Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol.

107, 119–124, 2022

A Low-Profile Dual-Band Hybrid Coupler with Flexible Frequency

Band Ratio

Hassan Naseri1, * , Peyman PourMohammadi1 , Zahra Mousavirazi1 ,

Amjad Iqbal1 , Guy A. E. Vandenbosch2 , and Tayeb A. Denidni1

Abstract—In this paper, a new method is introduced to design a simple-profile hybrid coupler in
two arbitrary frequency bands. The structure is achieved by means of dual-band quarter-wavelength
transformers as the arms of a traditional branch line coupler. A prototype of the coupler operating at
0.9 GHz and 2.45 GHz is designed and fabricated to validate the robustness of the method. Comparing
simulated with measured results, a good agreement is observed. Moreover, the performance of the
coupler in terms of impedance bandwidth and isolation level between the input ports is compared with
existing works. Further, the suggested coupler has the simplest profile resulting from the most flexible
design process.

1. INTRODUCTION

Directional couplers are among the most indispensable passive circuits when feeding networks are
designed such as Butler Matrices (BM) and Nolen Matrices for both microwave and millimeterwave
applications [1–3]. In the previous years, many works regarding the design of single-band couplers
have been published [4–6]. Concerning the design of dual-band couplers, one can divide the methods
proposed in literature into three categories: (1) using a circuit equivalent, (2) using an even-odd modes
analysis technique, and (3) using optimization algorithms.
In general, the first method uses more sophisticated arms in a traditional singleband coupler,
yielding a dual-band coupler. In [7], such a coupler is designed by means of a transmission line with
two stubs. In [8], a shunt stub is tapped to the center of the conventional transmission line, yielding
the equivalent dual-band circuit. The authors in [9] utilize a π-shaped circuit to create the coupler. In
general, however, this method typically delivers designs suffering from narrow band width, low frequency
band ratio or delivers sophisticated structures with many stubs.
The even-odd mode analysis technique is used in [10–12]. This coupler design technique typically
includes coupled lines which makes the couplers less flexible in terms of operating frequency bands,
since the distance between the lines limits the frequency band ratio [10, 11]. In [12], no coupled lines
are present, but the design process is very complex in nature.
The third mostly used procedure is based on optimization algorithms resulting in a fast design [13–
15]. These techniques require a thorough and detailed knowledge about optimization technology.
In this paper, a simple and solid technique is used, based on dual-band quarter-wavelength
transformers to engender dual-band couplers with an arbitrary frequency ratio. Besides having a simple
profile and flexible design process, the suggested coupler provides an acceptable impedance bandwidth
of 33 and 14 percent at the center frequencies of 0.9 and 2.45 GHz, respectively. Also, the suggested
structure does not have any limitations regarding the frequency band ratio. It should also be mentioned
Received 29 September 2022, Accepted 2 November 2022, Scheduled 9 November 2022
* Corresponding author: Hassan Naseri ([email protected]).
1 Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, Montréal, Canada. 2 ESAT-WaveCoRE Research Division,
Department of Electrical Engineering, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
120 Naseri et al.

that the mentioned technique is not from any of the methods discussed in Introduction section since it
does not need any optimization algorithm, even-odd mode analysis, or a sophisticated equivalent arm
which requires solving complex matrixes.

2. DESIGN THEORY AND RESULTS

In this section, the mentioned technique is illustrated, and subsequently the coupler sample is designed
by means of this method. Then, the simulated and measured results are compared to each other, and
in the end a comparison between the performance and characteristics of the suggested coupler and
previous structures is added.

