Implement Beamforming at 2.6 GHz

I am trying to implement a multiple antenna (16 channels) beamforming
system with 2.6GHz carrier freq.  To capture the phase difference between
channels, I need to downconvert the 2.6GHz RF to complex baseband using
some I/Q mixers.  I found out (from Marki) that a 2.6GHz I/Q mixer costs
over $150, which is way above my budget limit... I wonder if there is any
trick to avoid having mulitple mixers for such case?

CJLam

clam wrote:
> I am trying to implement a multiple antenna (16 channels) beamforming
> system with 2.6GHz carrier freq.  To capture the phase difference between
> channels, I need to downconvert the 2.6GHz RF to complex baseband using
> some I/Q mixers.  I found out (from Marki) that a 2.6GHz I/Q mixer costs
> over $150, which is way above my budget limit... I wonder if there is any
> trick to avoid having mulitple mixers for such case?

Check these:

http://www.analog.com/en/prod/0,2877,ADL5350,00.html
http://www.linear.com/pc/downloadDocument.do?navId=D7908
http://www.minicircuits.com/mixer.shtml

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
�����������������������������������������������������������������������