Proceedings of the 47th European Microwave Conference

Novel Phase Reconfigurable Synthesized

Transmission Line and Its Application to
Reconfigurable Hybrid Coupler
Huy Nam Chu, Hua-Chien Liao, Gao-Yi Li, Tzyh-Ghuang Ma
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
tgma@mail.ntust.edu.tw

Abstract— A novel phase reconfigurable synthesized

transmission line is proposed in this paper. By utilizing quasi-
lumped elements and varactor diodes, the synthesized line
functions as a 1-bit phase shifter by switching its electrical length
between two states; the characteristic impedance, meanwhile, is
kept unaltered. The design concept, circuit model, and (a)
performance are carefully investigated and discussed. Based on
newly developed synthesized line, a reconfigurable hybrid
coupler, which can be electrically switched between a rat-race or
branch-line coupler at the same frequency, is designed as a
demonstration. The measured results showed acceptable
insertion loss level and good output phase response.

Keywords— Synthesized transmission line, reconfigurable (b) (c)

circuit, branch-line coupler, rat-race coupler. Fig. 1. (a) Schematic circuit of the phase reconfigurable synthesized line and
its circuit equivalences in: (b) state I and (c) state II.
I. INTRODUCTION
The hybrid couplers, such as rat-race and branch-line
couplers, are capable of combining/splitting in-phase,
quadrature-phase, as well as out-of-phase signals; they are
indispensable components in a variety of microwave systems.
The raising trend of software-defined radios (SDRs) and
cognitive radios (CRs) makes reconfigurable hybrid couplers
become attractive for efficient use of the frequency spectrum
[1]-[3]. Nevertheless, since the topology and port arrangement
of a rat-race coupler and a branch-line coupler are far from
similar to each other, it is very challenge to integrate the two
sorts of couplers together. To date, there is only one design Fig. 2. Layout of the (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o) PRSTL. The final dimensions (in mm)
reported in [4] attempting to solve this problem by using even- are l1 = 3.7, l2 = 6.95, w1 = 1.1, w2 = 0.3, w3 = 0.8.
odd mode analysis without experimental demonstration.
In this paper, a reconfigurable hybrid coupler, capable of line functions identically to a 1-bit phase shifter with reduced
switching its configuration between a rat-race coupler and a mismatch loss. By combining the PRSTLs with right-handed
branch-line coupler at a single frequency, is constructed and section, the characteristic impedances and electrical lengths of
tested. The key innovation is the phase reconfigurable the four arms (branches) of the reconfigurable coupler can be
synthesized transmission line (PRSTL). It consists of a left- controlled; the operational state is therefore switched between
handed T-network and two segments of uniform lines. In the a rat-race coupler and a branch-line one. The design details
T-network, the two series capacitors are replaced by varactor will be discussed in the following sections.
diodes for reconfigurability, while the uniform line segments
(Z0,θx) are appended to each side of the T-network for II. DESIGN OF PHASE RECONFIGURABLE SYNTHESIZED LINE
providing the required extra phase delay (Fig. 1(a)). By
simply controlling the bias voltage of the varactor, the A. Synthesis Equations
electrical length of the PRSTL can be reconfigured between Figs. 1(b) and (c) illustrate the equivalent circuit model of
two states, whereas the characteristic impedance remains the the proposed PRSTL when operated in the two states. In the
same. This unique property makes the proposed synthesized first state (state I), the two varactors are assigned as C1 (Fig.

978-2-87487-047-7 © 2017 EuMA 1077 10–12 Oct 2017, Nuremberg, Germany

1(b)). The lumped T-network is equivalent to a left-handed
transmission line characterized by (Z0-T1,-θ1). Here, θ1 is a
positive value. To function as a section of left-handed
transmission line, the ABCD matrix of the lumped network
should be identical to that of the uniform line. It suggests
ª1 1 ºª 1 0º ª 1º
ªA Bº « » «1
jωcC1 » « 1 jωcC1 »
«C D » = « »« 1» « »
¬ ¼T 1
¬« 0 1 ¼» ¬« jωc L ¼» ¬«0 1 ¼» . (1)
ª cos(−θ1 ) jZ 0 sin( −θ1 ) ºªA Bº
=« »=«
¬ jY0 sin(−θ1 ) cos( −θ1 ) ¼ ¬C D »¼ line
The characteristic impedance of the lumped network is solved,
according to [5], as (a)

Z 0-T1 = B (ω ) C (ω ) ωc L | sin( −θ1 ) |= ωc L sin θ1 . (2)

