A Wideband Tunable Reflection-Type Phase Shifter With Wide Relative Phase Shift

Wide bandwidth, wide tunable phase range, and a compact circuit size are always desired for the tunable phase shifter utilized in the modern wireless communication system. However, the existing reflection-type phase shifter configurations cannot satisfy all these requirements simultaneously. To resolve these problems, the reflection load consisting of two tunable capacitors and a quarter wavelength transmission line is utilized on a vertically installed planar structure to implement a new reflection-type phase shifter. For demonstration, a reflection-type phase shifter is designed, fabricated, and measured. A wide bandwidth of 66.7% defined by 10-dB return loss had been achieved. Over the same band, a wide phase shift range up to 407 degrees can be observed. Meanwhile, the fabricated circuit occupies a compact circuit size of 0.26 lambda(g) * 0.37 lambda(g).