A Miniaturized Wilkinson Power Divider with Integrated Phase Shifter

Authors

  • Thanapat Chiawchanwattana Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand
  • Ravee Phomloungsri Department of Computer and Communication Engineering Faculty of Technology and Engineering Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, 41000, Thailand
  • Somkuan Srisawat Department of Computer and Communication Engineering Faculty of Technology and Engineering Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, 41000, Thailand
  • Niwat Angkawisittpan Research Unit for Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand
  • Sivarit Sultornsanee ollege of Engineering Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/2026.ACES.J.410508

Keywords:

Wilkinson power divider, phase compensation, parallel-coupled microstrip lines, circuit miniaturization

Abstract

This paper reports the design of a compact Wilkinson power divider for use in modern wireless communication systems where circuit size is a critical constraint. The proposed design replaces the conventional quarter-wavelength transmission line with a compact phase-shifting section based on parallel-coupled microstrip lines, providing an impedance transformation factor of 2–√ for proper matching to a 50 Ω system. The power divider is designed to operate at a center frequency of 3.0 GHz on an AD260 substrate, with the phase-shifting function directly integrated into the power-dividing network to reduce the overall circuit footprint. The fabricated prototype occupies an area of 15.367×22.860mm2, corresponding to a size reduction of approximately 22% compared with a conventional Wilkinson power divider. Simulation results obtained using Advanced Design System (ADS) demonstrate strong agreement, with a return loss (S11) better than 15 dB and insertion losses (S21 and S31) close to the ideal value of −3 dB at the operating frequency. The fabricated prototype was characterized over the 2–6 GHz frequency range, demonstrating strong agreement with the simulated results. These results indicate that the proposed structure achieves effective power division with good impedance matching while maintaining a compact size, making it suitable for integration into compact RF and microwave front-end circuits.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Thanapat Chiawchanwattana, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand

Thanapat Chiawchanwattana was born in Udorn Thani, Thailand. He received the B.Eng. (Computer Engineering) from Khon Kaen University, in 1999, M.Eng. in Computer Engineering from Khon Kaen University (KKU), in 2006, Thailand. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Thailand. Currently, he is working in the Department of Computer and Communication Engineering at Udon Thani Rajabhat University. His research interests include IoT/Automation system and RF/Microwave Circuits design.

Ravee Phomloungsri, Department of Computer and Communication Engineering Faculty of Technology and Engineering Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, 41000, Thailand

Ravee Phomloungsri was born in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He received the B.Sc. degree in Applied Physics (Solid-State Electronics) from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand, in 1992, and graduated with M. Eng and D.Eng. in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications) from Mahanakorn University of Technology (MUT), Thailand, in 2001, and 2006, respectively.

Somkuan Srisawat, Department of Computer and Communication Engineering Faculty of Technology and Engineering Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, 41000, Thailand

Somkuan Srisawat was born in Nongbua Lamphu, Thailand. He received the B.Eng. degree in Electronics Engineering from Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Thailand, in 2011, and the M.Eng. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Mahasarakham University (MSU), Thailand, in 2019.

He is currently with the Department of Computer and Communication Engineering, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Thailand. His research interests include IoT and automation systems, as well as RF and microwave circuit design.

Niwat Angkawisittpan, Research Unit for Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand

Niwat Angkawisittpan was born in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He received the B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering (Hons.) from Khon Kaen University, Thailand, in 1997, the M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University, Indiana, USA, in 2003, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, MA, USA, in 2009.

Since 2009, he has been with the Research Unit for Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (RECENT), Faculty of Engineering, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand, where he is currently an Associate Professor. He has authored or co-authored numerous journal and conference papers. His research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing, neural networks, compact microstrip devices, metamaterial applications for RF and microwave circuits, and electromagnetic material characterization.

Sivarit Sultornsanee, ollege of Engineering Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

Sivarit Sultornsanee is an Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at Northeastern University, where he previously served as Data Analytics Engineering Program Coordinator. He earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Northeastern University. He provides strategic leadership in analytics education and industry collaboration, advancing the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and IoT to healthcare, intelligent systems, and smart industry transformation.

References

M. S. Imani and M. Hayati, “Compact Wilkinson power divider with extensive suppression of harmonics using, a combination of trapezoidal, circular and rectangular resonators,” AEU-Int. J. Electron. Commun., vol. 139, p. 153935, 2021.

K. Nishikawa, T. Tokumitsu, and I. Toyoda, “Miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using three-dimensional MMIC technology,” IEEE Microw. Guided Wave Lett., vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 372–374, 1996.

M. C. Scardelletti, G. E. Ponchak, and T. M. Weller, “Miniaturized Wilkinson power dividers utilizing capacitive loading,” IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 6–8, 2002.

L.-H. Lu, Y.-T. Liao, and C.-R. Wu, “A miniaturized Wilkinson power divider with CMOS active inductors,” IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 15, no. 11, pp. 775–777, 2005.

D. K. Pandey and S. Sanyal, “Miniaturized Wilkinson power divider with higher harmonic suppression,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Electromagn. Interference Compat., pp. 37–40, 2008.

N. Gupta, P. Ghosh, and M. Toppo, “A miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using DGS and fractal structure for GSM application,” Prog. Electromagn. Res. Lett., vol. 27, pp. 25–31, 2011.

