EP3879623A1 - Apparatus comprising a waveguide for radio frequency signals - Google Patents

Apparatus comprising a waveguide for radio frequency signals Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3879623A1
EP3879623A1 EP20162303.0A EP20162303A EP3879623A1 EP 3879623 A1 EP3879623 A1 EP 3879623A1 EP 20162303 A EP20162303 A EP 20162303A EP 3879623 A1 EP3879623 A1 EP 3879623A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
waveguide
exemplary embodiments
further exemplary
stack
radio frequency
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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EP20162303.0A
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German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Wolfgang Templ
Dirk Wiegner
Senad Bulja
Rose Kopf
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Nokia Technologies Oy
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Nokia Technologies Oy
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Priority to EP20162303.0A priority Critical patent/EP3879623A1/en
Priority to CN202110261777.3A priority patent/CN113394532B/zh
Publication of EP3879623A1 publication Critical patent/EP3879623A1/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01P—WAVEGUIDES; RESONATORS, LINES, OR OTHER DEVICES OF THE WAVEGUIDE TYPE
    • H01P3/00—Waveguides; Transmission lines of the waveguide type
    • H01P3/16—Dielectric waveguides, i.e. without a longitudinal conductor
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01P—WAVEGUIDES; RESONATORS, LINES, OR OTHER DEVICES OF THE WAVEGUIDE TYPE
    • H01P11/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing waveguides or resonators, lines, or other devices of the waveguide type
    • H01P11/001—Manufacturing waveguides or transmission lines of the waveguide type
    • H01P11/006—Manufacturing dielectric waveguides

Definitions

  • Exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus comprising a waveguide for radio frequency, RF, signals.
  • Apparatus of the aforementioned type can be used to transmit RF signals, e.g. from a source to a sink.
  • Exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus comprising a waveguide for radio frequency, RF, signals, and at least one electrochromic, EC, element a permittivity of which can be controlled by applying a control voltage to the EC element, wherein the at least one EC element is at least partly arranged within or at the waveguide.
  • a control voltage to the EC element
  • the at least one EC element is at least partly arranged within or at the waveguide.
  • arranging the at least one EC element at least partly within or at the waveguide may comprise arranging the at least one EC element relative to the waveguide such that the EC element or at least a portion of EC material of the EC element may interact with at least a portion of the RF signal(s) propagating within the waveguide.
  • arranging the at least one EC element at least partly within or at the waveguide may comprise arranging the at least one EC element relative to the waveguide such that the EC element or at least a portion of EC material of the EC element may at least interact with a portion of RF signals propagating outside of the waveguide.
  • the at least one EC element may be arranged at an outside of the waveguide, i.e. placed onto an outer surface of the waveguide.
  • the at least one EC element may be arranged at an outside of the waveguide, particularly spaced apart from, i.e. not in direct surface contact with, the outer surface of the waveguide.
  • there may be a gap e.g. being filled with a surrounding medium such as air or a protective gas or the like, between the waveguide and the at least one EC element.
  • the propagation of the RF signal guided by the waveguide may be influenced using the at least one EC element, particularly as long as the Poynting vector associated with the RF signal has at least one non-vanishing component in the region of the at least one EC element.
  • the at least one EC element is at least partly arranged within a) a core of the waveguide, and/or within b) a cladding (or at least one cladding, respectively) of the waveguide.
  • the waveguide may comprise or consist of one or more dielectric materials.
  • the core of the waveguide may comprise or consist of dielectric material.
  • at least one cladding of the waveguide may comprise or consist of dielectric material.
  • the dielectric material may comprise polymer material, which is cost-effective and enables efficient manufacturing.
  • the EC element may feature an (electrically tunable) permittivity which may differ significantly, e.g. from the permittivity of the cladding.
  • the waveguide comprises at least in sections a) a circular cross-section or b) a non-circular cross-section, e.g. elliptical or polygonal, e.g. rectangular, cross-section.
  • the waveguide comprises or is at least one polymer fiber, wherein preferably at least one component of the fiber comprises polymer material.
  • the waveguide is a polymer fiber having a core of polymer material and a cladding, which surrounds the core, wherein the cladding preferably also comprises a polymer material.
