N-Way Reconfigurable Power Divider With Parallel Reconfigurable-Characteristic-Impedance Transformation Lines

Abstract

An <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -way reconfigurable Power Divider (PD) based on parallel reconfigurable-characteristic-impedance transformation lines is proposed in this article. The characteristic impedance of the transmission lines in the power division network is constant, making it suitable for realizing a multiway reconfigurable PD. The reconfigurable parallel characteristic impedance transformation lines are composed of coplanar waveguides and the p-i-n diodes. Reconfigurable star isolation networks with zero-phase transmission lines are used to improve isolation. By making the p-i-n diodes under different bias conditions, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{N} - 1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> states of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$ </tex-math></inline-formula> transmission modes can be realized. For verification, a six-way simplified reconfigurable PD is designed and fabricated; 21 states of 6 transmission modes of the PD are realized. The measured insertion losses of the six-way reconfigurable PD in six transmission modes are less than 1.89 dB. The measured isolations between transmission ports and isolation ports are greater than 30.3, 32.8, 33.3, and 35 dB, while in those modes, the isolations between the input port and isolation ports are greater than 27.1, 29.1, 29.8, and 32.4 dB. The current study is restricted to the case of PDs with equal power-division action to be more specific.