WO2011111888A1 - Integrated coupler/circulator, and power amplifier including same - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an integrated coupler/circulator. The integrated coupler/circulator comprises a dielectric substrate, a coupler formed in the dielectric substrate, and a circulator mounted on the dielectric substrate.

Description

Integral coupler-circulator and power amplifier including the same

The present invention relates to an integrated coupler-circulator in which a coupler and a circulator are integrated.

In general, a high power amplifier (HPA) is used for base station (BTS) equipment, and a power divider, a power amplifier, and a power combiner are used at input and output terminals of the high power amplifier. ), A circulator (or isolator), and the like.

When each of these devices is configured as a separate individual device, a lot of power loss occurs in the connection line connecting the individual devices, and unnecessary additional losses and costs are generated when matching between the individual devices. Therefore, in order to eliminate such unnecessary loss and cost, it is necessary to integrate and integrate individual devices.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an integrated coupler-circulator that can reduce the unnecessary power loss and the matching cost between devices in the connection line.

Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a power amplifier in which unnecessary power loss and matching cost between devices in the connection line are reduced.

Technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

An aspect of an integrated coupler-circulator of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem includes a dielectric substrate, a coupler formed inside the dielectric substrate, and a circulator mounted on the dielectric substrate.

One aspect of the power amplifier of the present invention for achieving the above another technical problem comprises a base substrate and the integrated coupler-circulator mounted on the base substrate.

Another aspect of the power amplifier of the present invention for achieving the above another technical problem, a power divider, an amplification unit for receiving and amplifying the power distributed from the power divider, and receives the amplified power from the amplification unit and combines the output And an integrated coupler-circulator.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

In the case of an integrated coupler-circulator according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, since the coupler and the circulator are integrated, unnecessary power loss may be reduced in the connection line, and matching costs and losses occurring when matching between devices may be reduced. have. In addition, the heat sink may be additionally formed on the dielectric substrate to efficiently solve the heat dissipation problem that may occur in the device integration.

In addition, the RF performance of the device can be improved by forming various additional RF circuits on the dielectric substrate.

1 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view of a coupler-circulator according to a modified embodiment of the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining a dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram for describing a circulator of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a modified embodiment of the second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention and variations thereof.

10 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a cross-sectional view of the dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

14 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

15 is a perspective view of a dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

16 is a conceptual diagram of a power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

17 is a circuit diagram of a power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods for achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various forms, and only the present embodiments are intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. The size and relative size of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation.

Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification, and "and / or" includes each and every combination of one or more of the mentioned items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” and / or “made of” refers to a component, step, operation, and / or element that includes one or more other components, steps, operations, and / or elements. It does not exclude existence or addition.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, these components are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, of course, the first component mentioned below may be a second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

Embodiments described herein will be described with reference to plan and cross-sectional views, which are ideal schematic diagrams of the invention. Accordingly, shapes of the exemplary views may be modified by manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific forms shown, but also include variations in forms generated by the manufacturing process. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures have schematic attributes, and the shape of the regions illustrated in the figures is intended to illustrate a particular form of region of the device, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used in a sense that can be commonly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, the terms defined in the commonly used dictionaries are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless they are specifically defined clearly.

Hereinafter, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

1 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a coupler-circulator according to a modified embodiment of the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 and 4 are views for explaining the dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a circulator of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention A diagram for explaining. 6 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the integrated coupler-circulator may include a dielectric substrate 100, a coupler (130 of FIG. 4), and a circulator 200.

The dielectric substrate 100 may be a substrate formed by stacking a multilayer dielectric, and a coupler (130 of FIG. 4) may be formed inside the dielectric substrate 100. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the dielectric substrate 100 of FIG. 3 taken along the line IV-IV '. Referring to FIG. 4, the dielectric substrate 100 may include a first ground plane 105, a first dielectric layer 110, a coupler 130, a second dielectric layer 135, and a second ground plane 140. have.

