A novel compact planar six-way power divider using folded and hybrid-expanded coupled lines

A novel planar six- way power divider is proposed. Based on the conventional planar microstrip coupled line technology, the proposed compact six- way power divider is comprised of two stages coupled transmission lines, which is different to the conventional multistage power divider using the same expanded structure, one stage folded two- coupled line, and the other hybrid- expanded symmetrical three- coupled line. Therefore, the proposed power divider is size reduction, and has a broad- band property, which is better than 40% of fractional bandwidth. Furthermore, compared to a traditional six- way power divider, it is designed and fabricated easily. From the simulated and measured results, the six- way planar power divider shows a good specifications, which are insert loss 8.1 +/- 0.2 dB from 2 GHz to 3 GHz, and return loss less than - 18 dB, isolation less than - 19.5dB at 2.5 GHz, respectively.