Broadband microwave frequency divider for division by numbers greater than two

Abstract

Frequency division of microwave signals may be done using heterodyne conversion but there are limits to the ultimate instantaneous bandwidth that can be down-converted using this method and any frequency aberrations of the local oscillator show up at the output. It is also known to down-convert microwave signals by using a varactor divide-by-two system. However, to divide by factors greater than two, these dividers must be cascaded which results in losses that must be compensated by amplifiers. The present invention alleviates the foregoing problems by providing a single-stage analog microwave frequency divider which will divide microwave signals by four. The divider comprises a substrate having an input microstrip transmission line capacitively coupled to a resonator formed of first and second spaced apart parallel microstrip transmission lines of predetermined length. One end of each of these lines are joined together by a transverse microstrip transmission line and the other end of each of these lines is connected to substrate ground via an associated varactor diode. The first and second microstrip transmission lines are electromagnetically coupled to third and fourth microstrip transmission lines and the third and fourth microstrip transmission lines are connected in series to a stripline balun comprising an output of the divider.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.