Broadband one-to-many annular power divider

Abstract

The invention provides a broadband one-to-many annular power divider. The broadband one-to-many annular power divider comprises a ceramic dielectric substrate, a tapped microstrip film transmission conductor strip line, an annular film resistor and a regular hexagon inner core interconnection microstrip film, the annular thin-film resistor is arranged in the center of the top surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate, the outer side of the annular thin-film resistor is connected with the tapped microstrip thin-film transmission conductor strip line, the inner side of the annular thin-film resistor is connected with the regular hexagonal inner-core interconnected microstrip thin-film, and the circle center of the annular thin-film resistor coincides with the center of the regular hexagonal inner-core interconnected microstrip thin-film; the tapped microstrip film transmission conductor strip line is connected with the annular film resistor, and the air cavity is located at the top of the ceramic dielectric substrate; compared with traditional Wilkinson power dividers, branch line bridge power dividers and Lange bridge power dividers, the broadband one-to-many annular power divider provided by the invention has the advantages that microwave products which aim at different frequency band matching sections, are small in size and can cover the C frequency band to the Ka frequency band of the Xian Academy in bandwidth do not exist, and the broadband one-to-many annular power divider can be directly applied as a standard circuit and is convenient and fast.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of microwave technology, and in particular relates to a broadband one-to-many ring power divider. Background Art

[0002] Compact ultra-wideband MIC power dividers are key technologies for microwave array component integration and ground-based test systems. One structure can simultaneously cover C-band to Ka-band applications and can be widely adopted in current microwave integrated design and ultra-wideband test systems.

[0003] From a system construction perspective, one of the key satellite system technologies that requires ongoing research and development is large-scale beamforming. Large-scale beamforming is the primary means for mobile communication satellites to achieve continuous ground coverage and improve frequency utilization. The core of analog beamforming lies in the miniaturization and integration of beam networks. For example, the ETS-VIII satellite's BFN1 and BFN2 utilize highly integrated MMIC technology. The power splitter network, an essential component of the beam network, generally utilizes Wilkinson power splitter unit circuits. Limited by its internal quarter-wavelength line structure, this design limits its operation to a relatively narrow frequency band, resulting in a large structure. Furthermore, the combiner port is not interchangeable with other power splitter ports. This falls far short of the high-density integration requirements of beam networks, failing to meet the urgent needs of existing ultra-wideband advanced integrated systems and lacking flexibility. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a broadband one-to-many ring power divider to solve the problems of large structural size and poor versatility of ordinary power dividers in the prior art.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution to achieve it: a broadband one-to-many ring power divider, including a ceramic dielectric substrate, a tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line, a ring thin film resistor, and a regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip film.

[0006] The annular thin film resistor is arranged at the center of the top surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate. The outer side of the annular thin film resistor is connected to the tap microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line, and the inner side is connected to the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film. The center of the annular thin film resistor coincides with the center of the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film.

[0007] The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines are connected to the annular thin film resistor, and the angles between adjacent tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines are the same.

[0008] The broadband one-to-many ring power divider further comprises an air cavity, which is located on the top of the ceramic dielectric substrate.

[0009] The present invention also includes the following technical features:

[0010] The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line is a rectangular microstrip conductor strip line with a width W, a length L, and a thickness t1. The width W is comparable to the thickness of the dielectric material, and the length L is between half the wavelength of the center frequency and one wavelength (λ / 2 to λ).

[0011] In the stripline film structure of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor, the base layer is nickel-chromium (NiCr) or nickel-chromium-nickel (NiCr-Ni), with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and above the base layer is a gold layer (Au), with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm.

[0012] The thickness t1 is between 4.4 and 6.6 μm.

[0013] The outer circle radius of the annular thin film resistor is R, and the square resistance of the resistor is 50 ohms / square.

[0014] The film layer of the ring thin film resistor is tantalum nitride (Ta2N), with a thickness of

[0015] The regular hexagonal microstrip conductor strip line has a width W0 and a thickness t0 of the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip film, and a width W0 that is smaller than the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor. W0 is between half the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor and one outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor, that is, between (R / 2~R).

