Granted Patent B2

US 12,431,880 · App. 18/313,139 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: Samrat Dey (Santa Clara, CA); Venumadhav Bhagavatula (Santa Clara, CA); Siuchuang Ivan Lu (San Jose, CA); Sangwon Son (Palo Alto, CA)

Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

H03K5/01H01P5/00H03K2005/00286

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method of transmitting and receiving signals in a phased array, the method comprising:

receiving, by a balun of a phase shifter, a transmission single-ended input signal at a single-ended side of the balun and generating a transmission differential input signal at a differential side of the balun;

generating, by a differential quadrature coupler of the phase shifter, a transmission in-phase signal and a transmission quadrature signal, based on the transmission differential input signal; and

combining, by a differential attenuator of the phase shifter, the transmission in-phase signal and the transmission quadrature signal into a differential phase-shifted output signal, the differential attenuator being connected to a transmission-output side of the differential quadrature coupler.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase shifter is shared between transmission and reception paths.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

causing, by a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter, a switch of the phase shifter to be configured for a transmission; and

providing the differential phase-shifted output signal to a transmitting amplifier to be transmitted.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

causing, by a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter, a switch to be configured for a reception;

splitting, by the differential attenuator, a reception differential input signal into a reception in-phase signal and a reception quadrature signal;

generating, by the differential quadrature coupler, a reception differential output signal, based on the reception in-phase signal and the reception quadrature signal; and

generating, by the balun, a reception single-ended output signal at the single-ended side of the balun, based on the reception differential output signal being input to the differential side of the balun.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the balun is connected to a transmission-input side of the differential quadrature coupler.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the differential attenuator is configured to be digitally controlled; and

the phase shifter is configured to generate a 360-degree phase range in steps of 22.5 degrees.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the differential quadrature coupler is a 90-degree hybrid coupler; and

the differential attenuator comprises a pi implementation.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

a first phase-shifter interface corresponding to a transmission-input side of the differential quadrature coupler has a single-ended impedance that is equal to a first value; and

a second phase-shifter interface corresponding to a transmission-output side of the differential quadrature coupler has a differential impedance that is substantially equal to the first value.

9. A phase shifter for transmitting and receiving signals in a phased array, the phase shifter comprising:

a balun;

a differential quadrature coupler; and

a differential attenuator,

wherein the phase shifter is configured to:

receive a transmission single-ended input signal at a single-ended side of the balun and generate a transmission differential input signal at a differential side of the balun;

generate, by the differential quadrature coupler, a transmission in-phase signal and a transmission quadrature signal, based on the transmission differential input signal; and

combine, by the differential attenuator, the transmission in-phase signal and the transmission quadrature signal into a differential phase-shifted output signal, the differential attenuator being connected to a transmission-output side of the differential quadrature coupler.

10. The phase shifter of claim 9 , wherein the phase shifter is shared between transmission and reception paths.

11. The phase shifter of claim 9 , configured to:

transmit based on a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter causing a switch of the phase shifter to be configured for a transmission; and

provide the differential phase-shifted output signal to a transmitting amplifier to be transmitted.

12. The phase shifter of claim 9 , configured to:

transmit based on a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter causing a switch of the phase shifter to be configured for a reception;

split, by the differential attenuator, a reception differential input signal into a reception in-phase signal and a reception quadrature signal;

generate, by the differential quadrature coupler, a reception differential output signal, based on the reception in-phase signal and the reception quadrature signal; and

generate, by the balun, a reception single-ended output signal at the single-ended side of the balun, based on the reception differential output signal being input to the differential side of the balun.

13. The phase shifter of claim 9 , wherein the balun is connected to a transmission-input side of the differential quadrature coupler.

14. The phase shifter of claim 9 , wherein:

the differential attenuator is configured to be digitally controlled; and

the phase shifter is configured to generate a 360-degree phase range in steps of 22.5 degrees.

15. The phase shifter of claim 9 , wherein:

the differential quadrature coupler is a 90-degree hybrid coupler; and

the differential attenuator comprises a pi implementation.

16. The phase shifter of claim 9 , wherein:

a first phase-shifter interface corresponding to a transmission-input side of the differential quadrature coupler has a single-ended impedance that is equal to a first value; and

a second phase-shifter interface corresponding to a transmission-output side of the differential quadrature coupler has a differential impedance that is substantially equal to the first value.

17. A user equipment (UE) comprising a phase shifter, wherein the phase shifter is configured to:

receive a transmission single-ended input signal at a single-ended side of a balun and generate a transmission differential input signal at a differential side of the balun;

generate, by a differential quadrature coupler, a transmission in-phase signal and a transmission quadrature signal, based on the transmission differential input signal; and

combine, by a differential attenuator, the transmission in-phase signal and the transmission quadrature signal into a differential phase-shifted output signal, the differential attenuator being connected to a transmission-output side of the differential quadrature coupler.

18. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the phase shifter is shared between transmission and reception paths.

19. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the phase shifter is configured to:

transmit based on a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter causing a switch of the phase shifter to be configured for a transmission; and

provide the differential phase-shifted output signal to a transmitting amplifier to be transmitted.

20. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the phase shifter is configured to:

transmit based on a processor communicably coupled to the phase shifter causing a switch of the phase shifter to be configured for a reception;

split, by the differential attenuator, a reception differential input signal into a reception in-phase signal and a reception quadrature signal;

generate, by the differential quadrature coupler, a reception differential output signal, based on the reception in-phase signal and the reception quadrature signal; and

generate, by the balun, a reception single-ended output signal at the single-ended side of the balun, based on the reception differential output signal being input to the differential side of the balun.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (101)