Broadband true time delay circuit based on silicon-based technology

Abstract

The invention provides a broadband true time delay circuit based on a silicon-based technology, and relates to the technical field of radar communication, the broadband true time delay circuit is mainly composed of a time delay coarse tuning device and a time delay fine tuning device which are in mutual signal connection, the time delay coarse tuning device is provided with a plurality of time delay modules which are connected in sequence, each time delay module comprises a time delay path, and the time delay path is provided with a plurality of time delay paths. Delay paths in different delay modules are provided with a set number of first basic delay units which are used for providing different delay amounts; the delay fine adjustment device comprises a plurality of second basic delay units, and the second basic delay units provide different delay amounts by adjusting different gears. According to the scheme, two delay adjustment modes are fused to realize organic combination of coarse adjustment delay and fine adjustment delay, so that a true delay circuit capable of realizing wide delay range and high delay precision adjustment is formed, high-reliability and high-precision beamforming is realized while the overall adaptability and flexibility of the system are improved, and the system performance is improved. And the long-term communication stability and safety of the system are ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of radar communication technology, and in particular to a broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of mobile communication technology, the demand for broadband phased-control radar is increasing. This puts higher requirements on beamforming. Therefore, as a key module of beamforming, the beamforming accuracy also needs to be continuously increased to obtain better signals. However, traditional phased-control radar faces many challenges in beamforming, especially when the beamforming accuracy is higher, it cannot effectively deal with the impact caused by beam deviation, which may lead to a decline in communication quality and communication security risks.

[0003] In order to shape the beam, traditional wideband phased array radars need to achieve beam shaping based on phase shifters. However, wideband phased arrays based on phase shifters usually have beam offset, which will deteriorate the signal-to-noise ratio. This deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio is the main limiting factor for traditional wideband phased array radar systems to achieve high-precision beamforming.

[0004] Secondly, traditional phased-array radar systems often lack the ability to adapt to higher demands. With the evolution of communication technology and changes in demand, traditional phased-array radars cannot effectively achieve high-precision beamforming and cannot guarantee long-term communication stability and security. In addition, these systems also lack the ability to respond to unknown or unforeseen situations, making the system less adaptable and flexible when encountering unconventional interference or new communication equipment. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present disclosure is proposed in view of the above problems. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology is provided, comprising: a coarse delay adjustment device and a fine delay adjustment device connected to each other, wherein the coarse delay adjustment device is connected to the signal input side to provide a larger step delay amount; the fine delay adjustment device is connected to the signal output side to provide a smaller step delay amount;

[0006] The delay coarse adjustment device has a plurality of delay modules connected in sequence, each of which includes a delay path; wherein the delay paths of different delay modules have different numbers of first basic delay units for providing different delay amounts;

[0007] The delay fine-tuning device includes a plurality of second basic delay units, and the second basic delay units are used to provide different delay amounts by adjusting different gears.

[0008] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based process according to one aspect of the present disclosure, each of the delay modules also includes a reference path and a single-pole double-throw switch, the delay path and the reference path are respectively connected to the single-pole double-throw switch, and the reference path in each of the delay modules is configured to be consistent with the insertion loss of the delay path in the same delay module.

[0009] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based process according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the single-pole double-throw switch adopts a series-parallel MOS structure, and when the series MOS switch is turned on, the parallel MOS switch on the same path is turned off; when the series MOS switch is turned off, the parallel MOS switches on the same path are turned on to ground.

[0010] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based process according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the reference path includes an attenuation unit preset based on insertion loss requirements.

[0011] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based process according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the attenuation unit includes a plurality of parallel resistors.

[0012] In addition, according to a broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the first basic delay unit is a spiral artificial transmission line based on multiple inductive coupling modes, and a plurality of first capacitors connected in parallel to the ground are provided therein.

