A Symmetrical Two-Way Power Divider with Impedance

Transforming Property
Mi Zhou #1, Yixin Gu #2, Xinrong Li #3, Shengli Fu #4, and Bayaner Arigong *5
#
University of North Texas, USA
*
Washington State University, USA
1
mizhou2@my.unt.edu, 2 yixingu@my.unt.edu, 3 xinrong.li@unt.edu,
4
shengli.fu@unt.edu, 5 arigongba@unt.edu

Abstract— Power divider is one of the basic components in

microwave systems such as amplifiers and antenna feeding
networks. Conventional power divider has fixed port
impedance such as 25Ω and 50 Ω, and extra impedance
matching network is designed to the match for various load
impedance. The impedance transformation network will
increase the size and introduce extra insertion loss to the
circuit. In this paper, a symmetrical two-way power divider
with simple structure and impedance transforming property
as well as high isolation between two output ports is proposed.
The novel structure utilizes shunt stub and series capacitor to
cancel the imaginary part of the output impedance. Closed
form equations are derived based on the even-odd mode
method to analyze the proposed structure, and three
experimental power dividers with different output impedance
are simulated, fabricated and characterized. The
measurement results match well with the simulation results.
Index Terms— Power divider, even-odd mode, impedance
matching, impedance transforming, symmetrical.
I. INTRODUCTION
Power divider is used to split or combine the power. This
property makes it to be a fundamental and vital device in
most of the microwave applications. Various power
dividers can be found in many microwave systems such as
antenna feeding networks and amplifiers [1-2]. A power
divider normally has one input and multiple (N) outputs,
which lead to an N-way power divider. The two-way power
divider is a fundamental and generic power splitter. For
example, Wilkinson power divider [1] is well known in
microwave field. Up to now, there are many two-way
dividers have been analyzed and designed, and most of
them concentrate on bandwidth enhancement [3], filtering
property [4], and power ratio adjustment [5].
In antenna feeding network, Doherty and Chireix high
efficiency power amplifier circuit, impedance matching is
always considered in power splitting to antenna (or to the
input of power device) and power combining from device
optimum load to output of circuit impedance. Using
conventional fixed port impedance power divider, an
additional impedance transforming network is required to
match the two different impedances, which increases the
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the proposed power divider.
design complexity and requires longer design cycle as well
as larger device size.
To solve this problem, several researchers has made
their efforts on designing power dividers with impedance
transforming property [6]. In most of their designs, the main
arm length of the power dividers is extended. Furthermore,
like Wilkinson power divider, the odd mode isolation
elements (i.e. isolation resistor or other isolation network)
are usually directly attached to the main arms at the output
ports. Due to lumped element resistor size, the transmission
lines must route around, and an extra transmission line is
required to connect the output ports to the next stage, which
limits the flexibility of layout and introduces additional
insertion loss.
To release the limitation of output ports position and
achieve the impedance transforming property, a novel
power divider topology is invented in this paper. A
transmission line stub is inserted between main arm and
isolation resistor, and a series capacitor is connected
between main arm and output ports to cancel the imaginary
part introduced by the stub. From the analysis, most of the
parameters can be freely chosen, which also provide a
convenient design process. To verify the design theory,
three prototypes with different output impedance are
simulated, fabricated, and characterized.

978-1-5386-4918-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

 grounded, and the isolation resistor becomes R.
Based on Fig. 2, the input impedance Zeven and Zodd of the
two sub-circuits can be derived as in (1) and (2).
= + (1)

(a) = + (2)

