TAPERED MICROSTRIP LINE POWER

COMBINERS WITH COLINEAR INPUT

PORTS
K. W. Eccleston,1 Q.-C. Sun,1 and S. P. Yeo1
Department of Electrical Engineering
National University of Singapore
Singapore 119260

Recei ed 18 March 1997

ABSTRACT: A tapered microstrip power combiner is proposed (Singapore Patent (9610362-7) pending) whose in-phase input ports are located
on a straight line rather than located on an arc, making it highly suitable
for high-power SSPAs. To achie e equal in-phase transmissions between
the input ports and the output port, holes are arranged in the middle of
the structure. Experimental results of a ten-way combiner operating at 10
GHz confirm the iability of this approach. Q 1997 John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 15: 339]342, 1997.
Key words: planar power combiner; planar power di ider; microstrip
power combiner; microstrip power di ider; power combining
1. INTRODUCTION

To obtain high output powers in solid-state power amplifiers

SSPAs., it is necessary to combine the output powers of
several transistors. For such amplifiers in which N amplifier
modules are combined in parallel, an N-way power divider is
used at the input and an N-way power combiner is used at
the output. Usually, the N amplifier modules are identical,
and the divider and combiner are identical. To ensure optimum power combining, the N forward transmission paths
must be equal over the operating bandwidth. This requires
that: 1. the divider divide the input signal equally in phase, 2.
equal in-phase signals at the input of the combiner add
constructively at the output, 3. the N amplifier modules are
identical, and 4. the interconnections between the amplifier
modules and the divider and combiner have equal length.
Since the power combinerrdivider is an important component in SSPAs, it is important that their performance be
optimized.
At present, there have appeared in the literature realizations of high-power SSPAs based on waveguide power combiners w1]3x. In the interest of eliminating bulky waveguide
combiners, the current trend is the application of planar
microstrip combiners that can be integrated with amplifier
modules on the one substrate. There have appeared in the
literature a number of microstrip combiner realizations w4]7x.
These structures are essentially tapered microstriplines, with
the output port at the narrow end and the input ports evenly
spaced along an arc at the wide end, and achieve low return
loss at the output port over a wide bandwidth. These types of
combiners and dividers have the added advantage that the
resulting SSPA is also planar, and hence compact.
Although acceptable performance has been obtained using tapered microstrip line combiners, the level of combining
has been limited to typically less than 6, which is often not
enough. A major drawback of these types of combiners is that
the input ports must be located on an arc to ensure that the
input signals add constructively at the output. If many amplifier modules are to be combined in an SSPA application,
interconnection of the amplifier modules to the divider and
combiner will become increasing inconvenient. In particular,
the equal length interconnections will need to be meandered

Figure 1 Conductor geometry of the proposed combiner for operation at 10 GHz realized in microstrip with h s 0.25 mm and e r s 2.22

in a nonuniform manner if a planar SSPA is to be realized.

To overcome this physical limitation, the tapered planar
structure in Figure 1 ten way. is proposed. The feature of
this structure is that the input ports are located on a straight
boundary at the wide end of the tapered section., thereby
allowing uniform layout of interconnections to the amplifier
modules. The holes etched in the middle of the conductor
pattern are employed to equalize the signal path lengths from
the input ports to the output port. In particular, the holes in
the conductor pattern act as obstacles to the otherwise shorter
transmission paths between the centrally located input ports
and the output port.
As the details of the analysis and design have been reported at a conference w8x, it is therefore the purpose of this
paper to present experimental verification of a ten-way combiner. However, for completeness, the salient aspects of the
analysis and design will be briefly discussed here.
2. ANALYSIS

The proposed structure is a planar circuit with arbitrary

shape; hence, the so-called planar circuit approach w9x can be
used in the analysis. This method assumes that the substrate
height is much smaller than the guide wavelength. Under this
condition, the fields, and hence the current density and
voltage, vary only in the plane of the planar circuit. For
operation of the proposed microstrip circuit Fig. 1. at a
frequency of 10 GHz, this is a reasonable assumption. Since
there is no Greens function available for proposed conductor
pattern geometry, the contour integral describing the relationship between the boundary voltage and the current normal to the boundary was discretized to form a matrix equation w9x. This matrix equation yields the Z-matrix of the
planar circuit which can be transformed to an S-matrix.
The planar circuit approach assumes that the conductor
boundary behaves as an ideal magnetic wall. To account for
fringing fields along the boundary, the conductor boundary
has to be extended outward, to result in an effective boundary which behaves as a perfect magnetic wall. As the proposed combiner structure is essentially a gradually tapering
microstrip line, the outermost sides were adjusted based on
standard formulas for fringing capacitance in a microstrip
line w8x. The boundaries of the holes were assumed to behave
as ideal magnetic walls, such that mutual coupling between
opposite sides of the holes was ignored apart from that
implied by the contour integral w9x.. This is a reasonable
assumption since the holes were considerably large.

