Wideband Branch Line Coupler with Open Circuit Coupled Lines

International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE)
Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2017, pp. 888~893
ISSN: 2088-8708, DOI: 10.11591/ijece.v7i2.pp888-893  888
Journal homepage: http://iaesjournal.com/online/index.php/IJECE
Wideband Branch Line Coupler with Open Circuit
Coupled Lines
Muataz Watheq Sabri, N A Murad, M K A Rahim
Department of Communication Engineering, University Technology Malaysia, Malaysia
Article Info ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received Dec 13, 2016
Revised Mar 15, 2017
Accepted Mar 30, 2017
This paper focuses on the design of a Wideband Branch Line Coupler by
using open circuits coupled lines technique. The design is implemented by
adding four open circuits coupled lines to the structure of the Conventional
Branch Line Coupler. The proposed design of Wideband Branch Line
C
3 z -3
orts. The prototype is
fabricated and measured to validate the simulated results. A similar Wide
Bandwidth is observed on simulation and measurement. The structure
achieved a fractional bandwidth of 42.63%, and return loss of 21 dB
compared to the Conventional Branch Line Coupler (BLC).
Keyword:
Branch line coupler
Coupled lines
Fractional bandwidth
Microstrip
Wideband Copyright © 2017 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science.
All rights reserved.
Corresponding Author:
Noor A. Murad,
Department of Communication Engineering,
University Technology Malaysia,
Balai Cerap UTM, Lengkok Suria, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Email: asniza@fke.utm.my
1. INTRODUCTION
A Hybrid 3 dB Branch Line Couplers delivering an equal power division and quadrature phase
difference are one of the fundamental circuit components for array antenna, power amplifiers, filters, and
modulators. However, a narrow bandwidth noticed as a major limitation in the conventional branch line
coupler design, where the design method based on transmission line lengths result in a narrow band
characteristic of the coupler. A wideband branch line coupler has been recently adopted in microwave
devices and applications such as 4G cellular system, Wi-Max systems, and antenna beamforming systems, as
an advantages of wider bandwidth provides a more capacity and more date rates, while one of the major
limitation beside the Wider bandwidth is the size of the Wideband BLC coupler to be implemented in the RF
system devices at low frequency. To overcome this limit a simple technique flowing more sections had been
suggested [1]. Additionally, in the last 60 years the researcher were focusing on significant principle based on
matching condition between each port [2]. Where various researches [3-9], increased the bandwidth by using
this important principle of matching condition. To achieve a good matching condition for wider bandwidth
and uniform power distribution characteristics, the equivalent impedance and the flat coupling characteristics
of conventional line coupler have been investigated [2], [3]. After these analyses, various single section
broadband branch line couplers have been developed by using various matching techniques, such as using a
double quarter-wave transformer [4] in 1987, a serial branch and open circuited stub of [5] in 1990, open and
short circuited stubs [6] in 2006, tuning stubs [7] in 2008, series open-circuited stubs [8] in 2010, and
coupled lines in this work. Another new method such as bond wire was presented [9]. The open circuited
coupled lines implemented in this work provide a wideband matching condition [10], inherent DC blocking
for various networks of active devices, for various antenna arrays, and for various filters.

IJECE ISSN: 2088-8708 
Wideband Branch Line Coupler with Open Circuit Coupled Lines (Muataz Watheq Sabri)
889
2. DESIGN OF WIDEBAND BRANCH LINE COUPLER
A new technique to have a Wider Bandwidth of BLC is proposed by using Coupled Lines Circuits.
The lines are designed at quarter wavelength of the center frequency to have equivalent impedances and flat
coupling characteristics of a BLC. Wideband properties can be achieved by connection quarter wavelength
L λ/4
project provide a wideband matching condition [11] with a DC block capability and band pass filter function.
By decreasing the inductance of the coupled lines a wider bandwidth can be achieved and the structure is
more compact, thus reducing the mass production cost.
Referring to the equation (1) and (2), the operating frequency, f can be increased by decreasing the
inductance, L while the capacitance, C is remains fixed. In other words, tuning the inductance will change the
impedance of the line and thus give effects on the matching conditions. In overall least a fractional bandwidth
of 30% can be achieved [12].
√
(1)
(2)
The structure of the proposed Wideband Branch Line Coupler design is illustrated in Figure 1. To
L λ/4
port of the Branch Line Coupler circuit.
Figure 1. Configuration for the proposed Wideband BLC
And for each coupled line the cutting in the structure made to be 0.5 mm to have a proper matching
condition for the wideband BLC. The Following characteristics impedances are normalized corresponding to
g 5 Ω, y01= √ , y02=1, θ0=π/2
respectively. The input impedance at each port were assumed to be matched then the equivalent impedance
Zeq at the input port can be obtained by using the q [11], θ
of the circuit.
( √ )
(3)
To evaluate the matching property of the coupled line, an open circuited coupled line in Figure 2 is
only analyzed. Based on the coupled line structure with the open circuited matching condition, a matrix
impedance for the coupled line is used.

