Miniaturized wide‐band rat‐race coupler

New designs of wide‐band rat‐race couplers are proposed. The wide‐band operation is achieved with the use of the microstrip nonuniform transmission line sections for the branches of the conventional rat‐race coupler. The design formulas are developed using ABCD matrix and the even‐ and odd‐mode analysis. The theoretical analysis has been verified by measurements of the two manufactured wideband rat‐race couplers, one operate within 0.85–1.92 GHz and other within 1.55–3.55 GHz frequency range with the equal normalized characteristic impedance functions. For both fabricated couplers, the isolation parameter is better than 15 dB over a 77% relative bandwidth. Also, it is shown that the designed wide‐band rat‐race coupler can be realized in higher frequency bands with the fixed fractional bandwidth. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 23: 675–681, 2013.     

Design of compact rat‐race couplers with enhanced bandwidth

This article presents a method to design compact rat race couplers with improved bandwidth values. The coupler consists of three coupled‐line sections of different electrical lengths and characteristic impedances. First, design equations are obtained by imposing the coupler conditions using a lossless transmission line model. Input impedance matching, isolation, phase, and amplitude imbalances, all four conditions for both the sum and the difference port excitations are considered for bandwidth calculations. Then, an algorithm is developed to solve for the coupled‐line parameters. Considering the limitations of fabrication, guidelines are provided for selecting the right physical parameters according to bandwidth requirement. As an example, a rat race coupler is fabricated that occupies 10% area of a conventional coupler without compromising the bandwidth values. Measurement results shows that the coupler provides 50% of 15 dB return loss bandwidth, 41.7% of 20 dB isolation bandwidth, 15% of ±5° phase imbalance bandwidth, and 62.5% of ±0.5 dB amplitude imbalance bandwidth which are more than those of a conventional 3λ/2 rat race coupler.     

A novel frequency‐tunable branch line coupler

This article introduces a novel two‐section frequency‐tunable branch line coupler, which is realized by inserting a narrow band frequency‐tunable phase inverter into a wideband two‐section branch line coupler's middle branch line. Such frequency‐tunable method is different from the conventional one. Furthermore, in this bias feeding design, there are only one control voltage, two varactors, two resistors, and two capacitors are utilized. The measured results show that the operation frequency of the branch line coupler can be tuned from 0.73 to 1.33 GHz, and the return loss is >20 dB, the isolation >20 dB, the amplitude imbalances <1 dB, and the phase imbalances is <2°. Through the comparison, the measured results basically conform to the simulated results in this design.     

Analytical method for optimal design of RF dual‐band rat‐race couplers for arbitrary frequency ratios

This article presents an analytical method to design a hybrid structure dual‐band rat‐race coupler at microwave frequencies. The proposed structure uses six identical cells of which each is engineered to work as a quarter wavelength transmission line with proper characteristic impedance at two distinct frequencies having arbitrary frequency ratio. The performances of the π‐ and T‐cells are studied to assess their ability to provide the required electrical parameters for dual‐band operation. It is demonstrated that the single‐section π‐topology can only lead to a suboptimal design for a dual‐band rat‐race cell at two nonharmonic frequencies. In contrast, the proposed double‐section π‐cell structure allows achieving an optimal dual‐band cell design. A dual‐band rat‐race coupler designed at 2.14 and 3.6 GHz has been simulated and fabricated in hybrid microstrip technology. Measurement results agree well with analytically based simulation results, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed structure for dual‐band operation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 22: 690–700, 2012.     

A planar ultra‐wide band asymmetric rat‐race hybrid coupler

In this article, an asymmetric ultra‐wideband rat‐race hybrid coupler with 180° phase shift is proposed. The primary goal of this work is to design a planar ultra‐wideband hybrid coupler with a microstrip structure by avoiding via holes and multi‐layer design. The bandwidth of an asymmetric ring hybrid is enhanced using shorted coupled lines, perturbation impedance techniques, and matching stubs. This hybrid coupler was designed and fabricated using Taconic TLX‐8 substrate with a thickness of 0.5 mm. The results of the simulation and measurement are promising and meet the desired specifications. This hybrid coupler yields a fractional bandwidth of 56% at the center frequency of 5.95 GHz based on ±1 amplitude imbalance between two output ports.     

