A Broadband 180º Phase Shifter with a Small Phase Error

Using Lumped Elements

Xinyi Tang, Student Member, IEEE and Koen Mouthaan, Member, IEEE
Department of ECE, National University of Singapore
21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119077
xinyi.t@nus.edu.sg
Abstract — A new switched 180º phase shifter with a small C1 C 1/2 C1 Z0
L1 = 2
phase error over a large bandwidth using lumped elements is ω0
proposed. The topology has two states, an all-pass network (APN)
as the reference state, and a bandpass filter (BPF) as the phase
L1 L1 C1 = ( 2 +1 ) ω 1Z
0 0
shifting state. In the BPF, LC resonators are used to change the Z0
slope of the insertion phase to achieve a good phase alignment L2 =
L2 L2 2ω0
between the two states for a large bandwidth. Scalable
parameters are provided and the theoretical performance is C2 2C 2 C2 C2 = ( 2 −1 ) ω 1Z
compared with the conventional high-pass/low-pass phase 0 0
shifter and with the all-pass phase shifter. A phase error of ±3.5º (a)
is found over an octave bandwidth while the return loss remains
larger than 18 dB, which is comparable with distributed designs. C 1/2
However, the circuit size of the proposed topology is much L1 L1 Z0
smaller than the distributed designs. To validate the topology, a L1 = 1.618
ω0
phase shifter, centered at 1.0 GHz and with a core area of 1.6
cm2, is designed and measured. The measured phase shift is 1
2C 1 C1 = 1.618
182±5º and the return loss is larger than 14 dB from 0.68 GHz to ω0 Z 0
1.28 GHz. The amplitude imbalance is less than 0.25 dB. Z0
L2 = 0.618
Index Terms — phase shifter, bandpass filter, high-pass/low- C 2/2
ω0
pass networks, all-pass network, octave bandwidth. L2 L2 1
C2 = 0.618
ω0 Z 0
I. INTRODUCTION 2C 2

Phase shifters are common components in phased array (b)

antennas and other microwave communication systems. To Z0
L1 C1
BPF L1 = r ⋅ b ⋅
achieve a small size, lumped elements in a high-pass/low- ω0
pass topology or an all-pass topology are often used [1-2]. It 1 1
C2 L2 L2 C2 C1 = ⋅
is found that for large phase shifts, such as 180º, the r ⋅ b ω0 Z 0
performance is much worse compared to smaller phase shifts 1 Z0
L2 = ⋅
when the bandwidth increases. And the performance of the b ω0
180º bit affects the overall bandwidth of the whole multi-bit 1
C 3/2 APN C2 = b ⋅
digital phase shifter. A larger bandwidth for the 180º phase L3 L3 ω0 Z 0
bit can be achieved by increasing the order of the topology Z0
L3 =
[3]. However, when the order increases, the insertion loss and ω0
2C 3
the phase error are affected by the parasitics [4]. Therefore, 1
C3 =
for large bandwidths like an octave, distributed networks and (c) ω0 Z 0
hybrid networks are used to provide a small phase error and a Fig. 1. Design formulas for 180º phase bit using (a) 10-element high-
good matching simultaneously [5-7]. Typical phase errors pass/low-pass topology, (b) all-pass topology, and (c) proposed topology.
reported in [5-7] for the 180º phase bit are ±2º to ±5º over an
In this paper, a lumped element based phase shifter with a
octave bandwidth when the return losses are above 14 dB
performance comparable to the distributed phase shifters is
excluding of the effect of the switches. However, one
proposed. At low frequencies, the proposed circuit is much
drawback of the distributed networks and the hybrid networks
smaller than the distributed networks. Parallel and series LC
is the considerable area required. For example, the estimated
resonators are used to control the phase slope of the insertion
size of the core area of a 180º phase bit operating at 2 GHz is
phase. Furthermore, by connecting the shunted parallel LC
7 cm2.
resonators with the series LC resonator, a bandpass response
can be obtained with a larger bandwidth. The performance of
the proposed topology is compared with other lumped

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element topologies like a fifth order high-pass/low-pass phase
shifter and an all-pass phase shifter. A prototype example
with a center frequency of 1 GHz is designed and measured.
The measured phase shift is 182º±5º and the return loss is
larger than 14 dB from 0.68 GHz to 1. 28 GHz (BW=61%).
The amplitude imbalance is within 0.25 dB. The core area of
the phase shifter is 1.6 cm2.

II. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

Three lumped element based topologies are shown in Fig. 1.
Following the procedures introduced in [1, 2], the parameters
of the first two conventional topologies for a 180º phase shift
can be obtained. The formulas are also listed in Fig. 1 (a) and
(b). Fig. 1 (c) shows the proposed topology and the respective Fig. 2. Influences of b on the phase and |S11|.
component formulas. Single pole double throw (SPDT)
switches are used to switch between the two states. In the same. For reason of brevity, only the response of the shunt
BPF, three pairs of LC resonators resonating at the center LC resonator is plotted in Fig. 2. b is used as the design
frequency are used. Therefore, at the center frequency, the parameter. From Fig. 2, a steeper phase slope is obtained with
insertion phase of the BPF is zero. b represents the a smaller return loss bandwidth for a single LC resonator
normalized admittance of C2 at the resonance frequency ω0 when b increases.
(b=ω0C2Z0) , r is the ratio of (ωL1/Z0)/b. The parameters of the The return loss bandwidth can be increased by changing
APN can be obtained by using an even- and odd-mode the single LC resonator to a BPF as in Fig. 1 (c).
analysis [2]. In the proposed design, the APN should provide The returned power of the BPF can be written as
a 180º phase shift at the center frequency since the BPF
[ ]
2
f (ω )⎧⎨rb − 2 − rb 2 f (ω ) ⎫⎬
2
provides zero insertion phase at the center frequency. ⎩ ⎭
S11 (ω ) =
2
Therefore, the values are different from the all-pass topology
[ ] [ ]
2
2 1 − rb 2 f (ω ) + f (ω )⎧⎨rb + 2 − rb 2 f (ω ) ⎫⎬
2 2
shown in Fig. 1 (b).
The BPF consists of two shunt parallel LC resonators and ⎩ ⎭
one series LC resonator. Both resonators can be used to (3)
control the phase slope. Therefore, the insertion phase slope ⎛ 1⎞
2

of the BPF can be controlled to achieve the best alignment where f (ω ) = ⎜ ω − ⎟ .

⎝ ω⎠
with the insertion phase of the APN over a large bandwidth.
It is found that the following equation always holds:
How the phase slope is controlled by a single LC resonator
2
is first described. For a series LC resonator resonating at ω0, ⎛1⎞
S11 (ω ) = S11 ⎜ ⎟
2
(4)
the S-parameters are found as ⎝ω ⎠
jX ω − ω −1
S11 =
( ) Therefore, the response is logarithmically symmetric around
2 + jX ω − ω −1 ( ) (1)
ω0, which fits the definition of an equal-ripple filter prototype
2 [8]. The transmission poles can be found when S11=0. It is
S 21 =
2 + jX ω − ω −1 ( ) obvious that one transmission pole always exists at the center
frequency. The extra transmission poles can be found by
where X =ω0L/Z0=1/ ω0CZ0 and ω = ω / ω0 . solving
For a shunt parallel LC resonator resonating at ω0, the S- 2
⎛ 1⎞ 1
parameters are found as ⎜ ω − ⎟ = 2 (2 − r ) (5)
⎝ ω⎠ rb
S11 =
(
− jB ω − ω −1
) The solutions are given by:
(
2 + jB ω − ω −1 ) (2) ±1
⎡1 ⎛ 1 1 1 ⎞⎤
S 21 =
2 ω=⎢ ⎜
⎜
(2 − r) + (2 − r ) + 4 ⎟⎥
⎟⎥
(6)
(
2 + jB ω − ω −1 ) ⎣⎢ 2 ⎝ b r rb 2
⎠⎦
where B =ω0CZ0=Z0/ ω0L. Fig. 3 shows an example of the comparison between a single
From (1) and (2), it is found that when X = B , the |S11| and LC resonator and the BPF. The 15 dB return loss bandwidth
the insertion phase of the two types of LC resonators are the increases from 9.4% for the single LC resonator to 82% for
the BPF. In Fig. 3, a maximum reflection coefficient (MRC)
is introduced, which is a result of the equal-ripple response.

