WO2020082819A1

WO2020082819A1 - Mems switch-based electronic calibration module, system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2020082819A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/095646
Authority: WO
Inventors: 姜万顺; 年夫顺; 梁安慧; 逄春晖
Original assignee: 中电科仪器仪表有限公司
Priority date: 2018-10-26
Filing date: 2019-07-11
Publication date: 2020-04-30
Also published as: CN109444782A

Abstract

A MEMS switch-based electronic calibration module (401), system, and method. The electronic calibration module (401) comprises two symmetrically distributed MEMS switch units. The MEMS switch units comprise at least four static contact ports, i.e. open circuit ports, connection ports, a short circuit ports and load ports, and one moving contact port. The connection ports of the two MEMS switch units are directly connected by means of a transmission line. By means of switching a connection logic state of a moving contact and each static contact of the MEMS switch units, switching between various reflection states and direct transmission states is achieved. The excellent power linearity properties and temperature properties of MEMS switching devices are used to ensure a wider power application range of an impedance standard, improve the stability of a calibrated vector network analysis system, and improve the calibration efficiency and calibration accuracy of the vector network analysis system.

Description

Electronic calibration module, system and method based on MEMS switch

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to an electronic calibration module, system and method based on MEMS switches.

Background technique

Vector network analysis system automatic calibration is an automatic calibration and error correction technology for vector network analyzer. It is characterized by automatic calibration, small size, light weight, USB power supply mode, and high calibration accuracy. The electronic calibration kit is suitable for the field calibration test of the vector network analyzer, and can improve the automation degree and test speed of various equipment automatic test systems with the vector network analyzer as the core. The electronic calibration process is that the electronic calibration component and the vector network analyzer are connected through a USB cable, and the vector network analyzer is automatically controlled to complete the calibration process.

MEMS (Micro Electromechanical System) is a new discipline with multi-disciplinary intersection and penetration developed on the basis of microelectronic technology. MEMS devices used in the field of radio frequency and microwave have the advantages of fast execution, low loss and high quality factor. The most mature MEMS devices used in the field of radio frequency and microwave are switches, and semiconductor switching devices with traditional field effect tubes or PIN diodes. In contrast, MEMS has extremely low series resistance and low execution power consumption, therefore, the loss is very low. In addition, the MEMS switch has no intermodulation distortion caused by semiconductor junction effect, and withstands more power, it can be calibrated at a larger input power.

The existing electronic calibration implementation scheme is mainly to build the hardware foundation required for electronic calibration through FET switching devices, and realize the open circuit, short circuit and load impedance standards required for electronic calibration through switching. The main disadvantage is that the insertion loss of the field effect switching device is large, and the standing wave characteristics are poor. Especially at higher frequencies, the frequency response curves between different impedance states tend to be consistent due to the poor standing wave. Different impedance standards cannot be distinguished, so more impedance states need to be designed for selection, and subsequent algorithm optimization is needed to select several standards with better independence, which reduces the calibration efficiency. At the same time, the power at the compression point of the field-effect switching device is low, resulting in a limited calibration power range, which limits the application range of existing electronic calibration components. At the same time, the field effect device switch and the PIN switch are both semiconductor devices, which are easily affected by temperature. The conduction characteristic of the MEMS is a pure conductor, so its temperature characteristics are much superior to the field effect switch and the PIN switch.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure proposes an electronic calibration module, system and method based on MEMS switches. The present disclosure uses MEMS switching devices instead of field effect tube switching devices to realize the hardware foundation required for electronic calibration, and utilizes MEMS switches The excellent standing wave characteristics and temperature characteristics of the device ensure the independence of the impedance standards, reduce the circuit complexity, improve the calibration efficiency, ensure a wider power application range of the impedance standards, and improve the calibrated vector network analysis system The stability of the system has further improved the calibration efficiency and accuracy of the vector network analysis system.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions:

An electronic calibration module based on a MEMS switch includes two symmetrically distributed MEMS switch units. The MEMS switch unit includes at least four static contact ports, namely an open port, a connection port, a short circuit port, and a load port, and a dynamic In the contact port, the connection ports of the two MEMS switch units are directly connected through a transmission line. By switching the logical state of the connection between the moving contact of the MEMS switch unit and each static contact, switching between various reflection states and through transmission states is realized.