The first ground plane 105 may be a metal conductive surface at least partially connected to the ground terminal, and a first dielectric layer 110 formed by stacking a dielectric material may be formed on the first ground plane 105.

Coupler 130 may be formed on first dielectric layer 110. Specifically, the coupler 130 is formed on the first conductive layer 115 formed on the first dielectric layer 110, the third dielectric layer 120 formed on the first conductive layer 115 and the third dielectric layer 120. The second conductive layer 125 may be included. That is, the coupler of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention may be a 3 dB hybrid coupler. The first conductive layer 115 and the second conductive layer 125 may include an input terminal (not shown) of the dielectric substrate 100 through vias (not shown) formed in or on the surface of the dielectric substrate 100. It may be connected to an output terminal (not shown).

The second dielectric layer 135 may be formed on the coupler 130, and the second ground plane 140 may be formed on the second dielectric layer 135. The second ground plane 140 may be formed in the same structure and shape as the first ground plane 105 described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 4, the dielectric substrate 100 of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention may be a multi-layer low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) substrate or a Teflon substrate. The invention is also not limited thereto.

The circulator 200 may be mounted on the dielectric substrate 100 as described above with reference to FIG. 1. The circulator 200 may be formed by sequentially stacking ferrites, junctions, magnetic bodies, and electrode plates as shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, at this time, the first port 205 of the circulator 200 may be connected to the coupler 130 formed in the dielectric substrate 100, and the second port 215 may be connected to an output terminal in the future. The third port 210 may be a port for outputting a reflected wave introduced into the second port 215 and terminating it.

The circulator 200 may be implemented in various shapes capable of SMT. That is, the circulator may be implemented in an SMD I / O pin type structure as shown in FIG. 1 or in an SMD I / O lead type structure as shown in FIG. 2.

As such, in the case of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment and the modified embodiment of the present invention, since the coupler and the circulator are integrated, unnecessary power loss can be reduced in the connection line. In addition, it is possible to reduce the matching cost and the loss that occurs during matching between devices.

Next, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. Hereinafter, the same descriptions as those of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be omitted. That is, the following description will focus on the difference.

7 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a modified embodiment of the second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention and variations thereof.

First, referring to FIG. 7, the integrated coupler-circulator may further include a first termination part 300 and a second termination part 310.

The first termination part 300 is a part for terminating a signal generated by the coupler (130 of FIG. 4) formed in the dielectric substrate 100, and is formed on the dielectric substrate 100 as shown in FIG. 7. Can be. In this case, the first termination part 300 may be connected through a coupler (130 of FIG. 4) formed in the dielectric substrate 100 and a via 320 formed in the dielectric substrate 100. Referring to FIG. 9, the first termination part 300 may be formed of a predetermined resistance element to terminate a signal generated by the coupler 130 of FIG. 4.

On the other hand, the second termination unit 310 is a portion for terminating the reflected signal introduced into the circulator 200 from the output terminal, as shown in Figure 7 may be formed on the dielectric substrate 100. In this case, the second termination part 310 may be connected to the third port 210 of the circulator 200. Referring to FIG. 9, the second termination unit 310 may also be a portion that is formed of a predetermined resistance element to terminate the reflected signal introduced into the circulator 200.

In FIG. 7, the first termination part 300 and the second termination part 310 are formed on the dielectric substrate 100, but the first termination part 300 and the second termination part 310 are formed on the dielectric substrate. It may be formed inside the (100). This is the same as forming a coupler (130 of FIG. 4) inside the dielectric substrate 100, a predetermined resistance element is formed between the dielectric layers (110, 120, 135) and the coupler (130 of FIG. 4) and the circular Since it may be formed in connection with the radar 200, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, since a considerable amount of heat may be generated in this termination process, heat radiation may be required for such heat. Hereinafter, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a modified embodiment of the second embodiment of the present invention further including a heat radiating unit will be described.

