US Patent 11757184 Switched coupled inductance phase shift mechanism

Examples disclosed herein relate to a switched coupled inductance phase shift mechanism for beamsteering an antenna array and applied in a radar system or a communication system. The phase shift mechanism includes a variable inductor element configured to toggle between a first inductance state and a second inductance state in response to a first control bit value, and a plurality of variable capacitor elements coupled to the variable inductor element and configured to toggle between a first capacitance state and a second capacitance state in response to a second control bit value. The variable inductor element and the variable capacitor elements collectively produce a first phase shift using the first inductance and capacitance states, and collectively produce a second phase shift using the second inductance and capacitance states, where a target phase shift is produced from a difference between the first and second phase shifts. Other examples disclosed herein relate to an antenna array and a method of phase shifting with switched coupled inductance.