Patent ID: 8542078

Claim:
An impedance matching network, comprising a signal path comprising an input and an output; an impedance matching circuit electrically connected within the signal path, the impedance matching circuit comprising a first tunable reactance element and a second tunable reactance element; a mismatch sensing element embedded in the signal path; and a control-network configured to identify a mismatch of a signal propagating in the signal path according to the mismatch sensing element and to tune the first and second tunable reactance elements dependent on the identified mismatch; wherein the tuneable reactance elements are adapted such that tuning the first reactance elements mainly varies a real component of an impedance of the impedance matching circuit and tuning the second reactance elements mainly varies an imaginary component of the impedance matching circuit; wherein the impedance matching network comprises an n-section-pi-like circuit that comprises a serial section between two parallel branches, where n is an integer number greater than zero, and wherein each section comprises as reactance elements an inductive element in the serial section and a capacitive element in each parallel branch; and wherein m reactance elements are tunable, wherein i reactance elements including the first tunable reactance element are tuned differentially, and wherein j reactance elements including the second tunable reactance element are tuned differentially together with the second tunable reactance element, where m, i, and j are integer numbers with 2<m≦2n+1, i+j=m, i≧1 and j≧1.