Patents Assigned to Vari-L Company, Inc.
-
Patent number: 6163228Abstract: An oscillator having a tank circuit, an amplifier circuit and a switching circuit. The switching circuit switches the oscillator between a normal power consumption mode and a lower power consumption mode. The amplifier circuit includes an emitter biased transistor. The switching circuit switches between power consumption modes by switching between two selected voltages at the base of the transistor. When in the lower power consumption mode, the oscillator has sufficient current to sustain oscillation but insufficient current to meet the phase noise requirements for good fidelity and high data rates.Type: GrantFiled: July 15, 1999Date of Patent: December 19, 2000Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Matthew D. Pope
-
Patent number: 5999061Abstract: An oscillator having two oscillation circuits with widely different frequencies with a common passive switched output circuit. Each oscillator circuit includes a transmission line inductive impedance between the oscillator output and ground. The inductive impedances are selected to be open at the operating frequency of the associated oscillator circuit and a short or a low impedance at the frequency of the other oscillator circuit. Each inductive impedance forms a portion of an impedance matching pad for the other oscillator circuit.Type: GrantFiled: May 4, 1999Date of Patent: December 7, 1999Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventors: Matthew D. Pope, Jeffrey T. Gudewicz
-
Patent number: 5982243Abstract: An electronic oscillator of the Colpitts type with an amplifying element and a tank circuit. The tank circuit includes a parallel tuned resonant circuit, a series tuned resonant circuit and a switching circuit that selectively connects one of the resonant circuits to the tank circuit. The oscillator operates at a first frequency in the parallel tuned mode and a second frequency that is substantially twice the first frequency in the series tuned mode.Type: GrantFiled: May 4, 1999Date of Patent: November 9, 1999Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Matthew D. Pope
-
Patent number: 5903431Abstract: Integrated circuits and the method of making same are disclosed which are suitable for use in integrated circuits such as amplifiers, filters and oscillators. Each integrated circuit includes using a main dielectric body that has a thin conductive layer on opposite faces, using conventional etching process to etch out selected spaces or gaps in the layers according to a preselected pattern and cutting through the body to form oblong shaped bodies that form the integrated circuit. These circuits have conductive plates and spaces between plates on both sides with opposite plates providing capacitors connected mechanically and electrically and square shaped sections connected between plates of selected conductive materials which function as resistors and inductors.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 1996Date of Patent: May 11, 1999Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Daniel J. Wilmot
-
Patent number: 5867069Abstract: A resonator includes a substrate to which are attached trimmable capacitance and inductance portions which together with a varactor and transistor form an oscillator circuit. The substrate mounts orthogonally in a slot on an oscillator board to reduce microphonic effects from a cover that otherwise would degrade the oscillator performance.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 1998Date of Patent: February 2, 1999Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Joseph H. Kiser
-
Patent number: 5856769Abstract: A resonator for a high frequency electric oscillator is disclosed. The resonator is and integrated capacitor and inductor. The capacitance and inductance of the resonator are continuously and simultaneously adjustable. The resonator includes a coaxial portion and a conductor portion. The coaxial portion has an inner dielectric with a longitudinal aperture and an outer conductive sheath or outer conductor. The conductor portion has a straight section slidable in the aperture and a V shaped bent or oblique section.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 1998Date of Patent: January 5, 1999Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Joseph H. Kiser
-
Patent number: 5742213Abstract: A transformer circuit disclosed performs wideband impedance transformation (matching) and can be used for voltage step-up and step-down applications. The circuit disclosed is comprised of two transmission line transformers and two reactive impedances that compensate the circuit for impedance versus frequency. The circuit disclosed performs a very wideband impedance ratio of 1:9. The circuit may have different turns ratios for transformers T1 and T2 and different values for reactive impedances Z1 and Z2 to accommodate rational, fractional and integer values of transformation up to an impedance ratio of 16:1. Incorporation of a balun in the second transformer provides balanced output.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 1996Date of Patent: April 21, 1998Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Robert L. Reynolds
-
Patent number: 5675478Abstract: An oscillator voltage regulator includes a substantially constant voltage device in series with the bias network dividing resistors to reduce current flow and provide a substantially constant voltage drop, and an impedance connected between the first and second resistors of the dividing resistors and the tank circuit and the base of the amplifier transistor so as to reduce the loading on the tank circuit and so as to improve stability, reduce phase noise, and increase power output from the amplifier. The use of a silicon PN junction and a NPN transistor provides temperature compensation for hot and cold ambients to allow the oscillator to operate with substantially a constant supply current.Type: GrantFiled: July 15, 1996Date of Patent: October 7, 1997Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Joseph H. Kiser
