Dual-band Power Divider Research Articles

Dual-Band Large-Frequency Ratio Power Divider Using Mode Composite Transmission Line for 5G Communication Systems

In this paper, a novel kind of mode composite transmission line (MC-TL) is proposed, and a dual-band power divider with a large frequency ratio using this novel MC-TL for 5G communication systems was developed. The proposed MC-TL was developed using spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) and a corrugated substrate-integrated waveguide (CSIW) transmission line, which supports both a surface plasmon mode and TE10 mode, independently. The surface plasmon mode operates in the grooves of the surface metal layer, while the TE10 mode works in the substrate between two metal layers. These two parts can transmit different modes at independent frequencies. This structure can be used in dual-band transmission lines with a high frequency ratio. The characteristics and design of the MC-TL (SSPPs and CSIW) are analyzed and illustrated. The MC-TL was fabricated and measured to demonstrate its performance. Moreover, based on the proposed MC-TL, a dual-band power divider with a large frequency ratio (operating at 3 GHz and 28 GHz simultaneously) was also designed and fabricated. It can cover the frequency of a fifth-generation communication system perfectly. The measured outcomes align closely with the simulated results, demonstrating robust agreement and showcasing excellent transmission capabilities.

A Novel Dual-Band Power Divider With Controllable Power Ratio and Phase Difference

A Novel Dual-Band Power Divider With Controllable Power Ratio and Phase Difference

An Effective Design Scheme of Single- and Dual-Band Power Dividers for Frequency-Dependent Port Terminations

Flexible design schemes for single- and dual-band power dividers terminated in arbitrary port impedances are proposed in this paper. The proposed architecture provides the inherent impedance transformation to real, complex, and frequency-dependent complex impedances at the input and output port terminations. Furthermore, the proposed design is supported by flexible design procedures with independent design variables to enhance rapid prototyping in microstrip technology. It is demonstrated that the presence of independent design variables enhances the design flexibility for varied ranges of frequency and impedance transformation ratios. Two different prototypes, one each demonstrating single- and dual-band performances, are developed to validate the performance of the reported designs with real and frequency-dependent complex port impedances. The prototypes exhibit excellent agreements between the simulated and measured results. The single-band impedance transforming power divider (ITPD) possesses a low-amplitude imbalance of 0.5 dB, a phase imbalance of less than ±0.5∘, and an isolation of −26 dB at the design frequency of 5.8 GHz. The dual-band prototype also exhibits a low-amplitude imbalance of 0.5 dB and a phase imbalance of less than ±0.5∘ at both the design frequencies of 1 GHz and 2.6 GHz. The isolation is also better than −30 dB at both design frequencies. It is thus shown that the overall performance advances the state of the art in the design schemes of ITPDs.

A novel metamaterial power divider optimized by artificial neural network

An approach for enhancing the operating bandwidth of the classic dual-band power divider (PD) is proposed by using the metamaterial (MTM) units. To overcome the limitation of the EM simulation and improve the design efficiency, we propose an artificial neural network (ANN) approach that enables inverse prediction of the MTM-PD geometry from its desired physical response. In the ANN approach, the convolutional neural network and the long short-term memory neural network are combined to learn the relationship between the geometric of the proposed MTM-PD and its corresponding physical responses and then accurately predict the geometric parameters of MTM-PD. The predicted MTM-PD includes the low frequency (LF) band of 1.90–2.43 GHz and the high frequency (HF) band of 4.61–5.25 GHz. Compared to the classic dual-band PD, the bandwidth of the LF band has been enhanced by five times. The measured results confirm that the predicted MTM-PD has both the LF band and HF band with a bandwidth of 0.5 GHz, verifying the reliability of our ANN approach. It demonstrates the potential of using ANN for designing microwave devices and solving electromagnetic problems.