Cost‐efficient design methodology for compact rat‐race couplers

In this article, a reliable and low‐cost design methodology for simulation‐driven optimization of miniaturized rat‐race couplers (RRCs) is presented. We exploit a two‐stage design approach, where a composite structure (a basic building block of the RRC structure) is first optimized using a pattern search algorithm, and, subsequently, the entire coupler is tuned by means of surrogate‐based optimization (SBO) procedure. SBO is executed with the underlying low‐fidelity model implemented as cascaded response surface approximations (RSAs) of the composite structure. Full‐wave analysis of the entire coupler is required at the tuning stage only. By combining SBO with coupler decomposition and RSA surrogates, the overall cost of the design process corresponds (in terms of CPU time) to less than three electromagnetic simulations of the compact RRC, and results in highly miniaturized structure (82% footprint reduction compared to conventional coupler) that exhibits perfect return loss and isolation (almost ?60 dB at the operating frequency), as well as a strong harmonic and spurious suppression (below ?20 dB) in, approximately, 3–9.5 GHz frequency band. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:236–242, 2015.     

Compact substrate integrated waveguide rat‐race filtering couplers with arbitrary angular interval between ports

A new type of compact filtering rat‐race couplers with arbitrary port direction based on different shape substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity are first proposed in this paper. Different shaped SIW resonators can be combined together to achieve better performance and flexible topology. Resonant frequencies of fan‐shaped SIW cavity with various central angles have been derived to construct the resonant cells and obtain different topological structures. Moreover, interdigital capacitor SIW unit loaded on the common wall between cavities is used to achieve negative coupling structure. The detailed analysis and the design method have been introduced to realize a filtering rat‐race coupler based on substrate integrated fan‐shaped cavity (SIFC) and rectangular cavity. In particular, the combination of different shaped resonators can be selected according to the requirement of port angle interval. In order to further verify the method, the other filtering rat‐race coupler is fabricated using four SIFCs to achieve more available port angle intervals. Compared with other filtering couplers, the proposed designs exhibit good filtering responses, high Q factor, amplitude balance, as well as 0° and 180° phase differences. Furthermore, various angular intervals for input/output ports are convenience to meet the requirement of system topology and interconnect.     

Compact cell topology selection for size‐reduction‐oriented design of microstrip rat‐race couplers

In this work, we address the problem of compact cell topology selection for miniaturization of rat‐race couplers. The principal objective of the design process is to achieve the smallest possible footprint of the coupler, while maintaining the required levels of electrical parameters imposed on its components. Our approach permits identification of the minimum achievable coupler area, provided that the circuit is composed of a given compact cell and folded lines. This allows for the quantitative assessment of a set of considered cells with respect to the miniaturization capabilities they exhibit under certain design specifications. The proposed method is validated using 6 different cells with unified parameterization to identify the smallest rectangular‐like rat‐race coupler described by 2 design specifications. The obtained results attest that circuit topology and electrical parameters of the reference design are critical factors determining the final miniaturization rate. The proof‐of‐concept prototype devices occupy merely 8% of the conventional coupler area, while preserving fractional bandwidths (20% and 13.5%) of their conventional counterparts. The experimental results confirm the claims inferred from the numerical data.     

Design of an efficiency‐enhanced Greinacher rectifier operating in the GSM 1800 band by using rat‐race coupler for RF energy harvesting applications

Radio frequency energy harvesting (RFEH) circuits can convert the power of communication signals from radio frequencies (RF) in the environment into direct current and voltage (DC power). In this study, the Greinacher full‐wave rectifier circuit topology was combined with a 180° hybrid ring (rat‐race) coupler which was a passive RF/microwave circuit. Thus, higher RF‐DC conversion efficiency was obtained. First, using the Greinacher rectifier topology, RFEH circuit operating at the center frequency of 1850 MHz was designed. Then, at this frequency, designing of the rat‐race coupler having 1000 MHz bandwidth was made. The S‐parameter measurements and simulation data of the designed coupler circuit were compared. Finally, the high efficiency rectifier circuit where these two circuits were used together was designed. The proposed rectifier circuit was constructed on 70 × 70 × 1.6 mm³ FR4 substrate material with a permittivity of 4.3 (ε_r = 4.3). The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the rectifier circuit, which had 125 MHz bandwidth at the center frequency of 1850 MHz and was developed with rat‐race coupler, was calculated as 71% at 4.7 dBm input power. In addition, with this study, at ?15 dBm input power, which was a relatively low power level, 40% PCE value was obtained.     

