Apparatus and method for combining electrical signals

• US 20050057322A1
• Filed: 10/26/2004
• Published: 03/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Wireless Corporation (Kyocera Corporation)
• Inventors: Camarillo, Richard J., Toncich, Stanley S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,221,243 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 333/126
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 27/2694 Measuring dielectric loss, e.g. loss angle, loss factor or power factor
• CPC Class Codes: H01G 7/06 having a dielectric selected for the variation of its permittivity with applied voltage, i.e. ferroelectric capacitors electrets H01G7/02
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 1/203 Strip line filters
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 1/20336 Comb or interdigital filters
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/0123 comprising distributed impedance elements together with lumped impedance elements
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/185 comprising distributed impedance elements together with lumped impedance elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/30 for homodyne or synchrodyne receivers demodulator circuits H03D1/22

Abstract

An apparatus and method are presented for combining electrical signals. The apparatus includes a phase-shift distributed element with an input to accept a first signal and an output to supply the first signal with a phase-shift; and a filter with a first signal port connected to the phase-shift element output, a second signal port to accept a second signal, and a third signal port to supply combined and filtered first and second signals. The phase-shift element has a signal path with a predetermined length and the phase-shift element output supplies the first signal with a phase angle shift responsive to the length of the signal path. In one example, the phase-shift element is formed from monoblock and coaxial elements, either singly or in combination, and is a tank circuit resonator in the filter.

Claims

1. An apparatus for combining electrical signals, the apparatus comprising:

a phase-shift distributed element with an input to accept a first signal and an output to supply the first signal with a phase shift; and

,

a filter with a first signal port connected to the phase-shift distributed element output, a second signal port to accept a second signal, and a third signal port to supply combined and filtered first and second signals.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the phase-shift distributed element has a signal path with a predetermined length and a characteristic impedance.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the phase-shift distributed element output supplies the first signal with a phase angle shift responsive to the length of the signal path.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the filter includes a resonator formed from the phase-shift distributed element.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the phase-shift distributed element includes a first monoblock element;

and,

wherein the filter includes a first tank circuit resonator formed from the first monoblock.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the phase-shift distributed element includes the first monoblock element connected in series to a first coaxial element, the monoblock and coaxial elements interposed between the phase-shift distributed element input and output.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the filter includes a second monoblock element used as a second tank circuit resonator.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the filter includes a pin connecting the first monoblock element to the first coaxial element.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the filter includes a wire bond connecting the first monoblock element to the first coaxial element.

10. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the phase-shift distributed element includes a second coaxial element;

and,

wherein the filter has a first tank circuit resonator formed from the second coaxial element.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the filter includes a third coaxial element used as a second tank circuit resonator.

12. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the phase-shift distributed element output supplies the first signal with a 180°

phase shift.

13. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the phase-shift distributed element input accepts a first signal with a first phase angle;

wherein the filter second port accepts the first signal with a second phase angle different than the first phase angle; and

,

wherein the phase-shift distributed element output supplies the first signal with a third phase angle equal to the second phase angle.

14. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:

a variable capacitor operatively connected to the phase-shift distributed element.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the variable capacitor has a control input to accept variable capacitance control signals and includes a ferroelectric material having a dielectric constant responsive to the variable capacitance control signals.

16. A method for combining electrical signals, the method comprising:

accepting a first signal;

accepting a second signal;

shifting the phase of the first signal using a distributed element;

combining the phase-shifted first signal and the second signal; and

,

filtering the combined signal.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein shifting the phase of the first signal using a distributed element includes conducting the first signal an effective distance along a signal path.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein conducting the first signal an effective distance along a signal path includes conducting the first signal along a signal path having a predetermined length and a characteristic impedance.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein conducting the first signal along a signal path having a predetermined length and a characteristic impedance includes shifting the phase of the first signal responsive to the signal path length.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein shifting phase includes using a first monoblock element in the distributed element;

and,

wherein filtering the combined signal includes using the first monoblock element in a filter first tank circuit resonator.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein shifting phase using a first monoblock element in the distributed element includes connecting the first monoblock element in series with a first coaxial element.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein filtering the combined signals includes using a second monoblock element as a filter second tank circuit resonator.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein connecting the first monoblock element in series with a first coaxial element includes pinning together the first monoblock and coaxial elements.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein connecting the first monoblock element in series with a first coaxial element includes wire bonding the first monoblock and coaxial elements.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein shifting phase includes using a second coaxial element in the distributed element;

and,

wherein filtering the combined signal includes using the second coaxial element as a filter first tank circuit resonator.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein using a second coaxial element in the distributed element includes connecting the second coaxial element in series with a third coaxial element.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein filtering the combined signals includes using a fourth coaxial element in a filter second tank circuit resonator.

28. The method of claim 19 wherein shifting the phase of the first signal responsive to the length includes shifting the phase of the first signal 180°

.

29. The method of claim 19 wherein accepting a first signal includes accepting a first signal with a first phase angle;

wherein accepting a second signal includes accepting the first signal with a second phase angle different than the first phase angle; and

,

wherein shifting the phase of the first signal responsive to the length includes shifting the first signal a third phase angle equal to the difference between the first and second phase angles.

30. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

using a variable impedance element in association with the distributed element.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein shifting the phase of the first signal using a distributed element includes variably shifting the phase of the first signal using the variable impedance element.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein accepting a first signal includes impedance matching to a first signal source using the variable impedance element.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein filtering the combined signal includes adjusting a resonance frequency using the variable impedance element.

34. The method of claim 30 wherein using a variable impedance element includes using a ferroelectric (FE) capacitor as follows:

forming the FE capacitor using a FE dielectric;

supplying a bias voltage to the FE dielectric; and

,

changing the dielectric constant of the FE dielectric in response to the bias voltage.