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Design and simulation of an eight-way binary Wilkinson power divider

Conference Paper · April 2016

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 Islamic Azad University - Young Researchers and Elite Club
First National Conference on Electrical Engineering (BPJCEE2016)
Shiraz-Kazerun Branches. 27,28 April 2016

Design and simulation of an eight-way binary Wilkinson power

divider

Mohammad Amir Ghasemi12, Mojtaba Sadeghi 3*

1
Department of Electrical Engineering,Fars Science And Research Branch,Islamic Azad University,Fars,Iran.
2
Department of Electrical Engineering ,Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
amir.gha67@gmail.com
3*
Department of Electrical Engineering ,Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran (Corresponding offer)

Abstract: An eight-way X-band power divider is presented,
which is based on the binary Wilkinson topology. The proposed
power divider consists of three stages with one, two and four
equal power dividers in each stage, respectively. The input
power is divided equally between the eight outputs to provide
an equal-split power divider. The analysis of the structure is
based on even and odd-mode technique. 0.5 mm thickness of
FR4 substrate is chosen and the designed power divider is
simulated in ADS and HFSS softwares. Good performance of
the power divider is justified by -36.5dB of reflection coefficient
and -9.32dB of insertion loss at centre frequency of 9.65GHz.
The proposed power divider has potential application in radar
and microwave systems, especially in phased-array structures.
Keywords: Wilkinson power divider, equal-split, X-band
1. Introduction
Recently, the development of telecommunication
equipments has shown a tendency to produce modules or
components with unique capabilities and specific
features. These equipments commonly cover from high
RF power to low noise signal processing and from
wireless communication modules to optical devices.
Power divider or sometimes referred as power splitter is a
module that is frequently used in telecommunication and
radar technologies as well. As is already known, this
module has the capability to divide or split a signal power
from a device into some other devices to be spread out. In
principle, a power divider is a 3-port T-network circuit
which can be imagined as a conventional 4-port T
network circuit where other 2-port connected in series is
terminated internally by reflection less or matched loads
[1]. The signal power which is inputted the shunt port
emerges with equal amplitude and phase at the other 2
ports. Ideally, each terminal of ports has a nearly non
reflected wave, whilst at the output ports the isolation is
very high. Moreover, reciprocity of the circuit allows this
type of hybrid junction to function as a lossless power
combiner of 2 equal inphase signals. There are some
related works to the power divider which is developed
based on 3-port T-network [1]-[2]. In 1960, a theoretical
approach of power divider with N-output port (N >2) has
been developed by Wilkinson [3]. Since the related work
is one of the fundamental theories in hybrid power
divider, then it has been becoming most reference for
next researchers that work related to the power
divider/splitter and its application. Some development to
utilize a power-splitting network, such a corporate or
parallel feed system has been applied for antenna array
systems by use of 3-port power dividers [4]. In this work,
the use of corporate feeding network is applied to split
signal power between N outputs ports with a certain
distribution while maintaining equal path lengths from
input to output ports. Unfortunately, all the related works
are usually for a normal condition of application. Whilst
for a specific application, such as lower power
surveillance radar, a power divider with an unusual
number of output ports still needs to be further
investigated to be developable. In addition to the
Wilkinson topology, the main problem for N output port
more than 2 is the non planarity of the circuit due to the
presence of a floating node connecting all isolation
resistors together [5]. Nevertheless, the Wilkinson N-way
divider or combiner topology still remains attractive up to
now, at least, for some reasons such as the possibility of
designing an odd number of outputs, the capability to
have a compact size (only a quarter wavelength) and a
theoretical ideal performance.
In this paper, an eight-way equal power divider for X-
band application is proposed. Considering binary
topology, three stages of 3-dB two-way Wilkinson power
divider is considered to obtain the final eight equal
outputs. Each three stages consists of one, two and four
Wilkinson power dividers, respectively. The design of
power divider is deployed on hydrocarbon ceramic
laminates (FR-4) dielectric substrate with relative
permittivity of 3.38 and thickness of 0.5 mm. Simulation
of the proposed structure in HFSS and ADS softwares
shows acceptable values of reflection coefficient,
insertion loss and isolation at centre frequency of
9.65GHz with 0.5 GHz of bandwidth. The proposed
power divider has potential application in radar and
microwave systems, especially in phased-array structures.
 Islamic Azad University - Young Researchers and Elite Club
First National Conference on Electrical Engineering (BPJCEE2016)
Shiraz-Kazerun Branches. 27,28 April 2016

2. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WILKINSON POWER

DIVIDER
The Wilkinson power divider is a three-port network
which is lossless when the output ports are matched;
where only reflected power is dissipated. Input power can
be split into two or more inphase signals with the same
amplitude. For a two-way Wilkinson power divider with
⁄ impedance transformers (characteristic impedance of a
√ ) and a lumped isolation resistor of 2 high
isolation between the output ports can be obtained [6].
The design of an equal-split (3 dB) Wilkinson power
divider is often made in stripline or microstrip form. The
basic topology and its equivalent transmission line model
are shown in Fig. 1. b
Fig. 2: Bisection of the equivalent circuit (a) Even-
mode excitation and (b) Odd-mode excitation [7].

