A K-band bi-phase modulator MMIC for UWB application

A 24-GHz-band, three-dimensional microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) bi-phase modulator, that is a combination of an active 0/π splitter and a SPDT switch, is proposed and demonstrated. Comparing conventional K-band bi-phase modulators, this modulator is broadband, significantly MMIC compatible, and shrinks its chip area. A fabricated bi-phase modulator exhibits an area of 1.0×0.7mm² and a 1-dB bandwidth of nearly 10GHz. The SPDT switch is optimized in control-gate´s time constant so that a very clear bi-phase modulated waveform can be generated from 1Gbps PN code. The insertion loss and the phase imbalance are 6.4 dB+/-0.6 dB and within 10°, respectively, between 22GHz and 32GHz.