Throw Switch Research Articles

28 GHz common‐leg T/R IC in 65 nm CMOS technology

A 28 GHz T/R integrated circuit (IC) using common-leg circuit in 65 nm CMOS technology is presented. The proposed common-leg T/R IC is composed of single pole double throw (SPDT) and double pole double throw (DBDT) switches, 5-bit phase shifter, and 5-bit attenuator, uni-directional amplifiers for the transmit and receive modes. The measured gains for the transmit and receive modes are 3.5 and 1 dB at 26–30 GHz, respectively. The design provides full phase control range of 360° with least significant bit (LSB) of 11.25°, and attenuation control range of 23 dB with LSB of 1 dB. The proposed common-leg T/R IC has the maximum RMS phase error of 7°, and amplitude error of 0.6 dB at 26–30 GHz. The saturated output power for the transmit mode is 0 dBm, and the input P1dB for the receive mode is −20 dBm at 28 GHz. The chip core size is 1.3 × 0.8 mm2. The DC current is 130 mA for the transmit mode and 98 mA for the receive mode at 2.5 V supply voltage.

Miniaturized switched line MEMS phase shifter

AbstractIn this article, we propose a novel miniaturized MEMS phase shifter which relies on the loading of meander line and Complementary split ring resonators meta‐material conception to resolve the issues of miniaturization and insertion loss in the transmission line. The proposed phase shifter purely entrenched upon the switchable delay line and a reference line design, which is inline with a metal contact series switch.The phase shifter and RF switches are built on a 50 Ω coplanar waveguide transmission line. One of the unique features of the switch is shaped with triangular to obtain good RF and mechanical characteristics in terms of return loss, isolation, insertion loss, pull in voltage, and stress profile. The result shows, that the mechanical performance of the triangular series switch has low actuation voltage of 5.67 V with a stress value of 5 MPa and the calculated switching time is 3.9 µs. The RF performance of the triangular switch showed an insertion loss of −0.2 with −20 dB of a return loss in the ON state, whereas, in the OFF state, isolation is around −26 dB at DC −20 GHz. The proposed switch was used to build the miniature phase shifter. The average values of the miniaturized 5‐bit phase shifter (11.25, 22.5°, 45°, 90°, and 180°) return loss and insertion loss is −16.68 and −1.35 dB and phase error is less than 0.57°. Overall, 30% size reduction in the miniaturized phase shifter is obtained using triangular single pole single throw switches.

Miniaturized frequency-agile bandpass filter integrated single-pole double-throw switch

This article presents a miniaturized frequency-agile bandpass filter (BPF) integrated single pole double throw (SPDT) switch using common LC resonator. The BPF-integrated on-sate channel is constituted by the capacitively coupled LC resonators with loaded varactor diodes and reverse-biased p-i-n diodes. The off-state channel with high suppression is built when the p-i-n diodes loaded LC resonators is forward-biased. As an example, a frequency-agile BPF-integrated SPDT switch with constant 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 18.4% is designed. Its fabricated circuit area including bias circuit but excluding feeding lines is 0.105 λg × 0.079 λg. Measured results show that its 3 dB operating frequency bandwidth covers from 0.499 to 1.077 GHz with in-band insertion loss varying from 4.15 to 3.15 dB. Off-state suppression better than 37.8 dB, port-to-port isolation better than 51.1 dB, and good return loss can be also observed.

A Novel Unit Cell for Active Switches in the Millimeter-Wave Frequency Range

This paper presents a novel transistor unit cell which is intended to realize compact active switches in the high millimeter-wave frequency range. The unit cell consists of the combination of shunt and common gate transistor within a four-finger transistor cell, achieving gain in the amplifying state as well as good isolation in the isolating state. Gate width-dependent characteristics of the unit cell as well as the design of actual switch implementations are discussed in detail. To verify the concept, two switches, a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch and single pole quadruple throw (SP4T) switch, intended for the WR3 frequency range (220–325 GHz) were manufactured and characterized. The measured gain at 250 GHz is 4.6 and 2.2 dB for the SPDT and SP4T switch, respectively. An isolation of more than 24 dB for the SPDT switch and 12.8 dB for the SP4T switch was achieved.