[0013] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology in one aspect of the present disclosure, the second basic delay unit is a spiral artificial transmission line based on multiple inductive coupling methods, and a plurality of second capacitors connected in parallel to the ground are arranged therein, and the second capacitor is a switching capacitor with adjustable gear.

[0014] In addition, according to a broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology in one aspect of the present disclosure, the delay amount provided by the output end of the coarse delay adjustment device and the delay amount at the input end of the fine delay adjustment device are set at a predetermined ratio.

[0015] In addition, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based process according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the predetermined ratio includes at least 1.5:1.

[0016] As will be described in detail below, according to the broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a large-step delay coarse range adjustment is performed based on the number of the first basic delay units in the delay path, and then the coarsely adjusted signal is adjusted in small steps by the gear adjustment mode of the delay fine adjustment device. Through the two control modes, the circuit has the characteristics of a wide delay range and high delay accuracy, thereby improving the system reliability.

[0017] Furthermore, in some embodiments, taking into account the actual need for the coarse adjustment amount, another reference path is configured in the delay coarse adjustment device, and switching between different paths is achieved through a single-pole switching switch.

[0018] Furthermore, the single-pole double-throw switch is designed as a series-parallel MOS switch with better isolation, which improves the beamforming effect in the broadband controllable column phase array.

[0019] Furthermore, in some implementations, the small-step fine-tuning mode is implemented using a switch capacitor with adjustable gear positions.

[0020] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the technology as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing the embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present disclosure, they are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals generally represent the same components or steps.

[0022] Figure 1 2 is a two-dimensional schematic diagram illustrating a broadband true delay circuit based on a silicon-based process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a delay coarse adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a delay fine adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious, the exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described here.

[0027] Reference Figure 1 as well as Figure 2The present disclosure provides an embodiment of a broadband true delay circuit (BTDC) based on a silicon based process (SBP), specifically comprising: a coarse delay adjustment device and a fine delay adjustment device, wherein the coarse delay adjustment device is connected to the IN end of the signal input side, and is mainly used to perform coarse adjustment on the delay to obtain a large-step delay amount; the fine delay adjustment device is connected to the OUT end of the signal output side, and its function is mainly to perform fine adjustment on the delay to obtain a small-step delay amount. The two devices are connected via a transmission line (which can also be combined with a switch) to achieve comprehensive delay adjustment through at least two modes to obtain the overall delay amount.

[0028] The delay coarse adjustment device specifically includes: a plurality of delay modules connected in sequence, and each delay module has at least a delay path, and the delay path in each delay module can be composed of a predetermined number of first basic delay units. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the first basic delay unit can be a spiral artificial transmission line based on three (non-limited) inductive couplings (mutually inductively coupled artificial transmission lines), and capacitors connected in parallel to the ground are provided between them (in actual operation, capacitors can be connected in parallel in the middle and sides of the inductors). Furthermore, the inductance values ​​in the same delay path are preferably similar or the same, and the mutual coupling coefficients can also be similar or the same. This structure can realize the basic characteristics of the transmission line over a wide bandwidth, so as to provide a flat group delay characteristic over a wide frequency range.

[0029] In addition to the delay path, it can also be pointed out that, according to different actual delay requirements, the first basic delay unit in some delay modules may not be selected, so preferably, each of the delay modules may also include a reference path and a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch, and the delay path and the reference path are respectively connected to the single-pole double-throw switch, that is, in actual operation, the delay path and the reference path of the same module can be switched by the SPDT switch. For example, according to the delay requirements, for the case where the SPDT switch is turned on to the reference path of a certain delay module, the signal can be made not to be regulated by the delay path of the delay module. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the insertion loss of the reference path and the delay path in the same delay module should be set to be consistent. As a supplement to this concept, the reference path can be composed of a preset attenuation unit, and the attenuation unit can be realized by a parallel resistor, so that the insertion loss of the reference path and the delay path are consistent, so as to ensure that the path loss will not change significantly when switching the switch.

