Technical Notes And Measurement Data For RF Splitter And Coupler Products

Below are measurements of some of the earlier devices. It is interesting to compare these earlier devices against the more recent devices which have layout improvements yielding 7 GHz performance.

Earlier Measurements – Surface Mount 2-Way Splitter

Earlier Measurements – Surface Mount 4-Way Version 1 Splitter

Earlier Measurements – Surface Mount 4-Way Version 2 Splitter

Measurement Summary –

Most Recent 2-Way and 4-Way Surface Mount (SMT) Splitters

Below are measurements for the most recent Splitters. These Splitters have Layout Improvements that push their high corner frequencies up to 7 GHz. These 7 GHz Layout Improvements apply to both the Surface Mount and the SMP Connector versions of the Splitters.

Measurements-2-Way-RF-Splitter-Surface-Mount

Measurements-4-Way-RF-Splitter-Version1-Surface-Mount

Measurements-4-Way-RF-Splitter-Version2-Surface-Mount

Measurement Summary –

Eight Way (8-Way) Version 1 Surface Mount Splitter

Ten 8-Way Version 1 Surface Mount RF Splitters Were Measured – S-Parameters Are Presented

Measurements-8-Way-RF-Splitter-Version1-Surface-Mount

Measurement Summary –

Eight Way (8-Way) Version 2 Surface Mount Splitter

Ten 8-Way Version 2 Surface Mount RF Splitters Were Measured – S-Parameters Are Presented

Measurements-8-Way-RF-Splitter-Version2-Surface-Mount

Technical Alignment Details –

Correctly Aligning Splitters on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Prior to Soldering

Alignment of the devices to the underlying RF Traces is critical to overall RF performance

Correct Alignment Of BBTLine’s Surface Mount SMT Products

Surface Mount Soldering And Alignment Notes

What Is The Difference Between Cable RF Splitters And Surface Mount Broadband RF Splitters?

The hundreds of cheap cable rf splitters that flood the search results during an “RF Splitter” keyword search are really in a different class than BBTLine’s surface mount broadband RF splitters. Cable RF Splitters are geared towards specific Cable TV needs and are connectorized modules – usually, very cheaply manufactured.

On the other hand, BBTLine’s Surface Mount Broadband RF Splitters are generic devices not geared towards any specific technology. They are also more stringently designed with higher performance RF specifications. Their wide/broadband frequency range and surface mount technology allows the RF Engineer to incorporate and design the RF Splitter directly on to their Printed Circuit Boards – thereby satisfying any generic system signal-splitting needs.

Finding the right rf splitter to satisfy an Engineering Design need is quite a challenge. Especially when a generic short tail search term such as “RF Splitter” results in hundreds of devices which are irrelevant to the Engineer’s needs. The Engineer has to be a bit more inventive with search terms in order to cut through the resulting search “noise” generated by using short tail search terms such as “rf splitter” or “rf power divider”.

It would be more useful for the Engineer to use long tail keywords such as “broadband surface mount rf splitter” or “broadband low loss smt rf power divider” in order to more efficiently home in on Engineering-style RF Splitters.

What is a Low Loss RF Splitter?

A Low Loss RF Splitter refers to a Splitter with Low “Insertion Loss”. Insertion Loss means the excess loss above and beyond the “Ideal Loss” of a Splitter. Ideal Loss is a bit of a misnomer – it is just a way to describe how power is divided amongst the number of ports – no power is really lost.

For example, applying 20 watts to the common port of an ideal 2-Way (3 dB) Splitter yields 10 watts at one port and an identical 10 watts at the other port. In the big picture, no power is really “lost”, it is just divided amongst the ports. Likewise, applying 20 watts to the common port of an ideal 4-Way (6 dB) Splitter yields 5 watts at each of the four output ports – no power lost, just divided.

The Ideal Loss of a 2-Way Splitter is 3 dB, of a 4-Way Splitter is 6 dB, of an 8-Way Splitter is 9 dB. 10*log(2)=3, 10*log(4)=6, 10*log(8)=9.

The phrase “Low” is a relative term and means “low” in comparison to other similar Splitters found on the market.

“Total Loss” for a Splitter is Ideal Loss plus Insertion Loss. For example, an Ideal Lossless 4-Way RF Splitter (which doesn’t exist in the real world) would have a Total Loss of 6 dB: 6 dB of Ideal Loss and 0 dB of Insertion Loss. 6 dB is equivalent to a factor of 4. So, if you apply 20 Watts to the common port of an ideal 4-Way Splitter, then 5 watts would come out of each of the four Splitter Ports. 4X5 = 20, so all power is accounted for at the ports and no power is internally dissipated within the Splitter.

Compare this to a “real” 4-Way splitter which has a relatively high 3 dB Insertion Loss. This means that the Total Loss is 9 dB (6 dB of Ideal Loss + 3 dB of Insertion Loss). 9 dB is equivalent to a factor of 8. So, if you apply 20 watts to this Splitter, then only 20/8 = 2.5 watts comes out of each of the Four Splitter Ports. 4 X 2.5 = 10, so only 10 watts total are output from all four ports (and the remaining 10 watts is internally dissipated within the Splitter).

Now, compare this to a relatively “Low Loss” 4-Way RF Splitter with only 1 dB of Insertion Loss. In this case, Total Loss is 7 dB (6 dB of Ideal Loss plus 1 dB of Insertion Loss). 7 dB is equivalent to a factor of 5 (10*log(5)=7). If you apply 20 watts to this Splitter, then 20/5 = 4 watts comes out of each of the four splitter ports. 4X4 = 16, so 16 of the applied 20 watts comes out of all four ports (and the remaining 4 watts is internally dissipated within the Splitter).

This 4 watts of internal Splitter power dissipation is a lot lower than the 10 watts of internal Splitter power dissipation from the 4-Way RF Splitter with 3 dB of Insertion Loss – Hence the phrase “Low” compared to the higher Insertion Loss Splitter.

Why Use The Phrase RF Splitter/Combiner/Power-Divider?

Joining the three keywords “RF Splitter”, “RF Combiner” and “RF Power-Divider” into one succinct overall single phrase “RF Splitter/Combiner/Power-Divider” is an accurate way to describe the natural RF multi-functionality of BBTLine’s Surface Mount Splitter Products (or, any Wilkinson-style RF Splitter, really).

It is not a keyword-stuffing method to try to improve Google Search Rankings. Each of BBTLine’s RF Splitters truly does perform these three Signal Functions (Split, Divide and Combine) equivalently . By combining the three phrases into one overall phrase, the intent is to convey to the RF Engineer that these Products fulfill all three Signal Functions naturally.