Splitters and Couplers

Equal and unequal Wilkinson splitters; Lange, rat-race, and branchline couplers

Use the splitter and coupler objects and functions to create and visualize splitters and couplers used on a printed circuit board (PCB).

Wilkinson power splitters are commonly used as power dividers for lossless power division and matching between ports. An unequal Wilkinson splitter is used in FMCW radars to split power unequally between the transmitter and the local oscillator or to feed power to beam forming antenna arrays.

Couplers have the unique capability to divide power between two ports with a phase shift. A rat-race coupler splits power as the sum or the difference of the input powers between the output ports. A branchline coupler divides the input power between the output ports with a phase difference of 90 degrees. Lange couplers are used to combine or split power in a large range of frequencies.

Objects

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Couplers

`couplerRatrace`	Create equal-split rat-race coupler or 180-degree-ring hybrid
`couplerBranchline`	Create branch line coupler or quadrature hybrid
`couplerDirectional`	Create single section or multi-section directional coupler in microstrip form
`couplerBranchlineWideband`	Create equal split multisection branchline coupler or quadrature hybrid

Splitters

`wilkinsonSplitter`	Create Wilkinson splitter in microstrip form on X-Y plane
`wilkinsonSplitterUnequal`	Create unequal Wilkinson splitter
`wilkinsonSplitterWideband`	Create wideband Wilkinson power divider
`powerDividerCorporate`	Create corporate power divider
`splitterTee`	Create T-junction power splitter

Functions

`show`	Display PCB component structure or PCB shape
`info`	Display information about PCB component structure
`pcbcascade`	Create new component using cascade operation
`shapes`	Extract all metal layer shapes of PCB component

Featured Examples

Design and Analyze Wideband Multisection Branchline Coupler with Defected Ground Structure

Design and analyze a multisection branchline coupler with a defected ground plane in RF PCB Toolbox.

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Corporate Feed Divider Network for a Linear Patch Antenna array

Integrate a corporate power divider with a microstrip patch antenna array. The corporate power divider is available as a catalog element in RF PCB Toolbox. The patch antenna array is built using the patchMicrostripInsetfed catalog element and pcbStack from Antenna Toolbox.

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Introduction to Equal and Unequal Split Wilkinson Power Splitter

Design, analyze, and compare an equal and unequal Wilkinson splitter.

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Introduction to 4-Port Couplers

Design and analyze 4-Port Couplers.

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