  • an optional coating may be provided, which may e.g. surround the cladding.
  • the at least one EC element comprises a stack of layers stacked, preferably upon each other, along a first axis (which may also be denoted as "stack coordinate"), wherein the stack comprises a first electrically conductive element or layer, a second electrically conductive element or layer, and an EC layer arranged between the first electrically conductive layer and the second electrically conductive layer.
  • the EC layer may comprise a stack of layers ("EC layer stack"), stacked, preferably upon each other, along the first axis, wherein the EC layer stack may comprise at least one of: a) an ion storage layer (e.g. comprising NiO, nickel oxide), b) an electrolyte layer (e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 , lithium niobate), c) an electrochromic (EC) layer or film (e.g. comprising WO 3 , tungsten trioxide).
  • an ion storage layer e.g. comprising NiO, nickel oxide
  • an electrolyte layer e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 , lithium niobate
  • EC electrochromic
  • the first axis of the stack extends substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • the at least one EC element is arranged at least partly within or at the waveguide such that the first axis of its stack, i.e. the stack coordinate, is substantially parallel or collinear with the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • "extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide” means that an angle between the longitudinal axis of the waveguide and the first axis of the stack ranges between 0 degrees and 30 degrees, preferably between 0 degrees and 10 degrees.
  • the first axis of the stack extends substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the waveguide, which e.g. means that an angle between the longitudinal axis of the waveguide and the first axis of the stack ranges between 60 degrees and 90 degrees, preferably between 80 degrees and 90 degrees.
  • the first axis of the stack extends, particularly at least in sections, circumferentially around the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • the stack coordinate may be curved, and the sequence of the layers of the EC stack may extend in a circumferential direction.
  • the first axis of the stack extends radially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • the stack comprises a circular ring segment cross-section extending at least partly (i.e., less than 360° degrees, or completely, i.e. comprising 360° degrees) circumferentially around the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • the first axis of the stack comprising a circular ring segment cross-section may be (at least substantially) parallel to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • the first axis of the stack comprising a circular ring segment cross-section may be (at least substantially) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • two or more EC elements are provided, wherein preferably each of the two or more EC elements is at least partly arranged within or at the waveguide.
  • At least two EC elements may comprise an identical or similar structure (particularly also with parallel or collinear first axes or stack coordinates), as exemplarily explained above.
  • At least two EC elements may comprise a different structure (particularly also with perpendicular first axes or stack coordinates).
  • the two or more EC elements are arranged along a or the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.
  • a plurality of EC elements are periodically arranged along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide, i.e. with identical distance between neighboring EC elements. This enables to at least temporarily provide a periodic variation of a refractive index or permittivity thus providing a spatially distributed, frequency-specific reflective configuration ("mirror").
  • a plurality of EC elements are arranged along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide in a chirped fashion, i.e. with gradually changing distance between neighboring EC elements along the longitudinal axis.
  • different spacings and/or arrangements of EC elements with smaller and/or larger distance spacing may be provided, e.g. for addressing different frequencies either in parallel or sequentially.
  • one or more groups of EC elements may be provided, wherein EC elements of at least one of the groups may comprise at least one of: identical spacings between neighboring EC elements, varying spacings between neighboring EC elements, or any combination thereof.
  • At least one of the first electrically conductive element and the second electrically conductive element or layer comprises at least one of: a) a film, b) a mesh (e.g., a mesh of wires or other electrical conductors), c) a wire.
  • At least one of the first electrically conductive element or layer and the second electrically conductive element or layer is implemented such that the conductive elements do not (substantially) affect propagating waves or the transmission characteristic.
  • At least one RF blocking element such as e.g. an inductive element may be provided to supply a reference potential associated e.g. with the control voltage to the first and/or second electrically conductive element, thus preventing RF leakage from e.g. an interior of the waveguide to the outside (or vice versa, e.g. preventing injection of RF signals from an outside into the interior of the waveguide or the EC element, respectively).