[0016] In the regular hexagonal inner interconnect microstrip thin film layer structure, the base layer is nickel-chromium (NiCr) or nickel-chromium-nickel (NiCr-Ni), with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and above the base layer is a gold layer (Au), with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm.

[0017] The thickness t0 is between 4.4 and 6.6 um.

[0018] The thickness of the ceramic dielectric substrate is H sub , an A493 ceramic substrate with a dielectric constant of 9.9 is used, and the thickness is selected as 0.38mm.

[0019] The air cavity range is the portion of the cavity metal box minus the regular hexahedron common structure consisting of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, the ring thin film resistor 2, the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4, and the ceramic dielectric substrate 1. The air thickness is H air , the thickness is selected to be 2 to 3 mm, the dielectric constant is 1, and the bottom of the air cavity is directly in contact with the surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following technical effects:

[0021] (I) Compared with traditional Wilkinson power dividers, branch line bridge power dividers and Lange bridge power divider structures, the broadband one-to-many ring power divider provided by the present invention does not have matching sections for different frequency bands, is small in size, and has a bandwidth that can cover the C-band to Ka-band microwave products of the Xi'an Branch. It can be directly used as a standard circuit, which is convenient and fast.

[0022] (II) The broadband single-to-multiple ring power divider provided by this invention simplifies the design and production process, reduces material usage, and improves reliability compared to traditional Wilkinson power dividers, branch line bridge power dividers, and Lange bridge power dividers. Furthermore, it avoids the introduction of unnecessary parasitic effects associated with multi-stage cascades, thereby ensuring the system's in-band amplitude-frequency characteristics.

[0023] (III) The broadband one-to-many ring power divider provided by the present invention uses integrally processed ring thin film resistors to avoid the complex process of discretely processing multiple groups of resistors, reducing the errors and performance index impact of multiple processing substitutions; the unique interconnected polygonal design improves the port return loss index and amplitude balance.

[0024] (IV) The broadband one-to-many ring power divider structure provided by the present invention is easy to process and mass-produce, and can replace the imported power dividers of the ultra-wideband test system, thus achieving independent control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the broadband one-to-many ring power divider of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the dimensions of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 4 This is a diagram of the simulation optimization results of the present invention divided into two parts.

[0029] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention divided into five parts.

[0030] Figure 6 A diagram of the simulation optimization results of the present invention.

[0031] The numbers in the figure represent:

[0032] 1-Ceramic dielectric substrate, 2-Tap microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line, 3-Annular thin film resistor, 4-Regular hexagonal inner interconnect microstrip thin film, 5-Air cavity.

[0033] The specific contents of the present invention are further explained in detail below with reference to the embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Unless otherwise specified, all components in the present invention are components known in the prior art.

[0035] Specific embodiments of the present invention are given below. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following specific embodiments, and all equivalent modifications made on the basis of the technical solution of this application fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0036] Example 1:

[0037] This embodiment provides a broadband one-to-many ring power splitter, such as Figures 1-4 As shown, it includes a ceramic dielectric substrate 1, a tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, a ring-shaped thin film resistor 3, and a regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4.

[0038] The annular thin film resistor 3 is arranged at the center of the top surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1. The outer side of the annular thin film resistor 3 is connected to the tap microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, and the inner side is connected to the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4. The center of the annular thin film resistor 3 coincides with the center of the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4.

[0039] The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2 is connected to the ring-shaped thin film resistor 3 , and the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines 2 are , and the angles between adjacent tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines 2 are the same.

[0040] The broadband one-to-many ring power divider further includes an air cavity 5 , which is located on the top of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1 .

[0041] The ring-shaped power divider structure proposed in this embodiment reduces the narrowband matching size in the transmission direction of the substrate and further reduces the module size.

[0042] This embodiment proposes a ring-shaped power divider structure, in which the number of ports of the same amplitude and phase commutative power divider architecture can be expanded with equal spacing and in the same plane.

