Wilkinson Power Divider Research Articles

On the lossy character of Y-branches and their analogy to Wilkinson power dividers

Y-branches are commonly used devices for power splitting and combining in various technological applications. Despite their widespread use, research on their design and analysis has been mostly focused on their characterization based on reflection and transmission when operating as power dividers, leaving aside an exhaustive consideration of all their possible modes of operation. Also, it has not been fully recognized that these devices have intrinsic losses. If these losses are not properly managed, they can negatively impact the network, but also open the door to new opportunities. In this context, this paper examines Y-bifurcation properties and their connection to Wilkinson’s power dividers. Additionally, through numerical analysis, we demonstrate the possibility of integrating these devices into more complex optical networks. We use them as components in generalized power dividers and analog optical computational systems designed to filter out the maximum common phase component and avoid backward reflections for any input signal.

Size Reduction of Wilkinson Power Divider using a Combination of Parallel Coupled Lines and Defective Microstrip Structures

Size Reduction of Wilkinson Power Divider using a Combination of Parallel Coupled Lines and Defective Microstrip Structures

Reconfigurable dielectric resonator antenna and array with frequency and polarization flexibility

To implement frequency and polarization hybrid reconfiguration, a 4 × 4 array has been investigated. The radiation elements of the antenna array consist of cylindrical dielectric resonators, Wilkinson power divider, PIN diode, and dielectric substrate. The PIN diode controls the states of each branch in the Wilkinson power divider to achieve frequency and polarization reconfigurability. To verify the feasibility of the design, a fabricated sample of the proposed antenna array has been measured. The results demonstrate that the antenna array can be switched freely between its operating frequencies and polarizations. It operates within a bandwidth of 1.93 to 4.6 GHz for frequency reconfiguration, and three common polarization states—linear polarization, left-handed circular polarization, and right-handed circular polarization—can be continuously tuned from 2.96 to 3.39 GHz.

Compact Circularly Polarized Shared Aperture Antenna with Wide Axial Ratio Bandwidth for NavIC Receiver

A novel probe fed right hand circularly polarized (RHCP) shared aperture antenna with concentric configuration is designed for L5 and S-bands NavIC receiver application. The structure consists of a square loop-type patch antenna for the L5 band, serves as the top radiator, and a concentrically truncated corner patch antenna for the S-band is embedded in the non-radiating portion of the L5 band antenna. The square loop is orthogonally fed with electromagnetically coupled strips with equal power and quadrature phased shift through symmetric vias. These vias are connected to the feeding network, which consists of a Wilkinson power divider that is designed on opposite sides of the ground to mitigate spurious radiations. Furthermore, the S-band antenna, placed inside the L5 band substrate, achieves CP by corner truncation. This technique increases the aperture reuse efficiency and improves the isolation between both radiators. The overall profile of the antenna is 75×75×8mm3 and exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth of 25.5% for the L5 band and 6.5% for the S-band, with an isolation of better than 20dB for both bands. The axial ratio bandwidth achieved is 25.5% and 4.1% for the L5 and S bands, respectively, with boresight gain of 3.57 dBiC and 4.8 dBiC in the L5 band and S-band, respectively. The proposed antenna is based on a shared aperture technique, which has different feeding ports for both bands; thus, it improves the G/T performance and noise figure of the overall system. These characteristics make the proposed antenna suitable for use in NavIC application.

Theoretical design and implementation of equal and unequal split ultra-wide band Wilkinson power divider with Chebyshev impedance transform

Abstract In this study, we designed multi-section UWB Wilkinson power dividers for both equal and unequal power divider. The key innovation is successfully matching these power dividers using the Chebyshev method. The proposed method achieves very low insertion losses and high transmission coefficients across the ports. For the three-section equal power divider, Chebyshev polynomials were used to model the reflection coefficient, and the characteristic impedance for each section was calculated symmetrically. The design achieved a fractional bandwidth of 106% for a 20 dB return loss, with an insertion loss of 0.3 dB. For unequal multi-section dividers, power division ratios of 1.5:1 and 2:1 were chosen. Theoretical microwave calculations were used to determine the input and output transmission line impedances. Chebyshev approximation was then applied to design the three-section unequal power dividers. The return losses for these unequal dividers were measured at 17 dB and 15 dB, with fractional bandwidths of 120% and 126%. Both circuits had insertion losses of 0.25 dB. The consistent results from analytical calculations, simulations, and measurements confirm the effectiveness of the Chebyshev method for both equal and unequal power division.

Two CMOS Wilkinson Power Dividers Using High Slow-Wave and Low-Loss Transmission Lines.

