TITLE:
A High-Speed DLL-Based Hybrid Phase Conjugator for 5G Beamforming
AUTHORS:
Michael Bolt, Mark Adams
KEYWORDS:
Network Architectures and Protocols, Radio Frequency Subsystems, Transceiver Design, Experimental and Prototype Results
JOURNAL NAME:
Circuits and Systems,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
31,
2020
ABSTRACT: A delay-locked loop based hybrid phase conjugator (DLL-HPC) is presented as a possible solution for 5G beamforming. Theoretical background, unique capabilities, and experimental verification are presented. The proposed DLL-HPC provides backwards compatibility with existing beamforming protocols as well as sub-millisecond beamsteering and automatic mobile target tracking with zero communication overhead. A proof-of-concept DLL-HPC prototype has been constructed from commercially available components to operate in the 5G NR-FR1 band, indicating that the technique can be readily adopted with available technology.