Method Proposal for Minimize the Phase Shifters Differential Voltage applicable in Phase-Only Controlled Antenna Arrays

Abstract

The behavior of vector modulator - based phase shifters containing the AD8340 chip manufactured by Analog Devices was analyzed in different manners than those in the previous tests, which were performed on scattering parameters using the logarithmic scale, in a high dynamic range. The measurements described herein, performed in a small dynamic range using the linear scale, on the differential voltages between phase shifters (of the order of hundreds of millivolts) as a function of phase setpoints, showed that, reported in the same order of magnitude, can reach high values, which affect the directivity of phase-only controlling antenna systems, in a more difficult way to control. The purpose of the research described in this paper is to propose a method implemented in the command software of external voltages for AD8340-based phase shifters for minimizing these dependencies, which ensures the linearization of the amplitude of the differential voltage between the phase shifters, in relation to the phase setpoints.

Keywords

• vector modulators
• beamforming
• phased array antenna
• smart antenna systems