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 MRV is shown in Fig. 4. When r<2, a Chebyshev response is
found, and when r=2, a Butterworth response is found.
When r is fixed to achieve a certain MRC, the response of
the BPF is determined by b. Fig. 5 shows how b influences
the phase and the return loss when the MRC is -15 dB.

III. DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

To design a 180º phase shifter with an octave bandwidth
and a small phase error, r=1.2 and b=1.096 are used to align
the phase to the APN. The parameters used in the topologies
centered at 1 GHz are listed in Table I. Real values are the
discrete values we can choose in the practical design.

TABLE I
Fig. 3. Phase shift and return loss for a single LC resonator and a BPF. DESIGN PARAMETERS CENTERED AT 1 GHZ
Fig. 1 (a) Fig. 1 (b) Fig. 1 (c) Real value
L1 (nH) 11.25 12.55 10.2 11
L2 (nH) 5.49 4.79 7.08 7.3
L3 (nH) N. A. N. A. 7.76 8.2
C1 (pF) 7.68 5.15 2.42 2.4
C2 (pF) 1.32 1.97 3.49 3.6
C3 (pF) N. A. N. A. 3.18 1.6 / 6.2
No. of components 10 8 10 10

Fig. 4. Relation between parameter r and the maximum reflection coefficient

(MRC).

Fig. 6. Phase shift compasirion of the three lumped-element based

topologies.

Using the parameters of Table I, the phase shift responses

Fig. 5. Influence of parameter b on the phase and return loss when r is fixed to
obtain 15 dB return loss.
The MRC for the BPF in Fig. 3 is -18 dB. It is found that the
MRV is determined by r. The relation between r and the
of the three topologies are compared in Fig. 6. It is found that
the proposed topology has a phase error of 7º (±3.5º) over an
octave bandwidth while the high-pass/ low-pass phase shifter
and the all-pass phase shifter have phase errors of 14º and 26º
respectively. The all-pass topology can potentially achieve a
flatter phase response by adding one more section. However,
then 16 elements are needed with much larger inductances [2].
To validate the topology, a phase shifter centered at 1 GHz
is designed and measured. Rogers 5870 (εr=2.33, H=31 mil)
is selected as substrate and lumped elements from MuRata’s

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Fig. 7. Fabricated 180º phase shifter.
Fig. 8. Measured |S11|, |S22| and |S21| of the proposed phase shifter.
Fig. 9. Measured phase shift of the proposed phase shifter.
LQW and GQM series are used. Since the values of the
components are discrete, the element values are slightly
changed (Table I). C3 have two values refer to the different C
in APN. Hittite HMC545 SPDT switches with an insertion
loss of 0.3 dB within the frequency range of interest are used.
To comply with the requirements of the SPDT switches,
decoupling capacitors are added at the inputs and the outputs
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of the switches, but they do not affect the performance
significantly. Fig. 7 shows the fabricated board. The size of
the core area (SPDT switches included) is 1.6 cm x 1.0 cm.
The measured |S11|, |S22| and |S21| for of the phase shifter are
shown in Fig. 8. Return losses better than 14 dB for both
states are observed from 0.62 GHz to 1.39 GHz. An
amplitude imbalance of 0.25 dB is found from 0.64 GHz to
1.34 GHz. Fig. 9 shows the measured phase shift. Due to
parasitics and the tolerance of the components, the phase shift
is 2º to 3º higher than expected. The measured phase shift is
182º±5º from 0.68 GHz to 1.28 GHz. Therefore, from 0.68
GHz to 1.28 GHz (BW=61%), the phase shifter has a 10º
phase error, a 14 dB return loss and a 0.25 dB amplitude
imbalance, which is comparable with the distributed designs.
However, the size of the phase shifter is only 10% of the size
the distributed designs.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a new design of a lumped element based 180º
phase shifter is proposed. The topology uses LC resonators to
control the phase slope so that good phase alignment with the
reference state can be achieved over a large bandwidth. By
combining shunt LC resonators and series LC resonators, the
return loss is improved. To validate the topology, a 180º
phase shifter centered at 1 GHz is designed and measured. A
phase shift of 182º±5º, a return loss larger than 14 dB and an
amplitude imbalance less than 0.25 dB are measured from
0.68 GHz to 1.28 GHz (BW=61%). The core area is only 1.6
cm2.
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