[0030] In addition, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the aforementioned SPDT switch can be Figure 3As shown, it is preferred to use a switch structure with better isolation, so as to prevent the turned-off path from interfering with the currently turned-on path when switching between different paths; in this regard, the aforementioned SPDT switch is a series-parallel NMOS switch. When the series MOS switch is turned on, the parallel MOS switch on the same path is turned off; when the series MOS is turned off, the parallel MOS on the same path is turned on. Compared with the traditional series MOS switch, it can show a better isolation effect and effectively prevent the turned-off path from causing crosstalk to the currently turned-on path.

[0031] Continuing from the previous article, for the delay fine adjustment device, combined with Figure 4 The schematic diagram specifically includes: a plurality of second basic delay units, which provide different delay amount principles, which are different from the delay coarse adjustment device. In general, the delay coarse adjustment device uses the number of first basic delay units and the switching of SPDT switches as the adjustment mechanism, while the delay fine adjustment device can be regarded as an artificial transmission line (ALT) composed of multiple second basic delay units t1, and its working principle is mainly to adjust the delay amount by adjusting different gears.

[0032] To elaborate, the second basic delay unit itself can be based on multiple inductively coupled spiral artificial transmission lines, and is provided with a number of second capacitors connected in parallel to the ground. Here, the second capacitor is configured as a switching capacitor with adjustable gears to provide a flat group delay characteristic within a wider frequency range. By adjusting the different gears of the second capacitor, fine adjustment of the delay amount at different capacitance values ​​can be achieved.

[0033] Combining the above embodiments with Figure 1 to Figure 4 In the embodiment of the disclosure, the coarse delay adjustment device first adjusts the delay amount over a large range, and then the adjustable capacitor of the fine delay adjustment device is used to achieve a more refined delay amount adjustment, thereby obtaining a broadband true delay circuit with a complete wide delay range and high delay accuracy. Figure 1In the illustrated embodiment of the delay bit of bit5 to bit0, the delay paths of the three delay bits of bit3-5 can be respectively provided with a single t0 delay unit (t0 is also the first basic delay unit), two t0 delay units and four t0 delay units, and the delay amounts correspond to 12ps, 24ps and 48ps respectively, and different delay amounts are obtained by selecting to open different units. In addition, by setting the capacitor in the second basic delay unit in bit0-2 as an adjustable capacitor, subsequent fine delay adjustment is achieved. In this example, unlike the rough and large-range adjustment brought by the coarse delay adjustment device, the delay amounts corresponding to bit0-2 can be 2.4ps, 4.6ps and 9ps respectively, which belongs to a small-range fine adjustment. Furthermore, it can be supplemented here that, since bit0-2 of the delay fine adjustment device and bit3-5 of the aforementioned delay coarse adjustment device adopt different adjustment principles, in order to avoid the delay amount offset of the two delay adjustment methods due to process deviations, etc., resulting in delay gaps at the connecting bits 3 and 2, preferably, the delay amount between bit2 and bit3 can be set according to a predetermined ratio. Here is a reference ratio example of 1:1.5 (bit2: bit3). Although the effective gears will be reduced in this embodiment, the delay gap can be reliably prevented.

[0034] The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. The main idea is that the circuit architecture is mainly composed of a coarse delay adjustment device and a fine delay adjustment device connected to each other by signals, wherein the coarse delay adjustment device has at least a predetermined number of sequentially connected delay modules, each delay module includes a delay path, and the delay paths in different delay modules have different numbers of first basic delay units for providing different delay amounts; the fine delay adjustment device includes a plurality of second basic delay units, and the second basic delay units provide different delay amounts by adjusting different gears. The disclosed scheme combines the use of different numbers of first basic delay units to achieve coarse delay adjustment, and combines a plurality of second basic delay units with gear adjustment function to adjust and achieve fine delay adjustment, thereby forming a true delay circuit capable of achieving wide delay range and high delay precision adjustment, effectively improving the delay adjustment effect, while increasing the overall adaptability and flexibility of the system, achieving high reliability and high precision beamforming, and ensuring the long-term communication stability and security of the phased radar system.

