Reflective microstrip tuning circuit

An interferometer comprising:

• an interferometer circuit;
• and
• a tuning circuit operatively coupled to the interferometer circuit, the tuning circuit comprising:
• a port for receiving an incident signal from the interferometer circuit;
• one or more cascaded couplers configured to split the incident signal;
• and
• a plurality of adjustable tuning arms that are configured to receive the split incident signal;
• wherein the one or more cascaded couplers are configured to split the incident signal such that power associated with the incident signal is divided unequally among the plurality of adjustable tuning arms, such that the dividing of the power results in different weighting effects of the adjustment of each tuning arm;
• wherein each of the plurality of tuning arms is configured to reflect the split signal in each tuning arm back to the one or more cascaded couplers;
• and
• wherein the one or more cascaded couplers are configured to receive the reflected split signal from the plurality of tuning arms and combine the reflected split signal into a combined reflected signal as a return signal that is directed back to the interferometer circuit.

A method of tuning a circuit, comprising:

• providing a reflective microstrip tuning circuit comprising:
• a port for receiving an incident signal from the circuit;
• one or more cascaded couplers configured to split the incident signal;
• and a plurality of adjustable tuning arms that are configured to receive the split incident signal;
• wherein the one or more cascaded couplers are configured to split the incident signal such that power associated with the incident signal is divided unequally among the plurality of adjustable tuning arms, such that the dividing of the power results in different weighting effects of the adjustment of each tuning arm;
• operatively coupling the microstrip tuning circuit to the circuit via the port;
• generating the incident signal and directing the incident signal to the microstrip tuning circuit via the port;
• splitting the incident signal via the one or more cascaded couplers, and dividing power associated with the incident signal unequally among the plurality of tuning arms;
• reflecting the split signal by each tuning arm;
• selectively adjusting one or more of the plurality of tuning arms to adjust the reflected split signal in the respective tuning arms;
• combining the reflected split signal from each of the plurality of tuning arms via the one or more cascaded couplers to form a combined reflected signal;
• and
• communicating the combined reflected signal via the port to the circuit as a return signal.