Scientific Components Corporation

Other

Mini-Circuits

Daxiong Ji

Radha Setty

Lu Chen

A miniature wideband balun is realized wherein a miniature rectangular high permeability ferrite binocular core is wound with a single wire on the first of three legs and a twisted pair of wires on the third of three legs. Each winding is configured from 36 gauge wire to include two turns with precise positioning and spacing on the legs, and precise control over the length and position of the non-wound wire portions. The non-wound wire portions have their ends welded to the conductive terminals of a flat insulating substrate which the core is bonded to. Such an approach results in a wideband response of from 10 MHz to at least 6000 MHz with a substantially flat insertion loss and a low return loss. Additionally, a lid is bonded to the top of the core in order to form a package conducive to handling by standard pick and place robotic assembly machinery.

Miniature multi-decade GHz balun

A miniaturized wideband surface mount bias tee comprises a printed circuit board with a functioning first capacitor and a dummy second capacitor, and an inductor bonded atop the two capacitors. The capacitors, adhesive and solder are depositable by standard surface mount pick and place machinery. The inductor wires are bonded to one of the first capacitor bonding pads and to an inductor bonding pad. The circuit element bonding pads include portions bordering the pc board edges and are conductively connected to bonding pads on the bottom face of the pc board. Conductive thru-vias for the first capacitor bonding pads reduce parasitic inductance and extend the operating frequency range. A flat-topped insulating cap encloses the bias tee sides and top. The cap forms an air gap between the inductor and circuit elements and provides a surface for manipulating the bias tee with present-day assembly equipment.

Surface mount bias tee

A dual output autotransformer is realized by employing a novel topology in which three transformers are wound on a single, high permeability, ferrite, binocular core. The three transformers are (1) an autotransformer; (2) a coupled winding to the autotransformer; and, (3) a transmission line transformer. Within the topology employed, the outputs of the coupled line transformer and the transmission line transformer provide the balanced output (secondary) and the input to the autotransformer forms the unbalanced primary. Such an approach results in a wideband response of from 30 MHz to 3000 MHz or greater with the requisite amplitude and phase balance.

Dual output autotransformer

A sub harmonic mixer has improved electrical performance in a small package size. The mixer has a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate. Coupled lines are located within the substrate and connected to an LO port, an RF port and an intermediate frequency port. Three capacitors are formed within the substrate. Vias extend through the substrate. A diode package is mounted on the substrate.

Low temperature co-fired ceramic sub-harmonic mixer

A double balanced mixer with improved isolation between the LO and RF frequency signals. The mixer has a local oscillator balun, an intermediate frequency balun and an RF balun. The baluns are located on inner layers of a substrate comprised of low temperature co-fired ceramic. The baluns are formed from spiral lines that form windings. The windings are coupled between adjacent layers. The local oscillator balun is connected to the intermediate frequency balun. A diode ring is connected between the RF balun and the intermediate frequency balun. The diode ring is mounted to a top layer. Several vias extend through the substrate. The vias provide an electrical connection between the baluns and the diode ring.

Low temperature co-fired ceramic double balanced mixer

A tunable amplitude unbalance stripline combiner for RF signals in which the amplitude unbalance can be adjusted in order to minimize the amplitude unbalance. The combiner has an upper printed circuit board mounted over a lower printed circuit board. The lower printed circuit board has a pair of printed circuit lines that are connected between an output port and a pair of input ports. The upper printed circuit board has a metallized area covering the top surface. Several non-metallized cavities are located in the metallized area above the circuit lines. The number of cavities can be adjusted to change the amplitude unbalance.

Tunable amplitude unbalance stripline combiner

A miniature wideband RF choke has a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface. A first inductor is located within the substrate. Terminals are located on the top and bottom surfaces. A second inductor is located on the top surface. The second inductor has a core wound with a wire. Vias extend through the substrate connecting the terminals to the inductors.

Miniature wideband RF choke

A miniature wideband bias tee that has a small package size. The bias tee has a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface. A first inductor is located within the substrate. A second inductor is attached to the top surface and has a core with a wire wound on the core. Terminals are located on the top and bottom surfaces. Ends of the wire are connected to terminals on the top surface. A capacitor is mounted to terminals on the top surface. Several vias extend through the substrate and electrically connect the terminals to the inductor and capacitor.

Miniature wideband bias tee

A power splitter has a small size with good electrical performance. The power splitter includes a substrate with several dielectric layers. A capacitor is formed between two of the dielectric layers. A pair of inductors are formed by circuit lines located on the dielectric layers. Several terminals are located on outer surfaces of the substrate. Conductive vias extend between the layers in order to provide an electrical connection between the capacitor, the inductors and the terminals. The substrate is formed from layers of low temperature co-fired ceramic. The circuit lines have a curving or sinuous shape on the dielectric layers. The inductors are electromagnetically coupled. The power splitter has a compact overall size.

Miniature LTCC 2-way power splitter

A wide bandwidth mixer has a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate. The substrate has a top layer, a bottom layer and inner layers. Vias extend through the substrate. A local oscillator balun and an RF balun are located on the inner layers and connected to the vias. An intermediate frequency balun is mounted to the top layer and connected to the vias. Field effect transistors are mounted on the top layer and connected to the local oscillator balun, the RF balun and the intermediate frequency balun through the vias. A matching network is mounted to the top layer and is connected to the vias. The matching network matches the impedance of the field effect transistors to that at the LO port.

LTCC fet mixer

A triple balanced mixer has a compact size and is readily assembled. The triple balanced mixer has a planar substrate that is formed from several layers of low temperature co-fired ceramic. The substrate has a top layer, a bottom layer and inner layers. Vias extend through the substrate. A local oscillator balun and RF balun are located on the inner layers. An intermediate frequency balun is mounted to the top layer. Diode rings are mounted on the top layer. The diode rings are electrically connected to the local oscillator balun, the RF balun and the intermediate frequency balun through the vias.

Triple balanced mixer

A double balanced mixer for mixing an RF input signal with a local oscillator signal to provide at an output an intermediate frequency signal with a high third order intercept point. A first and second local oscillator balun receives a local oscillator signal. A first and second RF balun receives a RF signal. A first mixer is coupled to the first local oscillator balun and the first RF balun. A second mixer is coupled in parallel with the first mixer. The second mixer is coupled to the second local oscillator balun and the second RF balun. The parallel coupled mixers provide an intermediate frequency signal. A first intermediate frequency balun is coupled to the first mixer and a second intermediate frequency balun is coupled to the second mixer. The mixer also has increased isolation.

Dual double balanced mixer

A power splitter that has a small package size and repeatable electrical characteristics. The power splitter includes a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTTC) substrate with several layers. Electrical components such as resistors, capacitors and ground planes are integrated within the LTTC substrate. A binocular core transformer is attached to the upper surface of the LTTC substrate and is electrically connected to the resistors, capacitors and ground plane. The transformer provides impedance matching and dividing functions. The LTTC substrate has electrically conductive vias extending through the layers. The vias are used to connect the power splitter to terminals on outer surfaces of the substrate and to make electrical connections between the layers of the LTTC substrate. The power splitter circuit requires only one transformer.

Miniature 180 degree power splitter

A 90 degree splitter which covers a wide frequency range of 1500 to 2500 Mhz in a small footprint of only 0.2 inches by 0.2 inches. This device does not use any capacitors which greatly simplifies the construction and lowers the cost in comparison to conventional splitters.

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Brooklyn, NY, United States of America

Daxiong Ji