HIGH-SPEED, TWO-WIRE METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ANTENNAS DURING TEST

摘要

Whether for speed or accuracy, it is often necessary to rapidly switch antenna beams during testing. Most current systems require a control line for each RF switch position or phase shifter bit. Due to the need for slip rings, the number of bits that can be controlled by this method is limited. In addition, the voltage drop and interference over long lines limit the practical range lengths that can use these "wire-per-bit" techniques. A serial bit stream followed by a serial to parallel conversion is the usual approach to controlling a large number of switches with only a few lines. However, the serial bit stream approach is quite slow. This paper will present a high speed switch box that can control an arbitrary number of RF switches and phase shifters using only two control lines that can go very long distances. The electronic circuits and software interface of this box will be covered.