Precision microwave frequency synthesizer and receiver with delay balanced drift canceling loop

A signal conversion system comprising a first signal converter, said first signal converter including:

• a first mixer including an input for receiving a signal to be converted;
• a second mixer including an output for providing said converted signal;
• a variable oscillator for producing a signal (CS) variable at a first scale;
• a splitter coupled to said first mixer and said second mixer to form a drift canceling loop, said splitter including an input coupled to receive said signal (CS) from said variable oscillator, a first output coupled to introduce said signal (CS) into said drift canceling loop along a first direction, and a second output coupled to introduce said signal (CS) into said drift canceling loop along a second direction opposite said first direction;
• a delay device coupled between said second output of said splitter and an input of said second mixer;
• a complementary delay device coupled between said first output of said splitter and an input of said first mixer, at least one of said delay device and said complementary delay device being adjustable;
• a slave output coupled to provide a signal (LO1) from a second input of said first mixer to a slave converter;
• and
• a second slave output coupled to provide a signal (LO2) from an input of said second mixer to said slave converter.