 ISSN: 2088-8708
IJECE Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2017 : 888 – 893
890
Figure 2. Coupled line structure of the input impedance [10]
[ ] [ ] [ ] (4)
The coupled line input impedance can be found using symmetry [11]:
Zin = (5)
And the important following condition must be achieved:
= (6)
W θ = π/2 , Z = Z q = 1 A q 4 q 5 :
(Zoe –Zoo) = 2 (7)
Based on (3), (5), (6), (7) and by simplifying, the real and imaginary parts of (8) and (9) the equation can be
written as [11]:
=
( √ )
(8)
=
√
( √ )
(9)
where [12]:
Z= Zoe + Zoo θ = (10)
Where f- is the lower frequency which provide matching condition and f+ is the upper frequency that also
provide matching condition for wider band. Another matching condition parameter is at the centre frequency
f0 y y ( ) ( ) Z θ
conditions (8) and (5) in solving, the normalized values of the even and odd mode impedances
and , can be found for the coupled lines. And the two frequencies f+ = 0.770f and f- = 1.222f.
Wideband matching and coupling can be achieved Thus, the wideband matching can be achieved when
S21=S31. The dimensions of the coupler are calculated by using equations in [12]. The values are
z 1 5 Ω q y 3 z,
f-=3.5 GHz, while f+= 5.2 GHz. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the dimensions of the structure and fabricated
model respectively. The structure is fabricated by means of photolithography process on a standard FR4
board with relative permittivity of 4.6.

IJECE ISSN: 2088-8708 
891
Table 1. Specifications Design of the wideband Branch Line Coupler
Figure 3. The dimensions of the wideband BLC Figure 4. Wideband BLC four ports Prototype
3. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Computer Simulation Technology (CST) is used to simulate the structure. The software used finite-
difference time domain (FDTD) for 3D EM field analysis. Simulation results show that the coupler is
operating at the desired frequency with -3 dB coupling and 89 degrees phase difference. The fabricated
coupler is measured using network analyzer. The responses of Conventional BLC are shown in Figure 5 in
comparison to the proposed Wideband BLC responses in Figure 6 for the simulated and measured results, the
phase difference between port 2 and 3 is 89 degrees as shown in Figure 7. Three matching points at low,
high, and center frequency and are shown for wideband characteristics in Figure 8. The measurement results
show that insertion loss is 3.62 dB. Return loss and isolation characteristics were achieved both better than 20
dB above 43% fractional bandwidth of 1.66 GHz. The comparison between Proposed Wideband BLC and
Conventional BLC is summarized in Table 2. Further the comparisons between this work and previous
couplers published are summarized in Table 3.
Figure 5. Simulation results of Conventional BLC Figure 6. Simulation and Measurement results of
Wideband BLC
Coupler I (Ω) Width(mm) Length(mm)
Z1 35.49 2.65 7.45
Z2 50.28 2.65 8.45
Zoo 89.19 2.65 7.62
Zeo 198.49 2.65 7.62
FR4 Board (t=0.035mm)
ε 4.6 High 1.6 mm

