• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.287-294
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• 2005

In this paper, an optical true time-delay (TTD) for two-dimensional (2-D) phased array antennas (PAAs), composed of a multi-wavelength optical source and a fiber optic delay line matrix consisting of $2\times2$ optical switches with optical fiber connected between cross ports, has been proposed. A 2-bit $\times4-bit$ optical TTD for 10-GHz 2-D PAAs has been implemented by cascading a wavelength dependent TTD (WD-TTD) and a wavelength independent TTD (WI-TTD). The unit time delay for WD-TTD and WI-TTD have been chosen as ${\Delta}T=12ps$ and $\Delta\tau=6ps$, respectively. Time delay have been measured at all radiation angles. The maximum delay error for WD-TTD was measured to be 3 ps due to jitter incurred from gain switching. For the case of WI-TTD, error was within ${\pm}\;1\;ps$. The proposed optical TTD for a 2-D PAA has the following advantages: 1) higher gain compared to one-dimensional linear PAAs, 2) stabilization of optical power and wavelength by using a multi-wavelength optical source, and 3) fast beam scan and simple operation due to electronic control of the $2\times2$ optical switches matrix on a column-by-column basis.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.413-420
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• 2017

We investigate the performance of a true time delay(TTD) phase shifter to reduce the beam squint caused by frequency changes of a phased array antenna in wideband communication systems. To design a high gain phased array antenna, we need a long TTD, which causes high RF loss, low resolution and large dimension of TTD phase shifters. To overcome the problems, we propose a schematic of dual TTD phase shifters, which consists of short time delay(STD) in radio frequency(RF) part and long time delay(LTD) in intermediate frequency(IF) part. Our analysis results show that the proposed scheme reduces the required bits and delay time in RF band of the TTD compared to the conventional single TTD scheme.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.924-927
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• 2017

This paper presents a 6~18 GHz 8-bit true time delay (TTD) circuit. The unit delay circuit is based on m-derived filter with relatively constant group delay. The designed 8-bit TTD is implemented with two single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches and seven double- pole double-throw (DPDT) switches. The reflection characteristics are improved by using inductors. The designed 8-bit TTD was fabricated using $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS. The measured delay control range was 250 ps with 1 ps of delay resolution. The measured RMS group delay error was less than 11 ps at 6~18 GHz. The measured input/output return losses are better than 10 dB. The chip consumes zero power at 1.8 V supply. The chip size is $2.36{\times}1.04mm^2$.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.96-103
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• 2022

This paper presents the analysis of increasing the resolution of True-Time-Delay (TTD) by 0.5-bit for phased-array antenna system which is one of the Multiple-Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) technologies. For the analysis, a 5.5-bit True-Time Delay (TTD) integrated circuit is designed and analyzed in terms of beam steering performance. In order to increase the number of effective bits, the designed 5.5-bit TTD uses Single Pole Triple Throw (SP3T) and Double Pole Triple Throw (DP3T) switches, and this method can minimize the circuit area by inserting the minimum time delay of 0.5-bit. Furthermore, the circuit mostly maintains the performance of the circuit with the fully added bits. The idea of adding 0.5-bit is verified by analyzing the relation between the number of bits and array elements. The 5.5-bit TTD is designed using 0.18 ㎛ RF CMOS process and the estimated size of the designed circuit excluding the pad is 0.57×1.53 mm². In contrast to the conventional phase shifter which has distortion of scanning angle known as beam squint phenomenon, the proposed TTD circuit has constant time delays for all states across a wide frequency range of 4 - 20 GHz with minimized power consumption. The minimum time delay is designed to have 1.1 ps and 2.2 ps for the 0.5-bit option and the normal 1-bit option, respectively. A simulation for beam patterns where the 10 phased-array antenna is assumed at 10 GHz confirms that the 0.5-bit concept suppresses the pointing error and the relative power error by up to 1.5 degrees and 80 mW, respectively, compared to the conventional 5-bit TTD circuit.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.385-390
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• 2004

In this paper, we designed a 4-bit optical true time-delay(TTD) for phased array antennas(PAAs), which is composed of a wavelength-fixed optical source, 2 ${\times}$ 2 optical MEMS switches, and fiber-optic delay lines. A 4-bit TTD with a unit time delay difference of 6 ps for 10-GHz PAAs has been implemented. Measurement results on time delay show an error of -0.4 ps at maximum, corresponding to a radiation angle error of less than 1.63$^{\circ}$. Thus, the TTD implemented in this research performs in excellent agreement with theory. Each TTD line, composed of MEMS switches and fiber-optic delay lines, connected to the corresponding antenna element has insertion loss in between 1.36 ㏈ and 2.40 ㏈ depending upon the setup of the switches. On the other hand, the insertion loss difference between TTD lines was 0.32 ㏈ at maximum for a fixed radiation angle. The TTD structure proposed in this paper might be more reliable and economical than those previously proposed using tunable wavelength sources if proper power equalization either with gain control of RF amplifiers or variable attenuators is achieved.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.693-698
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• 2018

