16 Way RF Power Divider, Combiner, Splitter
Type N, SMA, TNC, BNC, 350-6000 MHz

16 Way Power Divider Combiner Application Note

INSTOCK sixteen way power divider, power combiners are available with two connector styles, type-N female (jack) and SMA female (jack). Both models are optimized for broadband operation covering the frequency range from 700 MHz to 2700 MHz with optimum RF electrical performance. These Wilkinson hybrid, 16 way, power divider, power combiners are bi-directional units that split and combine signals with equal facility. Microstrip construction passes DC current to all ports for use in active systems.

In power dividing applications, the input signal is equally split into sixteen output signals, each down 12dB from the incident due to the 1:16 power division. No power is actually lost from the power split; it is just allocated into sixteen amplitude and phase matched signals, thus a so called 12 dB insertion loss. True insertion loss of less than 1.8 dB max @ 2.7 GHz will be found at the output ports resulting from dissipation of small amounts of RF & microwave energy within the connectors and microstrip circuit. The output signals are isolated from each other by 20 dB minimum through the use of resistors that dissipate any power reflected back to the circuit caused by unequal or unbalanced output loads. The 40 watt max power rating of these power dividers is applicable when connected to matched output load VSWR of 1.2:1 or better. This maximum power rating must be reduced when load VSWR's increase and are unbalanced or out-of-phase with respect to one another. See 16 Way Power Divider Input Ratings Table (below left) for additional guidelines.

The situation with power combining is a bit more complex. While it is possible to sum sixteen input signals with no loss, this can only be accomplished if the input signals are coherent and identical in phase and amplitude. Such a case would be the 16 way power splitting of a signal which is then recombined after amplification, provided the amplified signals are phase locked together. But outside this case, or cases of pure sine signals, or CW signals without any transmitted info, the power combining of sixteen non-coherent signals will result in a minimum 12 dB loss (1/16th power ratio) plus the true insertion loss of the power combiner (1.8 dB max @ 2.7 GHz). Worst-case combining loss occurs with coherent signals 180° out-of-phase where all power is dissipated. Because the combining loss is dissipated through the isolation resistors, the power handling and heat transfer capabilities of these resistors ultimately determines the maximum combiner power rating. See 16 Way Power Combiner Input Ratings Table (left) for additional information.

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