This work presents two Wilkinson power dividers (WPDs) using multi-layer pseudo coplanar waveguide (PCPW) structures. The PCPW-based WPDs were designed, implemented, and verified in a standard 180 nm CMOS process. The proposed PCPW features high slow-wave and low-loss performances compared to other common transmission lines. The two WPDs are based on the same PCPW structure parameters in terms of line width, spacing, and used metal layers. One WPD was realized in a straight PCPW-based layout, and the other WPD was realized in a meandered PCPW-based layout. Both the two WPDs worked up to V-band frequencies, as expected, which also demonstrates that the PCPW guiding structure is less susceptible to the effects of meanderings on the propagation constant and characteristic impedance. The meandered design shows that the measured insertion losses were about 5.1 dB, and its return losses were better than 17.5 dB at 60 GHz. In addition, its isolation, amplitude imbalance, and phase imbalance were 18.5 dB, 0.03 dB, and 0.4°, respectively. The core area was merely 0.2 mm × 0.23 mm, or 1.8 × 10-3λo2.

Compact circular Wilkinson power divider for wireless applications

Abstract This manuscript introduces an innovative 1-to-4 modified Wilkinson power divider designed to operate at a frequency of 3.5 GHz. The configuration of the proposed divider is fabricated on Rogers RT/Duroid 5,880, featuring a relative permittivity of 2.2 and a thickness of 0.565 mm, respectively. The circular shape employed in the design minimises size and enhances power handling capability. To achieve a 4-way power division with equal power distribution at each output port, a 1:2 power divider at 3.5 GHz is cascaded. Furthermore, we present and analyse a 1:4 WPD implemented on a microstrip line utilised as a power supply for measuring a four-port MIMO antenna. This divider exhibits excellent impedance matching at all ports and consistent phase and amplitude characteristics between the output ports. The performance metrics of the presented divider, as detailed in both experimental and simulated results, include a return loss of 27.92 dB (1:2) and 29 dB (1:4), isolation of 33.046 dB (1:2) and 35.56 dB (1:4) and insertion loss of 3.17 dB (1:2) and 6.6 dB (1:4) respectively. These proposed power dividers hold potential applications in microwave and communication systems, mainly where power division is imperative with minimal signal loss and robust impedance matching.

Design of a microstrip Wilkinson power divider using a low pass filter with the particle swarm optimization algorithm

In this paper, a microstrip Wilkinson power divider (MWPD) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is designed, simulated, and fabricated using novel resonators. In addition, attenuators and open-ended stubs are incorporated to generate a broad cut-off band and reduce unwanted harmonics. The proposed power divider has a central frequency of 1 GHz. The performance of each used resonator is analyzed based on lumped-element circuit models.The L and C parameters of the equivalent circuit of the used resonators are predicted and optimized with the assistance of the PSO method. The subsequent phase was the fabrication of the proposed MWPD, after which its performance was evaluated in the light of the results obtained from the simulation. It was discovered that there was a high degree of concordance between the two. On the other hand, the fabricated circuit has several benefits, including a suitable S12 of − 3.15 dB, a high return loss of less than − 24 dB at the operating frequency, a compact size of 0.058 λg\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\varvec{\\lambda}}_{{\\varvec{g}}}$$\\end{document} × 0.064 λg\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\varvec{\\lambda}}_{{\\varvec{g}}}$$\\end{document}, and the ability to remove undesired harmonics. The results show a high level of suppression of the unwanted harmonics (up to the 16th harmonic) and a great responsiveness in the passband, while having very low ripple. As a result, the proposed circuit may be used in a wide variety of electronic devices, such as radar transmitter and receiver circuits, and many other high-frequency systems.

A novel design of a Wilkinson power divider based on the circular-shape resonator

Abstract This paper describes the general properties of power dividers, in particular matching and isolation. This original works relates to three different divider structures based on the circular-shaped resonator. These prototypes resemble the Wilkinson power divider due to their geometric configuration. These power dividers provide very good isolation between their output ports of −51.26 dB. In fact, the originality of these new structures stems from the idea of minimizing the size of this classic power divider. The required design parameters for the three proposed dividers came from a simulation study using the Ansoft HFSS tool in addition to a design theory. The experimental prototypes are well presented and operate at 2.4 GHz. They demonstrate excellent performance in adaptation, which refers to impedance matching, ensuring consistent impedance at the component terminations. Additionally, they exhibit low insertion losses and high isolation at 2.4 GHz. The measurement results agree well with those of the simulation. The benefits demonstrated by this study are significant, justifying the preference for these components.