4-bit digital to analog converter using R-2R ladder and binary weighted resistors

The use of a 4-bit digital-to-analog converter using two methods; Binary Weighted Resistors and R-2R Ladder is designed and presented in this paper. The main components that were used in constructing both circuits were different resistor values, operational amplifier (LM741) and single pole double throw switches. Both circuits were designed using MULTISIM software to be able to test the circuit for its ideal application and FRITZING software for the layout designing and fabrication to the printed circuit board. The implementation of both systems in an actual circuit benefits in determining and comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each. It was realized that the binary weighted circuit is more efficient DAC, having lower percentage error of 0.267% compared to R-2R ladder circuit which has a minimum of percentage error of 4.16%.

Compact 35–70 GHz SPDT Switch With High Isolation for High Power Application

This letter proposes a broadband high isolation and high power compact single pole double throw (SPDT) switch. In contrast to the traditional structure of grounded source pad, the source pad of the shunt-stacked FET is absorbed into the transmission line, and the drain of the shunt-stacked FET is grounded to a via-hole. This structure helps to extend the operation bandwidth and reduce the chip size. The proposed SPDT switch is composed of six shunt-stacked FET units on each branch with this novel structure. Stacked FETs technique increases the voltage handling by placing two FETs in series. It has been fabricated using a commercial $0.1~\boldsymbol {\mu }\text{m}$ GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (PHEMT) process. The chip size is $1.2\times 0.8$ mm2. The switch operates at the frequency range of 35–70 GHz with less than 3 dB insertion loss and more than 40-dB isolation. The switch demonstrates a 1 dB insertion loss compression with a 20.2 dBm input power at 31 GHz. The isolation is larger than 30 dB from 10 to 95 GHz. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this broadband isolation performance is among the best of the reported SPDT switches.

Selectable multiband isolation of single pole double throw switch using transmission line stub resonator for WiMAX and LTE applications

This paper presents a selectable multiband isolation of Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch with switchable transmission line stub resonators for applications of WiMAX and LTE in 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands. Two SPDT switches are presented. (Design 2) either allows selecting only one band while unselecting the other or selecting both of them. However, (Design 1) does not allow so. The transmission line stub resonator used in this design is an open stub resonator with quarter wave of the electrical length. By using a simple mathematical model, the theory of the transmission line stub resonator was discussed where it can be cascaded and resonated at center frequencies of 2.3 and 3.5 GHz. Moreover, the cascaded transmission line stub resonators can be reconfigured between all-pass and band-stop responses using discrete PIN diodes. The key advantage of the proposed SPDT with switchable transmission line stub resonators is a multiband high isolation with a minimum number of PIN diodes. Therefore, the simulated and measured results showed the followings: less than 3 dB of insertion loss, greater than 10 dB of return loss and higher than 30 dB of multiband isolation in 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands.

Function-Reconfigurable Between SPDT Switch and Power Divider Based on Switchable HMSIW Unit

A compact reconfigurable circuit performing as either Single Pole Double Throw switch or power divider is proposed and demonstrated, based on the concept of modes match and impedance match between substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) and half-mode SIW (HMSIW). A switchable HMSIW unit is first proposed and then followed by the design of the reconfigurable circuit. For demonstration, the proposed circuit is designed and fabricated on the substrate of Rogers 5880LZ with thickness 1.026 mm. When the circuit works as a switch and Port 2 is at ON-state, the measured $S_{11} dB, $S_{22} dB, $S_{21} > -1.5$ dB, and $S_{23}$ and $S_{13} dB; meanwhile, when the circuit performs as a power divider, the measured $S_{11} dB, and $S_{21}$ and $S_{31} > -4.35$ dB, over the frequency band from 4.6 to 5.3 GHz. The good performances show the advantages of proposed circuit topology, which can be an excellent candidate for multifunctional microwave or millimeter-wave circuits.

Design of 85–105GHz Wideband Traveling Wave PIN Diode Switches and Attenuators with Radial Stubs

Wideband traveling wave PIN Diode switches and attenuators are proposed. The switches and attenuators consist of three shunt PIN diodes, six radial stubs, bias circuit and DC return circuit. Wide bandwidth is achieved with six different radial stubs as reflective load of the diodes. The stubs work as short circuit to the diodes at different frequency points for broad bandwidth. For the Single pole single throw (SPST) switch, the lowest measured Insertion loss (IL) is 0.75dB and lower than 2.0dB in 85-105GHz, and its isolation is better than 21.3dB. As a Voltage-controlled variable attenuator (VCA), typical attenuation range is 23dB and attenuation fluctuation is lower than 5dB in 85-105GHz.