A. S. Dhahir, H. Abbasi, and F. Shama, “Wilkinson power divider design utilizing trapezoidal and rectangular resonators to suppress harmonics,” Electromagnetics, pp. 1–15, 2025.

M. Chongcheawchamnan, N. Siripon, and I. D. Robertson, “Design and performance of improved lumped-distributed Wilkinson divider topology,” Electron. Lett., vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 501–503, 2001.

Y. Nakayama and H. Hayashi, “A miniaturized lumped-element in-phase power divider with a simple layout,” in Proc. UKSim-AMSS Int. Conf. Comput. Model. Simul., pp. 595–598, 2014.

S. Shamsinejad, M. Soleimani, and N. Komjani, “Novel miniaturized Wilkinson power divider for 3G mobile receivers,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Microw. Millim. Wave Technol., vol. 3, pp. 1268–1270, 2008.

H. P. Phan, T. P. Vuong, T. T. Nguyen, M. H. Luong, Y. Iitsuka, and M. H. Hoang, “Simple miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using a compact stub structure,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Adv. Technol. Commun. (ATC), pp. 168–171, 2015.

S. Roshani and S. Roshani, “Design of a compact LPF and a miniaturized Wilkinson power divider using aperiodic stubs with harmonic suppression for wireless applications,” Wireless Netw., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 1493–1501, 2020.

A. N. Bazaz, H. Abbasi, and F. Shama, “Harmonics eliminated Wilkinson power divider with modified stepped-impedance and radial units,” J. Electromagn. Waves Appl., pp. 1–13, 2025.

Y. C. Leong and S. Weinreb, “Novel technique of phase velocity equalization for microstrip coupled-line phase shifters,” in Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., vol. 3, pp. 1453–1456, 2000.

H. R. Ahn, K. Min, D. Kang, S. Hong, and B. Kim, “Coupling-compensated 180 phase shift coupled-line filters terminated in arbitrary impedances,” in Proc. Asia-Pacific Microw. Conf., pp. 649–652, 2006.

M. Ould-Elhassen, M. Mabrouk, A. Ghazel, and P. Benech, “Differential tunable phase shifter,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Phased Array Syst. Technol., pp. 97–101, 2013.

T. A. Abir, “A broadband microstrip Schiffman phase shifter with load and source impedance matching,” master’s thesis, Texas A&M University–Kingsville, 2014.

Y. Wu, S. Zhou, X. Shen, and Y. Liu, “A compact and miniaturized broadband phase shifter using coupled-lines,” Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES) Journal, pp. 806–811, 2016.

A. Podell, “A high directivity microstrip coupler technique,” in Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp., pp. 33–36, 1970.

D. D. Paolino, “MIC overlay coupler design using spectral domain techniques,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 646–649, 1978.

L. Su, T. Itoh, and J. Rivera, “Design of an overlay directional coupler by a full-wave analysis,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 31, no. 12, pp. 1017–1022, 1983.

S. Uysal and H. Aghvami, “Synthesis, design, and construction of ultra-wide-band nonuniform quadrature directional couplers in inhomogeneous media,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 969–976, 1989.

J. L. Klein and K. Chang, “Optimum dielectric overlay thickness for equal even- and odd-mode phase velocities in coupled microstrip circuits,” Electron. Lett., vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 274–276, 1990.

B. Sheleg and B. E. Spielman, “Broad-band directional couplers using microstrip with dielectric overlays,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 22, no. 12, pp. 1216–1220, 2003.

S. L. March, “Phase velocity compensation in parallel-coupled microstrip,” in Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., pp. 410–412, 1982.

M. Dydyk, “Accurate design of microstrip directional couplers with capacitive compensation,” in Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., pp. 581–584, 1990.

D. Kajfez, “Raise coupler directivity with lumped compensation,” Microwaves, pp. 64–70, 1978.

I. J. Bahl, “Capacitively compensated high performance parallel coupled microstrip filters,” in Proc. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. Dig., pp. 679–682, 1989.

R. Phromloungsri, M. Chongcheawchamnan, and I. D. Robertson, “Inductively compensated parallel coupled microstrip lines and their applications,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 54, no. 9, pp. 3571–3582, 2006.

R. Phromloungsri, V. Chamnanphrai, and M. Chongcheawchamnan, “Design high-directivity parallel-coupled lines using quadrupled inductive-compensated technique,” in Proc. Asia-Pacific Microw. Conf., pp. 1380–1383, 2006.

S. Lee and Y. Lee, “An inductor-loaded microstrip directional coupler for directivity enhancement,” IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 362–364, 2009.

S. Lee and Y. Lee, “A design method for microstrip directional couplers loaded with shunt inductors for directivity enhancement,” IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 994–1002, 2010.

S. Sonasang and N. Angkawisittpan, “Design of microstrip parallel-coupled lines with high directivity using symmetric-centered inductors,” Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES) Journal, pp. 657–663, 2021.

Keysight Technologies, “Advanced Design System (ADS), Version 2022 Update 1,” Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, USA, 2022.

Downloads

Published

2026-09-19

How to Cite

[1]
T. Chiawchanwattana, R. Phomloungsri, S. Srisawat, N. Angkawisittpan, and S. Sultornsanee, “A Miniaturized Wilkinson Power Divider with Integrated Phase Shifter”, ACES Journal, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 457–472, Sep. 2026.