Development and Thorough Investigation of Dual-Band Wilkinson Power Divider for Arbitrary Impedance Environment

Abstract

In the design and development of front-end communication systems, the arbitrary impedance environments are encountered frequently. In this article, a three-port dual-band equal power divider is proposed which also transforms all types of impedance environments at its ports inherently. The power divider is suitable for a wide range of arbitrary frequency ratios and impedance terminations at each of the input and output ports. A systematic design procedure with a design flow graph is provided. The closed-form design equations make the design process simple and quick for prototyping purposes. The proposed design approach enhances the design flexibility significantly with the presence of multiple independent variables. Design examples with distinct design specifications are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the architecture. A prototype working at 1/2.6 GHz and with frequency-dependent complex load (FDCL) terminations at the input and output ports is fabricated and measured to validate the proposed architecture and design methodology. The proposed dual-band impedance transforming power divider exhibits controllable bandwidths, planar structure without any reactive element, compact size, and the ability to provide port matching for any real, complex, and frequency-dependent complex impedance terminations.INDEX TERMS Frequency varying impedances, dual-band power divider, frequency-dependent impedance transformer, high frequency ratio, impedance matching, impedance transforming power divider, microstrip power dividers, transmission line.

Design Theory of Equal Split Dual- Band Power Divider without Reactive Elements

“…Admittance representation in even-odd mode operation is as in Fig. 2.The admittance at the input side (Y in ) of a power divider with impedance Z, resistor R 1 and electrical length θ 1 may be given by (1) based on [19].…”

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

“…For example, multiband WPD architectures are suitable for applications requiring operations at distant bands [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Furthermore, power dividers (PDs) operating at single/multiple frequencies with inherent impedance transformations for different types and levels of impedances are extremely advantageous [35][36][37]. Such architectures with inherent features have become compact and cost-effective.…”

“…In addition, most of the reported design schemes related to dual−band impedance-transforming power dividers (ITPDs) only talk about ports terminated in real impedances. There is one recent report that emphasizes the dual−band performance of the frequency-dependent complex impedance-transforming power divider, which utilizes the T-type impedance transformer at the ports [37]. Unfortunately, dual−band PDs with a varied nature of impedance environments at their respective ports are rare.…”

A Wilkinson power divider/combiner with enhanced power-handling capability

“…The power combiner/divider is an essential passive component in modern microwave communication systems. The Wilkinson PCD is a popular structure [1][2][3][4][5]. The current research mainly focuses on improving the isolation or bandwidth of the Wilkinson PCD [6][7][8][9][10], and there is less research on the improvement of the powerhandling capability of the Wilkinson PCD.…”