Synthesis Design of Dual-Band Filtering Power Dividers Based on E-Shape Resonators

In this study, a comprehensive design of dual-band filtering power dividers (FPDs) with arbitrary phase distribution is presented. With a series of analytical equations for the direct synthesis design, the proposed method shows its great capacity of designing dual-band FPDs with any pre-specified responses, arbitrary phase distribution, and high isolation. To verify this design method, a demonstrated dual-band FPD with 90° phase differences between two outputs based on E-shape resonators has been implemented. The emulational results coincide with the measured results well, showing the feasibility of the proposed method.

Highly Miniaturized Dual-band Power Divider based on HMSIW for 5G/ WLAN Applications

A highly compact dual-band power divider (PD) based on the HMSIW structure is investigated in this paper. The dual-band operation is achieved by incorporating an inner modified circular complementary split-ring resonator (MC-CSRR) and outer circular CSRR on the top metal layer of HMSIW. The operating frequency of the PD decreases due to evanescent mode propagation. This assists in miniaturizing the structure apart from the 50% size reduction offered by the HMSIW. By asymmetric placement of two output ports of a PD, it is possible to achieve an unequal PD with an arbitrary power division ratio. To exhibit the proposed idea, two dual-band PD prototypes, one with equal power division and the other with unequal power division are designed, fabricated and experimentally verified. The PD occupies a compact size of 0.128 λg× 0.122 λg, where λg being the guided wavelength at the first operating frequency. The proposed PD with advantages of lower insertion loss, better return loss, minimum amplitude and phase imbalance between the output ports is beneficial for 5G FR1 n78 (3.3- 3.8 GHz) and WLAN (5.17 GHz) communications.

A dual-band power divider based on higher-order modes of spoof surface plasmon polaritons

In this paper, a dual-band power divider is presented based on the propagation of the higher-order modes of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs). A hollow rectangular groove is introduced as a unit cell, and its dispersion characteristics for higher modes and the fundamental mode are examined. Compared with the traditional rectangular groove unit cell, the proposed unit cell provides extreme electromagnetic wave confinement for higher-order modes. In addition, the second and fourth modes are even and can be excited by a coplanar waveguide. By utilizing the even modes of the proposed unit cell, a dual-band transmission line and a dual-band power divider are designed so that the operating bands can be controlled by the inner and outer depth of the grooves. The dual-band SSPP transmission line and the dual-band power divider are manufactured and tested to validate the design procedure. Finally, the measurement results show good agreement with the simulations, demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the design procedure.

Design and experimental verification of compact dual-band SIW power dividers with arbitrary power division

Abstract This paper communicates the design and experimental validation of dual-band SIW power dividers (single-stage and double-stage) with arbitrary power division. The dual-band power dividers are developed for WiMAX (3.5 GHz) and WLAN (5 GHz) applications. The proposed SIW power dividers are realized by a rectangular cavity, two rows of metallic-vias and one pair of unequal complementary split-ring resonators (CSRRs). Two resonating frequencies are produced below the waveguide cut-off frequency due to the unequal CSRRs etched-out on the top-surface of the cavity, which results in size reduction. To realize arbitrary power division, two output-ports are configured asymmetric with respect to input-port. The power division is varied by altering the distance between the two output-ports. Finally, two compact dual-frequency power dividers (single-stage and double-stage) working at 3.5 and 5 GHz are designed and validated through fabrication and measurement. The fabricated prototype exhibits dual-band operation, compact size (0.027 λ g 2 ${\lambda }_{g}^{2}$ ), good magnitude imbalance, return loss and isolation.

