USE OF PHASE SHIFT TO RESOLVE SIGN AMBIGUITY AND IMPROVE ACCURACY IN THE AD8302 PHASE DETECTOR Sam Wetterlin

3/22/07 The AD8302 can be used as a VNA phase detector by sendin it a re!erence si nal and a phase"shi!ted #ersion o! that si nal$ The phase shi!t is caused by a de#ice under test %D&T' by re!lection or transmission( and the oal is to determine the e)act e!!ect o! the D&T$ *ne un!ortunate aspect o! the AD8302 is that it pro#ides an output correspondin to 0"+80 de rees( but cannot distin uish the si n o! the phase$ ,oth "-. de rees and -. de rees are measured as /-. de rees$ *ur oal is to use additional phase shi!tin o! the re!erence si nal to resol#e the si n o! the phase$ At the same time( 0e can use that phase shi!tin to a#oid other inaccuracies in the measurement$ 1i ure + sho0s a raph o! the AD8302 output le#el !or #arious input phases$
AD8302 Output vs Phase
1.80

1.50

B A'

Phase Output

1.20

0.90

0.60

B'

0.30

0.00 -180

-120

-60

60

120

180

240

300

360

Phase of Input Signals (Deg)

Figure 1AD8302 Output vs Signal Input Phase

The measured phase will fall in the range -180 degrees to +180 degrees. The e tra range up to 360 degrees is added to assist in determining the effe!t of phase shifting the referen!e. "oints # and $ ha%e opposite phase polarit& 'ut the same #(8302 output le%el. )hen shifted to the right '& 90 degrees* the& produ!e points #+ and $+.

Note in 1i ure + that %e)cept !or the #ery hi h and lo0 pea2s' e#ery possible output #alue can be produced by t0o di!!erent phases( 0hich are ne ati#es o! each other$ 1or e)ample( points A and ,( representin 330 de rees( both produce an output o! +$.$ So i! all you 2no0 is that the output is +$.( you 2no0 the phase is at point A or ,( but you can4t tell 0hich$ Resolvi ! "#e Si! o$ "#e A !le %& M'(i ! ' S#i$" No0 suppose you shi!t the re!erence phase by "50 de rees( 0hich has the e!!ect o! increasin the measured phase o! the D&T si nal by /50 de rees$ 6! you 0ere ori inally at point A( you 0ill mo#e as sho0n by the arro0 to 70 de rees$ 6! you 0ere ori inally at point ,( you 0ill mo#e as sho0n by the arro0 to +20 de rees$ When you ma2e the phase measurement a!ter the shi!t( there 0ill be 8ambi uity9 as to 0hether A4 is at /70 or "70( but you 2no0 a /50 de ree shi!t !rom "30 de rees 0ill be in the nei hborhood o! /70$ :i2e0ise !or ,4$ So ultimately there is no ambi uity$ ,y obser#in 0hat actually happens 0hen you ma2e the shi!t( you can determine 0hether you 0ere ori inally at point A or point ,( and the ;ob is done$ 6! the shi!t produces a phase o! /70( you 2no0 you started at A( and the +0 de ree discrepancy is partly the result o! measurement error and partly the result o! your phase shi!t not bein e)actly 50 de rees$ ,ut despite the uncertainty in the amount o! the shi!t( you can still determine 0hether you started at A or ,$ 6! the ori inal measured phase is <= %a positi#e number' then the actual phase <A is either > <= or / <=$ The measured shi!ted phase 0ill be <S( 0hose si n is readily determined as describe abo#e( so it 0ill be the actual si ned phase$ 6deally( <S 0ill e?ual either S"<= or S/<=( 0here S is the amount o! the shi!t %S@50 in 1i ure +'$ To allo0 !or measurement and shi!t errors( 0e ma2e the decision as !ollo0sA +$ Note that S is the midpoint bet0een the t0o possible shi!ted #alues$ 2. 6! <S BS then <A @ <= 3. *ther0ise <A @ "<= U )e*"'i "& e'* "#e +e'(s This method 0or2s !ine 0hen 0e can clearly determine 0hich side o! S <S !alls on$ ,ut 0hat i! <S is close to SC 6! there is uncertainty o! 3&S in 2no0in the #alue o! S( then i! <S !alls 0ithin &S o! S 0e can4t really be sure 0hether <S is abo#e or belo0 the 8true9 S$ 2