=
The phase responses of the lumped T-network and the left-
handed transmission line are related by
2
cos( −θ1 ) = 1 − 1 ωc LC1 . (3)
Next, let us consider the synthesized line operated in the
second state (state II). The capacitance values of the varactor
diodes are denoted as C2 in this state (Fig. 1(c)). Note that θ2 is
also a positive value. The phase response of the T-network is
2
cos( −θ 2 ) = 1 − 1 ωc LC2 ; (4)
the characteristic impedance in state II, from (1)-(2), is
Z 0-T2 = B (ω ) C (ω ) = ωc L sin θ 2 . (5)
To keep the characteristic impedance unaltered in both states (b)
and reduce the mismatch during switching (Z0 = Z0-T1 = Z0-T2), Fig. 3. Performance summary of (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o) PRSTL in: (a) first state
(2) and (5) should be equal to each other. This leads to (state I); and (b) second state (state II). Inset: characteristic impedance.

sin θ1 = sin θ 2 or θ 2 = π − θ1 . (6)

Accordingly, the PRSTL is equivalent to a section of
transmission line whose total electrical lengths in state I and II
respectively is
θSTL1 = 2θ x − θ1 , (7)
θSTL2 = 2θ x − θ 2 = 2θ x + θ1 − π .
From (7) and (8), the total electrical lengths of the PRSTL in
both states, θSTL1 and θSTL2, could be either a positive or a
negative value; it depends on the selection of the electrical
length of the two conventional uniform lines (2θx).
Equations (2)-(8) are a set of system equations that the
PRSTL should be complied with. To develop the line, the two
desired phase states (θSTL1 and θSTL2) should be first specified
and substituted into (7) and (8) to solve for the electrical
lengths of the lumped T-network in both states (-θ1 and -θ2),
and that of the conventional line θx. The value of the inductor
L is then determined by either (2) or (5) as long as the desired
characteristic impedance Z0 is given. Finally, the capacitance
values of the varactor diodes, C1 and C2, are solved from (3)
and (4), respectively. From the synthesis equations, it is clear
that the PRSTL can be reconfigured as a 1-bit phase shifter
with the matching condition remained unchanged in both
states. In addition, note that the same design procedure can be
applied to synthesize a right-handed T-network, as well as a
left/right-handed Π-network, with an arbitrarily given
characteristic impedance.
B. Design Example
In this section, a (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o) PRSTL was fabricated on
(8) a 20-mil Roger 4003C substrate (εr = 3.55, tanδ = 0.0027) as
an example; the center frequency is 2.4 GHz. The proposed
PRSTL functions as a section of 50-Ÿ transmission line with
zero phase delay (0o) in the first state, but identically to a
uniform line of (50 Ÿ, -90o) in the other state (i.e. a 50-Ÿ line
with a phase advance of 90o). With the two design parameters
θSTL1 = 0o and θSTL2 = -90o specified, in a 50-Ÿ system, the
component values are solved from (2)-(8) as θ1 = 45o, θ2 =
135o, θx = 22.5o, L = 4.68 nH, C1 = 3.2 pF, and C2 = 0.55 pF.
The layout of the (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o) PRSTL is shown in Fig. 2,
and the dimensions are listed in the figure caption. The
varactor SMV-2020 from Skyworks was selected as the
switching element. The parasitic resistance, from datasheet, is
2.5 Ÿ. The simulation was performed by the High Frequency
Structure Simulator (HFSS), and in the measurement, the thru-
reflect-line (TRL) calibration was included. The bias voltages
of the varactor diodes in state I and II are VState I = 1 V and
VState II = 10.9 V, respectively.

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 (a)

Fig. 5. Final layout of reconfigurable hybrid coupler.

