Wideband balun arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12412972-B2
Application number	US-202018265669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2020
Priority date	Dec 7, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a balun arrangement ( 14 ) comprising a slot ( 5 ) at least partially having a crossing slot width (ws, hs) running between a first longitudinal side ( 6 ) and a second longitudinal side ( 7 ) in at least a first metallization layer ( 2 ). The balun arrangement ( 14 ) further comprises an unbalanced first port (P 1 ) that is defined between a first connection ( 10 ) to the second side ( 7 ) of the slot ( 5 ) and a fourth connection ( 21 ) to the first side ( 6 ) of the slot ( 5 ) and a balanced second port (P 2 ) that is that is defined between a second connection ( 11 ) to the second side ( 7 ) of the slot ( 5 ) and a fifth connection ( 22 ) to the first side ( 6 ) of the slot ( 5 ). The balun arrangement ( 14 ) also comprises a balanced third port (P 3 ) that is defined between a third connection ( 12 ) to the first side ( 6 ) of the slot ( 5 ) and a sixth connection ( 23 ) to the second side ( 7 ) of the slot ( 5 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A balun arrangement comprising a slot at least partially having a crossing slot width (w s , h s ) running between a first longitudinal side and a second longitudinal side in at least a first metallization layer, where the balun arrangement further comprises:
an unbalanced first port (P 1 ) that is defined between a first electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot and a fourth electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot,
a balanced second port (P 2 ) that is defined between a second electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot and a fifth electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot, and
a balanced third port (P 3 ) that is defined between a third electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot and a sixth electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot, wherein:
the first electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the first port (P 1 ) to a first ground connection at the second side of the slot, and the fourth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the first port (P 1 ) to a fourth ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot,
the second electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the second port (P 2 ) to a second ground connection at the second side of the slot, and the fifth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the second port (P 2 ) to a fifth ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot, and
the third electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the third port (P 3 ) to a third ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot, and the sixth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the third port (P 3 ) to a sixth ground connection at the second side of the slot.

2. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical connections are in the form of microstrip conductors which are formed in at least one further metallization layer.

3. The balun arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein the microstrip conductors are formed in the at least one further metallization layer that is separate from the first metallization layer.

4. The balun arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the microstrip conductors are formed in at least two further metallization layers that are separate from the first metallization layer.

5. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the first electrical connection, the second electrical connection and the third electrical connection cross the slot, wherein a length (L C ) of each electrical connection between the corresponding port ports (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) and ground connection is equal to, or exceed the crossing slot width (w s ).

6. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the slot is formed in the first metallization layer and a second metallization layer, such that the slot has a horizontal slot width (w s ) and a vertical slot width (h s ) defined by a height (h s ) between the first and second metallization layers, where the first and second metallization layers are electrically connected by vertical electrical connections, where the first port (P 1 ) and the second port (P 2 ) are defined across the slot width (w s , h s ) from the first metallization layer to the second metallization layer, and where the third port (P 3 ) is defined across the slot width (w s , h s ) from the second metallization layer to the first metallization layer.

7. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the slot comprises a maximum increased width (w si ) that exceeds the crossing slot width (w s , w h ).

8. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the slot is terminated in an open circuit at an edge of a printed circuit board, PCB, that comprises the first metallization layer.

9. The balun arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the slot is a folded slot-line that comprises at least one folded part where the slot extends in different directions.

10. A method for configuring a balun arrangement, the method comprising:
providing a slot at least partially having a crossing slot width (w s , h s ) running between a first longitudinal side and a second longitudinal side in at least a first metallization layer;
providing an unbalanced first port (P 1 ) that is defined between a first electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot and a fourth electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot;
providing a balanced second port (P 2 ) that is defined between a second electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot and a fifth electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot; and
providing a balanced third port (P 3 ) that is defined between a third electrical connection to the first longitudinal side of the slot and a sixth electrical connection to the second longitudinal side of the slot, wherein:
the first electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the first port (P 1 ) to a first ground connection at the second longitudinal side of the slot, and the fourth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the first port (P 1 ) to a fourth ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot,
the second electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the second port (P 2 ) to a second ground connection at the second longitudinal side of the slot, and the fifth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the second port (P 2 ) to a fifth ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot, and
the third electrical connection runs from a first type terminal (+) of the third port (P 3 ) to a third ground connection at the first longitudinal side of the slot, and the sixth electrical connection runs from a second type terminal (−) of the third port (P 3 ) to a sixth ground connection at the second longitudinal side of the slot.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the electrical connections are in the form of microstrip conductors which are provided in at least one further metallization layer.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the microstrip conductors are formed in the at least one further metallization layer that is separate from the first metallization layer.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the microstrip conductors are provided in at least two further metallization layers that are separate from the first metallization layer.

14. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the slot has a maximum increased width (w si ) that exceeds the crossing slot width (w s , w h ).

15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first electrical connection, the second electrical connection and the third electrical connection cross the slot, wherein a length (L C ) of each electrical connection between the corresponding port ports (P 1 , P 2 , P 3 ) and ground connection is equal to, or exceed the crossing slot width (w s ).

16. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the slot is terminated in an open circuit at an edge of a printed circuit board, PCB, that comprises the first metallization layer.

17. A balun arrangement comprising a slot at least partially having a crossing slot width (w s , h s ) running between a first longitudinal side and a second longitudinal side in at least a first metallization layer, where the balun arrangement further comprises:
an unbalanced first port (P 1 ) that is defined between a first electrical con

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Gustafsson David
• Ingelhag Per
• Bao Mingquan

Classifications

• H01P5/1007 Primary

  Microstrip transitions to Slotline or finline · CPC title

• H01P5/10 Primary

  for coupling balanced lines or devices with unbalanced lines or devices · CPC title