  • the at least one RF blocking element may be chosen depending on e.g. an intended application and/or target system: a) EC control without modulation -> the EC control voltage path may be very wideband RF blocked, b) e.g., in order to support potential applications using wanted modulation effect induced via EC-control/permittivity variation, the EC control voltage path may not be completely RF blocked but may e.g. be "open", i.e. transmissive, for the modulation bandwidth while blocking the RF bandwidth of the RF signal propagating within the waveguide.
  • a single signal or single band signal
  • a multiband signal or a wideband signal, contiguous or non-contiguous multi-carrier signal
  • c) filtering an RF signal d) attenuating an RF signal
  • e) reflecting an RF signal f) selecting one or more modes of an RF signal
  • the step of arranging the at least one EC element at least partly within or at the waveguide may also be performed simultaneously or in an at least partially temporally overlapping fashion with respect to the step of providing the waveguide.
  • FIG. 1 schematically depicts a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 100 according to exemplary embodiments.
  • the apparatus 100 comprises a waveguide 110 for radio frequency, RF, signals, RF1, RF1', and at least one electrochromic, EC, element 120 a permittivity of which can be controlled by applying a control voltage CV to the EC element 120, wherein the at least one EC element 120 is at least partly arranged within or at the waveguide 110.
  • This enables to effect a change of electric characteristics of the portion of the waveguide 110 where the EC element 120 is located, e.g. by altering the control voltage CV, so that a propagation of electromagnetic waves associated with the RF signal(s) RF1, RF1' may be influenced.
  • This is exemplarily symbolized in Fig.
  • reference sign RF1 is e.g. associated with an RF signal input to the waveguide 110, and wherein reference sign RF1' represents the influenced RF signal, i.e. after passing the EC element 120.
  • arranging the at least one EC element 120 at least partly within or at the waveguide 110 may comprise arranging the at least one EC element 120 relative to the waveguide 110 such that the EC element 120 or at least a portion of EC material (cf. e.g. Fig. 4A, 4B explained further below) of the EC element 120 may interact with at least a portion of the RF signal(s) RF1, RF1' propagating within the waveguide 110.
  • the at least one EC element 120 is at least partly (presently fully) arranged within a core 112 of the waveguide 110.
  • the at least one EC element 120 is at least partly arranged within a cladding 114 of the waveguide 110, and partly within the core 112.
  • the at least one EC element 120 is fully arranged within the cladding 114.
  • the at least one EC element 120 is fully arranged within the core 112 and the cladding 114.
  • arranging the at least one EC element 120 at least partly within or at the waveguide 110 may comprise arranging the at least one EC element 120 relative to the waveguide 110 such that the EC element 120 or at least a portion of EC material of the EC element 120 may at least interact with a portion of RF signal(s) propagating outside of the waveguide 110.
  • the at least one EC element 120 is partly arranged within the cladding 114, which still enables to influence the RF signal RF1, e.g. under control of the EC element 120 by means of the control voltage CV ( Fig. 1 ).
  • the at least one EC element 120' may be arranged at an outside of the waveguide 110, i.e. placed onto an outer surface 110' of the waveguide 110.
  • the at least one EC element 120" may be arranged at an outside of the waveguide 110, particularly spaced apart from, i.e. not in direct surface contact with, the outer surface 110' of the waveguide 110.
  • there may be a gap e.g. being filled with a surrounding medium such as air or a protective gas or the like, between the waveguide 110 and the at least one EC element 120".
  • the propagation of the RF signal RF1 ( Fig. 1 ) guided by the waveguide 110 may be influenced using the at least one EC element 120" ( Fig. 2E ), particularly as long as the Poynting vector associated with the RF signal RF1 has at least one non-vanishing component in the region of the at least one EC element 120".
  • Figure 2F schematically depicts a further exemplary embodiment, wherein the apparatus 100f comprises an EC element 120 that is partly arranged within the core 112, the cladding 114, and which also partly protrudes from the surface of the cladding 114 or the waveguide 110.
  • the waveguide 110 may comprise or consist of one or more dielectric materials.
  • the core 112 of the waveguide 110 may comprise or consist of dielectric material.
  • at least one cladding 114 of the waveguide 110 may comprise or consist of dielectric material.
  • the dielectric material may comprise polymer material, which is cost-effective and enables efficient manufacturing.
  • the waveguide 110a comprises at least in sections a circular cross-section.
