Waveguide matching unit having gyrator

A waveguide matching unit comprising:

• a hybrid coupler adapted to receive an RF input signal from an RF source to provide first and second orthogonal RF signals corresponding to the RF input signal;
• a gyrator receiving the first and second orthogonal signals from the hybrid coupler and adapted to orthogonally phase shift the first and second orthogonal RF signals to provide third and fourth orthogonal RF signals;
• a combiner adapted to combine the third and fourth orthogonal RF signals for provision as a forward path RF output signal of the waveguide matching unit, wherein the forward path RF output signal has a power magnitude that substantially corresponds to a power magnitude of the RF input signal received from the RF source;
• and
• wherein the gyrator and hybrid coupler are adapted to execute phase shifting operations on reflected RF signals received by the combiner to generate a reflected RF feedback signal having a power magnitude that substantially corresponds to a power magnitude of the reflected RF signal, and wherein the phase shifting operations further minimize reflected RF power returned to the RF source.

A radio frequency (RF) system comprising:

• an output coupler having first, second, and third ports, wherein the output coupler combines RF signals received at the first and second ports for provision to the third port that provides RF energy to a load;
• a waveguide matching unit having first, second, and third ports,
• wherein the first port of the waveguide matching unit is adapted to receive an RF signal from an RF source and wherein the waveguide phase shifts the RF signal received from the RF source by about 90° for provision at the second port of the waveguide matching unit, wherein the RF signal at the second port of the waveguide matching unit is provided to the first port of the output coupler;
• wherein the waveguide matching unit is adapted to receive a reflected RF signal returned from the first port of the output coupler to the second port of the waveguide matching unit, wherein the waveguide matching unit phase shifts the reflected RF signal received at its second port by about 90° for provision at the third port of the waveguide matching unit, the phase shifted signal at the third port of the waveguide matching unit being provided to the second port of the output coupler, the RF signal provided from the second port of the waveguide matching unit to the first port of the output coupler having a power magnitude that substantially corresponds to a power magnitude of the RF signal received at the first port of the waveguide matching unit, and wherein the phase shifted signal at the third port of the waveguide matching unit has a power magnitude that substantially corresponds to a power magnitude of the reflected RF signal.

A radio frequency (RF) system comprising:

• a forward RF signal path adapted to provide RF energy to a load, the forward energy path including
• a hybrid coupler having first, second, third, and fourth ports, wherein the hybrid coupler is adapted to receive an RF signal at the first port to provide first and second orthogonal RF signals at the second and third ports of the hybrid coupler;
• a gyrator having a first port receiving the first orthogonal RF signal from the second port of the hybrid coupler and a second port receiving the second orthogonal RF signal from the third port of the hybrid coupler, wherein the gyrator phase shifts the first orthogonal RF signal by about 90° for provision to a third port of the gyrator while phase shifting the second orthogonal RF signal received at its second port by about 0° for provision to a fourth port of the gyrator;
• a combiner receiving the RF signals from the third and fourth ports of the gyrator and combining the RF signals at the third and fourth ports of the gyrator for provision to an output port of the first combiner;
• a reflected RF signal path adapted to redirect reflected RF signals back through the forward RF signal path,
• wherein the reflected RF signals are reflected back to the output port of the first combiner and provided to the third and fourth ports of the gyrator, the gyrator phase shifting the RF signal received at its third port by about 0° for provision to the second port of the hybrid coupler, and phase shifting the RF signal received at its fourth port by about 90° for provision to the third port of the hybrid coupler,
• wherein the hybrid coupler generally maintains the phase of the RF signal received at its second port at about 0° and phase shifts the RF signal received at its third port by about 90° for provision at the fourth port of the hybrid coupler;
• an output coupler combining RF signals from the combiner and RF signals from the fourth port of the hybrid coupler.