As a further limitation, the load port is grounded through resistance.

As a further limitation, the short-circuit port is directly grounded.

As a further limitation, the open port is open.

As a further limitation, the movable contact port is connected to an external port through a transmission line.

An electronic calibration system based on MEMS switches includes a MEMS electronic calibration module, a switch control module and a controller, wherein:

The controller, connected to the vector network analyzer, is configured to issue control commands to control the state switching of the MEMS switch;

The switch control module receives the control instruction and connects with the MEMS electronic calibration module through a transmission line to drive the MEMS switch unit to change the connection relationship between the moving contact port of the MEMS electronic calibration module and the corresponding static contact port.

As a further limitation, the controller is also connected to a memory and a communication module, the memory is connected to the controller, and is used for storing calibration data of the electronic calibration component; the switch control unit is connected to the controller, It is used to control the state switching of the MEMS switch; the communication module is connected to the controller and used for communication with the vector network analyzer.

As a further limitation, the memory is an SRAM memory and / or a FLASH memory, and different impedance standard values are stored, and the different impedance standard values are used as scaling values.

As a further limitation, an automatic algorithm module is configured in the vector network analyzer, and the electronic calibration component implements automatic calibration and error correction of the vector network analyzer through the control of the automatic algorithm module.

An electronic calibration method based on MEMS switch, which sends out control commands, controls the state switching of the MEMS switch, and drives the MEMS switch unit to change the connection relationship between the moving contact port and the corresponding static contact port of the MEMS electronic calibration module to achieve Switch between various reflection states and through transmission state, and then realize automatic single and dual port calibration and error correction of vector network analyzer.

Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present disclosure are:

The electronic calibration device provided by the present disclosure realizes the hardware foundation required for electronic calibration by adopting MEMS switching devices instead of field effect tube switching devices, and utilizes the excellent standing wave characteristics of MEMS switching devices to ensure the mutual independence of impedance standards. Reduced circuit complexity and improved calibration efficiency. The use of the excellent power linearity characteristics of MEMS switching devices ensures a wider power application range of the impedance standard, improves the stability of the calibrated vector network analysis system, and improves the calibration efficiency and calibration accuracy of the vector network analysis system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The drawings of the description forming part of this application are used to provide a further understanding of this application. The schematic embodiments and descriptions of this application are used to explain this application, and do not constitute an undue limitation on this application.

Figure 1 is a comparison diagram of the insertion loss characteristics of MEMS switches and PHEMT field effect tube switches;

Figure 2 is a comparison chart of the return loss characteristics of the MEMS switch and the PHEMT MOSFET switch;

3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic calibration module based on a MEMS switch provided in this embodiment;

4 is a schematic diagram of an electronic calibration component based on MEMS switch technology provided by this embodiment;

detailed description:

The disclosure will be further described below with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

It should be noted that the following detailed descriptions are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanations of the present application. Unless otherwise indicated, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which this application belongs.

It should be noted that the terminology used herein is for describing specific embodiments only, and is not intended to limit exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. In addition, it should also be understood that when the terms "comprising" and / or "including" are used in this specification, it indicates There are features, steps, operations, devices, components, and / or combinations thereof.

In this disclosure, terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "vertical", "horizontal", "side", "bottom", etc. indicate The orientation or positional relationship is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only a relationship word determined for the convenience of describing the structural relationship of each component or element of the present disclosure. Open restrictions.

In this disclosure, terms such as "fixed", "connected", "connected", etc. should be understood in a broad sense, meaning that they can be fixed, integral or detachable; they can be directly connected or through the middle The media is indirectly connected. For relevant scientific research or technical personnel in the field, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present disclosure can be determined according to specific circumstances, and cannot be understood as a limitation to the present disclosure.