-
Patent number: 5619172Abstract: A transformer circuit disclosed performs wideband impedance transformation (matching) and can be used for voltage step-up and step-down applications. The circuit disclosed is comprised of two transmission line transformers and two reactive impedances that compensate the circuit for impedance versus frequency. The circuit disclosed performs a very wideband impedance ratio of 1:9. The circuit may have different turns ratios for T1 and T2 and different values for Z1 and Z2 to accommodate rational, fractional and integer values of transformation up to an impedance ratio of 16:1. The addition of a balun to the output provides a balanced output.Type: GrantFiled: September 14, 1995Date of Patent: April 8, 1997Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Robert L. Reynolds
-
Patent number: 4621241Abstract: An oscillator disclosed has a resonant tank circuit inclusive of an inductor (L1), a capacitor (C1), a capacitor (C3) and a capacitor (C4) connected in series with one another. A signal amplifier (A) is connected in a feedback loop which includes capacitor (C3). An additional impedance (C5) is connected between the feedback output of the amplifier and the feedback signal dividing capacitors (C3) and (C4). This additional impedance (C5) improves tuning range, tuning linearity, phase noise performance, and provides a very flat power output at ultra high frequencies.Type: GrantFiled: June 7, 1985Date of Patent: November 4, 1986Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Joseph H. Kiser
-
Patent number: 4355421Abstract: An improved broadband mixer includes a first balun (11) with a first signal port (12), a second balun (14) with a second signal port (15), a third balun (17) with a third signal port (18), and a frequency converter (19) coupled between the first, second, and baluns. The first balun means, which preferably receives an RF signal via said first signal port, includes two juxtaposed ground plane baluns 31 and 32 each having opposed, spaced, strip conductors in different planes. The second balun, which preferably receives an LO signal via the second signal port, has a coplanar balun (44) including three strip conductors in the same plane which in turn connects to two juxtaposed ground plane baluns (45 and 46) each having opposed, parallel spaced, strip conductors.Type: GrantFiled: December 5, 1980Date of Patent: October 19, 1982Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Warren L. Seely
-
Patent number: 4125810Abstract: A double slot balun has two pairs of coplanar, electric conductive sheets in a superposed, spaced, electrically insulated relation on opposite planar surfaces of a dielectric substrate forming two slots disposed in spaced, parallel planes. Unbalanced signals applied simultaneously to common ends of the slots result in balanced in-phase signals at the opposite end of the two slots. A constant impedance balun has two alined, electric conductive strips in a superposed, spaced, electrically insulated relation mounted on opposite planar surfaces of a dielectric substrate with the widths at opposite ends of each conductive strip being chosen for selected parallel-plate impedance characteristics and one conductive strip having a selected taper, preferably following a cosine curve, while the width of the other conductive strip is selected relative to the cosine taper along its length to provide a constant impedance at any point along the length of the two conductive strips.Type: GrantFiled: April 8, 1977Date of Patent: November 14, 1978Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Anthony M. Pavio
-
Patent number: 4079415Abstract: In a frequency translator for r-f television signals and the like there is provided an input frequency selective matching network to pass only r-f television signals in a predetermined range of about 50 to 300 MHz (vhf), a novel combination oscillator, impedance matching network, and mixer arranged for mixing incoming television signals from a cable or antenna with a preselected reference signal of a constant frequency generated by the oscillator to produce output signals from the mixer in a higher band of frequencies of about 500 to 750 MHz (uhf). An output frequency selective matching network passes only signals in said second band of frequencies to an output terminal. The impedance matching network provides a conjugate match for the output impedance of the oscillator and the input impedance of the mixer so as to inhibit the reflection of undesirable signal products from the mixer back to the oscillator and minimize power loss.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 1975Date of Patent: March 14, 1978Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventor: Peter Will
-
Patent number: 4063176Abstract: A broadband mixer has two separate tapered ground plane microstrip baluns associated with a first signal port and two separate tapered ground plane microstrip baluns associated with a second signal port together with a frequency converter or mixer portion coupled between the baluns associated with the first and second signal ports and a third signal port. The frequency converter or mixer portion is comprised of eight diodes in a double balanced bridge arrangement having two sets of terminals associated with the first and second signal ports, each of the terminals of said two sets being separated from each of the terminals of the third signal port by a diode to electrically isolate their respective signals. The baluns associated with the first and second signal ports provide for the transformation of unbalanced input signals to balanced signals at the frequency converting diodes.Type: GrantFiled: July 29, 1976Date of Patent: December 13, 1977Assignee: Vari-L Company, Inc.Inventors: Thomas A. Milligan, Peter Will