8-Port Power Combiner

BY
K. Tharak Ram – 2017AAPS0464H
G. Yaswanth Reddy – 2017AAPS0243H
K. Ram Tarun – 2017AAPS0349H
 Aim of the project

The aim of this project is to design a 8-Port radial power combiner and
its fabrication.
 Power Combiner

Power Combiner combines the incoming input signals (two or more)

into a single output signal.
 Why Power Combiner??

• Power combiner is essentially used for coupling high frequency

signals.
• They play a major role in the amplification of high power signals when
using SSPA (Solid State Power Amplifiers) .
 Scattering Matrix of a power combiner

• S-matrix is usually used to represent any n-port network.

• For an ideal power combiner the ports should be matched and the
system should be lossless.
• Usually a power combiner can also be used as a power divider i.e. a
reciprocal device.
 Radial Power Combiner
• In radial power combiners N input ports are placed symmetrically in
the slots made at certain positions in the cylindrical cavity around a
central output port.
• The ground principle of the cavity combiners is very simple: a
circularly symmetric field with a maximum in the center point is
excited in the cavity by carefully positioned excitation ports.
• Cavity based radial power combiners guide the electromagnetic wave
through the medium with lowest loss of all, free space.
• Radial N-way combiners are a very attractive alternative for
combining in high power systems due to their low-loss performance.
 S-Matrix
In an 8 port radial power combiner the input ports are placed 45 degrees apart and
the scattering matrix of the combiner is as follows.
S11 = α Sn, n+1 = ζ23
S1n = S12 =β Sn, n+2 = ζ24
Snn = ϒ Sn, n+3 = ζ25
Sn, n+4 = ζ26
Where 1 is the output port and 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 are the input ports.
The scattering matrix of the resultant device looks as follows
In an ideal power combiner the ports should be matched, system
should be lossless and reciprocal.
From all the above conditions we get
S11 = α = 0
1
S1n = S12 = |β| = 𝑠𝑞𝑟𝑡 = 0.35 = -9dB
8

Ideally the total power from the inputs should be transmitted to the
outputs. So,
|S12|2 + |S13|2 + |S14|2 + |S15|2 + |S16|2 + |S17|2 + |S18|2 + |S19|2 = 1
Simulation Model
• Input (Peripheral) ports:
SMA connector of 50 ohms with long coaxial probe is used as the input
port. The structure of the port is as shown below.
• Impedance matching of the ports:
The input ports are the radially symmetric to the output port, so they
can be treated as parallel loads. As both the input and output ports are
same coaxial probes their impedance doesn’t match.
For that purpose copper cylinders are attached to the conductor pins of
the probes, and the dimensions of the cylinders are varied to ensure
proper impedance matching. The peripheral probes are not modified
only the cylinder dimensions are modified and observed till optimized
results are observed.
• Cylindrical cavity:
This is modelled as a vacuum cylinder with height as variable which is a
tuning parameter for impedance matching.
• Central output port:
SMA connector of 50 ohms with long coaxial probe is used as the input
port (same as that of input port). As we have to take output from the
port it is rotated by 180 degrees while placing it in the combiner.
• Locations of the ports:
The ports must be placed radially around the output port at a distance
where the output is observed to be maximum.
So we solve for

By solving it we get the position of the input ports to be placed.

 Final measurements of the optimized design

Design parameter Value[mm]

Radius of the cavity 80
Depth of the cavity 37.44
Height of the cylinder connected(input) 17.02

Height of the cylinder connected(output) 16.20

Radius of the cylinder connected(input) 4

Radius of the cylinder connected(output) 1.5

Distance between SMA and 3.06

connector(input)
Distance between SMA and 10.7
connector(output)
Location of input 62.04
 Results

E-field diagram:
Reflection coefficient at input port (Snn):

As seen from the above figure, S11 (Reflection Coefficient) at the input
port is minimum (around -39dB) at frequency of 2.5GHz
Transmission coefficient from input to output (S1n):

At 2.5GHz we are getting a S1n (Transmission Coefficient) of -10dB.

We know that for a device the sum of squares of S-parameters is one
i.e.
|S12|2 + |S13|2 + |S14|2 + |S15|2 + |S16|2 + |S17|2 + |S18|2 + |S19|2 = 1

We have S1n = 0.316. So

|S12|2 + |S13|2 + |S14|2 + |S15|2 + |S16|2 + |S17|2 + |S18|2 + |S19|2 = 0.8

We are getting almost 80 percent of input power at the output port.

 CONCLUSION

An 8 port Radial power combiner is designed using HFSS and its design
is optimised by varying dimensions of the proposed structure. And the
results are satisfying with high efficiency and low loss.
THANK YOU