2.1. Design of the Coupler with Quarter-Wavelength Transformer

Quarter-wavelength transformer is widely used in impedance matching between an arbitrary real load
and the arbitrary real input [16]. As in the conventional branch line coupler shown in Figure 1, all
the four arms are quarter wavelength. It would be a simple and solid way to make the coupler dual-
band only by replacing the lines with dual-band transformers. To that end, the transformer introduced
in [17] can be a suitable choice. Figure 2 depicts the transformer consisting of two cascaded transmission
lines with different characteristic impedances, Z1 and Z2 . Also, RL and Z0 are the real load and real
source impedance, respectively. More specifically, if Z0 and RL are considered as arbitrary values, a
quarter-wavelength transformer which can match theses two to each other in two frequency bands can
be utilized in designing a dual-band coupler. Such a transformer is the mentioned cascaded lines owing
different characteristic impedances.

Figure 1. The schematic of branch line coupler. Figure 2. The quarter-wavelength transformer
schematic.

With regard to the mentioned reference, the necessary line lengths for creating dual-band
quadrature wavelength are obtained as follows [17]
π
l1 = l2 = . (1)
β1 + β2
l1 and l2 are lengths shown in Figure 2, and β1 and β2 , associated with operation frequencies of f1
and f2 , are propagation constants. As it is obvious the parameters are dependent on the operation
frequencies and can be easily calculated knowing the traits of the substrate. The remaining variables
are the characteristic impedance of the lines which is determined by Equations (2)–(4), [17].
v √[
u ]2
uZ
t 0 Z0
Z1 = (RL − Z0 ) + (RL − Z0 ) + Z03 RL . (2)
2α 2α
Z0
Z2 = RL (3)
Z1
Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol. 107, 2022 121

in which:
α = (tan(β1 l1 ))2 (4)
The above-mentioned simple equations are sufficient to design a simple-profile dual-band coupler. The
values of the load and source impedances, RL and Z0 , can be any reasonable real number as long as their
geometric median becomes 50 or 35.3 ohm according to the characteristic impedance of the conventional
branch line coupler arms.

2.2. Design of the Coupler Sample by Mentioned Method

We choose the operation frequencies of 0.9 GHz and 2.45 GHz. Referring to Equation (1), the line
lengths are calculated easily. The substrate used here is Rogers TMM 4 with 1.52 mm thickness and 4.5
dielectric constant. As for the 50-ohm characteristic impedance 100 and 25 ohms can be assigned to the
load and source, respectively, we proceed with this assumption. It should be taken into consideration
that the ratio of load impedance to source impedance is 4. The remaining parameters are achieved using
Equations (2)–(4). For the horizontal arms of the branch line coupler, 71.5 and 17.5 ohm are selected
to give the ratio of 4 as well. Having calculated the variables of the transformer, it is time to put them
in place of the branches of the conventional hybrid coupler. Final optimization is done to complete the
design of the dual-band coupler.
A summary of the design process is as follows:
a — select two arbitrary values for Z0 and RL mentioned in Figure 2 in a way that 50-ohm and
35.5-ohm become the quarter-wavelength values.
b — calculate the parameters regarding the dual-band transmission line. Equations (1)–(4) are used
during calculation.
c — replace the designed transmission lines (50 and 35.5 ohm) with the arms of traditional branch
line coupler and do final optimization.

3. FABRICATION AND RESULTS

Figure 3 shows the fabricated dual-band 90◦ hybrid coupler. We used the smooth bends in horizontal
arms to make the structure more compact. In case we consider the lower frequency band, 0.9 GHz, and
put aside the transmission lines connected to the output and input ports, the size of the structure is
0.3λ × 0.14λ. Furthermore, it is evident that the structure has simple profile and is easy to be integrated
in antenna feeding networks. As we consider the results, our expectation is to have a low reflection
coefficient in both frequency bands. Moreover, the isolation between the two input ports, ports 1 and
4, should be in a minimum level. When it comes to talking about the output ports, it should be taken

(a) (b)

Figure 3. (a) Layout and (b) prototype of the dual-band coupler. (L1 & L2 = 25, W 1 = 3.3, W 2 = 2.9,
W 3 = 4.3, and W 4 = 5 mm).
122 Naseri et al.

