# US 2019/0245255 A1 · Circulator Device With Two Magnet-Free Circulators > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0245255 A1 - Document ID: US20190245255A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/389,370 - Filed: 2019-04-19 - Published: 2019-08-08 - Earliest claimed: 2016-05-19 - Assignees: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) - Applicants: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) - Inventors: Rui Hou; Lars Ridell Virtanen - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190245255A1 ## CPC - H01P 1/38: Circulators - H01P 1/36: Isolators - H03H 7/52: One-way transmission networks, i.e. unilines - H04B 1/00: Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission - H04B 1/0458: {Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages (matching circuits in general H03H)} - H04B 1/18: Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line (coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H) - H04B 1/40: Circuits - H01P: WAVEGUIDES; RESONATORS, LINES, OR OTHER DEVICES OF THE WAVEGUIDE TYPE (operating at optical frequencies G02B) - H03H: IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS (waveguides, resonators, lines or other devices of the waveguide type H01P) - H04B: TRANSMISSION ## Abstract There is provided a circulator device. The circulator device comprises two magnet-free circulators. Each magnet-free circulator has a forced time variance. The circulator device comprises ports. The two circulators are in the circulator device arranged to have mutually anti-phase time variance. Each of the two circulators is coupled to all of the ports. There is also presented an isolator device comprising such a circulator device. There is also presented a radio transceiver device comprising such a circulator device or isolator device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A circulator device, comprising: two magnet-free circulators, each of which having a forced time variance and adapted to attenuate a signal propagating in one direction less than a signal propagating in the other direction; a plurality of ports; wherein the two circulators are configured to have mutually anti-phase time variance; wherein each of the two circulators is coupled to all of the ports. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1: wherein each of the two circulators is modulated by a poly-phase signal with an angular direction of phase progression; and wherein the two circulators have same angular direction but 180 degrees out of phase. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The circulator device of claim 2, wherein the poly-phase signal is a poly-phase sinusoidal signal. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The circulator device of claim 2, wherein the poly-phase signal is a three-phase signal. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein the two circulators are configured to receive one and the same signal but with mutually opposite phase. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein the two circulators are configured to receive one and the same signal and with same phase. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1: further comprising a plurality of transformer baluns; and wherein each transformer balun is configured to couple one of the ports to both the two circulators. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The circulator device of claim 7: wherein one of the transformer baluns is configured to split a signal (Sin) received from its port into a first signal and a second signal; and wherein the first signal and the second signal have same magnitude and mutually separated in phase by 0 or 180 degrees. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The circulator device of claim 8: wherein one of the two circulators is configured to propagate the first signal; wherein the other of the two circulators is configured to propagate the second signal; and wherein the first signal and the second signal are propagated through the two circulators in same angular direction to preserve that the first signal and the second signal are mutually separated in phase by 0 or 180 degrees. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The circulator device of claim 9, wherein another of the transformer baluns is configured to combine the first signal received from the one of the two circulators with the second signal received from the other of the two circulators into a combined signal and to provide the combined signal to its port. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein the two circulators are configured such that the same input signal inputted to the two circulators results in the same output signal being outputted from the two circulators. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein electronic components of at least one of the two circulators are arranged in a star topology. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein electronic components of at least one of the two circulators are arranged in a ring topology. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein each of the two circulators comprise active electronic components. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein each of the two circulators comprises variable capacitance diodes. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein each of the two circulators comprises Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) varactors. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein each of the two circulators comprises switches. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1, wherein the switches are made of complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The circulator device of claim 1: wherein the two circulators form a circulator module; and wherein the circulator device comprises at least two daisy-chained circulator modules. ### Claim 20 An isolator device, comprising: a circulator device, the circulator device comprising: two magnet-free circulators, each of which having a forced time variance and adapted to attenuate a signal propagating in one direction less than a signal propagating in the other direction; a plurality of ports; wherein the two circulators are configured to have mutually anti-phase time variance; wherein each of the two circulators is coupled to all of the ports. wherein the two circulators form a circulator module; and wherein one of the ports of the circulator device is grounded via a matched termination impedance. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The isolator device of claim 20, further comprising at least two cascaded circulator modules. ### Claim 22 A radio transceiver device, comprising: at least one circulator device, the at least one circulator device comprising: two magnet-free circulators, each of which having a forced time variance and adapted to attenuate a signal propagating in one direction less than a signal propagating in the other direction; a plurality of ports; wherein the two circulators are configured to have mutually anti-phase time variance; wherein each of the two circulators is coupled to all of the ports.