When Time Delays Make More Sense Than Phase Shifts (.PDF Download)

July 19, 2017
When Time Delays Make More Sense Than Phase Shifts (.PDF Download)

Phase shifters and delay lines are commonly used components in many high-frequency systems, included for their signal-altering capabilities. Although a delay in the phase or the timing of a signal are essentially the same thing, phase shifters and delay lines are designed with different goals in mind: to provide signal adjustments in the frequency and time domains, respectively, over a design frequency range.

Phase shifters are usually designed for changes in insertion phase of as much as 360 deg., or one wavelength, at a maximum frequency of interest. When a greater amount of phase shift or delay is required at a particular frequency, the solution lies in an RF/microwave delay line, which is specified in terms of the delay time, rather than the phase shift, at a frequency of interest.