Optimum design of a novel N-way planar power divider/combiner with impedance matching

Abstract

A novel N-way planar power divider/combiner with arbitrary power division/combination ratios incorporating impedance matching among the ports is introduced, which is configured as the combination of Wilkinson and Bagley power dividers and possesses the advantages of both structures and avoids their shortcomings. This device performs as a single-layer planar Bagley power divider, which divides the input power among an arbitrary number of output ports and vice versa. It also acts as a Wilkinson power divider, which provides impedance matching among its input/output ports and exhibits high isolation among its output ports. The bandwidth of the proposed divider is much broader than that of the simple Wilkinson power divider. An equivalent circuit model is derived for the proposed N-section divider–combiner configuration, which is used for its design. Two prototype models are designed, fabricated and measured for the verification of the method.