  • the waveguide 110b comprises at least in sections a non-circular cross-section, e.g. elliptical (not shown) or polygonal, e.g. rectangular, cross-section.
  • the waveguide 110c comprises two claddings 114a, 114b with rectangular cross-sections, and a core 112, which may also comprise a rectangular cross-section.
  • the waveguide comprises or is at least one polymer fiber, wherein preferably at least one component 112, 114, 114a, 114b of the fiber comprises polymer material.
  • the waveguide 110a ( Fig. 3A ) is a polymer fiber having a core 112 of polymer material and a cladding 114, which surrounds the core, wherein the cladding 114 preferably also comprises a polymer material.
  • an optional coating (not shown) may be provided, which may e.g. surround the cladding 114.
  • the at least one EC element 120a comprises a stack S of layers 121, 122, 123 stacked, preferably upon each other, along a first axis a1 (which may also be denoted as "stack coordinate"), wherein the stack S comprises a first electrically conductive element or layer 121, a second electrically conductive element or layer 122, and an EC layer 123 arranged between the first electrically conductive layer 121 and the second electrically conductive layer 122.
  • control voltage CV may at least temporarily be applied to the electrically conductive layers 121, 122.
  • the EC layer 123 may comprise a stack of layers 123a, 123b, 123c ("EC layer stack"), stacked, preferably upon each other, along the first axis a1, wherein the EC layer stack 123 may comprise at least one of: a) an ion storage layer 123a (e.g. comprising NiO, nickel oxide), b) an electrolyte layer 123b (e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 , lithium niobate), c) an electrochromic (EC) layer or film 123c (e.g. comprising WO 3 , tungsten trioxide).
  • an ion storage layer 123a e.g. comprising NiO, nickel oxide
  • an electrolyte layer 123b e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 , lithium niobate
  • EC electrochromic
  • the EC element may comprise a stack structure as follows: a first conductive layer, a first electrolyte layer (e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 ), an electrochromic (EC) layer or film (e.g. comprising WO 3 ), an (optional) ion storage layer or film (e.g. comprising NiO), a second electrolyte layer (e.g. comprising LiNbO 3 ), a second conductive layer.
  • a first conductive layer e.g. comprising LiNbO 3
  • an electrochromic (EC) layer or film e.g. comprising WO 3
  • an (optional) ion storage layer or film e.g. comprising NiO
  • a second electrolyte layer e.g. comprising LiNbO 3
  • a second conductive layer e.g. comprising LiNbO 3
  • one or more of the EC elements 120, 120', 120" explained above with reference to Fig. 1 to 2F may e.g. comprise a configuration identical or at least similar to the configuration 120a of Fig. 4A or the configuration 120b of Fig. 4B or the further stack structures exemplarily mentioned above.
  • the first axis a1 of the stack S extends substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide.
  • the at least one EC element is arranged at least partly within or at the waveguide 110 such that the first axis a1 of its stack S, i.e. the stack coordinate a1, is substantially parallel or collinear with the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110.
  • "extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110" means that an angle between the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110 and the first axis a1 of the stack S ranges between 0 degrees and 30 degrees, preferably between 0 degrees and 10 degrees.
  • the first axis a1 of the stack S extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110, which e.g. means that an angle between the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110 and the first axis a1 of the stack S ranges between 60 degrees and 90 degrees, preferably between 80 degrees and 90 degrees.
  • Figure 6A schematically depicts a simplified partial cross-sectional front view (i.e., along the longitudinal axis LA, cf. Fig. 1 ) of an apparatus 100i according to further exemplary embodiments. Depicted is an outer front surface 121a of the first electrically conductive layer 121 of the EC stack, wherein the further layers 123, 122 (also cf. Fig. 4A ) are not visible in the exemplary depiction of Fig. 6A as the stack coordinate a1 extends collinearly with the longitudinal axis LA into the drawing plane of Fig. 6A .
  • the conductive layer 121 may be slotted, cf. the apparatus 100j of Fig. 6B , wherein two electrode sections 121a_1, 121a_2 are defined, separated by slots SL, which may reduce RF radiation emanating from the conductive layer 121, i.e. preventing it to operate as an "antenna" for the RF signal(s) RF1.
