Advances in semiconductor devices have allowed researchers to explore temporal modulation as a means to achieve nonreciprocity. This is of practical importance, since nonreciprocity is often desired in electronic systems that are incompatible with the integration of magnetic materials. Recently, N-path networks, a class of electronic systems, whose behavior was first introduced in the 1950s, have been shown to allow nonreciprocity. An analysis technique was introduced by Krishnaswamy et al. in 2016 to analytically characterize an N-path network, used in the implementation of a microwave circulator. In general, the technique enables the analysis of N-path networks that consist of first-order circuits. However, the extension of the technique to N-path networks with higher-order internal circuits is unclear. Meanwhile, commercial harmonic balance solvers often fail to converge when the excitation frequency is close to the frequency of modulation. In this article, we develop an efficient, semianalytical technique for analyzing N-path networks. The benefits of the analysis technique presented are that it converges for all excitation frequencies, the simulation time is independent of the number, N, of paths, and it can be used to simulate the performance of complicated, higher-order internal networks.

中文翻译：

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使用 Floquet 散射矩阵方法进行加速 N 路径网络分析


半导体器件的进步使研究人员能够探索时间调制作为实现非互易性的一种手段。这具有实际重要性，因为在与磁性材料的集成不兼容的电子系统中通常需要非互易性。最近，N 路径网络（一类电子系统，其行为于 20 世纪 50 年代首次引入）已被证明允许非互易性。 Krishnaswamy 等人引入了一种分析技术。 2016 年，对用于实现微波循环器的 N 路径网络进行分析表征。一般来说，该技术可以分析由一阶电路组成的 N 路径网络。然而，将该技术扩展到具有高阶内部电路的 N 路径网络尚不清楚。同时，当激励频率接近调制频率时，商业谐波平衡求解器通常无法收敛。在本文中，我们开发了一种高效的半解析技术来分析 N 路径网络。所提出的分析技术的优点是它对所有激励频率都收敛，仿真时间与路径数量 N 无关，并且可用于仿真复杂的高阶内部网络的性能。