A C-Band MEMS Frequency Discriminator With High Sensitivity and Linearity

This letter reports a C-band MEMS frequency discriminator with high sensitivity and linearity. The structure of the proposed discriminator is fabricated using GaAs Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology. The frequency discriminator consists of one dual-band power divider, one dual-band power combiner, one delay-line and the final MEMS thermoelectric power sensor. The purpose of the designed structure is to provide an ultra-wide working frequency band and simultaneously improve sensitivity and linearity. Both on-chip detector and packaged one are tested. S-parameter measurement illustrates good impedance matching covering 4–8 GHz. The frequency sensitivities of on-chip detector are $0.52~\mu \text{V}$ /MHz @ 17 dBm, $0.85~\mu \text{V}$ /MHz @ 20 dBm and $1.66~\mu \text{V}$ /MHz @ 23 dBm, while sensitivities of the packaged one are $0.43~\mu \text{V}$ /MHz @ 17 dBm, $0.84~\mu $ V/MHz @ 20 dBm and $1.48~\mu \text{V}$ /MHz @ 23 dBm, respectively. The experiment of response time shows that the rise time and fall time of on-chip detector are about $670~\mu \text{s}$ and $550~\mu \text{s}$ , while the corresponding times of the packaged one are about $980~\mu \text{s}$ and $730~\mu \text{s}$ .

Design method of Dual-Band Wilkinson power divider with designable length and high design freedom

A new theory of designing dual-band power divider (PD) based on Wilkinson structure is presented in this paper. Because of the utilization of coupled lines, the proposed PD is with a high design freedom that many transmission line (TL) combinations can be used for a fixed frequency ratio k (ƒ2/ƒ1). Meanwhile, since the lengths of the conventional coupled lines used are extremely long, the slow-wave structure is introduced, which configuration results in a property of designable length and compact size because of the improved space efficiency. After analysing the even- and odd-mode circuits, precise design formulas are derived and further verified for the frequency ratio from 1.5 to 6.0 using NI AWR simulator under the consideration of the largest realizable TL impedance as 128 Ω. For verification, two PDs with the same centre frequency of 1.0 GHz and 4.0 GHz but different TL configurations are designed based on the proposed design theory. According to the experimental results, both fabricated PDs have good performances as expected, such as low in-band insertion loss (S21), wide isolation, and relatively better out-of-band rejection than majority of previous studies that the maximum S21 between the two passbands is larger than 6 dB, while previous studies are around 4 dB.

Reduced-Cost Microwave Design Closure by Multi-Resolution EM Simulations and Knowledge-Based Model Management

Parameter adjustment through numerical optimization has become a commonplace of contemporary microwave engineering. Although circuit theory methods are ubiquitous in the development of microwave components, the initial designs obtained with such tools have to be further tuned to improve the system performance. This is particularly pertinent to miniaturized structures, where the cross-coupling effects cannot be adequately accounted for using equivalent networks. For the sake of reliability, design closure is normally performed using full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation models, which entails considerable computational expenses, often impractically excessive. Available mitigation techniques include acceleration of the conventional (e.g., gradient-based) routines using adjoint sensitivities or sparse sensitivity updates, surrogate-assisted and machine learning algorithms, the latter often combined with nature-inspired procedures. Another alternative is the employment of variable-fidelity simulations (e.g., space mapping, co-kriging), which is most often limited to two levels of accuracy (coarse/fine). This work discusses an EM model management approach coupled with trust-region gradient-based routine, which exploits problem-specific knowledge for continuous (multi-level) modification of the discretization density of the microwave structure at hand in the course of the optimization run. The optimization process is launched at the lowest discretization level, thereby allowing for low-cost exploitation of the knowledge about the device under study. Subsequently, based on the convergence indicators, the model fidelity is gradually increased to ensure reliability. The simulation fidelity selection is governed by the algorithm convergence indicators. Computational speedup (i.e., reduction in the number of EM simulations required by the optimization process to converge) is achieved by maintaining low resolution in the initial stages of the optimization run, whereas design quality is secured by eventually switching to the high-fidelity model when close to concluding the process. Numerical verification is carried out using two microstrip circuits, a dual-band power divider and a dual-band branch-line coupler, with the average savings of almost sixty percent when compared to single-fidelity optimization.