[0043] This embodiment proposes a ring-shaped power divider structure, in which the ring-shaped thin film resistors are integrally processed to avoid the complex process of separately processing multiple groups of resistors, reduce the errors and performance index impact caused by multiple processing substitutions, and achieve ultra-wideband characteristics.

[0044] Compared with traditional Wilkinson power dividers, branch line bridge power dividers and Lange bridge power divider structures, there is no matching segment for different frequency bands. It is small in size and its bandwidth can cover the Xi'an Branch's C-band to Ka-band microwave products. It can be directly used as a standard circuit, which is convenient and fast.

[0045] As a preferred embodiment of this invention:

[0046] The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2 is a rectangular microstrip conductor strip line with a width of W, a length of L, and a thickness of t1. The width W is equal to the thickness H of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1. sub The length L is between half a wavelength and one wavelength (λ / 2~λ) at the center frequency of 17.5GHz.

[0047] In the film layer structure of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, the base layer is nickel-chromium (NiCr) or nickel-chromium-nickel (NiCr-Ni) with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and a gold layer (Au) is provided on the base layer with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm.

[0048] The thickness t1 is between 4.4 and 6.6 μm.

[0049] As a preferred embodiment of this invention:

[0050] The outer circle radius of the annular thin film resistor 3 is R, and the square resistance of the resistor is 50 ohms / square.

[0051] The film layer of the ring thin film resistor is tantalum nitride (Ta2N), with a thickness of

[0052] As a preferred embodiment of this invention:

[0053] The regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip film 4 has a width W0 and a thickness t0 of a regular hexagonal microstrip conductor strip line, wherein the width W0 is smaller than the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor, and W0 is between half the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor and one outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor, that is, between (R / 2~R).

[0054] In the four-layer structure of the regular hexagonal inner interconnect microstrip film, the base layer is nickel-chromium (NiCr) or nickel-chromium-nickel (NiCr-Ni), with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and above the base layer is a gold layer (Au), with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm.

[0055] The thickness t0 is between 4.4 and 6.6 um.

[0056] As a preferred embodiment of this invention:

[0057] The thickness of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1 is H sub , an A493 ceramic substrate with a dielectric constant of 9.9 is used, and the thickness is selected as 0.38mm.

[0058] As a preferred embodiment of this invention:

[0059] The air cavity 5 is formed by subtracting the portion of the cavity metal box from the regular hexahedron common structure consisting of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, the annular thin film resistor 3, the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4 and the ceramic dielectric substrate 1.

[0060] The thickness of the air cavity 5 is H air , select a thickness of 2 to 3 mm and a dielectric constant of 1.

[0061] The bottom of the air cavity 5 is in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1 .

[0062] Example 2:

[0063] The power divider structure of this embodiment adopts a new integrated ring-shaped thin film resistor and a regular hexagonal interconnected equal spacing expansion topology. The power divider structure is a ceramic dielectric material with a certain thickness and is composed according to specific size distribution parameters. Figure 1 As shown, the structure comprises a ceramic dielectric substrate 1, a tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2, a ring-shaped thin film resistor 3, a regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film 4 and an air cavity 5.

[0064] like Figure 3 As shown, the ring resistors of the new broadband one-to-many circulator are equivalent to a bilaterally symmetrical, two-way central resistive interconnection. Assuming the input voltage at Port 1 is V0 and the source impedance is 50Ω, the voltage at the common node after passing through resistor R1 is V1, and the voltage at the 50Ω output of the two ports is V2. Assuming R1 = R2 = R, R22 = R12, the input impedance is as shown in Equation (1), and the source impedance value is Equation (2).

[0065]

[0066] Z source =50 (2)

[0067] Among them, Z in is the input impedance, Z source is the source impedance.

[0068] As can be seen from the figure, the relationship between the internal input impedance and the source impedance is as shown in formula (3). Substituting formula (1) and formula (2) into formula (3) yields formula (4).