  • the first axis a1 of the stack S extends, particularly at least in sections, circumferentially around the longitudinal axis of the waveguide 110.
  • the stack coordinate a1 may be curved, and the sequence of the layers 121, 123, 122 of the EC stack may extend in a circumferential direction a1, as exemplarily depicted for one EC element 120_1 of the apparatus 100k.
  • the apparatus 100k may comprise (presently three) further EC elements 120_2, 120_3, 120_4, which may have a similar or identical structure with respect to the EC element 120_1.
  • the first axis a1 of the stack S extends radially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide 110.
  • the stack S ( Fig. 4A, 4B ) comprises a circular ring segment cross-section extending at least partly (i.e., less than 360° degrees, or completely, i.e. comprising 360° degrees) circumferentially around the longitudinal axis of the waveguide, which may e.g. apply to the EC element(s) of Fig. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D .
  • the first axis a1 of the stack comprising a circular ring segment cross-section may be (at least substantially) parallel to the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110, cf. e.g. Fig. 6A, 6B .
  • the first axis a1 of the stack comprising a circular ring segment cross-section may be (at least substantially) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide 110, cf. e.g. Fig. 6C (first axis a1 curved, but also perpendicular to longitudinal axis LA), 6B.
  • Figure 6E schematically depicts a simplified partial cross-sectional front view (i.e., along the longitudinal axis LA, cf. Fig. 1 ) of an apparatus 100m according to further exemplary embodiments, wherein the electrodes 121', 122' are configured as a mesh, i.e. mesh of wires.
  • the core 112 is not shielded by the inner mesh 121' from the influence of the EC element, because the skin depth in a considered frequency range may be considerably greater than the thickness of the conductor layer (which may e.g. be a few ⁇ m).
  • At least one electrode 121', 122' may also comprise or consist of a wrapped foil, e.g. instead of the mesh.
  • Figure 6F schematically depicts a simplified partial cross-sectional front view (i.e., along the longitudinal axis LA, cf. Fig. 1 ) of an apparatus 100n according to further exemplary embodiments, wherein the electrode 121" comprises a plurality (presently for example four) wires, and wherein the radially outer electrode 122' is configured as a mesh, i.e. mesh of wires.
  • each of the two or more EC elements 120_5, 120_6, 120_7 is at least partly arranged within or at the waveguide 110.
  • At least two EC 120_5, 120_6, 120_7 elements may comprise an identical or similar structure (particularly also with parallel or collinear first axes a1 or stack coordinates), as exemplarily explained above.
  • At least two EC elements 120_5, 120_6, 120_7 may comprise a different structure (particularly also with perpendicular first axes a1 or stack coordinates).
  • the two or more EC elements are arranged along the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide, cf. Fig. 6C , and may e.g. be arranged at a same or similar coordinate of the longitudinal axis LA, e.g. in the drawing plane of Fig. 6C .
  • a plurality of EC elements 120_5, 120_6, 120_7 are periodically arranged along the longitudinal axis LA of the waveguide, i.e. with identical distance(s) d1, d2 between neighboring EC elements 120_5, 120_6 and 120_6, 120_7.
  • This enables to at least temporarily provide a periodic variation of a refractive index or permittivity thus providing a spatially distributed, frequency-specific reflective configuration ("mirror").
  • a plurality of EC elements are arranged along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide in a chirped fashion (not shown), i.e. with gradually changing distance between neighboring EC elements along the longitudinal axis LA.
  • the distances between the EC elements or EC segments may differ also more than only gradually, e.g. in case of controlling RF signals of different RF carrier frequencies (contiguous, non-contiguous, simultaneously transmitted, only one transmitted at a time, etc.). Also, in further exemplary embodiments, e.g. in case of waveguide input and/or output filtering, respective EC elements or EC segments may be clearly separated from each other.
  • At least one of the first electrically conductive element or layer 121 ( Fig. 4A, 4B ) and the second electrically conductive element or layer 122 comprises at least one of: a) a film, b) a mesh (e.g., a mesh of wires or other electrical conductors, cf. e.g. Fig. 6E, 6F ), c) a wire ( Fig. 6F ).
