LTCC Wideband 1-to-4 Power Dividing Networks with 90° or 180° Output Phase Differences

In this paper, two 1-to-4 wideband power-dividing networks based on the low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology is proposed. Both power-dividing networks own one input port and four output ports. The output signals are with equal magnitudes and 90° and 180° progressive phase differences. The one with 180° output phase differences is realized by a 1-to-4 Marchand balun, while the other one is realized by combining a 1-to-4 Marchand balun and two 90° phase shifters. Due to the broadside coupling in LTCC's 3-D structure, both power dividing networks feature wideband characteristics. For verification, the designed two power dividing networks are implemented and measured. The measured working frequency band of the 180° network is from 2GHz to 3GHz with an in-band return loss better than 12dB. The 90° network works from 1.2GHz to 1.6GHz with an in-band return loss better than 12dB. The measured and simulated results are in reasonably good agreement.