Bandwidth Improvement of Conventional Dual-Band Power Divider Using Physical Port Separation Structure

This paper presents the bandwidth improvement for dual-band power divider using complex isolation network while maintaining physical port separation. The conventional port-extended power dividers suffered from narrow system bandwidth. A rigorous analysis revealed that such problem was mainly due to the limited impedance bandwidth caused by the odd-mode bisected network. Moreover, the isolation bandwidth provided by the parallel L-C topology in the conventional approach was also limited. To overcome such technical issues, a serial L-C topology was proposed. Derivations of the impedance bandwidth through even- and odd-mode network analysis have been performed and optimal system bandwidth could be achieved when the reflection coefficients of the corresponding bisected networks exhibited minimum frequency dependence. Based on the theoretical analysis, simultaneous achievement of bandwidth broadening, size compactness, and physical port extension at both frequencies is possible with optimum combinations of the design parameters. The experimental results evidenced that other than the improvement in system bandwidth, the fabricated prototype featured low extra insertion loss, good isolation across the bands, and compactness in size while maintaining physical separation between the split ports compared with previously published works.

A High-Frequency/Power Ratio Wilkinson Power Divider Based on Identical/Non-Identical Multi-T-Sections With Short-Circuited Stubs

In this article, a systematic procedure is presented for the design of a dual-band unequal-split Wilkinson power divider (WPD) with high frequency and power division ratios. The design methodology is based on replacing the impractical high-impedance transmission line in the conventional divider with cascaded T-section structures with short-circuited stubs. The proposed methodology is simple and adopts distributed elements without reactive components to achieve a large power division ratio. The use of short-circuited stubs allows for circuit miniaturization in comparison to counterpart open-stub techniques. Furthermore, a high frequency ratio is obtained through optimizing the electrical and physical parameters of the T-sections based on a transmission lines theory framework as demonstrated in a simulated and measured prototype. To validate the proposed procedure, two WPD prototypes operating at 1/2.7 GHz and 1/4.4 GHz with a 1:10 power division ratio are simulated and measured. The theoretical response, supported by electromagnetic simulations and measurements, justifies the design concept.

A Dual-Band Coupled Line Power Divider Using SISL Technology

A coupled-line based dual-band power divider using substrate integrated suspended line (SISL) for WLAN application is proposed in this brief. Two-section cascaded coupled line in each output path is used for dual-band response. One coupled line loaded at the input port is to improve the frequency selectivity. Two lumped resistors placed between two pairs of the two-section coupled line are used for isolation enhancement. Multi-layer SISL structure is introduced to realize tight broadside coupling, as well as for low loss, miniaturization and self-packaging. To further reduce the dielectric loss, the suspended substrate is cut out in specific pattern. The proposed dual-band power divider (DBPD) is analyzed using the even- /odd- mode method, the S-parameters are derived, and the design procedure is exhibited. For verification, a DBPD prototype working at 2.45 / 5.13 GHz is implemented. The measured results agree well with the simulated ones. The two passbands are from 1.7 GHz to 3.1 GHz and from 4.6 GHz to 5.5 GHz, with fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 58.3% and 17.8%, respectively. The measured return loss and isolation are both better than 15 dB in both passbands.

Dual-frequency Wilkinson power divider with ±45° phase shifts at the two bands

ABSTRACTA new Wilkinson power divider with ±45° phase shifts at two bands for dual-frequency operation is studied in this paper. Studies show that the phase shift can be controlled by the characteristic impedances of transmission lines of a π-shaped network, as compared with the conventional case. Moreover, by optimally determining the characteristic impedances, flat phase responses, thus widened bandwidths, can be achieved at the two bands. Analysis of the π-shaped network is performed and corresponding design considerations are given. Demonstration on a 2.4/5.2-GHz dual-band power divider with, respectively, +45° and – 45° phase shifts at the two bands verifies the analyses well.