  • a mesh e.g., a mesh of wires or other electrical conductors, cf. e.g. Fig. 6E, 6F
  • c a wire
  • FIG 8 schematically depicts a perspective view of an apparatus lOOp according to further exemplary embodiments.
  • the apparatus lOOp comprise two EC elements 120_8, 120_9 arranged along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide 110, each of which e.g. comprise a structure similar to the configuration 100j of Fig. 6B .
  • the slotted electrodes 121a_1, 121a_2 ( Fig. 6B ) are supplied with respective control voltages V ECbias1 , V ECbias2 via RF blocking elements such as e.g. inductive elements, thus preventing RF leakage from e.g. an interior of the waveguide 110 to the outside (or vice versa, e.g.
  • the EC elements 120_8, 120_9 may change their permittivity along the longitudinal axis LA, which may e.g. favor a modification of transmission modes with the E (field)-vector along the longitudinal axis LA.
  • Figure 9 schematically depicts a perspective view of an apparatus 100q according to further exemplary embodiments, comprising two EC elements 120_10, 120_11, e.g. of the type as exemplarily depicted by Fig. 6C .
  • Figure 10 exemplarily depicts a schematic topology for supplying the control voltage V ECbias1 to the EC elements 120_10. 120_11.
  • Figure 11 schematically depicts a simplified side view of an apparatus 100v according to further exemplary embodiments, wherein a plurality of (presently for example four) EC elements 120_12 is provided which are supplied with a common control voltage V C+ , V C- .
  • This embodiment may work with propagation modes having E-field components along the propagation-direction (i.e., along the longitudinal axis LA).
  • individual EC elements may also be connected to and/or controlled by individual supply voltages, e.g. allowing to control them individually and independently from each other.
  • the EC elements may either be limited to the core 112 only (not shown in Fig. 11 ), or can extend radially also to the cladding 114, which may have a different impact on an overall RF characteristic of the apparatus 100v, and which thus can be a further design parameter.
  • a device 200 for processing radio frequency, RF, signals comprising at least one apparatus 100 according to the embodiments.
  • the device 200 is a 3dB-coupler having four ports 201, 202, 203, 204, wherein two apparatus 100 according to the embodiments are respectively coupled to the ports 203, 204.
  • each apparatus 100 can alter the reflective properties regarding RF signals output at the ports 203, 204 to the apparatus 100, thus effecting a modification of RF signals provided to at least one of the further ports 201, 202.
  • the configuration 200 of Fig. 12 may e.g. be employed for a variation of a phase of an RF signal RF1 ( Fig. 1 ) travelling on the waveguide.
  • the EC elements 120 of the apparatus 100 may be considered as reflective loads for the 3dB-coupler 200.
  • the structure 200 obviates a need for impedance transformers as may be the case with transmission line realizations.
  • the principle of operation of the device 200 is as follows: An incoming RF signal is split into two quadrature components - direct and coupled "arms" of the coupler 200. Both direct and coupled arms are terminated into the EC elements of the apparatus 100 without impedance transformers. The signal on both the coupled and direct arms is reflected and passed to the output port (e.g., port 202) with its phase changed.
  • Z EC stands for the variable reactance of the region comprising the EC elements.
  • the amount of phase shift can be increased by resonating the EC formed capacitor with an inductor.
  • the inductor may be a length of a waveguide.
  • a (spatial) separation between a plurality of EC elements of an apparatus 100 need not be proportional to the guided wavelength.
  • a spatial separation between several EC elements of the apparatus 100 of Fig. 12 may be proportional to the guided wavelength.
  • Figure 13A schematically depicts a simplified side view of an apparatus 100w according to further exemplary embodiments, which comprises two EC elements 120_13 that may e.g. be used as a computer, e.g. analog computer, by modifying the control voltages V EC1, V EC2 .
  • Figure 13B schematically depicts a table characterizing operating states "00", "01", “10", “11” of the apparatus 100w of Fig. 13A according to further exemplary embodiments. With each operating state, a specific overall relative permittivity of the waveguide section comprising the EC elements 120_13 is associated, which can be "selected" by applying the respective control voltages.
