Radiofrequency power combiner or divider having a transmission line resonator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10749239-B2
Application number	US-201816126726-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2018
Priority date	Sep 10, 2018
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

Power combiner/divider includes a transmission line (TL) resonator having an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor. The inner conductor and the outer conductor are electrically connected at a proximal end of the TL resonator. The power combiner/divider also includes coupling elements extending through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity. The power combiner/divider also includes a capacitive element connected to at least one of the inner conductor or the outer conductor. The capacitive element capacitively couples the inner conductor and the outer conductor at a distal end of the TL resonator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power combiner/divider comprising:
a transmission line (TL) resonator comprising an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, wherein the inner conductor and the outer conductor are electrically connected at a proximal end of the TL resonator;
coupling elements extending through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity, wherein the coupling elements include a plurality of input coupling elements for combining power from multiple sources or a plurality of output coupling elements for dividing power for multiple loads, wherein at least one of the coupling elements includes (1) a capacitive coupling element that is positioned within a radial portion of the cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, (2) an inductive coupling element, or (3) a tapped-in coupling element that is connected to the inner conductor; and
a capacitive element connected to at least one of the inner conductor or the outer conductor, the capacitive element capacitively coupling the inner conductor and the outer conductor at a distal end of the TL resonator.

2. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the TL resonator is a quarter-wavelength TL resonator having an operating frequency that is between 10 and 300 megahertz (MHz).

3. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the TL resonator extends lengthwise along a longitudinal axis, the capacitive element including a first conductive surface that is electrically connected to the inner conductor and a second conductive surface that is electrically connected to the outer conductor, the first and second conductive surfaces facing each other and being separated by a gap.

4. The power combiner/divider of claim 3 , wherein the capacitive element includes a dielectric material between the first and second conductive surfaces.

5. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the coupling elements include at least ten (10) input coupling elements.

6. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the coupling elements includes the capacitive coupling element that is positioned within the radial portion of the cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor.

7. The power combiner/divider of claim 6 , wherein the capacitive coupling element includes a coupling plate, the coupling plate being movable within the radial portion of the cavity to adjust an amount of capacitive coupling.

8. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the coupling elements includes the inductive coupling element.

9. The power combiner/divider of claim 8 , wherein the inductive coupling element includes a movable element within the cavity and a secured element that electrically connects the movable element to the outer conductor, the movable element configured to move within the cavity to adjust an amount of inductive coupling.

10. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the coupling elements includes the tapped-in coupling element that is connected to the inner conductor.

11. The power combiner/divider of claim 10 , wherein the tapped-in coupling element is movable along a length of the inner conductor.

12. The power combiner/divider of claim 1 , further comprising a bandwidth adjuster coupled to the outer conductor.

13. The power combiner/divider of claim 12 , wherein the bandwidth adjuster includes a movable element within the cavity that is coupled to a dummy load or a dummy resistor.

14. A power-control system comprising:
a power divider;
a power combiner; and
a plurality of power amplifiers, wherein the power amplifiers receive respective inputs from the power divider and provide respective outputs to the power combiner;
wherein at least one of the power divider or the power combiner includes:
a transmission line (TL) resonator comprising an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, wherein the inner conductor and the outer conductor are electrically connected at a proximal end of the TL resonator; and
a capacitive element connected to at least one of the inner conductor or the outer conductor, the capacitive element capacitively coupling the inner conductor and the outer conductor at a distal end of the TL resonator.

15. The power-control system of claim 14 , wherein the TL resonator is a quarter-wavelength TL resonator having an operating frequency that is between 10 and 300 megahertz (MHz).

16. The power-control system of claim 14 , wherein the TL resonator extends lengthwise along a longitudinal axis, the capacitive element including a first conductive surface that is electrically connected to the inner conductor and a second conductive surface that is electrically connected to the outer conductor, the first and second conductive surfaces facing each other and being separated by a gap.

17. The power-control system of claim 16 , wherein the capacitive element includes a dielectric material between the first and second conductive surfaces.

18. The power-control system of claim 14 , further comprising coupling elements that extend through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity, wherein the coupling elements include at least ten (10) coupling elements.

19. A power combiner/divider comprising:
a transmission line (TL) resonator comprising an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, wherein the inner conductor has opposite first and second ends and is electrically connected to the outer conductor at the first and second ends;
coupling elements extending through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity, wherein the coupling elements include a plurality of input coupling elements for combining power from multiple sources or a plurality of output coupling elements for dividing power into multiple loads; and
a capacitive element that capacitively couples the inner and outer conductors, the capacitive element including a first conductive surface that is electrically connected to the inner conductor and a second conductive surface that is electrically connected to the outer conductor, the first and second conductive surfaces facing each other and being separated by a gap.

20. The power combiner/divider of claim 19 , wherein at least one of:
the capacitive element includes an inner coupling plate having the first conductive surface and an outer coupling plate having the second conductive surface, the outer coupling plate and the inner coupling plate having the gap therebetween; or
the TL resonator is a half-wavelength TL resonator, the capacitive element being positioned essentially at a mid-point of the inner conductor.

21. A power combiner/divider comprising:
a transmission line (TL) resonator comprising an inner conductor, an outer conductor that surrounds the inner conductor, and a cavity between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, wherein the inner conductor and the outer conductor are electrically connected at a proximal end of the TL resonator, wherein the inner and outer conductors extend along a Z-axis;
coupling elements extending through respective openings of the outer conductor and into the cavity, wherein the coupling elements include a plurality of input coupling elements for combining power from mul

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Bäcklund Andreas
• Dancila Dragos

Classifications

• H01P5/183 Primary

  at least one of the guides being a coaxial line · CPC title

• H01P5/16 Primary

  Conjugate devices, i.e. devices having at least one port decoupled from one other port · CPC title

• H01P7/04

  Coaxial resonators · CPC title

• H03F3/602

  Combinations of several amplifiers · CPC title

• H01P3/06

  Coaxial lines · CPC title