An active integrated retrodirective transponder for remote information retrieval-on-demand

A retrodirective transponder based on a novel compact phase-conjugating mixer with conversion gain has been developed. The active circuit uses one port for both incoming and outgoing signals, enabling a reduction of circuit size, and the balanced structure provides suppression of undesired signals. By using a modulated local oscillator, the circuit can modulate the received signal in order to retransmit local information to the remote site. A microstrip antenna is integrated with the phase conjugator and the whole system was fabricated on a single substrate, enabling a one-card system. A four-element prototype array with 0.5λ₀ array spacing demonstrated excellent measured retrodirectivity. Additionally, a simplified binary-phase-shift-keying signal transmitted by the array is recovered successfully at the source location, demonstrating great potential for remote tagging and wireless sensor applications