  • four discrete signal states can be adjusted, e.g. relevantly influencing the RF input signal RFin and being detectable at the measurable RF output signal RFout.
  • two EC elements have been chosen, allowing to adjust ⁇ r,total values with larger difference making detectability easier.
  • a single EC element may support the application by adjusting four ⁇ r values but in this case with less difference in values.
  • FIG. 1 For exemplary embodiments, relate to a use of the apparatus according to the embodiments and/or of the device according to the embodiments for at least one of: a) processing an RF signal RF1, b) influencing an RF signal RF1, particularly an RF signal propagating within the waveguide 110, 110a, 110b, 110c, c) filtering an RF signal RF1, d) attenuating an RF signal RF1, e) reflecting an RF signal RF1, f) selecting one or more modes of an RF signal RF1 (e.g., by arranging at least one EC element 120 in the cladding 114 and by controlling the EC element 120 accordingly), g) computing, particularly analog computing (cf. Fig. 13A, 13B ), based on an RF signal and one or more control signals (e.g., control voltages) for the at least one EC element, h) inducing a modulation on an RF signal transmitted by the waveguide.
  • the step of arranging the at least one EC element at least partly within or at the waveguide may also be performed simultaneously or in an at least partially temporally overlapping fashion with respect to the step of providing the waveguide.
  • the apparatus according to the embodiments may e.g. be used for current 4G and 5G (or future 6G) mobile radio systems, which may have to cope with very high data rates e.g. caused by immense number of portables, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) communication, etc. and content like 4K video, on the one hand within mobile radio units (e.g. frontend, baseband), on the other hand from system unit to system unit (e.g. backhauling, fronthauling).
  • mobile radio units e.g. frontend, baseband
  • system unit to system unit e.g. backhauling, fronthauling.
  • mobile radio communication may expand from long time established e.g. sub-6 GHz frequency ranges (3G) via mm-wave frequency ranges (5G/NR (New Radio)) to future sub-THz and THz frequencies.
  • 3G sub-6 GHz frequency ranges
  • 5G/NR New Radio
  • the apparatus according to exemplary embodiments may be used for the abovementioned frequency ranges and offers a cost-efficient and flexible way for tuning properties of a waveguide that can influence RF signal propagation.
  • the principle according to the embodiments enables to provide fibers for RF signals, e.g. polymer fibers or polymer microwave fibers (PMF), which may e.g. comprise a length of up to some meters or even several 10 meters, e.g. 50m.
  • RF signals e.g. polymer fibers or polymer microwave fibers (PMF)
  • PMF polymer microwave fibers
  • the principle according to the embodiments enables to provide e.g. PMF with tunable waveguide properties, e.g. based on the above described exemplary embodiments.
  • PMF tunable waveguide properties
  • an electrically tunable "Bragg grating" structure may be provided within the fibre.
  • this lends frequency-selective and phase-shifting properties (and optionally also inducing modulation on the (PMF) guided RF signal, e.g.
  • this may be particularly beneficial for devices 200 or systems operating in the sub-THz and THz-range, where components are very costly or even not (yet) available, and where device transitions are complex.
  • the principle according to the embodiments may e.g. be used for realizing structures such as e.g., but not limited to, tunable devices like filters, phase shifters, chromatic dispersion compensators, add-drop multiplexers or analogue computing devices (cf. Fig. 13A ), modulators, thus enabling a wide range of applications.
  • tunable devices like filters, phase shifters, chromatic dispersion compensators, add-drop multiplexers or analogue computing devices (cf. Fig. 13A ), modulators, thus enabling a wide range of applications.
  • the principle according to the embodiments provides several degrees of freedom: a) during a design phase of the apparatus and/or device and b) during an operation of the apparatus and/or device.
  • RF signal or wave propagation conditions in the waveguide 110 can e.g. be defined/tuned by a) electrical properties of (polymer) core 112 and cladding 114, b) EC element position on/in the waveguide 110, c) and inter-distance d1, d2 ( Fig. 7 ) of several EC elements, d) number of EC elements, e) length of EC elements along the longitudinal axis LA ( Fig. 1 ) of the waveguide 110, f) radial distance between EC-element 120 and core 112, g) radial thickness of the EC element, etc.