into account that the achieved signals through them must be equal to +90◦ or −90◦ phase difference
according to the selected input port. However, an acceptable imbalance level in output amplitudes
and phase differences is defined; this amount is ±1 dB and ±5◦ for our purpose. Figure 4 depicts the
reflection coefficients, the isolation between ports 1 and 5, and the transmission coefficients. At the
operating frequencies, the reflection coefficients as well as isolations are below −20 dB. The impedance
matching bandwidth is roughly 33% for the lower frequency band and 14% for the higher one. The
output amplitudes when port 1 and port 4 are excited are shown in Figure 4 as well. Considering
amplitude imbalance below −1 dB, the operating bandwidth is more than 33% and 14% for the lower
and higher bands, respectively.
0
-5
-10
S-Parameter (dB)

-15 S(1,1) Sim. S(4,1) Sim.

-20 S(4,4) Sim. S(1,1) Mea.
-25 S(4,1) Mea. S(4,4) Mea.
S(2,1) Sim. S(3,1) Sim.
-30
S(2,1) Mea. S(3,1) Mea.
-35 S(2,4) Sim. S(3,4) Sim.
-40 S(2,4) Mea. S(3,4) Mea.
-45
0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 4. Reflection coefficients, isolation, and transmission coefficients between ports in simulated
and measured cases.

Figure 5 depicts the phase difference between the signals received from output ports in both input
excitation states. It was observed that from frequency of 0.73 GHz to 1.03 GHz the phase difference
imbalance is within ±5◦ as it holds true for the frequency range from 2.35 GHz to 2.65 GHz.

200
Output Phase difference (Degree)

100

Simulated output phase difference, port 1

Simulated output phase difference, port 4
0
Measured output phase difference, port 1
Measured output phase difference, port 4

-10 0

-20 0

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

Frequency (GHz)

Figure 5. Output phase differences as port 1 or port 4 is excited.

The comparison between this and previous works is performed and presented in Table 1. Everything
confirms the fact that the suggested technique brings about a dual-band coupler which has the simplest
profile and design procedure among the existing works. It should also be mentioned that as we talk
about the low profile, we mean that the suggested coupler has a reduced size and simple profile; other
works provide big structures with complicated coupler shapes.
The operating bandwidth is closed to the best one achieved from [12]. Also, the flexibility
Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, Vol. 107, 2022 123

Table 1. Comparison between this work and three recently published papers.

Ref. [11] [12] [15] [18] [19] This work

Frequencies
1/2 1/2.7 2.45/5.4 0.9/1.8 2.4/5.8 0.9/2.45
(GHz)
BW (%) 12.8/13.1 35/15 14/10.7 16/6 30/12.8 33/14
Size
0.59 × 0.024 0.56 × 0.28 0.3 × 0.2 0.38 × 0.18 0.6 × 0.6 0.3 × 0.14
(λL × λL )
Coupled Not Not
−3.6/−3.63 −3.61/−3.76 −3.5/−3.5 −3.42/−3.53
(dB) mentioned mentioned
Through Not Not
−3.76/−3.87 −3.84/−4.75 −3.4/−3.6 −3.66/−3.72
(dB) mentioned mentioned
design
medium high high high high low
complexity
profile
low medium high high medium low
complexity
design
low low low low low high
flexibility

in changing the operation frequency bands is unique relative to other couplers. Furthermore, the
performance of the structure is indicative of its reliability as it is going to be utilized in a microwave
system for beam switching applications. It is worth mentioning that the introduced method does not
require any optimization algorithm, solving the sophisticated matrixes or even-odd mode analysis. This
helps ease the design process.

4. CONCLUSION

In this letter, a simple technique has been presented to design a dual-band hybrid coupler. The method
is based on the replacement of the arms of a traditional branch line coupler with a small two-section
quadrature-wavelength operating at two arbitrary frequencies. The fabricated structure provides the
results which are in a good agreement with the simulated outcomes. Furthermore, it is observed that
the coupler has the simplest profile with a great flexibility in changing the operation frequency bands
among the existing dual-band couplers.

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