Tunable microwave devices with auto-adjusting matching circuit

1 . An apparatus, comprising:

a power amplifier with a tunable impedance matching circuit including a plurality of tunable dielectric varactors; and

a DC voltage source interface capable of providing voltage to said plurality of saud tunable dielectric varactors.

2 . An auto-adjusting matching circuit, comprising:

a conducting matching network supported by a non-tunable dielectric substrate, said non-tunable dielectric substrate supported by a first ground conductor;

at least one conducting partial-stage supported by a voltage-tunable dielectric layer, said voltage-tunable dielectric layer is supported by a second ground conductor; and

a biasing electrode capable of connection to an external variable DC voltage source.

3 . The auto-adjusting matching circuit of claim 2 , wherein said biasing electrode is connected to said auto-adjusting matching circuit by way of a microwave choke.

4 . An apparatus, comprising:

a phase shifter; and

a matching network coupled to said phase shifter, said matching network including a plurality of voltage tunable dielectric varactors.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said phase shifter is a tunable phase shifter.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a voltage source supplied to said phase shifter and said matching network.

7 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said voltage source supplying said phase shifter and wherein said voltage source supplying said matching network is controlled by two differene extemarl DC voltage sources.

8 . The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising a load coupled to said phase shifter, wherein the impedance of said matching network changes to maximize power transfer to and from said phase shifter.

9 . An apparatus, comprising:

a power amplifier; and

a matching network coupled to said power amplifer, said matching network including a plurality of voltage tunable dielectric varactors.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said power amplifier is a tunable power amplifier.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a voltage source supplied to said power amplifier and said matching network.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein said voltage source supplying said power amplifier and wherein said voltage source supplying said matching network is controlled by two differene externarl DC voltage sources.

13 . The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a load coupled to said power amplifier, whrein the impedance of said matching network changes to maximize power transfer to and from said power amplifier.

14 . An apparatus, comprising:

a delay line; and

a matching network coupled to said delay line, said matching network including a plurality of voltage tunable dielectric varactors.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said delay line is a tunable delay line.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a voltage source supplied to said delay line and said matching network.

17 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said voltage source supplying said delay line and wherein said voltage source supplying said matching network is controlled by two different externarl DC voltage sources.

18 . The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a load coupled to said delay line, whrein the impedance of said matching network changes to maximize power transfer to and from said delay line.

19 . An apparatus, comprising:

a filter; and

a matching network coupled to said filter, said matching network including a plurality of voltage tunable dielectric varactors.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said filter is a tunable filter.

21 . The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising a voltage source supplied to said phase shifter and said matching network.

22 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said voltage source supplying said phase shifter and wherein said voltage source supplying said matching network is controlled by two differene externarl DC voltage sources.

23 . The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a load coupled to said phase shifter, whrein the impedance of said matching network changes to maximize power transfer to and from said phase shifter.

24 . An apparatus, comprising:

an antenna; and

a matching network coupled to said antenna, said matching network including a plurality of voltage tunable dielectric varactors.

25 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein said antenna is an RF antenna.

26 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein said matching network is an auto-adjusting matching circuit capable of contributing to the tunable range of said apparatus.

27 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein said apparatus is a microwave device.

28 . The apparatus of claim 25 , matching network is a multi-stage impedance matching circuit that includes both non-tunable and tunable dielectric material.

29 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein said matching network facilitates the capability of operation by said apparatus in the frequency range between 500 MHz to 40 GHz.

30 . The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein said matching circuit has minimal reflection loss and reduced insertion loss over the tuning range of said apparatus.

31 . A method of impedance matching in a device, comprising:

interposing a multi-stage impedance matching circuit between a conductor line and an entry point of said device, wherein the multi-stage impedance matching circuit reduces the signal reflection of a signal propagating through a tunable impedance transformer into said device, by matching the wave impedance of a signal at said entry point, to the source impedance.

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the device is a microwave device and said signal is a microwave signal.

33 . The method of claim 31 , wherein said device is a handset and said source impedance is provided by an antenna coupled to said handset.