  • a further design parameter may also be the EC material itself, e.g. characterized by at least one of: used material, type and/or sequence of stacking, thickness(es) of layers segments, etc..
  • one or more EC elements 120 may be placed quite flexibly into/at the waveguide 110, e.g. at an output (end section, and/or at an input section) of the waveguide, for example in case of associated output filtering embodiment.
  • EC elements 120 may be placed quite flexibly into/at the waveguide 110, e.g. at an output (end section, and/or at an input section) of the waveguide, for example in case of associated output filtering embodiment.
  • the apparatus may be used for processing RF signals in the GHz range, up to 100 GHz or more, i.e. even into the THz range.
  • the permittivity of the EC element(s) 120 can be controlled by the tuning or control voltage CV, e.g. applied between two control electrodes 121, 122.
  • the propagation properties of the electromagnetic waves associated with the RF signal RF1 inside the waveguide 110 depend e.g. on the ratio of core- and cladding-permittivity, a, modulation of this ratio e.g. by the embedded EC element(s) 120 may result in a frequency dependent modification of the propagation characteristics.
  • d1 d2 ( Fig.
  • different filter structures can be realized within the waveguide by varying the Bragg-type structure of EC elements within the waveguide.
  • the principle according to exemplary embodiments enables to provide, e.g. in the form of the apparatus 100, a combined (single) device with tunable RF characteristic, which may be attained without complex individual building blocks (e.g. conventional waveguides and discrete filters) assembly which may result in unwanted parasitics, featuring inter alia design and/or tuning parameters listed in the following:
  • Initial design parameters affecting RF-characteristic which may however later, once device 200 is fabricated, not be variable any more: - EC element "cladding rings" (cf. e.g. Fig. 6A, 6B , 8 ) and EC element "slice segments” (cf. e.g. Fig.
  • EC 11 -> may have different impact on wave modes, each ways for EC control voltage electrode implementation -> different implementation kinds can be beneficial for different wave modes, - number of EC elements implemented into waveguide -> affects e.g. intensity of wanted effect on RF-characteristic (e.g. selectivity of filtering, total phase shift, equalizer, etc.) or defines number of discrete adjustable states in case of analogue computing, - distance d1, d2 between individual EC elements 120 -> affects e.g. target frequency, may e.g. be used for frequency range pre-selection, - width of EC element-based cladding rings and/or EC elements -> also affecting phase shift and e.g. target frequency range; this may e.g.
  • a permittivity of the cladding of the waveguide is in the range of the EC material's tunable permittivity range
  • a plurality of EC elements may be connected to each other, thus e.g. being implemented over a larger span or distance of the waveguide, i.e. PMF.
  • the permittivity of the EC elements is chosen same as the permittivity of the cladding, then the EC elements (which may e.g. at least substantially comprise ring shape) may be "invisible" to the RF signal guided through the waveguide, i.e. PMF.
  • EC elements for which the permittivity may be controlled differently from the permittivity of the cladding are visible to the RF signal guided through the PMF, these EC elements may thus affect the RF signal characteristic.
  • the effecting position of the EC elements can be "virtually" moved along the waveguide.
  • the effective position of the EC elements may be controlled after implementation, but also the effective width of the EC segments.
  • an EC element may be responsible for one state, while later two permittivity values of an EC element may be defined, e.g. in order to increase to two represented states.
  • the principle according to exemplary embodiments inter alia enables the following four major applications: RF tuning of a device 200 or system, e.g. when putting into initial operation in the fab -> reduced tuning effort, later RF tuning of device 200 or system, e.g.
  • the principle according to exemplary embodiments may also support multiband applications, e.g. in such way, that e.g. signals at different RF carriers/frequency bands can be independently controlled/processed, e.g. by implementing different EC elements and/or groups of EC elements related to different respective RF carriers/frequency bands.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Optical Modulation, Optical Deflection, Nonlinear Optics, Optical Demodulation, Optical Logic Elements (AREA)
EP20162303.0A 2020-03-11 2020-03-11 Apparatus comprising a waveguide for radio frequency signals Pending EP3879623A1 (en)

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