N-port signal divider/combiner

• US 20050012676A1
• Filed: 07/16/2003
• Published: 01/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Andrew Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Andrew Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mazzilli, Amedeo A., McCarthy, Robert Daniel
• Application Number:
  US10/620,507
• Publication Number:
  US 20050012676A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 343/853
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/12 Coupling devices having more than two ports H01P5/04 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 11/08 Helical antennas

Abstract

An N-port signal divider/combiner for dividing and/or combining signals in N−1 frequency bands, including a common line; and N−1 signal ports each coupled to the common line by a respective transmission line, each transmission line having one or more stubs extending from the transmission line, each stub having a length selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter at a respective rejection wavelength, wherein at least one of the stubs is a short-circuit stub, and at least one of the stubs is an open-circuit stub. A first one of the stubs has a length nλ₁/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter at a first rejection wavelength λ₁, a second one of the stubs has a length mλ₂/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter at a second rejection wavelength λ₂, and n and m are different integers.

Claims

1. An N-port signal divider/combiner for dividing and/or combining signals in N−

1 frequency bands, including a common line; and

N−

1 signal ports each coupled to the common line by a respective transmission line, each transmission line having one or more stubs extending from the transmission line, each stub having a length selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter at a respective rejection wavelength, wherein at least one of the stubs is a short-circuit stub, and at least one of the stubs is an open-circuit stub.

2. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 1 wherein the distance between the common line and each stub is approximately λ

/4, where λ

is the rejection wavelength of the stub.

3. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 1 wherein the common line and transmission lines are formed in a microstrip configuration.

4. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 1 wherein the signal divider/combiner is a diplexer in which N=3.

5. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 1 wherein one of the rejection wavelengths is a Global Positioning System L1 frequency, and one of the rejection wavelengths is a Global Positioning System L2 frequency.

6. A multiband antenna including N−

1 antennas each dimensioned to transmit and/or receive radiation in a respective frequency band, and an N-port signal divider/combiner according to claim 1, wherein each antenna is coupled to a respective transmission line of the N-port signal divider/combiner.

7. An amplifier including one or more N-port signal divider/combiners according to claim 1.

8. An N-port signal divider/combiner for dividing and/or combining signals in N−

1 frequency bands, including a common line; and

N−

1 signal ports each coupled to the common line by a respective transmission line, each transmission line having one or more stubs extending from the transmission line, wherein a first one of the stubs has a length nλ

₁/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter with a reject band including a first wavelength λ

₁, a second one of the stubs has a length mλ

₂/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter with a reject band including a second wavelength λ

₂, and wherein n and m are different integers.

9. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein the first one of the stubs is an open-circuit stub, the second one of the stubs is a closed-circuit stub, n is an odd integer, and m is an even integer.

10. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein the first one of the stubs is an open-circuit stub with a length 3λ

₁/4, and the second one of the stubs is a closed-circuit stub with a length λ

₂.

11. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein the distance between the common line and each stub is approximately λ

_i/4, where λ

_i is the wavelength in the reject band of the notch filter formed by the stub.

12. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein the common line and transmission lines are formed in a microstrip configuration.

13. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein the signal divider/combiner is a diplexer in which N=3.

14. A signal divider/combiner according to claim 8 wherein one of the rejection wavelengths is a Global Positioning System L1 frequency, and one of the rejection wavelengths is a Global Positioning System L2 frequency.

16. An amplifier including one or more N-port signal divider/combiners according to claim 8.

17. A method of operating an N-port signal divider/combiner according to claim 8, the method including rejecting signals at the first wavelength λ

₁ with the first stub; and

rejecting signals at the second wavelength λ

₂ with the second stub.

15. A multiband antenna including a first antenna dimensioned to transmit and/or receive radiation at a first wavelength λ

₁, a second antenna dimensioned to transmit and/or receive radiation at a second wavelength λ

₂, and a signal divider/combiner including a common line;

first and second transmission lines coupling the first and second antennas respectively to the common line;

a first stub extending from the first transmission line and having a length nλ

₂/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter with a reject band including the second wavelength λ

₂; and

a second stub extending from the second transmission line and having a length nλ

₁/4 selected so that the stub acts as a notch filter with a reject band including the first wavelength λ

₁, wherein n and m are different integers.