RECONFIGURABLE STEPPED-IMPEDANCE SLOTLINE POWER DIVIDERS

For the first time, the higher-ordered modes of a stepped-impedance slotline resonator are closely combined for designing the broadband in-phase and out-of-phase power dividers. It was found that the output phases of the two modes can be easily reversed at the same time by changing the direction of their feeding currents. For this configuration, interestingly, a multifunctional power divider which is reconfigurable to produce either in-phase or out-of-phase signals can be easily designed from its passive counterparts by incorporating multiple RF diodes into the output feedlines, leading to significant cost saving and high compactness. The design procedure and equations of the power-dividing structures are discussed.