In summary, the following S parameter matrix can be

established [7]:

a
b consideration of the size should be taken in the final
Fig. 1: The Wilkinson power divider (a) An equal-split Wilkinson
power divider in microstrip form and (b) Equivalent transmission line
circuit [7].
2.1 Derivation of scattering parameters
The S-parameter matrix for the Wilkinson power
divider can be found using even-odd mode analysis
which uses circuit symmetry and superposition [7]. For
even and odd-mode analysis, the equivalent circuit is
considered in two parts; even mode (Fig. 2(a)) and odd
mode analysis (Fig. 2(b)). Considering proper voltages at
the input port in even and odd mode analysis, the
reflection coefficient at the input port and input
impedance can be calculated [7].
[ ]
√
3 DESIGN PROCEDURE
Eight-way equal Wilkinson power divider in binary form
contains three stages. The Power divider is considered in
a binary and cascade form. The basic element of the
structure is a two-way 3-dB Wilkinson power divider.
All the ports of Wilkinson power divider are matched, so
the basic element can be repeated in each stage of the
final topology. The stages consist of one, two and four
power divider to obtain the final eight outputs. Special
structure.
3.1 Two-way equal Wilkinson power divider
The centre frequency is set to 9.65GHz and FR4 substrate
of 0.5 mm thickness is chosen. According to the design
procedure in pervious sections, the length and width of
the basic element is calculated. The simulation is carried
out in ADS software. The schematic of the power divider
is shown in Fig. 2.
a

b
 Islamic Azad University - Young Researchers and Elite Club
First National Conference on Electrical Engineering (BPJCEE2016)
Shiraz-Kazerun Branches. 27,28 April 2016

Fig. 3: The schematic of the two-way equal Wilkinson power divider in

ADS.
As shown in Fig.4, the calculated values of reflection
coefficient, insertion loss and isolation of power divider
are in acceptable range. It should be noted that the
designed two-way power divider is the basic element of
the final eight-way one.

Fig. 5: Layout of the eight-way equal Wilkinson power divider.

The dimensions of the structure as shown in Fig.5, are;

L1=4mm , L2=9mm , L3=9mm , L4=6mm , W1=45mm ,
W2=22mm and W3=12mm. The overall size of the
structure is acceptable in X-band and suggests its
potential application in microwave systems.
The simulation of divider is carried out in HFSS.
(a) Reflection coefficient and Insertion loss are calculated
and shown in Fig. 6. The calculated values are in
acceptable range. -36dB of reflection coefficient and the
approximate value of -9dB of insertion loss are the
calculated values in HFSS at 9.65GHz.

(b)

(c)

Fig. 4: Simulation results of the two-way equal Wilkinson power

divider in ADS, (a) reflection coefficient, (b)Insertion loss and (c)
isolation.
3.2 eight-way equal Wilkinson power divider
The eight-way power divider consists of seven two-way a
dividers (designed in previous section) which are
arranged in three stages in binary form of one, two and
four. In Wilkinson power divider, all ports are matched,
so the power dividers can be used in cascade form
without any matching circuit. Special consideration
should be taken about the spaces between the output ports
and the corners. The final layout of the structure is
shown in Fig.5.
 Islamic Azad University - Young Researchers and Elite Club
First National Conference on Electrical Engineering (BPJCEE2016)
Shiraz-Kazerun Branches. 27,28 April 2016

Fig. 6: Simulation results of the eight-way equal Wilkinson power

divider in HFSS (a) reflection coefficient and (b)Insertion loss.

4. CONCLUSION
The design procedure of an eight-way equal power
divider based on element structure of two-way Wilkinson
power divider is described. Centre frequency is set to
9.65GHz and FR4 substrate is chosen in our design. The
basic element of two-way divider is designed and
simulated in ADS and the final eight-way one is
simulated in HFSS. The simulation results show that the
eight-way power divider operates well at 9.65 GHz.
References
[1] S.B. Cohn, “A class of broadband three-port TEM-mode hybrids,”
IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. MTT-16, no. 2, pp. 110-
116, Feb. 1968.
[2] M. E. Goldfarb, “A recombinant, in-phase power divider,” IEEE
Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 1438-1440, Aug.
1991
[3] E.J. Wilkinson, “An N-way hybrid power divider,” IRE Trans.
Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. MTT-8, pp. 116-118, Jan.1960
[4] D. D. Harty, Novel design of a wideband Ribcage-dipole array and
its feeding network, Thesis, Electrical and Computer Engineering

[5] D. Maurin and K. Wu, “A compact 1.7-2.1 GHz three-way power

combiner using microstrip technology with better than 93,8%
combining efficiency,” IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Lett., vol. 6,
No. 2, Feb. 1996
[6] E. J. Wilkinson, "An n-Way Hybrid Power Divider",IRE
Trans.Microwave Theory Tech.,Vol.8.January 1960, pp.116-118.
[7] Pozar, D.M.,Microwave Engineering,John Wiley &
Sons,Inc.,2005,Third ed.,pp.318-324

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