FIXED AND SELECTABLE MULTIBAND ISOLATION OF DOUBLE POLE DOUBLE THROW SWITCH USING TRANSMISSION LINE STUB RESONATORS FOR WIMAX AND LTE

A novel selectable multiband isolation of Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switch with switchable transmission line stub resonators has been proposed for applications of WiMAX and LTE in 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands. In this paper, two DPDT switch designs are proposed; the first design is a fixed DPDT switch, and the second is a selectable DPDT switch. The second design allows selecting only one band and unselecting the other or selecting both of them. However, the first design does not allow so. The transmission line stub resonator used in this design is an open stub resonator with quarter wave of the electrical length. By using a simple mathematical model, the theory of the transmission line stub resonator was discussed where it can be cascaded and resonated at center frequencies of 2.3 and 3.5 GHz. Moreover, the cascaded transmission line stub resonators can be reconfigured between allpass and bandstop responses using discrete PIN diodes. The key advantage of the proposed DPDT with switchable transmission line stub resonators is a multiband high isolation with minimum number of PIN diodes. Therefore, the simulated and measured results showed less than 3 dB of insertion loss, greater than 10 dB of return loss and higher than 30 dB of multiband isolation in 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands.

118 GHz single pole double throw switches using filter synthesis method

118 GHz single pole double throw switches using filter synthesis method

D–Band RF–MEMS SPDT Switch in a $0.13~\mu$ m SiGe BiCMOS Technology

This letter presents a D–Band (110–170 GHz) RF–MEMS based Single–Pole Double–Throw (SPDT) switch fabricated in a $0.13~\mu \text {m}$ SiGe BiCMOS technology. The on–wafer S–parameter measurements of the RF–MEMS based SPDT switch show beyond state of the art RF performances, 1.42 dB insertion loss and 54.5 dB isolation at 140 GHz. The SPDT switch consists of a tee junction connected to two Single–Pole Single–Throw (SPST) RF–MEMS switches. The RF–MEMS switch is actuated using 60 V actuation voltage and provides less than $10~\mu \text {s}$ switch–on and switch–off times. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the results achieved in this study are the lowest insertion loss and the highest isolation of a SPDT reported in D–band.

Small-signal switch model of GaN HEMTs for MMIC applications

Gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) with symmetrical structure as a control device is discussed in this paper. The equivalent circuit model is proposed on the basis of physical and electrical properties of the GaN HEMT device. A transistor with 0.5 μm gate length and 6 × 125 μm gate width is fabricated to verify the model, which can be treated as a single pole single throw (SPST) switch due to the ON state and OFF state. The measurement results show a good agreement with the simulation results, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed model.

A K-Band High Power and High Isolation Stacked-FET Single Pole Double Throw MMIC Switch Using Resonating Capacitor

A K-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) transmit and receive (T/R) single pole double throw (SPDT) switch with low insertion loss, high isolation and ultra-high output power is demonstrated using 0.15- $\mu\text{m}$ Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) technology. A shunt field effect transistor (FET) configuration is used to provide low insertion loss and high isolation while the stacked-FET is employed to improve power handling capability. The novel GaAs switch exhibits a minimum measured insertion loss of 1.4 dB and less than 2.5 dB from 22 GHz to 26 GHz as well as 44 dB isolation. The measured input 1-dB power compression point $({P}_{1\, \mathrm{dB}})$ exceeds 4 W.

Reconfigurable 4 × 4 multi‐port amplifier with switchable input and output matrices

This study presents a new reconfigurable 4 × 4 multi-port amplifier (MPA) configured by switchable matrices. The proposed structure adopts two 4 × 4 switchable matrices consisting of four unit-switching mode hybrid matrix (SMHM) where each SMHM is implemented with two 3 dB couplers and two single pole four throw (SP4T) switches. Comparing with previously reported MPA structures with fixed input and output relations which are exposed to performance degradation by power amplifier (PA) failure, the proposed structure can flexibly adjust signal paths. Also, the number of PAs used for signal amplification can be adjusted by controlling proper modes of SP4Ts in switchable matrices. For 4 × 4 structure, input signal can be amplified by a single PA, two PAs or all four PAs and then be outputted to only one port, two ports or all four ports. Thus, the proposed MPA structure can effectively improve system flexibility as well as reliability in case of PA failure. For the ease of verification, the proposed structure is tested at ISM band of 902–928 MHz.

