A study of multi-phase vector-sum phase shifters for phased array

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel scheme of vector-sum phase shifters. Conventional phase shifters that use 4-phase type require a very large dynamic range for variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) as increasing the resolution of the value of phase shift. The proposed scheme adopts 6-phase or 8-phase type vector-sum phase shifters that reduce the required dynamic range for the VGAs dramatically. Based on the theoretical studies of the required dynamic range and the value of gain of VGAs, a configuration that requires a dynamic range of 6–7dB with 8bits phase resolution, multi-phase type vector-sum phase shifter is shown.