The Art of Substrate-Integrated-Waveguide Power Dividers

Substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) technology can eliminate the limitations associated with conventional rectangular waveguides, i.e., bulky structures and production complexity at higher frequencies. Moreover, SIW technology replaces microstrip structures eliminating the drawback of excessive radiation leakage at higher frequencies. SIW power dividers are key elements in SIW antenna array synthesis. A SIW power divider’s design procedures are more complicated than conventional microstrip power dividers. However, no comprehensive review with design guidelines of substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) power dividers has been reported. In this paper, different types of SIW power dividers based on their configurations, functionality, and operating principles are analyzed and some recommendations are made for selection purposes. A comprehensive design guideline for SIW power dividers is given in this paper through a comparative study of T- and Y-type SIW junctions. These guidelines are based on key parameters, including insertion loss, isolation, co-phase bandwidth, return loss bandwidth, and phase balancing. This study provides valuable information for selecting and designing the best possible configuration of SIW power dividers for specific applications in microwave and millimeter-wave frequency ranges. A case study of a Ku-band SIW power divider is performed for a Ku-band soil moisture radiometer SIW antenna array.