Design and Implementation of a Microstrip Six-Port Reflectometer (SPR) with Enhanced Bandwidth

A compact microstrip six-port reflectometer (SPR) with extended bandwidth is proposed in this paper. The design is based on using 16-dB multi-section coupled line directional couplers and a multi-section 3-dB Wilkinson power divider operating from 1 to 6 GHz. The proposed SPR employs only two calibration standards: a matched load and an open load. As compared to other dielectric substrates, fabricating the proposed SPR involves using a low-cost (FR4) substrate. A novel algorithm is also proposed to estimate the complex reflection coefficient over the frequency ranges at which the standard performance of the circuit components is not fully satisfied. The new algorithm is based on the circles’ intersection points, which have been derived from basic SPR equations, to estimate the complex reflection coefficient. To validate the SPR performance, a multiband microstrip patch antenna has been measured and the resulted reflection coefficient is compared with those obtained using a vector network analyzer (VNA). Results show that the proposed SPR provides a good estimation of the complex reflection coefficient within the frequency range of 1 GHz to 8 GHz. Owing to its compact size and ease of fabrication, the proposed reflectometer is suitable for various microwave broadband applications.

Design of a Wilkinson Power Divider with Harmonic Suppression for Mobile Application

This paper presents a Wilkinson Power Divider (WPD) operating at 6 GHz capable of suppressing unwanted harmonics up to the 3rd harmonic. The design formulas are analysed and presented in detail. Power dividers are widely used in microwave circuit structures. Indeed, this paper outlines the design and simulation of a 1:1 power divider for mobile applications using CST Studio Suite.

Microwave metamaterial microstrip line with enhanced refractive index and its application to compact a Wilkinson power divider

A new microwave metamaterial microstrip line (meta-MSL) is studied by integrating planar mushroom metamaterial structures into a conventional MSL. The meta-MSL is featured with an enhanced effective refractive index than the conventional, extracted from numerical demonstrations using the S-parameter method. The extraordinarily increased refractive index is found to be associated with weak dispersion and low dissipation loss, making the meta-MSL particularly beneficial to compact a microwave Wilkinson power divider (WPD). One metamaterial WPD (meta-WPD) is built using new meta-MSLs. Full-wave numerical calculations reveal that the new meta-WPD has low insertion losses, low reflections, and high isolations between the output ports, working as a good substitute for the conventional WPD. However, the new meta-WPD is exceptional in its small size, which is particularly useful in mobile and wireless applications where compact microwave components are in critical demand.

Optically Transparent Microwave Wilkinson Power Divider With Heterogeneous Integration

Optically Transparent Microwave Wilkinson Power Divider With Heterogeneous Integration

Compact Ultra-Wideband Wilkinson Power Divider in Parallel Stripline with Modified Isolation Branches.

An efficient design method for a compact and ultra-wideband multi-stage Wilkinson power divider in a parallel stripline (PSL) is proposed. To enhance the frequency bandwidth of the proposed power divider while reducing its size, the isolation branch is modified; that is, two capacitors are connected to both sides of a resistor at each isolation branch. For an efficient design process, the PSL power divider is equivalently represented by two microstrip power dividers, and the design equations are derived. Based on the design equations, an in-house algorithm is utilized to optimally determine the design parameters, including the line impedance, resistance, and capacitance of each stage. For example, a three-stage PSL power divider is designed with three λ/4 transmission lines at a base frequency of 5 GHz. To verify the accuracy of the design procedure, 3D EM simulations and measurements are performed, and the results show good agreement. Compared with the conventional three-stage Wilkinson power divider, the proposed PSL power divider achieves a wider frequency bandwidth of 1.16 to 6.51 GHz (139.5%) and a 23% shorter transmission line length of 207°, while exhibiting an insertion loss of 0.7 to 1.4 dB.

An ultra-wideband power amplifier designed through a bandwidth expansion strategy

Abstract A bandwidth expansion strategy for ultra-wideband power amplifiers (PAs) is presented in this letter by adopting a parallel impedance matching architecture. This design strategy can effectively reduce the impedance conversion ratio between the load and the target impedance of the PA, thereby providing a feasible solution for broadband impedance matching. Subsequently, a commercially available 10 W gallium nitride device and a two-stage Wilkinson power divider network are combined to achieve the verification of the proposed theory. The results of the measurement show that within the target frequency band of 0.9–3.9 GHz, 58.5–71.2% of the drain efficiency and 9.1–12 dB of gain can be achieved with a saturated output power of 39.1–42 dBm.

Design and development of efficient and compact 20 kW 325MHz solid-state amplifier for superconducting accelerator applications.