(b)
Fig. 2. The sub-circuits of the power divider under (a) Even-mode
excitation and (b) Odd-mode excitation.
II. DESIGN THEORY OF THE PROPOSED DEVICE
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the proposed
power divider, where the P1 is the input port of divider. Two
main arms are connected at the input side. The
characteristic impedance of main arms is given as Zarm, and
the electrical length is θarm as shown in the Fig.1. At the
other end of the main arm, a stub is inserted to connect the
isolation resistor 2R, and the capacitor C is connected in
series between the main arm and the output ports (P2 and
P3). RS and RL are the source and load impedance,
respectively. Here, the MN dash blue line indicates the
symmetric plane of the power divider.
Since the device has a symmetrical structure, even-odd
mode method [1] and [7] can be applied in the analysis. Fig.
2 shows the even- and odd-mode sub-circuits of the device.
In Fig. 2 (a), the power divider is under even-mode
excitation. Therefore, the symmetric plane MN is treated as
open circuit. In this case, the source impedance R S is
doubled since it is cut by half along the plane MN.
Meanwhile, the shunt stub is left as an open-ended
transmission line. In the Fig. 2 (b), it shows the device
under odd-mode excitation. In odd-mode, MN is set to be a
ground plane, and every point along the line is shorted to
ground. Therefore, the input (left) side of the main arm is
where Z1E, Z1O, Z2E, and Z2O are shown in the figure.
For general case, RS is normalized to unit “1”, and R is
also set to “1” for easy calculation.
To achieve the function of a power divider, both Zeven and
Zodd must be matched with the output port impedance RL [1].
From equation (1) and (2), the first terms (which is
formed by Z1E, Z1O, Z2E, and Z2O) contain the impedance of
a transmission line, and they could be complex impedance.
To cancel the imaginary part, a series connected C is needed.
Moreover, two more parameters can be defined as
follows:
= (3)
= (4)
Then, the real part and imaginary part of X and Y can be
derived as (5)-(8), which are shown at the bottom of this
page. In (5)-(8), Tarm and Tstub are used to represent tan(θarm)
and tan(θstub). Since Zeven = Zodd = RL, Re[X] should be equal
to Re[Y], and Im[X] equals Im[Y]. Therefore, three sets of
solutions for Zstub and Tstub are calculated. Ignoring the one
with Zstub = 0, the following results (9) and (10) are chosen
to solve the other parameters of the structure.
= (9)
=− (10)
To simplify the derive process, one of the free parameters
can be set to a fixed value (To be specific, Zarm= √2 is
chosen here. Also, the value and parameter chosen here will
affect the results. It can be adjusted to calculate a realizable
value for the capacitance C).
Based on (11) and above derivation, four sets of Tarm can
be solved.

[ ]= ( )
( )
( ) ( )
(5)
[ ]=−
(
[
)
(
(
) (
) (
) ]
)
(6)
[ ]=
[ (
(
)]
)
(7)
[ ]=
( )
( )
(8)
 [ ]= [ ]= (11)

It is found that all solutions for Tarm have square root term.
Therefore, different solutions will define different
realizable range (The term under square root must larger
than 0). In this paper, (12) is chosen for Tarm as an example.

=
√
(12) (a)
At last, θarm = actan(Tarm), θstub = actan(Tstub), and the final
unknown parameter C is calculated to cancel the imaginary
part of Zeven and Zodd.