The integrated coupler-circulator according to the modified embodiment of the second embodiment of the present invention may further include a heat dissipation unit 330.

Specifically, the heat dissipation part 330 may be formed outside the dielectric substrate 100 (for example, as shown in FIG. 8 below). More specifically, referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the heat dissipation unit 330 may be, for example, a heat sink formed under the dielectric substrate 100. The heat dissipation unit 330 is a circular coupler (130 of FIG. 4) formed in the dielectric substrate 100 through vias (not shown) formed in or on the surface of the dielectric substrate 100 and a circular element mounted on the dielectric substrate 100. It may be connected to the radar 200.

Meanwhile, since the heat dissipation part 330 is formed under the dielectric substrate 100, the dielectric substrate 100 may be spaced apart from the base substrate 800 (FIG. 16) to be mounted in the future. This may be a problem when the dielectric substrate 100 is mounted on the base substrate (800 of FIG. 16) in the SMT process. Therefore, an input / output (I / O) pinhole 410 may be formed in the dielectric substrate 100. Can be. In the future, the I / O pins are fixed to the I / O pinholes 410 so that the separation problem may be solved by mounting the dielectric substrate 100 on the base substrate (800 of FIG. 16).

As described above, in the case of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the second embodiment and the modified embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the first embodiment and the modified embodiment of the present invention described above, device integration is performed. There may be additional effects that can effectively solve the heat dissipation problems that may occur.

Meanwhile, the integrated coupler-circulator according to the embodiments of the present invention may improve RF performance of the device by forming various additional RF circuits on the dielectric substrate 100. Hereinafter, some examples thereof will be described.

First, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following, similar descriptions to the above-described embodiments will be omitted.

10 is a perspective view of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the integrated coupler-circulator may further include a low pass filter 500.

The low pass filter 500 may be formed on the dielectric substrate 100 as shown in FIG. 10. Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the low pass filter 500 has one end connected to a coupler (130 of FIG. 4) and via 320 formed inside the dielectric substrate 100, and the other end of the low pass filter 500. It may be connected to the circulator 200 through 205. In this case, the low pass filter 500 may include a predetermined capacitor (not shown) and a predetermined inductor (not shown).

Meanwhile, although the low pass filter 500 is formed on the dielectric substrate 100 in FIG. 10, the low pass filter 500 may also be formed inside the dielectric substrate 100. That is, the low pass filter 500 may be formed by forming a predetermined capacitor and a predetermined inductor by forming a predetermined conductor pattern inside the dielectric substrate 100. As described above, since the termination parts 300 and 310 are formed in the dielectric substrate 100, the same principle is omitted.

As such, in the case of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the low pass filter function may be additionally performed.

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following, similar descriptions to the above-described embodiments will be omitted.

12 is a cross-sectional view of the dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the dielectric substrate 100 may additionally include the first ground plane 105, the first dielectric layer 110, the coupler 130, the second dielectric layer 135, and the second ground plane 140. The third conductive layer 109, the fourth dielectric layer 108, and the fifth dielectric layer 107 may be further included.

In this case, the third conductive layer 109, the first dielectric layer 110, the third dielectric layer 120, and the first conductive layer 115 may form a directional coupler 600. That is, referring to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, the integrated coupler-circulator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention may further include a directional coupler 600 formed inside the dielectric substrate 100. This directional coupler 600 may be used as a forward power monitor.

As such, in the case of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the forward power monitoring function may be additionally performed.

Next, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 14. In the following, similar descriptions to the above-described embodiments will be omitted.

14 is a circuit diagram of an integrated coupler-circulator according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, the integrated coupler-circulator may include a low pass filter 500 and a directional coupler 130 at the same time. In this case, both the low pass filter 500 and the directional coupler 130 may be formed inside the dielectric substrate 100, and the low pass filter 500 may be disposed on the dielectric substrate 100 and the directional coupler 130. May be formed inside the dielectric substrate 100.

