Splitters and Couplers

Equal and unequal Wilkinson splitters; Lange, rat-race, and branchline couplers

Use the splitter and coupler objects and functions to create and visualize splitters and couplers used on a printed circuit board (PCB).

Wilkinson power splitters are commonly used as power dividers for lossless power division and matching between ports. An unequal Wilkinson splitter is used in FMCW radars to split power unequally between the transmitter and the local oscillator or to feed power to beam forming antenna arrays.

Couplers have the unique capability to divide power between two ports with a phase shift. A rat-race coupler splits power as the sum or the difference of the input powers between the output ports. A branchline coupler divides the input power between the output ports with a phase difference of 90 degrees. Lange couplers are used to combine or split power in a large range of frequencies.

Objects

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Couplers

`couplerRatrace`	Create equal-split rat-race coupler or 180-degree-ring hybrid (Since R2021b)
`couplerBranchline`	Create branch line coupler or quadrature hybrid (Since R2021b)
`couplerDirectional`	Create single section or multi-section directional coupler in microstrip form (Since R2022b)
`couplerBranchlineWideband`	Create equal split multisection branchline coupler or quadrature hybrid (Since R2023a)

Splitters

`wilkinsonSplitter`	Create Wilkinson splitter in microstrip form on X-Y plane (Since R2021b)
`wilkinsonSplitterUnequal`	Create unequal Wilkinson splitter (Since R2021b)
`wilkinsonSplitterWideband`	Create wideband Wilkinson power divider (Since R2022a)
`powerDividerCorporate`	Create corporate power divider (Since R2022a)
`splitterTee`	Create T-junction power splitter (Since R2022b)
`SIWSplitter`	Create an SIW Splitter in microstrip form (Since R2023b)

Functions

`show`	Display PCB component structure or PCB shape (Since R2021b)
`info`	Display information about PCB component structure (Since R2021b)
`pcbcascade`	Create new component using cascade operation (Since R2021b)
`shapes`	Extract all metal layer shapes of PCB component (Since R2021b)

Featured Examples

4-Port Coupler in Shielded Enclosure

Design and analyze a 4-Port coupler with a shielded enclosure. PCBs often experience unwanted problems such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) leading to performance degradation and failure. It may also affect other sensitive electronics due to outgoing EMI. An ideal shield will completely block off the EMI and ensure that strong signals cannot escape. Here you enclose a branchline coupler in a Faraday shield and analyze the coupler at 3 GHz using Finite Element Method (FEM).

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Design and Analyze Wideband Multisection Branchline Coupler with Defected Ground Structure

Design and analyze a multisection branchline coupler with a defected ground plane in RF PCB Toolbox.

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Corporate Feed Divider Network for a Linear Patch Antenna array

Integrate a corporate power divider with a microstrip patch antenna array. The corporate power divider is available as a catalog element in RF PCB Toolbox. The patch antenna array is built using the patchMicrostripInsetfed catalog element and pcbStack from Antenna Toolbox.

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Introduction to Equal and Unequal Split Wilkinson Power Splitter

Design, analyze, and compare an equal and unequal Wilkinson splitter.

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Introduction to 4-Port Couplers

Design and analyze 4-Port Couplers.

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