X-Band Monolithic Microwave Integrated Detector Based on MEMS Thermoelectric Power Sensor

This letter reports an X-band monolithic microwave integrated detector based on MEMS thermoelectric power sensor. It is fabricated by the GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology. The novelty of the proposed device is that it can achieve the integrated detection of the microwave signal (power, frequency, and phase) in a broad frequency bandwidth. The proposed integrated detector consists of three parts: power detection/AM demodulation; frequency detection; and phase detection, which are finally integrated on a single chip by several dual-band power dividers. In this letter, the designed dual-band power dividers have excellent impedance matching properties on X-band (8–12 GHz). The parameters to be tested are all converted into output thermal voltages by the terminated thermoelectric power sensors. Measurement results show good return loss and isolation on X-band. Power detection, AM demodulation, frequency detection, and phase detection have all been tested effectively.

Active Dual-Band Power Divider and Active Quad-Plexer Based on Traveling Wave Amplification and D-CRLH Transmission Line

A travelling wave structure with two novel functionalities is presented in this brief. The structure benefits from the nonlinear dispersion relation of dual-composite right/left-handed (D-CRLH) transmission line (TL). It consists of two distributed amplifiers (DAs) that have one common gate line and two drain lines. The conventional microstrip TL is used for gate line while the D-CRLH unit cells (UCs) are used to make the drain TLs. When the operating frequencies of D-CRLH TLs of both drain lines are the same, the structure acts as a directional dual-band active power divider (PD). The RF input signal depending on the input signal frequency, is divided into two forward or reverse output ports after amplification. If the D-CRLH TLs have different operating frequencies with no common band, the structure can act as an active quad-plexer or directional quad band amplifier. In this situation, four amplified signals with different frequency bands can be extracted from four different physical output ports. Analysis and design procedure of the structure is provided and a fabricated prototype is measured which shows a good agreement between the simulated results and the measurement results.

A novel SIW based dual‐band power divider using double‐circular complementary split ring resonators

AbstractThis article presents a novel design of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) dual‐band power divider loaded with double‐circular complementary split‐ring resonators (CSRRs). The double‐circular CSRRs are etched on the top layer of the proposed structure to obtain the dual‐band characteristic. The proposed geometry provides a passband frequency below the cut‐off frequency of the SIW due to the electric dipole nature of the CSRRs. By changing the dimensions of the CSRRs, various passband characteristics are studied. To validate the design idea, a compact dual band power divider with equal power division operating at 8.4 and 11.7 GHz is designed, fabricated, and tested. A good steadiness is found between simulated and tested results. The proposed idea provides features of compact size, dual‐band operation, and good isolation. The size of the fabricated prototype excluding microstrip transition is 0.473λ g × 0.284λ g, where λ g is the guided wave length at the center frequency of first band.

An unequal dual-band power divider with composite left/right-handed transmission lines

An unequal dual-band power divider with composite left/right-handed transmission lines

A SiGe BiCMOS Concurrent K/V Dual-Band 16-Way Power Divider and Combiner

A new dual-band 16-way power divider and combiner on a 0.18- ${\mu }\text{m}$ SiGe BiCMOS process that works concurrently over 18–26 GHz (K-band) and 57–64 GHz (V-band) is presented. The 16-way K/V dual-band power divider integrates a two-way K/V dual-band Wilkinson-based power divider with a high-pass filter and multiple broad-band two-way lumped-element and transmission-line Wilkinson power dividers. The two-way dual-band power divider is designed by employing a slow-wave transmission line and two shunt-connected series LC resonators in each arm, leading to miniaturization and low loss with dual-band transmission in K- and V-band, decent return losses, and good isolation of larger than 20 dB over the dual-band. The developed 16-way K/V dual-band power divider possesses good performance over the dual-band. Specifically, it achieves measured insertion losses of 18.4 and 21 dB at 24 and 60 GHz, respectively, with good return losses. Furthermore, it also exhibits measured isolation larger than 20.1 and 17.7 dB between any two output ports at 24 and 60 GHz, respectively.