ERROR VECTOR MEASUREMENTS OF BST COUPLED MICROSTRIPLINE PHASE SHIFTERS (CMPS) USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODULATION

ABSTRACT

Error vector measurements (EVM) are used to investigate whether the nonlinear properties of a ferroelectric coupled microstrip phase shifter (CMPS) impact the quality of a radio frequency (RF) signal that is modulated, transmitted through the ferroelectric CMPS, and demodulated. Measurements were performed using a variety of phase shift key (PSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats. At RF power levels up to +6 dBm and symbol rates up to 7 megasamples per second (Msps), we observed no degradation in EVM that could be associated with the ferroelectric phase shifter. These preliminary results are encouraging for the suitability of these devices to perform in high power, high bandwidth space communication applications.

Keywords:

• BST thin films
• ferroelectric
• phase shifters
• coupled microstripline
• modulation
• tunable
• EVM