Schottky diode as high-speed variable impedance load in six-port modulators

The use of Schottky diodes as high-speed variable impedance loads in six-port modulators are proposed and analyzed in this paper. The impedance dependency of diode parameters and local oscillator power are investigated by theoretical analysis and simulations. A prototype for a direct carrier six-port modulator using Schottky diodes for impedance generation is designed and fabricated for a center frequency of 7.5 GHz. Measurements show good modulation properties when a 16 quadrature amplitude modulation signal at 300 Msymbol/s is generated, i.e., at a data rate of 1.2 Gbit/s, validating the use of Schottky diodes as high-speed variable impedance loads in six-port modulators.