Filtering balanced‐to‐single‐ended power dividing network

In this article, the filtering balanced‐to‐single‐ended power dividing networks are proposed. Except the fundamental functions of differential‐mode transmission, common‐mode suppression, and out‐of‐phase single‐ended output ports with isolation, the proposed designs show the advantages of wide controllable range of differential‐mode bandwidth, multiple transmission zeros (TZs), and wide bandwidth for high out‐of‐band suppression. The frequencies of TZs, bandwidth, isolation, and common‐mode suppression can be controlled by the parameters. For demonstration, three prototypes (Deigns I, II, and III) with two, four, or six TZs are implemented. The measured results show that design I (II and III) has an insertion loss of 0.38 dB (0.7 dB and 0.8 dB), an operating bandwidth of 12.5% (7.5% and 6.9%), and a bandwidth for 30‐dB out‐of‐band suppression of 0.06f₀ (0.09f₀ and 0.14f₀). The isolation and common‐mode suppression inside the passbands of the three prototypes are all larger than 17 and 38 dB, respectively.     

Dual‐band Gysel power dividers with large frequency ratio and unequal power division

In this article, a dual‐band Gysel power divider is proposed based on the topology of finite‐ground microstrip line. The general design method for the large frequency ratio and unequal power division is derived and the detailed design rules are provided. It is shown that the frequency ratio can be achieved from 1 to 10, and the power division ratio of each frequency band can be separately determined. Moreover, the phase differences at two operating bands could be designed to be either in‐phase or out‐of‐phase. Finally, two prototypes are designed, implemented, and experimented to validate this proposal. The measured results of the first design show the frequency ratio of 4 with power division ratios of 2:1 in both passband, while the second example is designed with the frequency ratio of 10 with power division ratios of 2:1 and 1:1 in the first and second passband, respectively. Both results show a good agreement between the simulated and measured results.     

Dual‐band balanced coupler with wideband common‐mode suppression

A novel compact dual‐band balanced coupler with differential‐mode power division, broadband common‐mode, and common‐to‐differential‐mode conversion suppression is proposed. In these double‐functionality balanced‐coupler architectures, double‐sided parallel‐strip line 180° phase inverters are used to realize the broadband common‐mode rejection. Moreover, the frequency is tunable by changing the characteristic impedance of the transmission line. For practical verification, a balanced couplers (ε_r = 2.65, h = 0.5 mm, tan(δ_D) = 0.003) operation at 0.9/1.8 GHz is constructed in microstrip technology and tested.     

High‐isolation multiway power dividing/combining network implemented by broadside‐coupling SIW directional couplers

One kind of novel microwave planar power dividing/combining network based on substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) directional couplers is proposed and investigated. The design strategies of the broadside‐coupling SIW directional coupler are introduced, the series connection of several directional couplers with different coupling ratio then result in a multiway power dividing/combining network. One three‐way power dividing/combining network is designed and fabricated to demonstrate the validity of the proposed work, high isolation among the ports is observed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

A self‐matched negative group delay circuit with tunable center frequency and group delay

A compact self‐matched negative group delay circuit (NGDC) with tunable center frequency and tunable group delay (GD) is proposed. Two varactors and a variable resistor are utilized to implement the tunability of the center frequency and GD of the proposed NGDC. To verify the design concept, a tunable NGDC is designed and fabricated. The measured center frequency is tuned from 0.8 to 1.3 GHz and the measured NGD time is tuned from ?1 to ?10 ns. The insertion loss varies from 16.0 to 34.5 dB. In the process of tuning the center frequency and NGD time, the return losses keep better than 30 dB.     

A dual‐band branch line coupler for LTE 0.7 GHz and LTE 2.6 GHz frequencies

In this paper, a dual‐band branch line coupler (BLC) for Long Term Evolution (LTE) 0.7 GHz and LTE 2.6 GHz frequencies is designed and developed. A dual‐band quarter wave transmission line (DBQWTL) capable to perform dual band operation for frequency ratio >3 is also proposed. The dual band BLC is designed by replacing the quarter wave transmission line of the conventional single band BLC with the proposed DBQWTL. By means of even and odd mode analysis, the closed form design equations of the proposed DBQWTL are obtained. Considering the implementation viewpoint of the proposed BLC, the circuit parameter analysis is carried out. The proposed BLC performs dual band operation with maximum amplitude imbalance of 0.26 dB and phase deviation of 3.07°. It is found in the comparative analysis that the proposed BLC has novelty in terms of its operating frequency ratio range.     

