Substrate integrated waveguide switch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9985331-B2
Application number	US-201514793615-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 7, 2015
Priority date	Jul 7, 2015
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

A substrate integrated waveguide switch and a method of operating the substrate integrated waveguide switch are disclosed. In an embodiment a system includes a dielectric substrate and a switch supported by the dielectric substrate, the switch comprising at least one first transmission path, at least one first switching element in each of the at least one first transmission path, a second transmission path, and at least one second switching element in the second transmission path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a dielectric substrate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface;
an upper conductive layer disposed at the upper surface;
a lower conductive layer disposed at the lower surface; and
a single-throw switch supported by the dielectric substrate, wherein the single-throw switch includes a transmission path and at least one tunable switching element in the transmission path, wherein the at least one tunable switching element comprises a diode, a via, and a connective line electrically connecting the via and the diode, wherein the connective line comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion embedded in the upper conductive layer without being in direct physical contact with the upper conductive layer, the second portion being wider than the first portion and located outside the upper conductive layer, wherein the single-throw switch is configured to direct propagation of an electromagnetic signal along the transmission path when the at least one tunable switching element passes the electromagnetic signal, wherein the single-throw switch is configured to block the propagation of the electromagnetic signal along the transmission path when the at least one tunable switching element blocks the electromagnetic signal, and wherein the system is a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW).

2. A system comprising:
a dielectric substrate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface;
an upper conductive layer disposed at the upper surface;
a lower conductive layer disposed at the lower surface; and
a multi-throw switch supported by the dielectric substrate, the multi-throw switch comprising:
at least one first transmission path;
at least one first tunable switching element in each of the at least one first transmission path;
a second transmission path; and
at least one second tunable switching element in the second transmission path,

wherein each of the at least one first tunable switching element and the at least one second tunable switching element comprises a diode, a via, and a connective line electrically connecting the via and the diode,
wherein the connective line comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion embedded in the upper conductive layer without being, in direct physical contact with the upper conductive layer, the second portion being wider than the first portion and located outside the upper conductive layer,
wherein the multi-throw switch is configured to direct propagation of an electromagnetic signal along the at least one first transmission path when the at least one first tunable switching element passes the electromagnetic signal and the at least one second tunable switching element blocks the electromagnetic signal,
wherein the multi-throw switch is configured to direct the propagation of the electromagnetic signal along the second transmission path when the at least one second tunable switching element passes the electromagnetic signal and the at least one first tunable switching element blocks the electromagnetic signal, and
wherein the system is a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW).

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements is configured to pass the electromagnetic signal when the diode applies a load to the via, wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements is configured to block the electromagnetic signal when the diode applies a different load to the via, and wherein different states of each diode are controlled by a dc voltage.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements comprises at least two vias, two diodes and two conductive lines electrically connecting the vias and the diodes, wherein the conductive connection lines do not have the same length, and wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements is a reconfigurable electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure.

5. The system according to claim 2 , wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements comprises at least three vias, three diode and three conductive lines electrically connecting the vias and the diodes, wherein a distance d 1 between a first conductive connection line and a second conductive connection line is different to a distance d 2 between the second conductive connection line and a third conductive connection line, and wherein each of the at least one first and second tunable switching elements is a reconfigurable electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure.

6. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising a third transmission path, wherein the multi-throw switch is configured to direct propagation of an electromagnetic signal along a third transmission path when at least one third switching element passes the electromagnetic signal and the at least one first and second tunable switching elements block the electromagnetic signal.

7. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising a coaxial cable connected to the multi-throw switch.

8. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the connective line is of variable width.

9. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the via is connected to the lower conductive layer, and the connective line is indirectly connected to the upper conductive layer through the via, the lower conductive layer, and at least one vertical conductive element connecting the lower conductive layer and the upper conductive layer.

10. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the connective line comprises a section located outside the at least one slot of the upper conductive layer.

11. A system comprising:
a dielectric substrate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface;
an upper conductive layer disposed at the upper surface, the upper conductive layer comprising transmission arms;
a lower conductive layer disposed at the lower surface;
vertical conductive elements located at edges of the transmission arms of the upper conductive layer, the vertical conductive elements electrically connecting the upper conductive layer with the lower conductive layer; and
reconfigurable electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures located at least at some transmission arms, the reconfigurable EBG structures configured to pass or block an electromagnetic signal through the respective transmission arms,
wherein the system is a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW).

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the reconfigurable EBG structure comprises a via, a diode and a connective line electrically connecting the via and the diode, wherein the reconfigurable EBG structure is configured to pass the electromagnetic signal when the diode is in an OFF state, wherein the reconfigurable EBG structure is configured to block the electromagnetic signal when the diode in an ON state, and wherein the different states of each diode are controlled by a dc voltage.

13. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the reconfigurable EBG structures located at least at some of the transmission arms comprises the reconfigurable EBG structures located at two output arms and not located at an input arm.

14. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the reconfigurable EBG structures located at least at some of the transmission arms comprises the reconfigurable EBG structures located at three output arms and not located at an input arm.

15. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the reconfigurable EBG structures located at least at some of the transmission arms comprises the reconfigurable EBG structures

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Boutayeb Halim

Classifications

• H01P3/121 Primary

  integrated in a substrate · CPC title

• H01P1/15

  by semiconductor devices · CPC title