RFIC Interposer Time Delay Unit for Antenna Beam Squint
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional phase shifters in antenna systems suffer from beam squint due to frequency-dependent phase delays, leading to accuracy issues and pulse distortion in ultra-wide band applications, while time delay units are large, power-intensive, and introduce quantization errors.
Innovation Solution
An electronically steerable antenna system incorporating radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) time delay units and interposer time delay units, which provide selectable delay paths to minimize beam squint and power consumption, and reduce quantization errors, enabling a miniature, low-power feed manifold for ultra-wide band antenna arrays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional time delay units are used to eliminate beam squint, then beam steering accuracy is improved, but device size becomes prohibitively large
Solution Approach 1:
The time delay unit is segmented into multiple functional blocks (delayed path input, undelayed path input, combiner) that can be independently implemented and optimized. This segmentation allows the system to achieve the required time delay function through distributed processing rather than a single large component, thereby reducing overall device size while maintaining beam steering accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical or large-scale electrical time delay units with a signal processing-based approach using delayed and undelayed path combinations. This substitution eliminates the need for physically large time delay components while achieving the same beam steering function through electronic signal manipulation.
2Measurement precision
If conventional time delay units are used to eliminate beam squint, then beam steering accuracy is improved, but power consumption becomes prohibitively excessive
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying time delay to all signal paths uniformly, the system applies delay selectively - only to the path where it is needed to correct beam squint. The undelayed path processes signals without additional delay, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining the necessary beam steering correction functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces power-intensive conventional time delay units with an electronic signal processing approach that uses controlled delay and combination of signal paths. This substitution dramatically reduces power consumption while achieving the same beam steering accuracy improvement.
3Device complexity
If digital time delay units are used, then integration is improved, but quantization errors increase leading to high side lobe levels
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different processing qualities to different signal paths - one path receives delayed processing while the other receives undelayed processing. This local differentiation in signal treatment allows the system to maintain high fidelity in the undelayed path (avoiding quantization errors) while still achieving the necessary time delay effect through combination, thereby controlling side lobe levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite signal processing approach by combining delayed and undelayed signal paths. This composite structure leverages the advantages of both paths - the delayed path provides necessary timing adjustment while the undelayed path maintains signal fidelity - resulting in a system that achieves both integration and precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method provides time delays for an antenna array such as an electronically-scanned antenna array in a wide band range. The system and method can utilize time delay units including a radio frequency integrated circuit time delay unit portion provided on a radio frequency integrated circuit and an interposer time delay unit portion. The interposer time delay portion is provided on an interposer associated with the radio frequency integrated circuit.