Wideband filtering power dividers using single‐ and double‐layer periodic spoof surface plasmon polaritons

In this article, four wideband power dividers (two are filtering power dividers) using single‐ and double‐layer periodic spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) are proposed. Double‐sided parallel‐strip line is used to realize the wideband and low loss for the double‐layer SSPPs. T‐shaped SSPPs power dividers with large bandwidth, wideband isolation, and low loss using double‐layer SSPPs to single‐layer SSPPs transition are realized. Conventional coplanar waveguide is used as the output ports for the single‐layer SSPPs. Moreover, two new SSPPs power dividers with filtering performance are realized with adding via holes in the double‐layer SSPPs. The theoretical analysis, parametric study, and design procedure for these wideband power dividers are illustrated. In addition, for validity demonstration, four wideband SSPPs power dividers are fabricated in microstrip technology and characterized. Good agreements can be observed between the measured and simulated results, indicating good potential applications in the integrated plasmonic devices.     

A broadband out‐of‐phase gysel power divider based on a dual‐band circuit with a single fixed isolation resistor

Based on the double‐sided parallel‐strip lines with an inserted conductor as a virtual ground, a high power divider with dual‐band/broadband response and frequency‐independent 180° phase difference between the output ports is implemented in this paper. The circuit topology employs a single commercially available external isolation resistor as well as moderate line impedances (15–100 ohm), making it suitable for high‐power applications. Precise closed‐form design equations on the basis of even‐ and odd‐mode analysis are derived. In addition to the wide range of frequency band ratios from 1 to 2.65, broadband response is also obtained by selecting the proper value of frequency band ratios. To substantiate the design equations and theory, a circuit with 2:1 frequency ratio and 84.5% bandwidth referring to 16 dB isolation and 12 dB return loss values is developed. To the authors' knowledge, this is the widest bandwidth reported for out‐of‐phase high power dividers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2016.     

A BTB UWB power divider with arbitrary power‐dividing ratio based on three‐slotline structure

In this article, a balanced‐to‐balanced (BTB) ultra‐wide band (UWB) power divider (PD) is proposed, which can realize arbitrary power‐dividing ratio (PDR) with improved transmission bandwidth flatness. The proposed PD is primarily based on microstrip/slotline (MS) transition structures and parallel‐coupled three‐slotline structure. U‐type microstrip feed lines integrated with stepped‐impedance slotline resonators are adopted at the input and output ports, which make the differential‐mode (DM) responses independent of the common‐mode (CM) ones. Meanwhile, superior DM transmission and CM suppression are achieved intrinsically, thereby simplifying the design procedure significantly. By changing the distances between the coupled three slotlines, the PDR between the output ports is controllable. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed design method, several prototype circuits of the proposed PDs with different PDRs are simulated and a prototype circuit with the 2:1 PDR is fabricated and measured. A good agreement between the simulation and measurement results is observed.     

A printed dual‐band dipole filtenna with flexible frequency ratio and improved band‐notched performance

A printed dual‐band dipole filtenna with flexible frequency ratio and improved band‐notched performance is proposed. It consists of a driven dipole and three parasitic elements. For the driven dipole with short and long arms, a radiation null is found between two passbands, which achieves a band‐notched filtering characteristic. Two parasitic elements are introduced to enhance the passband bandwidth and an additional parasitic element is utilized to improve the band‐notched performance. In addition, the characteristics of the proposed design including flexible frequency ratio, independent controllable operating frequency, and controllable band‐notched bandwidth have also been demonstrated. A filtenna prototype is fabricated and tested. Measured results show that a fractional bandwidth of 21.1% and 18.1% is obtained in the lower and upper passbands, respectively. The measured efficiency is 84% in the lower band and 74% in the upper band but the efficiency sharply decreases to about 13% within the notched band.     

Multiple design approach of dual‐band Wilkinson power divider with arbitrary transmission line ratio

A dual‐band (DB) Wilkinson power divider with multiple design approach is proposed in this article, which consists of two‐section transmission lines (TLs) with arbitrary length ratio, one parallel LC circuit, and one resistor. Compared with the former works with equal physical lengths, the total physical size of the two‐section TLs can be decreased effectively. For a given DB frequency ratio, the maximum size reduction can be newly summarized as (n‐1)/(2n), where n indicates the length ratio of two‐section TLs. From the close‐formed design equations, multiple solutions of circuit parameters are newly summarized for DB operation, thus circuit design could be much more flexible and more efficient. Furthermore, in order to compact the proposed circuit size, compensation technology for two coupled‐line sections is also considered in circuit fabrication. Finally, design charts and an experimental circuit show good agreement with the theoretical simulation. Compared with the former work under the same design conditions: f₂/f₁ = 3.2, f₁ = 1 GHz and f₂ = 3.2 GHz, the proposed work provides compact circuit size and the size reduction is 25% with n = 2, m = 1.