An equal 18‐way low‐profile power divider for sparse antenna arrays using amplitude equalization network

Abstract

AbstractAn equal 18‐way power divider, using a half‐air‐filled stripline technique, is presented in this letter. An amplitude equalization network is designed to mitigate the amplitude imbalance of the multiplexed planar/quasi‐planar power‐division network. Optimized transmission paths are obtained based on a combination of 1‐6‐3 power division and a multilayer structure, which effectively reducing transmission losses. To validate the design, this power divider, which is used to feed a sparse antenna array, is designed, optimized, fabricated, and measured. The measured return loss was better than 18 dB, and the measured insertion loss was better than 1.55 dB over the range 7–10 GHz. The amplitude imbalance is better than 0.4 dB, and the phase imbalance is better than 7.3°. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results.