Date of Award

January 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical Engineering

First Advisor

Hossein Salehfar

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to design a wideband Wilkinson power divider as part of an active phased array radar system for use in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications. In order to comply with the entire system, the power divider was restricted in size, operating frequency, and bandwidth. The proposed power divider was integrated into a 10 GHz phased array system for future development in a transmitting and receiving system.

The Wilkinson power divider was designed to provide 2 GHz bandwidth centered at 10 GHz. In order to provide the bandwidth, a 4&ndashstage Wilkinson power divider was designed and fabricated. It was then tested thoroughly to provide Printed Circuit Board (PCB) characteristics for integration within the system. Port isolation, phase error, and PCB power losses were found for the power divider and recorded to provide better integration into the radar system. The experimental results compared well with the simulated models created in the design phase.

The final modularly designed phased array radar consisted of a Vivaldi antenna array, phase shifter and amplifier module, and control module. The focus of the work presented is the Wilkinson power divider that was designed to meet stringent design requirements for space, operating frequency, and phase error. The result is a fabricated Wilkinson power divider that met all the requirements and the module functions within the phased array system.

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