A novel two-dimensional changeover GaN MMIC switch for electrically selectable SPDT multifunctional device

Abstract

This paper presents a novel frequency/amplitude two-dimensional change-over gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) switch. A frequency/amplitude two-dimensional changeover switch is an essential function block for electrically selectable single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) multifunctional devices in reconfigurable radio frequency (RF) front-end, which can change its function to SPDT switch, diplexer, duplexer, and so on. The demonstrated two-stage GaN MMIC indicates two-dimensional switching characteristics not only of changing the amplitude for ON/OFF states as the conventional switch but also of switching two frequency pass-bands between around 8-GHz and around 26-GHz. The insertion losses of lower than 1.6 dB and the isolations with higher than 13.3 dB are obtained for both pass-bands. The presented two-dimensional changeover switch function block promises to realize electrically selectable SPDT multifunctional devices for reconfigurable broadband RF front-end with low costs.