[0069] Z in =Z source (3)

[0070]

[0071] The transmission parameter S21 of the novel three-way power divider circuit from Port1 to Port2 is expressed as (5).

[0072]

[0073] Simplifying equation (4) yields equation (6).

[0074]

[0075] S21 logarithmic expression (7), substituting formula (6) into formula (7) to obtain S21 (dB) is approximately -6.021dB.

[0076] S 21 (dB)=20log(S 21 ) (7)

[0077] The initial value of the left-right symmetrical resistance of the ring resistor is 13Ω, and the impedance of the center resistive interconnection between the two ring resistors is 15.32Ω, which is used as the basis for the three-dimensional field simulation.

[0078] The model is established using 3D simulation software. The ceramic dielectric substrate 1 has a thickness of 0.38 mm and a dielectric constant ε r The value is 9.9, the thickness of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2 is 0.005mm, the radius of the annular thin film resistor 3 is 0.2mm, and the center coincides with the center of the annular thin film resistor. The side length of the interconnected microstrip film in the regular hexagon is 0.25mm, and the vertex angle of the regular hexagon is the symmetry axis. The tapped microstrip film width is 0.38mm, the length is 3.65mm, the air height is 2.5mm, and the air box is an ideal conductor. The specific configuration is as follows Figure 1 As shown in the figure, by using this initial topology value, fine-tuning the key dimensions R and W0 of the 3D simulation software model can achieve efficient transmission characteristics and low return loss from 5GHz to 30GHz, and the optimization target return loss dB (S(1,1)) from 5GHz to 30GHz is less than or equal to -22.97dB.

[0079] The simulation optimization results are as follows Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 The simulation results graph shows frequency (GHz) on the horizontal axis and the logarithmic amplitudes of S21 and S11 (dB) on the vertical axis. The return loss (dB) from 5 GHz to 30 GHz (S(1,1)) is less than or equal to -21 dB, meeting the design requirement.

[0080] On the basis of the annular power divider structure, the optimal 5GHz~30GHz microwave power divider characteristics can be achieved by reasonably adjusting the central hexagon to coincide with the center of the annular thin film resistor and ensuring that the left and right symmetry axes of the tap are in a straight line with the opposite corners of the regular hexagon.

[0081] This section provides an example of a 5 GHz to 30 GHz microwave inter-board interconnect structure. The ceramic dielectric substrate 1 is A-493 (dielectric constant 9.9) with a thickness of 0.38 mm. The tapped microstrip thin-film transmission conductor stripline 2 is 0.005 mm thick. The air cavity 5 is 2.5 mm high. A one-to-two power divider is simulated.

[0082] In the frequency range from DC to 40GHz, by rationally selecting the key dimensions of the ring power divider structure: the ring resistor radius and the length of the central interconnected regular hexagon, it is possible to ensure near-ideal insertion loss and a better in-band voltage standing wave ratio throughout the entire broadband band.

[0083] In practical applications, ceramic dielectric substrates 1 vary in material and thickness, and the actual material parameters of ceramic dielectric substrates 1 are within a specific range. Therefore, broadband single-point multi-ring power splitters are pre-designed as two-dimensional matrix units. Based on this pre-designed two-dimensional matrix unit, corresponding broadband single-point multi-ring power splitter structures can be pre-designed to accommodate different ceramic dielectric substrates 1 and thicknesses. These can then be categorized by ceramic dielectric substrate 1 material and thickness to create off-the-shelf products. During production, operators can simply select the corresponding broadband single-point multi-ring power splitter from the drawings and build the system circuit. This significantly improves production efficiency and provides excellent microwave ultra-wideband performance.

[0084] Figure 5 Given that the ceramic dielectric substrate 1 is A-493 (dielectric constant 9.9), the thickness of the ceramic dielectric substrate 1 is 0.38 mm, the thickness of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line 2 is 0.005 mm, and the height of the air cavity 5 is 2.5 mm, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 Figure 2 shows the simulation results of a 1-to-5 power splitter. The return loss from 5GHz to 30GHz is better than -25dB. This extended power splitter improves coplanar circuit utilization and accelerates microwave integrated design.

