Analysis of amplitude and phase imbalances on efficiency of microwave power combiner

In this paper a detailed analysis of power combining efficiency for a generic 2" way power combiner is carried out. The analysis includes the impact of amplitude and phase imbalances in reducing the efficiency in-addition to insertion loss. The findings aid in estimating the efficiency of a generic 2" way power combiner using 2 way as a basic unit. Furthermore, the findings can also be used to derive realistic specifications for a generic 2" way power combiner. As a rule of thumb to achieve 99 % efficiency in an ideal 2 way power combiner, phase imbalance should be within 11 deg (assuming zero amplitude imbalance) where as amplitude imbalance should be within 1.7 dB (assuming zero phase imbalance).