AD8302 Output vs Phase

1.80

1.50

Phase Output

1.20

0.90

A' B'

0.60

0.30

0.00 -180

-120

-60

60

120

180

240

300

360

Phase of Input Signals (Deg)

Figure 2!he Area of "n#ertaint$

)hen # and $ are %er& near the pea,* their shifted %alues* li,e their original %alues* will 'e !lose together. -ere #.-15* $.15* #+./5* $+.105. The shift %alue 0.90. 1f the un!ertaint& in 0 is greater than 15 degrees* and the shift results in point #+* we !an+t 'e sure the original point was #.

This issue o! uncertainty 0ill only arise 0hen the ori inal measurement !alls 0ithin &S o! the positi#e or ne ati#e pea2$ &S ori inates 0ith the basic measurement uncertainty o! the instrument( discussed !urther belo0$ 6! 0e can ma2e measurements accurate 0ithin + de ree( then &S 0ill be + de ree and 0ill ma2e us unable to distin uish bet0een /+ and "+ de rees by the shi!t method$ The net e!!ect is that the measurement uncertainty appro)imately doubles 0hen #ery close to the pea2s$ That is a reason to stay a0ay !rom the pea2s$ ,ut as 0e 0ill see belo0( there are other reasons to stay much !urther !rom the pea2s$ And i! 0e do so( the e!!ect o! &S 0ill become irrele#ant$ T#e Bi!!e* P*o%le, -i"# Pe'(s =any phase detectors ha#e lar e inaccuracies near 0 and 3+80 de rees( and the AD8302 is no e)ception$ Drrors in those inaccurate Eones can reach 8 de rees$ ,ut i! you can stay +0 de rees !rom the upper and lo0er pea2s in the AD8302 response( you can reatly reduce the error$ And i! you can stay 20 de rees a0ay( you can eliminate it almost entirely$ This problem d0ar!s any issue o! uncertainty in the amount o! the phase shi!t$ 3

T#e Ul"i,'"e P*o)e./*e Where 0e are oin 0ith this is that i! 0e can pro#ide the ability to shi!t the re!erence si nal by 0 de rees and -0 de rees( 0e can !ollo0 this procedure to both resol#e the si n ambi uity and et an accurate measurementA 1. =easure 0ith Eero de ree shi!t and -0 de ree shi!t$ 2$ &se the abo#e procedure to resol#e the si n ambi uity$ 3. 6! the resultin measurement at Eero de ree shi!t is not 0ithin 20 de rees o! the pea2( then use it$ 4. *ther0ise( use the measurement 0ith the -0 de ree shi!t and subtract -0 to et the !inal phase$ Note that i! actual phase is "+0 de rees( then the -0 de ree shi!t 0ill result in an an le o! 30 de rees( an an le three times as !ar !rom the pea2 as the ori inal$ The 0orst case is that the actual an le is "20 de rees( so the shi!t results in /20 de rees( and 0e ha#e not mo#ed a0ay !rom the pea2$ ,ut in any case 0e 0ill be able to ma2e all measurements at least 20 de rees !rom a pea2$ =easurements at the boundary o! that 320 de ree Eone 0ill be the least accurate( but the accuracy 0ill still be ood$ 6n reality( any phase shi!t method 0ill produce di!!erent phase shi!ts at di!!erent !re?uencies$ We ;ust need to be sure that 0e can al0ays shi!t by at least -0 de rees$ We also don4t 0ant to shi!t more than +-0 de rees( because 0e then mo#e a0ay !rom one pea2 but close to another$ A A)"/'l P#'se S#i$"i ! Ci*)/i" The circuit sho0n in Appendi) uses an all"pass !ilter to accomplish the shi!ts( 0hich are raphed in Appendi) ,$ %Than2s to Ferd Goetter %D*+=FG' !or the all" pass idea'$ The 8Eero shi!t9 settin actually causes a si ni!icant shi!t due to parasitics( but that is not a problemH it ;ust becomes the base le#el !or measurin the other shi!ts$ The other t0o possible shi!ts actually e)ceed "+-0 de rees at some points( but the important #alue is the di!!erence bet0een their shi!ts and the base 8Eero9 shi!t$ The net :1 and I1 shi!ts %i$e$ the shi!t amount minus the Eero shi!t amount' are sho0n in Appendi) J$ The :1 Shi!t 0or2s 0ell at the lo0er !re?uencies( i#in a net shi!t bet0een "-0 de rees and "+3. de rees bet0een 7.0 2IE and -$7 =IE$ The I1 shi!t 0or2s 0ell at the hi her !re?uencies( i#in a net shi!t !rom "37 de rees at 3$2 =IE to >+30 de rees at 30 =IE and bac2 do0n to >7. at 200 =IE$ This allo0s !or phase shi!ts o! bet0een "-0 de rees and "+-0 de rees !or the ran e + 4

