Active electronic tuner
View Patent ↗An active digital electronic tuner (AET) uses a digital PIN diode electronic tuner, an adjustable directional coupler, two circulators and a power amplifier to create a compact load pull tuner device able of generating octave frequency band virtual reflection factors |Gamma|≥1 at milli-second tuning speed.
1. An active electronic impedance tuner comprising an adjustable coupling module and an active tuning section,
wherein the active tuning section comprises
two circulators C 1 and C 2 , each having three ports # 1 , # 2 and # 3 ,
and a remotely controlled electronic tuner module,
and an amplifier having input and output port;
and wherein the adjustable coupling module comprises
a slotted airline (slabline) having an input and an output port and a center conductor between the ports,
and a directional coupler (wave-probe) remotely insertable into and sliding along the slabline and coupled to the center conductor,
said wave-probe having a coupled and an isolated port;
whereby the coupled port is connected to port # 1 of C 1 and the isolated port is terminated with characteristic impedance,
and whereby port # 2 of C 1 is connected to the electronic tuner module and port # 3 of C 1 is connected to the input port of the amplifier;
and whereby the output port of the amplifier is connected to port # 1 of C 2 , port # 2 of C 2 is connected to the output port of the slabline and port # 3 of C 2 is connected to a load;
whereby signal flow in the circulators is from port # 1 to port # 2 , from port # 2 to port # 3 and from port # 3 to port # 1 .
2. The tuner of claim 1 ,
Whereby the electronic module comprises N (N>4) PIN diodes mounted along a microstrip transmission line and remotely switchable ON and OFF, thus creating a multitude of tuning states M=2 N .
3. The tuner of claim 1 ,
whereby the wave-probe is attached to the remotely controlled vertical axis of a mobile carriage, said carriage sliding, remotely controlled, along the axis of the slabline.
4. The tuner of claim 1 ,
whereby the wave-probe, the slabline, the circulators and the amplifier operate in the same frequency band.
5. The tuner as in claim 1 , whereby a band pass filter is inserted in the active tuning section before the amplifier.
6. The tuner as in claim 1 , whereby a band pass filter is inserted in the active tuning section between the coupled port and C 1 .
7. The tuner as in claim 1 , whereby the circulator C 2 is replaced by an Isolator.