. That is, when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are both 200 ohms, the coupling-out state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e., signal transmission from 1 port to 3 ports and 4 ports, isolation from 1 port to 2 ports) is realized.

Referring to fig. 3D, fig. 3D is a graph illustrating an energy transmission spectrum when an input signal is provided at an input port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3D shows S parameters of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 when the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz and the absolute values of the reactance values of the first reactance device and the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 are both 100 ohms. Wherein, dB (S (1,1)) represents the ratio of the input echo power of the 1 port to the input power of the 1 port when the 1 port has signal input; dB (S (2,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 2 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (3,1)) represents a ratio of the output power of the 3 port to the input power of the 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input to the 1 port; dB (S (4,1)) represents the ratio of the output power of 4 ports to the input power of 1 port expressed in decibels when a signal is input at 1 port. As can be seen from fig. 3D, in the frequency of 1.7GHz-2.4GHz, the transmission coefficient dB (S (3,1)) from 1 port to 3 ports is-3 dB, the transmission coefficient dB (S (4,1)) from 1 port to 4 ports is about-3 dB, and the isolation | dB (S (2,1)) | from 1 port to 2 ports is greater than 15dB, which satisfies the requirement of isolation. That is, when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are both 100 ohms, the coupling-out state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e., signal transmission from 1 port to 3 ports and 4 ports, isolation from 1 port to 2 ports) is realized.

As shown in fig. 3E, a graph of an energy transmission spectrum when an input signal is provided at an input port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown. Fig. 3E shows S parameters of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 when the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz and the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 are both 50 ohms. As can be seen from fig. 3E, in the frequency of 1.7GHz-2.4GHz, the transmission coefficient dB (S (3,1)) from 1 port to 3 ports is about-7 dB, the transmission coefficient dB (S (4,1)) from 1 port to 4 ports is about-1 dB, and the isolation | dB (S (2,1)) | from 1 port to 2 ports is greater than 15 dB. When the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are both 50 ohms, the transmission from the 1 port to the 4 ports of the reconfigurable home and the isolation from the 1 port to the 2 port and the 3 port are realized.

As shown in fig. 3F, a phase relationship diagram between the output signal of the cross output port and the output signal of the through output port of the reconfigurable cross coupler 200 provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. As shown in fig. 3F, the center frequency of the input signal is 2.2GHz, the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device in the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 are both 10 ohms to 300 ohms, and the phase difference between the output signal of the cross output port and the output signal of the through output port of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 is shown. It can be seen that, within 1.7GHz-2.4GHz, when 1 port has a signal input, the phase difference | phase (S (3,1)) -phase (S (4,1)) | of the output signal between 3 ports and 4 ports is all around 90 degrees.

From the above-described fig. 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F, it can be seen that the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 can realize transmission between 1 port and 3 ports when both the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are greater than 300 ohms. The reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 can enable transmission between 1 port to 4 ports when the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactive device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactive device are both less than 10 ohms. When the absolute value of the reactance value of the first reactance device and the absolute value of the reactance value of the second reactance device are both between 10 ohms and 300 ohms, the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 can realize transmission between 1 port to 3 ports and 4 ports, and the output signals of the 3 port and 4 port are different by 90 degrees. The amplitudes of the output signals of the 3 port and the 4 port are determined by the reactance value of the first reactance device and the reactance value of the second reactance device, and when the absolute values of the reactance values of the two reactance devices are larger, the amplitude of the output signal of the 3 port is larger, and the amplitude of the output signal of the 4 port is smaller; when the absolute value of the reactance values of the two reactance devices is smaller, the amplitude of the output signal of the 3 port is smaller, and the amplitude of the output signal of the 4 port is larger.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2 of the present application, a schematic circuit diagram of a reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 is provided, and switching of the transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 can be realized by changing the reactance values of two reactance devices. When the absolute values of the reactance values of both reactance devices are greater than or equal to the first value (which may be 300 ohms), the cross-transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e., signal transmission between 1 port to 3 ports, signal transmission between 2 ports to 4 ports) is achieved. The shoot-through state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 (i.e., signal transmission between 1 port to 4 ports, signal transmission between 2 port to 3 ports) is achieved when the absolute values of the reactance values of both reactance devices are less than or equal to the second value (which may be 10 ohms). When the absolute values of the reactance values of both the reactance devices are smaller than the first value (may be 300 ohms) and larger than the second value (may be 10 ohms), the coupling transmission state of the reconfigurable cross-coupler 200 is realized (i.e., signal transmission between 1 port to 3 ports and 4 ports, and a phase difference between a signal output from the 3 port and a signal output from the 4 port is 90 degrees).

Based on the main design concept of the reconfigurable cross-coupler shown in fig. 2, how to implement the transmission state switching of the reconfigurable cross-coupler is described in detail through the first to third embodiments.