Next, an integrated coupler-circulator according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 15. In the following, similar descriptions to the above-described embodiments will be omitted.

15 is a perspective view of a dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, a defect ground structure (DGS) 700 may be formed on the dielectric substrate 100 of the integrated coupler-circulator. In detail, a defect ground structure 700 in which the ground plane is etched in a predetermined pattern shape may be formed on the first ground plane (105 in FIG. 4) or the second ground plane (140 in FIG. 4) of the dielectric substrate 100. have. Although the defect ground structure 700 etched in the shape of a dumbbell is illustrated in FIG. 15, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the shape of the defect ground structure 700 may be changed as needed.

As described above, when the defective ground structure is formed on the ground plane of the dielectric substrate of the integrated coupler-circulator, the harmonic component of the power signal can be removed, thereby making it possible to manufacture the integrated coupler-circulator with improved performance.

Next, a power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.

16 is a conceptual diagram of a power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram of a power amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 16, a power amplifier includes a base substrate 800, a power divider 810 mounted on the base substrate 800, an amplifier 820, and an integrated coupler-circuit according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. It may include the radar (100, 200).

Referring to FIG. 17, the power divider 810 may be mounted on the base substrate 800 to distribute input power, and the amplifier 820 may be mounted on the base substrate 800, but the power divider may be used. 810 may be used to amplify the distributed power. In addition, the integrated coupler-circulator 100 and 200 according to various embodiments of the present invention may be mounted on the base substrate 800 and coupled to the amplifier 820 to combine the amplified power and output the same. Can serve as

As such, in the case of the power amplifier according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the integrated coupler-circulator described above is mounted, unnecessary power loss in the connection line and matching cost between devices may be reduced.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments but may be manufactured in various forms, and having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

The invention is applicable to the telecommunications industry using couplers and circulators. However, it is not limited thereto.

Claims (14)

Dielectric substrate; A coupler formed inside the dielectric substrate; And An integrated coupler-circulator comprising a circulator mounted on the dielectric substrate. The method of claim 1, The dielectric substrate includes a first ground plane, a first dielectric layer formed on the first ground plane, the coupler formed on the first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer formed on the coupler, and the second dielectric layer. An integral coupler-circulator comprising a second ground plane formed. The method of claim 2, The coupler includes a first conductive layer, a third dielectric layer formed on the first conductive layer, and a second conductive layer formed on the third dielectric layer. The method of claim 2, The dielectric substrate is an integrated coupler-circulator including a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) substrate or a Teflon substrate. The method of claim 2, And the coupler comprises a 3dB hybrid coupler. The method of claim 2, The circulator is an integrated coupler-circulator comprising a circulator of any one type of SMD I / O pin type or SMD I / O lead type. The method of claim 2, Wherein the first ground plane or the second ground plane comprises a Defected Ground Structure (DGS). The method of claim 1, And a second termination portion formed on or in the dielectric substrate and connected to the coupler, and a second termination portion formed on or in the dielectric substrate and connected to the circulator. The method of claim 8, Further comprising a heat dissipation unit formed under the dielectric substrate, The heat dissipation unit is a unitary coupler-circulator including a heat sink (heat sink). The method of claim 1, An integrated coupler-circulator further comprising a low pass filter on or inside the dielectric substrate. The method of claim 1, And a directional coupler formed inside the dielectric substrate. The method of claim 11, And a low pass filter on or in the dielectric substrate. Base substrate; And A power amplifier comprising the integrated coupler-circulator of any one of claims 1 to 12 mounted on the base substrate. Power divider; An amplifier which receives the power distributed from the power divider and amplifies it; And 13. The power amplifier of claim 1, further comprising the integrated coupler-circulator according to any one of claims 1 to 12 that receives the amplified power from the amplifier and combines and outputs the amplified power.

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