As described in the background art, the existing electronic calibration implementation scheme is mainly to build a hardware foundation required for electronic calibration through field-effect transistor switching devices, and to achieve open circuit, short circuit, and load impedance standards required for electronic calibration through switching. The main disadvantage is that the insertion loss of the field effect switching device is large, and the standing wave characteristics are poor. Especially at higher frequencies, the frequency response curves between different impedance states tend to be consistent due to the poor standing wave. Different impedance standards cannot be distinguished, so more impedance states need to be designed for selection, and subsequent algorithm optimization is needed to select several standards with better independence, which reduces the calibration efficiency. At the same time, the power at the compression point of the field-effect switching device is low, resulting in a limited calibration power range, which limits the application range of existing electronic calibration components. At the same time, field effect switching devices are susceptible to temperature changes.

This embodiment provides an electronic calibration component, which is an electronic calibration module including a MEMS switch and a transmission line; the electronic calibration module includes an open circuit, a short circuit, a load reflection impedance standard, and a through transmission standard.

The electronic calibration unit has two ports.

The switch control unit can be connected to realize the control of the MEMS switch and the selection of different standards in the electronic calibration module.

An electronic calibration system is also provided, which includes the aforementioned electronic calibration component, an automatic algorithm module, and a vector network analyzer; an automatic algorithm module is built into the vector network analyzer, and the electronic calibration component passes the automatic algorithm module The control realizes the automatic calibration and error correction of the vector network analyzer.

The electronic calibration component uses the MEMS switching device to replace the field effect tube switching device to achieve the hardware foundation required for electronic calibration. The excellent standing wave characteristics of the MEMS switching device ensure the independence of the impedance standards and reduce the circuit complexity Degree, improve the calibration efficiency.

The use of the excellent power linearity characteristics of MEMS switching devices ensures a wider power application range of the impedance standard, improves the stability of the calibrated vector network analysis system, and improves the calibration efficiency and calibration accuracy of the vector network analysis system. MEMS devices used in the field of radio frequency and microwave have the advantages of fast execution speed, low loss, high quality factor and high power compression point. The most mature MEMS devices used in the field of radio frequency and microwave are switches, and traditional field effect tube or PIN Compared with semiconductor switching devices of diodes, MEMS has extremely low series resistance and low execution power consumption. Therefore, the loss is very low and the standing wave characteristics are good. At the same time, MEMS switching devices have excellent power linearity characteristics, ensuring a wider power application range, and have broad application prospects in microwave circuits.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the two typical single-pole double-throw switches of RADANT MEMS's RMSW221 and Agilent's AMMC-2008 are used as examples to give a comparison of the insertion loss characteristics and return loss characteristics of the two types of devices. It can be seen that the MEMS switching device is in the frequency range up to 12.5 GHz. Compared with the PHEMT field effect switching device, the insertion loss is about 1 dB smaller, and the return loss is better than 10 dB at the low end to 10 GHz, and the high-end index is equivalent.

Based on the electronic standard principle realized by MEMS switch technology, as shown in Figure 3, it can realize a variety of reflected impedance and through transmission impedance states such as open circuit, short circuit, load, etc., thereby providing the original calibration of vector network analyzer with automatic calibration and error correction value. The excellent standing wave characteristics of MEMS switches are more conducive to the realization of the reflection state close to the ideal emission state, and the closer the impedance state is to the ideal value, the higher the calibration accuracy; and the excellent power linearity of the MEMS switch device ensures a wider power application Scope; the symmetrical design of the layout ensures the consistency of the two ports and the phase independence of the open and short states.

As shown in Figure 3, the electronic standard is composed of two MEMS switch units. By switching the logic state of the switch unit and switching different connections (load, short circuit, open circuit, and straight-through), each port can be realized between port 1 and port 2. A reflection state and a through transmission state.

Electronic standard parts include four basic standards of open circuit, short circuit, load reflection impedance standard and through transmission standard, as well as several combined standards.

When it is applied to the calibration system, and under the control of the switch control unit 402, the corresponding electronic standard is connected to the port through the MEMS switch. The calibration standard is the hardware basis for determining the accuracy of the final electronic calibration. The better the independence of the standard, the closer the standard is to ideal open and short circuits and other standards, the easier it is to achieve higher calibration accuracy, and the extremely low loss characteristics and excellent The standing wave characteristics ensure the independence and accuracy of electronic standards, and its excellent power characteristics ensure the application of a wider power range.

