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Basics of Design

APPRECIATE THE
IMPORTANCE OF
PROGRAMMABLE
PHASE SHIFTERS
 Appreciate the Importance of Programmable Phase Shifters 2

Precisely controlling the phase of high-frequency created by adjusting the phases of many different
signals is critical to many applications—from radiating elements in an antenna to perform
commercial communications systems to military electronic tuning.
radars—whether for operating or testing those
systems. By adjusting a signal’s phase, different This phase-based electronic antenna tuning
signals can be added, subtracted, aligned, and technology has been a strategic benefit for mostly
processed to achieve a desired goal, such as military users, although the technology is rapidly being
delivering communications system data or adapted to commercial satellite communications
discovering details about a radar target. systems, and will be a large part of radar-based
systems in advanced driver assistance system (ADAS)
Phase shifters can make such adjustments in a commercial automotive electronic safety systems.
signal’s phase, and programmable phase shifters Phase shifters are vital tools for making the necessary
provide the convenience of easily monitoring and phase adjustments in these systems.
controlling the phase shifter with a computer.
Properly designed, they provide the precision and A phase shifter with full phase control will provide
accuracy to make the signal phase adjustments 360-deg. phase control, limited only by the
required for an application with repeatable, resolution or smallest phase step. Depending upon
programmable control. Knowing more about the frequency of operation/bandwidth, complexity,
programmable phase shifters, how they work, how and cost, that resolution can typically be as high (or
they can be used in different applications, and their large) as 45 deg. or as low (or small) as 1 deg. Ideally,
key performance parameters can ease the task of the smaller the resolution of the phase step, the
finding a programmable phase shifter best suited greater the control in setting the phase, although
for an application. such fine resolution may be unnecessary depending
upon the application.
High-frequency RF and microwave signals propagate
as electromagnetic (EM) waves in 360-deg. cycles. Changes in the phase of a signal can be achieved
This cyclical nature of the EM waves is often used mechanically, by physically moving electronic
to advantage, such as communications systems structures such as transmission lines in a trombone
with quadrature modulation techniques in which type of configuration, or electronically, though the
signal waves are transmitted and received with a 90- use of switched filters or semiconductor devices
deg. difference between waves. For signals that are such as PIN, Schottky, or varactor diodes. In digital
transmitted, reflected from a target, and received in phase shifters, phase adjustments can also be
a radar system, the phase of those signals provides performed by enabling fixed phase steps or bits of
much details about the target. Older radar systems a given amount of phase change. Typically, the bits
moved large antennas mechanically in three will be 180 deg., 90 deg., 45 deg., 22.5 deg. and so
dimensions to adjust phase. Newer technology in
phased-array antennas allows signal beams to be Sponsored by
 Appreciate the Importance of Programmable Phase Shifters 3

on, down to the step size or resolution of the phase shifter should provide the tuning resolution needed
shifter, allowing the user to enable any combination to change the signal phase to the value required for
of bits to attain their desired phase. an application. For example, a programmable phase
shifter that tunes in 2-deg. steps will not provide the
Phase shifters come in many shapes and sizes, tuning resolution needed for an application that
from tiny semiconductor-based devices to larger requires 1-deg. phase-shift settings.
rack-mountable systems, to fit the physical
and electronic requirements of many different Switching speed can be an important parameter for
applications. Programmable phase shifters with programmable phase shifters used in time-sensitive
interfaces for connection to controlling computers applications (e.g., high-volume ATE applications).
or other electronic systems are typically larger, often For a programmable phase shifter, the time required
protected by machined housings or rack-mountable to change from one phase state to another is not
instrument enclosures that make them a ready fit simply the time for the phase shifter to make the
for automatic-test-equipment (ATE) and system- phase adjustment, but the time for a computer
level applications. or control network and its control software to
understand a programming command and implement
Surveying the Specs the command for a connected phase shifter. This
When comparing the performance of different computer processing time combines with the time
programmable phase shifters, basic performance required by the phase shifter to change phase states
parameters include frequency range, phase control to equal the total switching speed of a programmable
range, the resolution or bit of the smallest phase phase shifter when changing phase states.
change that can be made, and phase flatness over
frequencies. Additional specifications that can When comparing programmable phase shifters
seriously impact different applications include for time-sensitive applications, it is important to
insertion loss, insertion-loss flatness/consistency understand how different manufacturers arrive at their
over the phase range, power-handling capability, and switching-speed specifications for fair comparisons of
phase switching speed. switching speeds. For transistor-transistor-logic (TTL)
programming commands, for example, a standard
Ideally, a programmable phase shifter will offer high accepted definition for switching speed is the time
accuracy and repeatability over its phase range required from when 50% of the TTL control signal is
without affecting other signal parameters, such reached to within 10% of the final value.
as insertion loss. It will achieve the same accuracy
whether it is controlled manually or automatically by a Programmability also involves a choice of control
computer. Many early phase-shifter designs were only interface, such as Ethernet or Universal Serial Bus
tuned to one specific center frequency; however, in (USB), and control software running on a computer
modern designs, phase shifters can be made relatively
flat over wide bandwidths. A programmable phase Sponsored by