An efficient and compact, 20 kW solid-state power amplifier (SSA) at 325MHz has been designed and developed in-house, using single stage combining. It comprises of 24 nos. of 1 kW power amplifier (PA) modules, a 24-way Wilkinson power combiner and divider, and other peripheral systems. The typical gain and conversion efficiency of the PA modules at 1.0 kW output is 21.7 dB and 66.6%, respectively. It is demonstrated that overall power gain and AC to RF efficiency of this SSA at 20 kW is 88.5 dB and 54.8%, respectively, which matches closely with the design estimates. The harmonic content in the RF output is < -40 dBc for all the harmonics. The results of the Monte Carlo simulation are also presented, showing lower bound on combining efficiency with a degree of confidence if magnitude and phase data for 24 inputs are randomly chosen from a normal distribution's pre-defined interval. The salient features of this SSA include power density of 12.7 kW/m3, AC to RF efficiency of 54.8% at 20 kW, and guaranteed output of 20 kW with one failed PA module and 18.1 kW under two failed PA modules condition.

Highly selective single-mode graphene bandpass filter based on Wilkinson power divider structure

In this paper, we introduce a novel graphene nanoribbon bandpass filter designed using the Wilkinson power divider structure for single-mode operation. Through the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) technique, we analyze transmission spectra and electromagnetic field distributions. Our primary goals are to achieve high transmission efficiency, improved adjustability, and an excellent quality factor (Q-factor). The proposed single-mode graphene nanoribbon bandpass filter exhibits outstanding performance characteristics, including a 45 THz free spectral range (FSR), 95 % transmission efficiency, and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.14 THz at the resonant frequency of 15 THz. By changing the chemical potential (or bias voltage) to manipulate the conductivity and dielectric constant of the graphene surface, we successfully tune the center frequency of the filter within the 10–20 THz range. This flexibility, combined with exceptional transmission efficiency and Q-factor, positions our filter as a prime candidate for seamless integration into compact optical devices. Additionally, by adjusting the refractive index of the substrate, we achieve a sensitivity exceeding 7 THz/RIU or 7500 nm/RIU, making our filter a promising sensor for applications requiring precise detection and measurement capabilities.

Miniaturized filtering equal/unequal Wilkinson power dividers

In this paper, two miniaturized Wilkinson power dividers with equal and unequal power division ratios capable of suppressing spurious harmonics over a wide frequency range are presented. First, an asymmetric high-low impedance resonator with coupled open-stubs and folded structure is employed to design the equal power divider. Then, how connecting an inductor in series with the introduced resonator can lead to affecting the transmission coefficient of the power divider branch and achieving an unbalanced power division ratio at output ports, is analytically clarified. In the third step, a combination of the resonator with folded structure and the inductor is utilized to design an unequal 2:1 divider. To validate the performed analysis, two equal and unequal Wilkinson power dividers at 900 MHz are fabricated and measured. Regarding S31, both dividers can suppress the 4th to 13th spurious frequencies and with respect to S21 of the unequal case, the 2nd-harmonic to 14th-harmonic are omitted. The occupied areas of the equal and unequal structures are 7.35 mm × 18.9 mm and 7.5 mm × 17.9 mm, respectively, which indicate almost 84 % size reduction in each case.

Design of Wilkinson Power Dividers with SITL Compensated Microstrip Bandpass Filters

Design of Wilkinson Power Dividers with SITL Compensated Microstrip Bandpass Filters

Design of Microstrip Antenna Arrays with Rotated Elements Using Wilkinson Power Dividers for 5 G Customer Premise Equipment Applications

Microstrip antenna arrays are proposed in this paper for the customer premise equipment (CPE) applications in the frequency range 1 (FR1) of the 5th generation (5 G) mobile networks. The proposed antenna arrays consist of three FR4 substrates. Antenna elements and feeding networks are optimized separately through parameter studies and then combined to form the proposed antenna arrays. Bandwidth-enhancing parasitic elements on the top substrate are broadside coupled to the microstrip antennas in the middle substrate, which are probe-fed by the microstrip feeding network using Wilkinson power dividers realized in the bottom substrate through the ground plane and the stud supporting air layer between the lower two substrates. Two antenna arrays, with four and eight antenna elements, are proposed for different gain specifications, 10 dBi and 12 dBi, respectively. Bandwidths of 10-dB return loss for both arrays fully covered the 5 G n78 frequency band (3.3–3.8 GHz). 20 dB isolation between antenna elements can also be achieved using the proposed layouts with rotated elements. The dimensions, radiation gain, and efficiency of the proposed antenna units, four-element array, and eight-element array are 65 × 65 × 11.4, 115 × 115 × 11.4, and 115 × 215 × 11.4 mm3, 6.2, 10.5, and 13 dBi, 74%, 56%, and 50%, respectively. The proposed antenna arrays exhibit the advantages of simple, low-cost, low-profile, and high-gain characteristics, which is potentially applicable to 5 G CPE outdoor unit (ODU)-related devices.