As shown in FIG. 4, an electronic calibration system includes an electronic calibration module 401 and a control circuit module 402. The control circuit module 402 is connected to the electronic calibration module 401.

The switch control unit 402 is a MEMS switch control unit, and the control circuit module further includes a CPU module 403, a memory 404, and a communication module 405; the memory 404 is connected to the CPU module 403 and is used for storing calibration data of the electronic calibration component; the switch control unit 402 is connected to The CPU module 403 is connected to control the state switching of the MEMS switch; the communication module 405 is connected to the CPU module and used to communicate with the vector network analyzer. The electronic calibration module 401 includes electronic calibration modules such as MEMS switches, transmission lines and loads, open circuits, and short circuits.

The memory is SRAM memory and / or FLASH memory. The SRAM memory and / or FLASH memory stores different impedance standard values, and the different impedance standard values are used as calibration values.

The electronic calibration component based on MEMS switch described in this embodiment, combined with corresponding software algorithms, such as calibration interpolation fitting algorithm and residual error analysis algorithm, can realize automatic single- and dual-port calibration and error correction of the vector network analyzer .

The software algorithm is stored in the automatic algorithm module, which is built into the host of the vector network analyzer. It solves the problems of low calibration efficiency caused by the poor standing wave index of the electronic standard of the existing electronic calibration components. More importantly, it uses the excellent power characteristics of the MEMS switch to expand the power application range of the electronic calibration components.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application may have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. within the spirit and principle of this application shall be included in the protection scope of this application.

Although the specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to the drawings, it does not limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should understand that based on the technical solutions of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art do not need to pay creative work The various modifications or deformations that can be made are still within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

An electronic calibration module based on a MEMS switch is characterized by comprising two symmetrically distributed MEMS switch units, the MEMS switch unit including at least four static contact ports, namely an open port, a connection port, a short circuit port and a load port , And a moving contact port, the connection ports of the two MEMS switch units are directly connected through a transmission line, and by switching the logical state of the connection between the moving contact of the MEMS switch unit and each static contact, various reflection states and through transmission are realized State switching.
The electronic calibration module based on MEMS switch according to claim 1, wherein the load port is grounded through a resistor.
The electronic calibration module based on MEMS switch according to claim 1, wherein the short-circuit port is directly grounded.
The electronic calibration module based on MEMS switch of claim 1, wherein the open port is open.
The MEMS switch-based electronic calibration module according to claim 1, wherein the movable contact port is connected to an external port through a transmission line.
An electronic calibration system based on a MEMS switch, characterized by comprising the MEMS electronic calibration module, the switch control module and the controller according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein:

The controller, connected to the vector network analyzer, is configured to issue control commands to control the state switching of the MEMS switch;

The switch control module receives the control instruction and connects with the MEMS electronic calibration module through a transmission line to drive the MEMS switch unit to change the connection relationship between the moving contact port of the MEMS electronic calibration module and the corresponding static contact port.
The electronic calibration system based on MEMS switch according to claim 6, characterized in that: the controller is further connected with a memory and a communication module, the memory is connected to the controller, and is used for the calibration of the electronic calibration component Data storage; the switch control unit is connected to the controller to control the state switching of the MEMS switch; the communication module is connected to the controller to communicate with the vector network analyzer.
The electronic calibration system based on MEMS switch according to claim 6, characterized in that the memory is SRAM memory and / or FLASH memory, and stores different impedance standard values, and the different impedance standard values are used as calibration value.
The MEMS switch-based electronic calibration system according to claim 6, wherein an automatic algorithm module is configured in the vector network analyzer, and the electronic calibration component implements a vector network through the control of the automatic algorithm module Analyzer automatic calibration and error correction.
An electronic calibration method based on MEMS switch is characterized by issuing control commands, controlling the state switching of the MEMS switch, and driving the MEMS switch unit to change the dynamic contact port and the corresponding static contact port of the MEMS electronic calibration module The connection relationship realizes the switching between various reflection states and the through transmission state, and then realizes the automatic single and dual port calibration and error correction of the vector network analyzer.