which can combine to impact the total processing/
switching speed of a programmable phase shifter in
a system or test application. Control interfaces differ,
with such tradeoffs as supporting more simultaneous
users as the expense of total processing time. Ideally,
Ethernet commands from all users provide the same
results from a programmable phase shifter, such as
the same amount of phase shift for a given center
frequency, with the same processing time/switching
speed for all users.
Additional performance parameters to consider for
programmable phase shifters include input power
rating, insertion loss, and VSWR. The values for these
parameters are dependent upon the system design
of the programmable phase shifter and the circuit
structures and devices (such as types of diodes) used
for phase control. For example, some switching diodes
may be designed to handle only low signal power
levels and may be damaged by input signal power
levels of even 0.5 W (+27 dBm) or more.
Less loss is usually better, and a low insertion-loss
specification is usually recommended, since this
represents loss of input signal power. Insertion loss is
typically a function of frequency, with loss increasing
alongside frequency.
In some applications, such as when phase-shifted
signals are being processed by a very sensitive
receiver or test signal analyzer, the phase noise
of a programmable phase shifter may need to be
considered, since high phase noise may limit a
receiver’s effectiveness to detect and process low-
level signals. Similarly, high VSWR, which is a measure
of how well a programmable phase shifter is matched
to the impedance of an application (typically 50 Ω),
Appreciate the Importance of Programmable Phase Shifters 4
can result in loss of phase-shifted signal level, and low
values for these parameters are always recommended.
Real-World Phase Shifting
As an example of an available commercial
programmable phase shifter, the model 50PSA-
101-XX programmable phase shifter from long-time
supplier JFW Industries (Fig. 1) is a rack-mountable
assembly based on a modular architecture: it can
be equipped with as many as eight independently
adjustable phase shifters for advanced system
signal control and ATE applications. The phase-
shifter assembly covers a frequency range from 1.5
to 3.0 GHz with Ethernet programmability; each of
the phase-shifter modules can be independently set
across a nominal 360-deg. phase-shift range. Phase
shifts are adjusted from 0 to 358.6 deg. in 1.4-deg.
steps. Unlike other, more traditional, phase-shifter
designs, this phase shifter is somewhat unique in
that it allows the highest degree of phase accuracy
by allowing the user to also set a center frequency
within the 1.5-to-3.0-GHz frequency range.
Figure 1: This rack-mountable, programmable phase
shifter (model 50PSA-101-XX) holds as many as eight
independently adjustable phase shifters covering a
frequency range from 1.5 to 3.0 GHz with phase shifters
from 0 to 358.6 deg. in 1.4-deg. steps.
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 Appreciate the Importance of Programmable Phase Shifters 5

This programmable phase-shifter assembly combines
high phase accuracy and fast switching/processing
speed across an octave frequency bandwidth for
many different systems and ATE applications within
its frequency range. With a default state of 0 deg.
phase at 1.5 GHz, the phase-shifter can be readily
calibrated with an RF/microwave vector network
analyzer (VNA). It maintains high phase adjustment
accuracy across relatively wide bandwidths around a
user-selected center frequency. It is designed for an
operating temperature range from 0 to +50°C. Since
phase accuracy can be impacted by temperature
and the temperature coefficient [degrees of phase
shift/°C (usually referred to the zero-degree phase-
shift state of the phase shifter)], with most accuracy
specifications typically referred to room temperature
(about +25°C).
For example, at a selected center frequency and
phase setting, the worst-case phase accuracy of the
model 50PSA-101-XX programmable phase shifter
is ±3 deg. but typically better than ±1 deg. As noted
earlier, the phase-shift accuracy will degrade with
bandwidth or distance from the center frequency.
For this programmable phase shifter, the phase-shift
accuracy is typically better than ±2 deg. for signals
in a 40-MHz bandwidth around a center frequency;
typically better than ±4 deg. for signals in an 80-
MHz bandwidth around a center frequency; and
typically better than ±10 deg. for signals in a 200-

Figure 2: Easy-to-use computer GUI software speeds and simplifies the task of tuning multiple programmable phase shifters.

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 Appreciate the Importance of Programmable Phase Shifters 6

MHz bandwidth around a center frequency, such RF signal side, it can be equipped with female SMA
as from 1,900 to 2,100 MHz for a center frequency or Type N coaxial connectors. On the digital control
of 2,000 MHz. side, it uses the dynamic host configuration protocol
(DHCP) for easy network setups. The programmable
The model 50PSA-101-XX programmable phase phase shifter can be operated manually from the front
shifter is well matched for use in 50-Ω systems, panel, using a 20-button keypad and liquid-crystal-
with worst-case VSWR of 2.0:1 and typical VSWR of display (LCD) screen or remotely, with Ethernet or
1.50:1. It exhibits insertion loss that decreases with RS-232 connections (Fig. 2).
increasing frequency. The programmable phase
shifter is designed to work with standard test-signal- For those computer-controlled applications
generator power levels, with an average (CW) input where speed is needed, the model 50PSA-101-XX
power limit of +25 dBm; it can handle CW input power programmable phase shifter can deliver, requiring
levels to +28 dBm without damage. only about 1 µs to change phase states after a
command has been received and processed. In
This versatile programmable phase shifter tunes total, the computer processing time and phase
frequency in 1-MHz steps and packs as many as eight shifter switching time add to typically 3 ms, which
individually controllable phase-shifter modules within enables fast response times and strong support for
a 2U-high, rack-mount instrument enclosure. On the high-volume testing applications.

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