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 15, No. 6, August 20 1997

339

3. DESIGN APPROACH

Figure 2
efficient

Predicted and measured combiner output reflection co-

The aim of this is the design of a ten-way power combiner,

with 50 V ports, working at the center frequency of 10 GHz
over a bandwidth of 400 MHz. The important parameters of
the substrate are h s 0.25 mm and e r s 2.22. The contour of
the tapered section includes two parts: an arc section and a
sinusoidally tapered section. The result is a smooth transition
between the wide and narrow ends of the tapered section,
thereby improving output port match. To ensure a compact
geometry, the ten colinear input ports were equally spaced 5
mm, thereby limiting the width of the combiner to about 50
mm. It was found that a small step change in microstrip line
width at the output port can be used to improve output
match.
Combining efficiency for lossless combiners may be maximized by minimizing their output reflection coefficient, in
addition to ensuring that each input signal is combined
equally in phase w10x. This criterion was used as the basis for
the error function utilized by the simulated annealing optimizer employed during the design stage w8x. The variables
during optimization were the hole geometries and their location, and the step change in width at the output. The geometry depicted in Figure 1 is the resulting optimized structure.
With the combiner output port being port 0, and the input
ports being numbered from 1 to 10, Figure 2 shows the
frequency response of the output reflection coefficient, and
Figure 3 shows the frequency response of both the magnitude
and phase of the forward transmissions. As the structure is
symmetrical about the central axis, only the five transmissions
S0.1, . . . , S0.5 are shown. It can be seen that equalization has
been achieved over a considerable bandwidth about the center frequency 10 GHz.
4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Figure 3 Predicted magnitudes a. and phases b. of the combiner

forward transmissions

340

To allow connection of the designed combiner using SMA

connectors, the test structure depicted in Figure 4 was fabricated. The test structure incorporates the optimized combiner plus interconnections between the SMA connectors and
the input ports of the combiner. The effects of the interconnection microstrip lines were removed from the measurements based on their lengths and effective dielectric constant.
The measured output port reflection coefficient is overlaid on
the theoretical predictions in Figure 2. Figure 5 shows both
the magnitude and phase of the measured forward transmissions. The structure is ideally symmetrical; however, as a
result of measurement errors, the measurements reveal an
asymmetry of up to 2 dB and 208 for the forward transmissions. Therefore, the average of S0.1 and S0.10 , the average of
S0.2 and S0.9 , etc., are plotted. This observed asymmetry also
indicates the order of the measurement errors on the whole.
On the whole, there is reasonable correspondence between the measurements and the theoretical predictions.
Sources of measurement error include the discontinuities at
the SMA-to-microstrip transitions, and residual mismatch of
the SMA loads, as well as SMA connector repeatability error.
The first two sources of error are significant at 10 GHz, and
may explain many discrepancies between theoretical predictions and measurements. The latter two sources of error
would explain the observed asymmetry in the forward transmission measurements. Since these first two sources of errors
are systematic, error correction would be possible. However
for an 11-port network, this would prove impractical as a
total of 55 pairs of connections to the 2-port network analyzer would be required.

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 15, No. 6, August 20 1997

Figure 4

Photograph of experimental combiner test structure

Sources of error in the theoretical predictions include

assuming lossless media and negligible mutual coupling between sides of the holes other than that implied by the
contour integral.. The former error essentially would explain
the discrepancy of around 2 dB. in transmission magnitudes.
5. CONCLUSION

An optimum structure of an N-way microstrip power combiner with colinear input ports is presented, and employs
holes in the middle of the conductor pattern to equalize the
forward transmissions. The technique for optimizing the
structure is based around a simulated annealing algorithm,
and uses the planar circuit approach for the analysis of the
structure. The simulated and measured results for this structure were presented, and are in good agreement within the
limitations of measurement accuracy. The results indicate the
viability of the proposed combiner. Work is continuing to
further study and develop planar power combiners of the type
proposed. In particular, increased bandwidth is sought, and
will require investigation and optimization of the taper.

Figure 5 Measured magnitudes a. and phases b. of the combiner

forward transmissions

REFERENCES
1. F. Sechi, M. Bujatti, R. Knudson, and R. Bugos, Radially
Combined 30 W, 14]16 GHz Amplifier, 1994 IEEE Int. Microwa e Symp., Dig. Papers, pp. 1737]1740.
2. P. Martin, P. J. Allen, and J. B. Ness, A 14GHz 80 Watt GaAs
FET Amplifier, 21st European Microwa e Conf., Sept. 1991, pp.
1465]1468.
3. H. Mizuno, H. Mitsumoto, and N. Yazawa, A 12.5 GHz-Band
50W Solid-State Power Amplifier for Future Broadcasting Satellites, 1990 IEEE Int. Microwa e Symp., Dig. Papers, pp.
1337]1340.
4. M. D. Abouzahra and K. C. Gupta, Multiport Power DividerCombiner Circuits Using Circular-Sector-Shape Planar Components, IEEE Trans. Microwa e Theory Tech., Vol. 36, Dec. 1988,
pp. 1747]1751.
5. M. Miyazaki, O. Ishida, and T. Hashimoto, N-way Sectorial
Hybrid Power Divider Design Using Boundary Element Method,
Int. J. MIMICAE, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1993, pp. 175]182.
6. S. P. Yeo, M. S. Leong, P. S. Kooi, T. S. Yeo, and X. D. Zhou,
Contour-Integral Analysis of Microstrip Sectorial Power Divider
with Arbitrary Sector Angle., Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., Vol. 140, Pt.
H, Feb. 1993, pp. 62]64.