Design of a 75–110‐GHz millimeter‐wave 90‐nm CMOS highly isolated transmitter/receiver switch by leakage‐cancellation technique

ABSTRACTThis article presents 75‐110‐GHz highly isolated T/R switch in 90nm CMOS. The proposed T/R switch circuit design is focused on highly isolation performance which is achieved by using both parallel inductors and leakage‐cancellation techniques. To also reduce insertion loss which is also an important design key point, series‐shunt single‐pole double throw (SPDT) switch with optimizing transistors size and body‐floating technique are adopted. From the experiment results, the designed switch has good performance of the return loss, insertion loss and isolation in W‐band. Compared with some previously reported works, the designed switch has the best isolation performance of 48 dB at 94‐GHz, and IP1dB is > 9dBm, respectively.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2725–2731, 2016

Design of a Wide-Frequency-Range, Low-Power Transceiver with Automatic Impedance-Matching Calibration for TV-White-Space Application

This paper presents a wide-frequencyrange, low-power transceiver with an automatic impedance-matching calibration for TV-white-space (TVWS) application. The wide-range automatic impedance matching calibration (AIMC) is proposed for the Drive Amplifier (DA) and LNA. The optimal S22 and S11 matching capacitances are selected in the DA and LNA, respectively. Also, the Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch is integrated to share the antenna and matching network between the transmitter and receiver, thereby minimizing the systemic cost. An N-path filter is proposed to reject the large interferers in the TVWS frequency band. The current-driven mixer with a 25% duty LO generator is designed to achieve the high-gain and low-noise figures; also, the frequency synthesizer is designed to generate the wide-range LO signals, and it is used to implement the FSK modulation with a programmable loop bandwidth for multi-rate communication. The TVWS transceiver is implemented in 0.13 μm, 1-poly, 6-metal CMOS technology. The die area of the transceiver is 4 mm x 3 mm. The power consumption levels of the transmitter and receiver are 64.35 mW and 39.8 mW, respectively, when the output-power level of the transmitter is +10 dBm at a supply voltage of 3.3 V. The phase noise of the PLL output at Band 2 is -128.3 dBc/Hz with a 1 MHz offset.

Switching microwaves via semiconductor-isolator reversible transition in a thin-film of MoS2

In this paper, we show that a thin-film of MoS2 is able to switch microwave signals due to a reversible semiconductor-insulator transition displaying an ON/OFF ratio greater than 104. This switching occurs in the range of 4–16 GHz, which encompasses the C, X, and K bands. In this respect, the current-voltage dependence and the microwave properties of the MoS2 thin-film are investigated. An integrated microwave switch device and a single pole double throw switch circuit are then implemented based on this unique property.

A design of 50/150/200 kbps, low power FSK transceiver using phase-locked loop with programmable loop bandwidth and integrated SPDT for IEEE 802.15.4g application

This paper presents a 50/150/200 kbps, low power transceiver with one-point modulation and integrated single pole double throw (SPDT) switch for IEEE 802.15.4g application. To ensure that the proposed low power transceiver can operate at a multi data rate, multi data-rate (50/150/200 kbps) frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation is implemented using a phase-locked loop (PLL) with a programmable loop bandwidth. The bandwidth switching scheme is combined with the programmable loop bandwidth to support the high data rate in the PLL of the transmitter. In the receiver, the SPDT switch is integrated to share the antenna and matching network between the transmitter and receiver, thus minimizing the system cost. Also the active-RC band pass filter with the programmable bandwidth is designed to support the data rates of 50, 150, and 200 kbps. The capacitors in each data rate are shared efficiently to minimize the die area. The FSK transmitter is implemented using 0.18 μm 1-poly 6-metal complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology. The die area of the transceiver is 4.0 mm2. The power consumption of the transmitter and receiver are 54 and 25 mW, respectively, when the output power level of the transmitter is +10.17 dBm at 1.8 V supply voltage. The phase noise of the PLL output at 1.8462 GHz is ?118.13 dBc/Hz with a 1 MHz offset.

High voltage magnetic pulse generation using capacitor discharge technique

A high voltage magnetic pulse is designed by applying an electrical pulse to the coil. Capacitor banks are developed to generate the pulse current. Switching circuit consisting of Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switches, thyristor, and triggering circuit is developed and tested. The coil current is measured using a Hall-effect current sensor. The magnetic pulse generated is measured and tabulated in a graph. Simulation using Finite Element Method Magnetics (FEMM) is done to compare the results obtained between experiment and simulation. Results show that increasing the capacitance of the capacitor bank will increase the output voltage. This technology can be applied to areas such as medical equipment, measurement instrument, and military equipment.