Computer Aided Design of Optimum E- or H-Plane N-Furcated Waveguide Power Dividers

Compact low-insertion-loss E- or H-plane n-furcated waveguide power dividers are designed with the method of field expansion into eigenmodes. As the finite septa thicknesses as well as the higher order mode interaction between all step discontinuities are rigorously taken into account, the full design potential including optimum stepped transformer configurations and their distance to the septa is utilized. Input reflection coefficients of better than ¿30dB between 26-40 GHz, or 29-38 GHz, are achieved by computer-optimized design examples with R320 waveguide E-plane bi-, or tri-furcation, respectively. The theory is verified by measurements. A very compact feed network example for a seven horn array demonstrates the usefulness of this design.