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 15, No. 6, August 20 1997

341

7. P. S. Kooi, M. S. Leong, T. S. Yeo, and S. M. Krishnaswami, A

Multi-Way Broadband Sectorial Power Divider Using Exponential Taper, 1995 Asia-Pacific Microwa e Conf., KAIST, Taejon,
Korea, Oct. 1995, pp. 48]51.
8. Q.-C. Sun, K. W. Eccleston, and S. P. Yeo, The Design of
Optimum Planar Power DividersrCombiners for SSPA Applications, 1995 Asia-Pacific Microwa e Conf., KAIST, Taejon, Korea,
Oct. 1995, pp. 56]59.
9. T. Okoshi and T. Miyoshi, The Planar Circuit}An Approach to
Microwave Integrated Circuitry, IEEE Trans. Microwa e Theory
Tech., Vol. MTT-20, Apr. 1972, pp. 245]252.
10. K. W. Eccleston, Efficiency of Lossless Power Combiners,
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Q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CCC 0895-2477r97

incoming electromagnetic pulse. Usually, a time step equivalent to five times the width of the pulse is sufficient.
However, the implicit scheme has a disadvantage as it
requires the inversion of a real sparse matrix. For two-dimensional problems, the matrix may be banded. However, the
matrix needs to be inverted only once.
In Section 2, we present the integral equation formulation.
This discretization scheme is described in Section 3, and the
computational form of the electric field integral equation for
TM incidence is presented in Section 4. Section 5 provides
some sample numerical examples, followed by conclusions
and a selective set of references. The list of references
provides information where additional materials may be
available.
2. INTEGRAL EQUATION FORMULATION

TIME-DOMAIN MODELING OF
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CONDUCTING
CYLINDERS UTILIZING AN IMPLICIT
SCHEME } TM INCIDENCE
Sadasiva M. Rao1 and Tapan K. Sarkar 2
1
Department of Electrical Engineering
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama 36849-5201
2
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York 13244-1240
Recei ed 11 February 1997; re ised 26 March 1997
ABSTRACT: An electric field integral equation is presented for the
time-domain modeling of two-dimensional conducting cylinders. The
incident field is considered to be TM. In addition, we present an implicit
solution technique instead of the direct marching-on-in-time solution.
The result is that the solution procedure is quite stable, and the sampling
in space and time need not satisfy the Courant stability condition.
Typical numerical results are presented to illustrate the accuracy of this
technique. Q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol
Lett 15: 342]347, 1997.

The scattering geometry under consideration is shown in

Figure 1. Let C denote the cross section of an open or closed
perfectly electric conducting PEC. cylinder parallel to the
z-axis. At each point on C, let a
n denote an outward-directed
unit vector normal to the contour. The circumferential vector
a
t is then obtained by
a
t s az = an .

1.

The incident field is a plane wave with the magnetic field

polarized in the z-direction TM incidence.. The incident
field E inc r, t ., defined in the absence of the scatterer, induces a surface current J r, t . on the scatterer. The boundary
conditions require that the total tangential electric field on
the conducting surface be 0 or
 E s w Jx q E inc 4 tan s 0

on C

2.

where the subscript tan represent the tangential component and E swJx is the scattered field due to the induced
current J. The scattered field scattered radiated by the current J may be written in terms of the magnetic vector and
electric scalar potentials as
E s w Jx s y

Key words: time-domain modeling; conducting cylinders; TM incidence

A
t

y =f

3.

1. INTRODUCTION

Time domain integral equations have been presented earlier

w1]4x, where an explicit marching-on-in-time solution procedure has been utilized to solve the integral equation. However, even though the marching-on-in-time methodology for
solving electric field integral equations is straightforward, it
suffers from certain drawbacks, namely, the solution procedure may become unstable for late times. In order to suppress instabilities, often the solution is filtered, which introduces additional computations. In addition, the time and
space discretizations are related by the Courant condition.
In this paper, we propose an implicit scheme to solve the
transient electric field integral equation which does not exhibit late time oscillations. Nor does it require any time-averaging procedures to suppress late time oscillations as is
conventionally done for the marching-on-in-time procedure.
One could take larger time steps, thereby violating the
Courant stability condition. Essentially, for an implicit
scheme, the space and time discretizations are linearly independent. The time step depends on the pulse width of the

342

Figure 1

Arbitrarily shaped cylinder with an incident TM pulse

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 15, No. 6, August 20 1997