Distributed NGD active circuit for RF-microwave communication

This paper is aimed to the investigation on innovative distributed negative group delay (DNGD) circuits for RF communication. Thanks to the analogy between the lumped and distributed circuits, NGD circuit topologies were identified. By using the S-parameter theory, analysis and synthesis methods of these topologies are proposed. The DNGD circuits developed are mainly comprised of a transistor combined with a series resistance ended by a stub. Then, synthesis relations enabling to determine the NGD circuit parameters from the desired NGD and gain values are established. As application, an active phase shifter (PS) operating independently with the frequency based on the cascade of PGD and NGD devices was synthesized. First, an NGD PS with transmission phase of (135 ± 5)° around 2.56 GHz over the bandwidth of about 1.02 GHz was obtained. Then, a two-stage DNGD PS exhibiting 90° with ±10° flatness from 4.1 GHz to 6.8 GHz was designed. The DNGD circuit presented can be used in various telecommunication areas notably for correcting RF/numerical signal delays in the RF-microwave analogue-digital devices.