[0085] In summary, this patented ring-shaped power divider structure requires only fine-tuning of the central polygonal interconnect stripline, its off-center dimensions, and the width and length of the ring-shaped thin-film resistor. This eliminates the need for the time-consuming optimization and adjustment of wavelength-dependent striplines, which typically only achieve narrowband matching in traditional power divider designs. Furthermore, the size of the substrate for a single power divider and the substrate size for a multi-channel power divider network are significantly reduced, facilitating the implementation of multi-channel stacking integration. This power divider can meet the power distribution requirements of C-band to Ka-band microwave modules, multi-channel stacking integration, and ultra-wideband test systems, enabling direct application without redesign, accelerating product development.

[0086] This power divider structure design can be extended to the design of microwave interconnect circuits with higher frequency bands and wider operating bandwidths.

[0087] The above technical solutions are only preferred specific implementation methods of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be thought of by any technician familiar with the field within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention without creative work are all covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A broadband one-to-many ring power splitter, characterized in that: It comprises a ceramic dielectric substrate (1), a tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2), a ring-shaped thin film resistor (3), and a regular hexagonal inner-interconnected microstrip thin film (4); The annular thin film resistor (3) is arranged at the center of the top surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate (1); the outer side of the annular thin film resistor (3) is connected to the tap microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2); the inner side is connected to the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film (4); the center of the annular thin film resistor (3) coincides with the center of the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film (4); The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2) is connected to the annular thin film resistor (3), and the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines (2) are such that the angles between adjacent tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip lines (2) are the same; The broadband one-to-many ring power divider further comprises an air cavity (5), and the air cavity (5) is located on the top of the ceramic dielectric substrate (1).

2. The broadband one-to-many ring power divider according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2) is a rectangular parallelepiped microstrip conductor strip line with a width W, a length L, and a thickness t1, wherein the width W is comparable to the thickness of the dielectric material, and the length L is between half a wavelength of the center frequency and a wavelength, i.e., between λ / 2 and λ; The tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2) has a film layer structure in which the base layer is nickel-chromium or nickel-chromium-nickel with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and a gold layer with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm is formed on the base layer; The thickness t1 is between 4.4 and 6.6 μm.

3. The broadband one-to-many ring power divider according to claim 2, characterized in that: The outer circle radius of the annular thin film resistor (3) is R, and the square resistance of the resistor is 50 ohms / square; The film layer of the ring thin film resistor is tantalum nitride, with a thickness of 4. The broadband one-to-many ring power divider according to claim 3, characterized in that: The regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip film (4) has a regular hexagonal microstrip conductor strip line with a width of W0 and a thickness of t0, wherein the width W0 is smaller than the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor, and W0 is between half the outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor and one outer radius R of the annular thin film resistor, i.e., (R / 2~R); The film structure of the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip film (4) has a bottom layer of nickel-chromium or nickel-chromium-nickel with a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and a gold layer with a thickness of 2.4 to 3.6 μm on top of the bottom layer; The thickness t0 is between 4.4 and 6.6 um.

5. The broadband one-to-many ring power divider according to claim 3, characterized in that: The thickness of the ceramic dielectric substrate (1) is H sub , an A493 ceramic substrate with a dielectric constant of 9.9 is used, and the thickness is selected as 0.38mm.

6. The broadband one-to-many ring power divider according to claim 3, characterized in that: The air cavity (5) is formed by subtracting the portion of the cavity metal box from the regular hexahedron common structure consisting of the tapped microstrip thin film transmission conductor strip line (2), the annular thin film resistor (3), the regular hexagonal inner interconnected microstrip thin film (4) and the ceramic dielectric substrate (1); The thickness of the air cavity (5) is H air , select thickness as 2-3mm and dielectric constant as 1; The bottom of the air cavity (5) is in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic dielectric substrate (1).

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