Differences in Application Between Power Dividers and Power Splitters
Show Description
Introduction
Power dividers are an RF microwave accessory constructed with equivalent 50 Ω resistance at each port. These accessories divide the power of a uniform transmission line equally between ports to enable comparison measurements. Power dividers provide a good impedance match at both the output ports when the input is terminated in the system characteristic impedance (50 Ω). Once a good source match has been achieved, a power divider is used to divide the output into equal signals for comparison measurements. The power divider also can be used in test systems to measure two different characteristics of a signal, such as frequency and power, for broadband independent signal sampling. Besides dividing power it also can act as power combiners because they are bi-directional.
Power splitters are constructed of two resistors. They are used for leveling and ratio measurement applications to improve the effective output match of microwave sources. The two-resistor configuration also provides 50 Ω output impedance to minimize measurement uncertainty in source leveling or ratio measurement applications.