 ISSN: 2088-8708
IJECE Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2017 : 888 – 893
892
Figure 7. Phase Difference between port 2,3 of Wideband
BLC
Figure 8. Three matching points at low, high, and
center frequency of Wideband characteristics
Table 2. The comparison between proposed Wideband BLC and Conventional BLC
Design Freq.(GHz) S11(dB) S21 dB) S31 dB) S41 dB) BW FBW%
Conventional BLC 3.8 25 3.3 3.8 51 800 MHz 21.1
Wideband BLC 3.8 21 3.1 3.7 31 1.62 GHz 43.0
Table 3. Comparison of this work with the previous Couplers published
Parameters Ref [9] Ref [11] Ref [12] Ref [13] This Work
Year 2011 2011 2011 2012 2014
S11 20 19 20 16.3 21
S21 -3 -3.6 -3 -3 -3
Phase Difference 89 88 89 89 89.8
Fractional Bandwidth % 43 49 49 50 43
Freq. Range 2.3-3.5 4.54-7.21 2.5-8.5 2-4 3.5-5.2
4. CONCLUSION
A 4-ports Wideband Branch Line Coupler is discussed in this paper. The fabricated Wideband
Branch Line Coupler is experimentally tested and the results show a very good agreement with simulated
responses. The Wideband BLC has high bandwidth up to 43.02%. The Wideband BLC explained in this
paper, has good profile with overall size reduction of 28.2% compared to Conventional BLC. The proposed
Wideband Branch Line Coupler is potentially suitable to use in LTE application or WIMAX applications.
Future works related to this work will be developed a Multi Wideband Hybrid Line Coupler which can easily
be adopted to other LTE bands and other wireless standards. The structure can be integrated to form a
Wideband Butler Matrix for Antenna Beamforming.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Authors thank the Research Management Centre (RMC), School of Postgraduate (SPS),
Communication Engineering Department (COMM) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and all members
of Advanced Microwave Lab P18 FKE-UTM for giving motivation, knowledge sharing and support of the
research under grant no 10H04.
REFERENCES
[1] M. Muraguchi, et al., “Optimum design of 3 dB branch- M ,” IEEE Trans.
Microw.Theory Tech., vol/issue: MTT-31(8), pp. 674–678, 1983.
[2] C. Montgomery, et al., “Principles of Microwave Circuits,” New York, McGraw-Hill, vol. 8, 1984.
[3] G. P. Riblet, “A y ,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol/issue: MTT-
26(2), pp. 70–74, 1978.

IJECE ISSN: 2088-8708 
893
[4] A. S. Wright and S. K. Judah, “V y y ,” Electron. Letters, vol. 23, pp. 47–49,
1987.
[5] M y R K , “ - x y ,” IEEE
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[6] S. Johnosono, et al., “D PW 3- ,” in Proc. 36th Eur. Microw. Conf., pp.
36–39, 2006.
[7] D. Wang, et al., “Study of wideband microstrip 90 3-dB two-branch coupler with minimum amplitude and phase
,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Microw. Millim. Wave Technol., pp. 116–119, 2008.
[8] T. Kawai, et al , “ y z ,”
in Proc. 40th Eur. Microw. Conf., pp. 1170–1173, 2010.
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L ,” Cross Strait Quad-Regional Radio Science and Wireless Technology Conference, 2011.
[10] T. Jensen, et al., “Coupled transmission lines as impedan ,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech.,
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[11] W. Arriola and I. S. Kim, “W L A y R ,” Proceedings of the
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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS
Muataz Watheq Sabri was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1987. He obtained his B.Eng
communication and computer from Alzaytoonah University of Jordan, Jordan in 2013 and
M.Eng Electronics and Telecommunications from University Technology Malaysia (UTM),
Malaysia in 2015. Currently he is a PhD candidate in the field of mm-wave beamforming at
department of communication engineering in Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE),
University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia. His research interests include wideband
couplers design, mm-wave Antenna beamforming, RF propagations at mm-waves, and link
budget design for 5G cellular networks.
Noor Asniza Murad obtained her first degree in 2001 from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
(UTM), Malaysia, with Honours, majoring in telecommunication engineering. Shortly after
graduated, she joined UTM as a tutor attached to the Department of Radio Communication
Engineering (RaCED) , Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE), UTM. She received her MEng.
in 2003 from the same university and later has been appointed as a lecturer in April 2003. She
joined Emerging Device Technology Group, University of Birmingham, UK and obtained her
Ph.D in 2011 for research on micromachined millimeterwave circuits. Her research interests
include antenna design for RF and microwave communication systems, millimeterwave circuits
design, and antenna beamforming. Currently, Noor Asniza Murad is a member of IEEE
(MIEEE), Member of Antenna and Propagation (AP/MTT/EMC) Malaysia Chapter, and a
Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
Mohamad Kamal A. RAHIM was born in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia in 1964. He obtained
his B.Eng Electrical and Electronic from University of Strathclyde, U.K. in 1987 and M.Eng
from University of New South Wales, Australia in 1992. He received his Ph.D in the field of
Wideband Active Antenna in 2003. He is a Professor at Communications Engineering
Department, Faculty of Electrical Enginnering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Professor
Mohamad Kamal is a senior member of IEEE since 2007. His research interest includes
antennas, metamaterials, body-area communications, reconfigurable antennas and RF devices
and sensors.

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