[0035] The basic principles of the present disclosure are described above in conjunction with specific embodiments, but it should be pointed out that the advantages, strengths, effects, etc. mentioned in the present disclosure are only examples and not limitations, and it cannot be considered that these advantages, strengths, effects, etc. are required by each embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition, the specific details disclosed above are only for the purpose of illustration and ease of understanding, rather than limitation, and the above details do not limit the present disclosure to the necessity of adopting the above specific details to be implemented.

[0036] The block diagrams of the devices, apparatuses, equipment, and systems involved in this disclosure are only illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that they must be connected, arranged, and configured in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, these devices, apparatuses, equipment, and systems can be connected, arranged, and configured in any manner. Words such as "including," "comprising," "having," and the like are open words, referring to "including but not limited to," and can be used interchangeably therewith. The words "or" and "and" used herein refer to the words "and / or," and can be used interchangeably therewith, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The word "such as" used herein refers to the phrase "such as but not limited to," and can be used interchangeably therewith.

[0037] Additionally, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items beginning with "at least one" indicates a separate list, so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C, or AB or AC or BC, or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Furthermore, the word "exemplary" does not mean that the example described is preferred or better than other examples.

[0038] Various changes, substitutions, and modifications of the techniques described herein may be made without departing from the teachings defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the scope of the claims of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific aspects of the processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of events, means, methods, and actions described above. Currently existing or later to be developed processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of events, means, methods, or actions that perform substantially the same functions or achieve substantially the same results as the corresponding aspects described herein may be utilized. Thus, the appended claims include such processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of events, means, methods, or actions within their scope.

[0039] The above description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0040] The above description has been given for the purpose of illustration and description. In addition, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure to the forms disclosed herein. Although multiple example aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those skilled in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, changes, additions and sub-combinations thereof.

Claims

1. A broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology, characterized in that: include: A coarse delay adjustment device and a fine delay adjustment device connected to each other, wherein the coarse delay adjustment device is connected to the signal input side and is used to provide a larger step delay amount; the fine delay adjustment device is connected to the signal output side and is used to provide a smaller step delay amount; The delay coarse adjustment device has a plurality of delay modules connected in sequence, each of which includes a delay path; wherein the delay paths of different delay modules have different numbers of first basic delay units for providing different delay amounts; The delay fine-tuning device includes a plurality of second basic delay units, and the second basic delay units are used to provide different delay amounts by adjusting different gears.

2. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the delay modules also includes a reference path and a single-pole double-throw switch, the delay path and the reference path are respectively connected to the single-pole double-throw switch, and the reference path in each of the delay modules is configured to have an insertion loss consistent with that of the delay path in the same delay module.

3. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The single-pole double-throw switch adopts a series-parallel MOS structure, and when the series MOS switch is turned on, the parallel MOS switch on the same path is turned off; when the series MOS switch is turned off, the parallel MOS switch on the same path is turned on to ground.

4. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The reference path includes an attenuation unit preset based on an insertion loss requirement.

5. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The attenuation unit includes a plurality of parallel resistors.

6. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first basic delay unit is a spiral artificial transmission line based on multiple inductive coupling modes, and is provided with a plurality of first capacitors connected in parallel to the ground.

7. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The second basic delay unit is a spiral artificial transmission line based on multiple inductive coupling modes, and is provided with a plurality of second capacitors connected in parallel to the ground, and the second capacitor is a switch capacitor with adjustable gear.

8. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The delay amount provided by the output end of the coarse delay adjustment device and the delay amount at the input end of the fine delay adjustment device are set according to a predetermined ratio.

9. The broadband true delay circuit based on silicon-based technology as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that: The predetermined ratio includes at least 1.5:1.

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