6 – 18 GHz Power Divider – A Brief Overview and Its Uses

The field of telecommunications has grown exponentially since people began communicating with each other over long distances. Because of the many technologies it encompasses today, it’s no wonder that there are different sections, or bands, in the electromagnetic spectrum used to keep the signals from interfering with each other as much as possible.

According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, there are 9 such bands, with the highest being the Ku-band (12-18 gigahertz). Each of these portions are used for certain aspects of telecommunications, and require different components. A 6-18 GHz power divider, for instance, may be in use for systems involving the C-band (4-8 gigahertz) all the way up to the Ku-band.

What is a power divider?

As the name suggests, such a component is used to divide the power from a single input into 2 all the way up to 16 output ports, depending on the type of divider used. Various challenges may face the engineer responsible for designing the system that uses such a divider.

For example, a resistive power divider typically suffers from poor isolation and high insertion loss; this would mean that, over time, more power is needed just to run the system. A multi-octave power divider, on the other hand, usually entails two or more sections for a single configuration. This also translates to insertion loss, though not as drastic as that seen with a resistive power divider.

There are various reasons behind using power dividers, as well. At the most basic level, it is simply used to distribute power to two different locations, or else to measure different aspects of a signal. This lessens the need for additional power inputs while ensuring the power is sent to as many circuits as possible.

Apart from insertion loss, here are other factors to consider when deciding on the type of power divider to use in a set up. These include the input power, or the maximum power that can be supplied through the input port; and the isolation, or difference in the signal level at each output port.

What bands fall in the 6-18 GHz range, and what are they used for?

As mentioned earlier, the IEEE C-band and Ku-band fall on the extreme edges of this particular range. The X-band at 8-12 GHz falls squarely in the middle.

The C-band is typically used for satellite connections, some cordless phones and WiFi devices. A handful of weather radar systems are also allocated to the C-band, which means occasional interference is possible from WiFi or cordless phones to said radar systems is highly possible.

This is in contrast to the X-band, used in radar applications such as pulsed, single- and dual-polarisation, phased arrays, and continuous-wave. This puts the X-band in such applications as weather monitoring, defence tracking, and air traffic control.

Meanwhile, the Ku-band is used for satellite communications (compared to connections), broadcast services, and NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) communications).

Of course, it’s entirely possible to have the 6-18 GHz power divider customized to suit your application’s needs while limiting the possibility of, say, poor isolation. This is better than settling for an off-the-shelf part which may end up making you regret your choice.