Microwave power combining and graceful degradation

A scattering matrix approach to the design of microwave power combiners is presented. Both fixed and variable n-way combiners are discussed for power sources of different levels. Recursive expressions of output power in terms of input powers and coupling coefficients of couplers are derived which can be programmed on digital computers to predict the degradation in the event of source failure. For variable n-way combiners that are capable of producing truly graceful degradation, phase shift recursive expressions in terms of input powers are also derived which can be implemented on microprocessors to monitor and control the phase shifters.