Simultaneous frequency- and coupling coefficient-reconfigurable quadrature coupler

Abstract

A simultaneous frequency- and coupling coefficient-reconfigurable quadrature coupler is presented in this letter for the first time. Owe to the simplicity of patch element, the operating frequency and coupling coefficient can be easily controlled by the effective capacitances between the patch sector and ground plane with other parameters fixed. Two pairs of varactor diodes are loaded on the patch to achieve this reconfigurability. To demonstrate the proposed structure, a quadrature coupler was designed and measured to operate over a frequency range of 20% for equal power division and provide a reconfigurable coupling coefficients ranging from 4.7 to 10 dB at 5.2 GHz simultaneously.

Keywords:

• Quadrature coupler
• frequency reconfigurable
• coupling coefficient reconfigurable
• power division reconfigurable

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant number 61401523], Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China [grant number 201510010084], the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number 16lgzd04], and Guangdong Natural Science Foundation [grant number 2015A030312010].