A Compact 12-Way Slotted Waveguide Power Combiner for Ka-Band Applications

A power divider/combiner based on a double sided slotted waveguide geometry suitable for Ka-band applications is proposed. This structure allows up to 50% reduction of the total device length compared to previous designs of this type without compromising manufacturing complexity or combining efficiency. Efficient design guidelines based on an equivalent circuit technique are provided and the performance is demonstrated by means of a 12-way divider/combiner prototype operating in the range 29-31 GHz. Numerical simulations show that back to back insertion loss of 1.19 dB can be achieved, corresponding to a combining efficiency of 87%. The design is validated by means of manufacturing and testing an experimental prototype with measured back-to-back insertion loss of 1.83 dB with a 3 dB bandwidth of 20.8%, corresponding to a combining efficiency of 81%.