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HIGH EFFICIENCY KA-BAND MMIC SSPA POWER COMBINER FOR NASA'S SPACE COMMUNICATIONS

RAINEE N. SIMONS

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America

NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America.

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EDWIN G. WINTUCKY

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America

NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America.

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JON C. FREEMAN

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America

NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America.

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CHRISTINE T. CHEVALIER

QinetiQ North America Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America

QinetiQ North America Corporation, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, United States of America.

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0129156411006696Cited by:4 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

In this paper, we will review the design, construction and performance of the two-way Ka-band waveguide branch-line and asymmetric magic-T based unequal power combiners. The manufactured combiners were designed to combine input signals that are equal in phase and with an amplitude ratio of two. Next, the design, construction and performance of a three-way branch-line unequal power combiner, achieved by serially interconnecting two 2-way branch-line hybrids and optimizing the dimensions using software tools, is presented. The application of the two-way and three-way combiners for combining the output from two or three MMIC PAs was demonstrated. The observed efficiencies for all three power combining configurations are 90 percent or greater at Ka-band (31.8 to 32.3 GHz).

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