This paper presents a true-time delay (TTD) using a commercial $0.13-{\mu}m$ CMOS process for wideband phased-array antennas without the beam squint. The proposed TTD consists of four wideband distributed gain amplifiers (WDGAs), a 7-bit TTD circuit, and a 6-bit digital step attenuator (DSA) circuit. The T-type attenuator with a low-pass filter and the WDGAs are implemented for a low insertion loss error between the reference and time-delay states, and has a flat gain performance. The overall gain and return losses are >7 dB and >10 dB, respectively, at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The maximum time delay of 198 ps with a 1.56-ps step and the maximum attenuation of 31.5 dB with a 0.5-dB step are achieved at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The RMS time-delay and amplitude errors are <3 ps and <1 dB, respectively, at 2 GHz-18 GHz. An output P1 dB of <-0.5 dBm is achieved at 2 GHz-18 GHz. The chip size is $3.3{\times}1.6mm^2$, including pads, and the DC power consumption is 370 mW for a 3.3-V supply voltage.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2006

In this paper, we proposed an optical true time-delay (TTD) for planar phased array antennas (PAAs), which is composed of a wavelength-dependent optical true time delay (WDOTTD) followed by a wavelength-independent optical true time delay (WIOTTD). The WDOTTD is a fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) Prism and the WDOTTD is a fiber delay-lines matrix of which each component consists of a certain length of fiber connected to cross-ports of a 2${\times}$2 MEMS switch. A 10-GHz 2-bit${\times}$4-bit two-dimensional optical TTD has been fabricated by cascading a WDOTTD with a maximum time delay of 810 ps to a WIOTTD of $\pm$50 ps. Time delay and insertion loss for each radiation angle have been measured. Time delay error for the WIOTTD has been measured to be less than $\pm$1 ps. We have also designed a two-dimensional 10-GHz PAA composed of 8${\times}$8 microstrip patch antenna elements driven by the proposed TTD. The radiation patterns of this PAA have been obtained by simulation and analyzed.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.28 no.7A
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• pp.433-439
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• 2003

In this paper, we proposed a novel true time-delay (TTD) feeder for phased array antennas (PAAs) using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and fibers coated with Cr/Au film. This structure requires less number of FBGs than the previously proposed FBG TTD feeders since one FBG is replaced with a metal film reflector in a strand of optical delay line connected to each antenna element and also provides the flexible wavelength selection since the metal film shows wide reflectance spectrum. A TTD for 10 GHz linear PAAs capable of steering beams in three different directions at 0$^{\circ}$and $\pm$30$^{\circ}$has been built. Experimental results on time delays are in good agreement with those calculated at all the steering angles. A 10 GHz linear array antenna with eight antenna elements red from the proposed TTD has been designed and the far-field radiation pattern or this antenna has been obtained by simulation.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.466-472
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• 2003

In this paper, we proposed an optical true time-delay (TTD) feeder system for phased array antennas (PAAs). The system possesses high-speed beam scan capability since, in this scheme, different lengths of fiber delay-lines are selected by optical 2${\times}$2 MEMS switches at high speed. An optical TTD capable of beam scanning in one of eight different directions has been built for 10 GHz linear PAA systems. Experimental results on time delay measurements show that the maximum time delay error is less than 0.2 ps corresponding to a scan angle error of less than 0.84o. We have also designed a 10 GHz linear PAA composed of eight micro-strip patch antenna elements driven by the proposed TTD, and the radiation patterns of this PAA have been analyzed by simulation.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.478-486
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for the wideband beamforming in a conformal phased array antenna by compensating the errors. For the wideband beamforming, we used the True Time Delay(TTD), which was fabricated on the RF circuit board to obtain long delay lines. Beamforming errors in the conformal array antenna are the mutual coupling between the array elements, the dispersive error in the TTD circuit, and the quantization error by the digital control. We apply the compensation algorithm to the conformal phased array antenna of wideband 2~4 GHz, and verify the usefulness by comparing the results with the experiment results.