=IE to 200 =IE$ The shi!tin mechanism also creates some ma nitude chan e 0hen a shi!t is made( 0hich can be ta2en into account by calibration$ The ma nitude e!!ect is less than +db at all !re?uencies$ 6t actually may be possible to accomplish the desired shi!t ran e 0ith a sin le capacitor o! 780p! s0itched in/out o! the circuit$ ,ut since the s0itch sho0n is an S<DT( it is easy to play it conser#ati#e and use t0o capacitors$ O e Mo*e T#i !0Ho- %i! is "#e P#'se S#i$"1 6t is nice to ha#e a circuit 0hich pro#ides the desired phase shi!t( but ho0 do 0e 2no0 the actual amount o! the phase shi!t at any i#en !re?uencyC We can ma2e measurements o! any D&T( such as an open circuit( at each phase position and subtract the di!!erence$ This may seem to be li!tin oursel#es by our bootstraps( since the purpose o! the phase shi!t in the !irst place 0as to enable us to ma2e accurate measurements and resol#e si n ambi uities$ ,ut i! 0e can stay a0ay !rom the pea2s on our o0n( and !i ure out another 0ay to resol#e the si n( 0e can reliably measure the phase shi!ts$ Assume !or the moment 0e ma2e ra0 uncalibrated measurements o! a re!lection !rom an open D&T$ Startin at a lo0 !re?uency( the re!lection may be near Eero$ We can mo#e it some0hat belo0 Eero by addin a len th o! unterminated coa)$ 6! 0e treat the measurement as a ne ati#e an le( then as 0e increase the !re?uency( the measurement 0ill sho0 a steady decrease in phase an le( thou h the steadiness depends on the internals o! the de#ice$ 6! it starts out by increasin ( 0e are actually startin at a positi#e #alue and can add a lon er piece o! coa) to ma2e the measurement ne ati#e$ 6! 0e measure 0ith the re!erence shi!ted and then unshi!ted( and subtract the second !rom the !irst( the result 0ill be the amount o! the shi!t( and should steadily( and nearly linearly( increase 0ith !re?uency$ And the result should be accurate as lon as 0e mana ed to 2eep all ra0 measurements more than 20 de rees !rom 0 and 3+80$ We need to ma2e these measurements at a number o! !re?uencies( but the phase shi!t normally 0ill turn out to be #ery linear 0ith !re?uency( so that it does not ta2e a lot o! measurement points to accurately describe the path$

This may sound li2e an a020ard procedure( but it is actually ?uite strai ht!or0ard$ 6t only needs to be done once a!ter construction o! the de#ice( and maybe repeated occasionally$ 6t does not ha#e to be done e#ery time the instrument is used$ <lus( once you ha#e done it( you 0ill 2no0 0hat len th coa)( i! any( is needed to let you do the measurements 0ithout oin near the pea2s$

APP%&DI' A((A#tual Phase Shifting )ir#uit for 1 *+,((200 *+,

APP%&DI' -Phase Shifts of )ir#uit in Appen.i/ A

APP%&DI' )&et Phase Shifts of )ir#uit in Appen.i/ A 01ero2 shift is su3tra#te. fro4 +F an. 5F Shift