A Fast Switching, Low Loss, Low Drive, 12 GHz Pin Phase Shifter

A 4-bit PIN microstrip phase shifter switching in 1 ns/bit with only 9 mW/bit of driving power is described. The phase shifter is combined with its TTL-compatible driver in a single compact package. RF insertion loss is 1.6 dB /spl plusmn/ 0.2 dB for the 16 phase states over the 11.7 - 12.2 GHz band. Forty-two phase shifter modules have been built. A linear phase array employing these modules has been constructed.