III. SIMULATION AND FABRICATION

To verify the design theory, three prototype power
dividers (For general cases, with RL =50Ω, 25Ω and 60Ω)
are designed at 1GHz. All the design parameters are given
in Table I (In the table, all values are shifted up based on (b)
“1”=50 Ohm). Those devices are first simulated using
Keysight’s ADS in an ideal environment. To further prove
the design equations, all prototypes are fabricated and
characterized on Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 PCB board.
Fig. 3 shows the photos of the fabricated devices.
Different sections are marked corresponding to Fig.1. Fig.
3 (a) is the prototype with output matched to RL=50Ω. Fig.
3 (b) shows the device with port impedance equals to 25Ω.
Fig. 3 (c) illustrates the power divider with output matched
to 60Ω. In the practical measurement for 25Ω and 60Ω, a
λ/4 impedance transformer (calculated in (13)) is added to (c)
transfer the port impedance to the input impedance of VNA Fig. 3. Fabricated prototypes with port impedance equal to
(50Ω). The actual port position is just at the end of the (a) 50Ω, (b) 25Ω, and (c) 60Ω.
capacitor C as shown in the 50Ω device. Moreover, since
the stub will not affect the position of output ports, they can symmetrical, the simulated phase difference between S21
be bended to save more space and provide flexibility when and S31 is 0. The measured phase difference between output
placing outputs. ports are shown in Fig. 5. It is found in the simulation that,
= (13) return loss (i.e. |S11|, |S22|, and |S33|) at all ports are very
small. Therefore, all ports of the devices are matched.
The simulation (solid line) and measurement (dash line) Furthermore, at 1GHz, |S21|=|S31|=-3dB. It is also seen that,
magnitude results are illustrated in Fig. 4 for comparison. the isolation between two output ports are very good since
Fig. 4 (a), (b), and (c) show the magnitude of S11, S21, and |S23| is very small.
S31. Meanwhile, Fig. 4 (d), (e), and (f) show the magnitude The measured magnitude match well with the
of S22, S33, and S 23. Furthermore, since the structure is simulation. For 50Ω (Fig. 4 (a) and (d)), the working
TABLE I frequency is 1GHz. Its output |S21| = |S31| = -3.15dB. The
PARAMETERS OF THE PROTOTYPE DEVICES return loss |S11| is -20dB. |S22| and |S33| are less than -20dB.
RL= 50 (Ω) RL= 25 (Ω) RL= 60 (Ω) Furthermore, the isolation is high than 23dB. Fig. 4 (b), (c),
Zarm (Ω) 70.7 70.7 70.7 (e), and (f) also show very good performance for power
dividers with 25Ω and 60Ω port impedance. However, the
θarm (degree) 45 32.76 54.7
working frequencies of them (the power dividers with
Zstub (Ω) 70.7 70.7 70.7
output impedance of 25Ω and 60Ω) are shifted down to
θstub (degree) 135 122.765 144.7 around 950MHz. This may be caused by parasitic of
C (pF) 4.5 4.1 7.96 lumped components and the fabrication inaccuracy. Fig. 5
R (Ω) 100 100 100 shows that the variation of the output phase difference are
 (a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 4. Measurement and Simulation magnitude results for port impedance equals (a), (d) 50Ω, (b), (e) 25Ω, and (c), (f) 60Ω.

TABLE II
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT POWER DIVIDERS
This work [4] [5] [6]
BW 10% ~ >30% 18% (as filter) 15% 7%
Arbitrary load Yes No No No
Output separation Yes No Yes No
Unequal output No No No Yes
Fig. 5. Measurement phase difference between S21 and S31.
REFERENCES
less than 5 degree and very close to 0 degree (The phase [1] D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th ed. NJ:WILEY,
variance may also be affected by the fabrication 2011.
inaccuracy). From Fig. 4 and 5, the bandwidth is around [2] S. Cripps, Advanced Techniques in RF Power Amplifier
10% for 25Ω device and >30% for 50Ω and 60Ω device. Design. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 2002.
[3] W. Zhang, Z. Ning, Y. Wu, C. Yu, S. Li, and Y. Liu, “Dual-
Furthermore, even though the theoretical impedance range
Band Out-of-Phase Power Divider With Impedance
is very large (from several Ohms to hundreds of Ohms), the Transformation and Wide Freqency Ratio,” IEEE Microw.
practical realizable range depends on the fabrication Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 25, no.12, pp. 787-789, Dec.
technology and material, which sets the TL impedance 2015.
limitation [1]. [4] G. Zhang, X. Wang, J. Hong, and J. Yang, “A High-
At last, the comparison between the device and the Performance Dual-Mode Filtering Power Divider With
previous works as summarized in Table II. Simple Layout,” IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol.
28, no.2, pp. 120-122, Feb. 2018.
[5] T, Qi, S. He, Z. Dai, and W. Shi, “Novel Unequal Dividing
IV. CONCLUSION Power Divider With 50Ω Characteristic Impedance Lines,”
IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 26, no.3, pp.
In this paper, the general design equations for a 180-182, Mar. 2016.
symmetrical two-way power divider with impedance [6] T, Zhang, W. Che, and H. Chen, “Miniaturized Multiway
transforming property are presented. Main arms of the Unequal Power Divider With Controllable Characteristic
device are shorter than that of the previous designs. Impedances,” IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 27,
Moreover, because a stub is used to connect the outputs and no.12, pp. 1062-1064, Dec. 2017.
the isolation resistor, more flexible structures can be [7] M. Zhou, J. Shao, B. Arigong, H. Ren, R. Zhou, and H.
Zhang, “A Varactor Based 90-Degree Directional Coupler
achieved. To verify the theory, three prototypes are with Tunable Coupling Ratios and Reconfigurable
simulated, fabricated, and characterized. The measurement Responses” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 62. no.
result agrees well with the simulation. 3, pp. 416-421, Mar. 2014.