The design of a patented broadwall waveguide hybrid coupler, derived from the working principle of a septum polarizer, is presented. This E-plane coupler requires a single and large aperture in the common broadwall of the two parallel waveguide transmission lines to function, facilitating its manufacturing and assembly. The working principle of this hybrid coupler is detailed, supported by equations making a link with the well-known 3-dB tandem coupler and enabling the definition of a good starting point for optimization purposes. The concept is further validated through the design, manufacture, and test of a prototype working over the frequency range 17.3-20.2 GHz. Good results are obtained over a fractional bandwidth of 19.4% (17.2-20.9 GHz) with axial ratio and return loss (RL) better than 0.5 and 24 dB, respectively. This operating range may be extended up to about 27% (16.8-22.0 GHz) for less demanding applications (axial ratio below 3 dB and RL better than 20 dB). This is a promising solution for the design of advanced feed systems and beamforming networks part of communication satellite payloads.

中文翻译：

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波导混合隔垫耦合器


提出了一种源自隔膜偏振器工作原理的专利宽壁波导混合耦合器的设计。该E平面耦合器需要在两个平行波导传输线的公共宽壁中具有单个大孔径才能发挥作用，从而有利于其制造和组装。该混合耦合器的工作原理很详细，并由与著名的 3 dB 串联耦合器建立链接的方程支持，并为优化目的定义了一个良好的起点。通过设计、制造和测试工作频率范围为 17.3-20.2 GHz 的原型，这一概念得到了进一步验证。在 19.4% 的分数带宽 (17.2-20.9 GHz) 上获得了良好的结果，轴比和回波损耗 (RL) 分别优于 0.5 和 24 dB。对于要求不高的应用（轴比低于 3 dB，RL 优于 20 dB），该工作范围可扩展至约 27% (16.8-22.0 GHz)。对于通信卫星有效载荷的先进馈送系统和波束成形网络部分的设计来说，这是一个很有前景的解决方案。