In the field of radio and telecommunications technology, one is sure to come across two basic passive radio frequency components of devices, couplers and power dividers, which are used to split/merge or segment electromagnetic signals. Although they are from the same class of device, there are some notable differences between them in how they divide/split signals as well as in terms of their actual roles.

Power splitters and couplers are passive devices as they have no source of power to add to the signal passing through them. Power dividers are often used interchangeably with power dividers – in fact, the two devices are separate components and have different characteristics.

The similarity lies in the fact that they both divide/divide the power into two separate lines. Devices differentiate themselves with regard to physical properties and applications.

a power divider It is a unidirectional passive device that cannot be used as a power collector. It has an input port with higher resistance than the two output ports. This allows it to be used as a calibration and leveling device.

a power divider Bi-directional (reciprocal) and all ports (one input port and two output ports) have the same impedance. This allows the device to be able to not only split a single signal into two lines but also two signals into a single transmission line.

a directional coupler It is a passive device with four different ports: it has an input port, a transmit port, a pairs port, and an isolated port. The device allows a single signal input via an input port to be split into two signals of different amplitudes (on two paired lines).

The main line has a larger output while the associated line is smaller and the difference can be calculated by a ‘coupling factor’. This device has many applications and can be used in amplifiers, receivers and transmitters as well as in measuring devices.

A special case of the directional coupler is the hybrid coupler (3dB directional coupler). This coupler divides the force evenly. The phase difference at the output determines the type of hybrid coupler you have on hand: a 90-degree hybrid or a 180-degree hybrid. These special couplers are important for devices such as mixers, power collectors, separators, rectifiers, and some radar antennas.

Here are four differences between couplers and power separators:

• Power dividers have 3 ports and are used to divide the signal into two parts of equal power – providing equal amplitude and phase division of the signal between the two output ports. The directional coupler has 4 ports and provides unequal splitting except for the hybrid couplers. It divides the power so that what comes through the first port is divided into a portion that goes through port 2 (the dual port) while the remaining power is transmitted through the third port. The fourth port is isolated and no power is being sent through it (ideally at least).

• The 4-Outlet coupler uses no internal resistance and has an isolated “terminated” port. 3-door dividers, instead, have no internal resistance and no isolated outlet.

• No loss of connections (no energy is radiated off the grid or converted into heat). Power dividers do not provide any isolation as in the case of the simplest of power dividers, the T-junction.

• Power splitters are mainly used to sample a signal so that two characteristics of the signal (eg frequency and power) can be measured. It is also used to distribute energy to more than one person pneumatic. Being bi-directional they can be used as power collectors. Couplers are used to sample signals by capturing a portion of the power from the transmission line. This part is proportional to the transmitted power which can then be measured without stopping the flow. They can also be used as a means of introducing another signal into the system.