illustrated in Fig. 4. Here, each line section of the coupler is

referred to as an arm. As shown in Fig. 4(a), to function as a
rat-race coupler, each arm should have a characteristic
impedance of 70.7Ÿ, while the electrical length is either -90o
or +90o. On the other hand, the arm should be identical to a
uniform line of (35.4 ȍ, +90o) or (50 ȍ, +90o) in order to
(b) make the network equivalent to a branch-line coupler. To
fulfill the goal, each arm was realized by an integration of two
parts, the PRSTL and a right-handed section for impedance
adjustment. As indicated in Fig. 4(b), the right-handed section
in arm A is realized by a uniform microstrip line of (35.4 ȍ,
+90o), while the right-handed part in arm B or C is fulfilled by
a tunable T-network also integrated with a varactor. The
equivalence of the tunable right-handed T-network to a
uniform transmission line in both states (rat-race/branch-line
states) is illustrated in Fig. 4(c).
The arm A, whose impedance and electrical length are
(b) varied in both states, is achieved by a cascade connection of
Fig. 4. (a) Schematic diagram, (b) design principle of the reconfigurable two (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o) PRSTLs (demonstrated in Sec. II.B) along
hybrid coupler, and (c) circuit equivalence of the tunable right-handed T- with a conventional 35.4-Ÿ, 90o transmission line inserted in-
network in both states. between. To function as a rat-race coupler, the two PRSTLs
should have an electrical length of -90o so that the overall
The simulated and measured S-parameters of the PRSTL in electrical length of the arm is also -90o, or a phase delay of
the two states are summarized in Fig. 3. In both states, the +270o. The PRSTL also acts as a quarter wavelength
synthesized line is identical to a section of well-matched transformer such that the characteristic impedance of the arm,
transmission line with the measured |S11| less than -26 dB. At including the PRSTLs and microstrip line, is equal to
2.4 GHz, the measured transmission coefficient |S21|, (502/35.4 Ÿ) = 70.7 Ÿ. Meanwhile in the other state, to behave
representing the loss, is –0.85 dB when operated in both states. identically to a branch-line coupler, the PRSTLs should have
In addition, the measured electrical length at the center an electrical length of 0o and become invisible to the network;
frequency is 0.3o in state I, but becomes -90o in the other state; the arm A is therefore just a 35.4-Ÿ, 90o conventional
the corresponding characteristic impedances are kept near 50 transmission line segment.
Ÿ. From 2.3 to 2.5 GHz, the transmission coefficient (|S21|) is For the arm B or C, the PRSTL (PRSTL_B or PRSTL_C)
better than -1.2 dB in both states. is in series with a tunable right-handed T-network. When
operated as a rat-race coupler, the tunable T-network is
III. RECONFIGURABLE HYBRID COUPLER identical to a right-handed transmission line of (70.7-Ÿ, +90o),
Based on the proposed PRSTL, a reconfigurable hybrid as shown in the top of Fig. 4(c); the PRSTL, meanwhile, is
coupler, capable of operating as a branch-line coupler or a rat- hidden from the network by denoting θSTL1 = 0o. The
race coupler depending on the selection of the bias voltages, component values (LT, CVT1) of the right-handed T-network
was designed and tested. The design methodology is could be solved by mathematic software such as the

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 TABLE I
PERFORMANCE SUMMARY OF ARMS

Mathematica using equivalence of the ABCD matrices. In the

second state, to function as a branch-line coupler, the varactor
CVT of the tunable T-network is increased such that the (a)
characteristic impedance of that section is decreased from
70.7 Ÿ to 50 Ÿ (arm B) or 35.4 Ÿ (arm C). Since the inductor
LT and targeted impedance (50 or 35.4 Ÿ) are specified, the
value of the varactor CVT2 in the second state can be obtained.
Meanwhile, increasing the capacitance value of the varactor
from CVT1 to CVT2 also raises the electrical length θT of the
tunable T-network. As shown in the bottom of Fig. 4(c), the
phase delays of the T-network in arms B and C are +107o and
+125o in the branch-line state. This excess phase delay is
compensated for by the second state of the PRSTL, whose
electrical length is simply set as θSTL2 = +90o - θT. The designs
of PRSTL_B (50-ȍ, 0o/-17o) and PRSTL_C (35.4-ȍ, 0o/-35o)
were similar to PRSTL_A (50-ȍ, 0o/-90o). The final geometric
of the remaining two PRSTLs in two arms B and C (unit: mm)
are l1B = 7.1, l2B = 4.4, w1B = 1.1, w2B = 0.2, w3B = 1.3, l1C =
6.35, l2C = 3.1, w1C = 1.85, w2C = 0.2, and w3C = 1.3. The (b)
results are not shown here for simplicity. Fig. 6. Performance of reconfigurable hybrid coupler: (a) as a rat-race
coupler with Σ-port excitation (port 1), and (b) as a branch-line coupler.
All arms were fabricated and tested. The layouts can be
found in Fig. 5. Table I provides a performance summary. The
measured data are close to the design goals. The transmission successfully demonstrated. The proposed design will serve as
loss is acceptable. the core component of a simple two-element array system to
By integrating the arms, the layout of the reconfigurable be installed to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for sensor
hybrid coupler is shown in Fig. 5; the simulated and measured network applications in open fields.
performances are summarized in Fig. 6. As a rat-race coupler,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
the transmission coefficients with Σ−port excitation are -4.1
dB (|S21|) and -4.5 dB (|S41|); the reflection coefficient |S11| is - This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and
20 dB, and the phase difference between outputs is -1.5o. Technology, Taiwan, under Grants MOST 104-2628-E-011-
Good results were also obtained when the Δ-port was excited, 007-MY3 and 104-2221-E-011-026-MY3.
though not shown here for brevity. As a branch-line coupler, REFERENCES
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