A Compact Reconfigurable Concurrent Dual-Band

Wilkinson Power Divider for noninvasive vital sign

detection applications
Amarjit Kumar, Nagendra P. Pathak

Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Group

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (lIT) - Roorkee
Uttarakhand, India
mahageeta5@gmail.com, nagppfec@gmail.com

Abstract-A

Compact Concurrent dual-band Reconfigurable

Wilkinson power divider (WPD) for noninvasive human vital

signs detection is reported in this paper. The Tuning element is
incorporated into the shunt element of the dual-band impedance
transformer of the concurrent dual-band WPD circuit. Design
approach along with design equations is provided to enhance
further design utility. Tunability of both bands (2.45/5.25 GHz) is
investigated using a single varactor diode thereby resulting
compact size and less cost. The performance of the WPD as a
function

of

various

tuning

voltages

is

studied

in

detail.

hardware prototype is realized to work at WLAN bands and

exhibiting a total tunability bandwidth of 385 MHz and 735 MHz

V.

at lower and upper frequency bands, respectively, for a varactor

voltages varying from 0-15

The calculated and measured

results are in good agreement. The measurement analysis shows

that the proposed compact reconfigurable dual-band WPD can
be used as a subsystem in a noninvasive multi-band RF vital sign
detection system for the better detection of human vital signs
such as heartbeats and respiration rate.

Keywords-reconfigurable; concurrent; dual-band; Wilkinson

power divider; vital sign detection

I.

INTRODUCTION

The existence of human being can be predicted by

ascertaining its vital signs such as heartbeats and respiration
rate. Use of Concurrent dual-band system for human vital sign
detection provides two fold advantages over the existing
single band or instrument based bulky systems. A concurrent
dual-band RF System to detect and analyze the human
heartbeats and respiration rate for search and rescue of human
life during natural disaster is reported recently in [1]. Inclusion
of adaptability in concurrent multi-band systems may provide
better detection of human vital signs such as heartbeats and
respiration rate. Fig. 1 shows a reconfigurable concurrent
multi-band system for noninvasive vital signs detection of
human
beings
of
which
reconfigurable
power
divider/combiner is a crucial component. Power divider is
used in the receiver section of the concurrent dual-band
noninvasive RF Vital sign detection system to equally divide
the dual-band low noise signal and then given to RF port of
mixer I and mixer II to get the two IF signals one obtained at

978-1-4799-3140-8/14/$31.00 2014 IEEE

lower band and other at upper band frequency [I]. Two IF

signals are then cross-correlated to obtain desired information
signal. Tunable RF components have drawn much research
attention to realize a robust and highly reconfigurable RF
transceiver for applications intended to software-defined and
cognitive radio platforms [2]. A dual-band Wilkinson power
divider using generalized coupled-line circuit structure and
two lumped resistors is proposed in [3]. But, it is designed to
operate for fixed dual-band frequency. However, fixed
frequency power dividers suffer from the disadvantages of
being rigid and unrnodifiable to fabrication glitches. For
improving the robustness and performance of the power
divider, a Varactor tuned dual-band Wilkinson power divider
is proposed in [4]. But it neither presents theoretical analysis
nor provides design relations, thereby, limiting design utility.
Also, two varactor diodes are used, thereby, resulting in
increased device cost and larger size. Moreover, total
tunability range at both bands is limited to 200MHz only. In
[5], an adaptable concurrent dual-band power splitter is
proposed but it is a T-junction divider, thereby, isolation
between the two output ports is limited to 6-dB only.
Current work reports a compact reconfigurable concurrent
dual-band Wilkinson power divider using a single varactor
diode that allows simultaneous frequency tuning of lower and
upper frequency bands for applications intended to better
detection of human vital signs. The design approach for
proposed reconfigurable Wilkinson divider is detailed in
section II. For enhancing further design utility, the design
equations for the proposed circuit are also provided. Fabricated
prototypes along with simulation and experimental results are
demonstrated in section III.
II.

DESIGN APPROACH OF PROPOSED RECONFIGURABLE

CONCURRENT DUAL-BAND WILKINSON DIVIDER

A Wilkinson power divider using a dual-band transformer

structure is proposed in [6] for dual-band applications. The
dual-band transformer is modified to incorporate the proposed
frequency tunability feature at both frequency bands.
Specifically, the shunt element (Y) is realized using a varactor

434

----------

..... :.................................................................................
! DUIIIbllnd
i Reronfigurable

1--""I"'".... ,O/P

Mixer I

I
I

I ,.. +-'

Transmitter

C': :
Fig.

I.

_ _ _ _ _

__

__

IO()"O

IIP ....-+-=-I

M::

Receiver
_

__

1--"-,,O/P

Fig.

Block diagram of proposed reconfigurable concurrent dual

2.

Schematic

of

reconfigurable

dual-band

band RF system for human vital sign detection

connected transmission line of characteristic impedance ZD

and electrical length BD as shown in fig. 2. The electrical length
of varactor connected transmission line is BD(fJ) and BD(f2) at
corresponding frequencies Ji and 12, where Ji and 12 are the
center frequencies of the upper and lower bands, respectively.
The average ofJi andh is assumed asfa i.e. fa (fi + 12)12. For
calculating the value of line impedances ZA and Zs, following
design equations are provided in [6]:

Yat frequencyJi andh is given as:

Y

fJ

ZA

-/2 Zo tan

(% J
e

(1)

f2

21C I1CVZJ)+tan ((}1)([1))

2Z/)" 1- 21CI1Cv ZJ) tan({} 1)([1))

(3)

2Z1), 1- 21C12CVZJ) tan({}D(f2))

Using (3), (6) and (7),

The value of the grounded variable capacitor Cv is chosen

arbitrarily depending on the desired fTequency tunability
characteristics at both frequency bands. Assume, Zin is the
input impedance of the variable capacitor connected
transmission line. As shown in fig. 2,
1
+ jZ J) tan 0 J)
jW C v
_::..._-"_---:-___
1
Z J) + j. -. - .tanO J)
jWCv
__
.
_

Z J)

2jY

(5)

After some mathematical simplification the shunt element

2014

cos

(6)

(7)

(1Ce)

[1-21!fEvZD tan(O) ] - [21!fVZD tan(0D(f1))-1 ]

27rfEvZD+ tun(OD(f2))

(4)

21C 12CVZJ)+tan ({}D(f2))

(2)

Z in

concurrent

symmetrical Wilkinson power divider

27rfVZD+ tan (0D(f1))

(8)
(9)

Since BD is a linear function of frequency, therefore, the

value of BD evaluated at the two designated frequencies will be
related as
{} 1) )
([2

(}J)([I)

12
=

11

(10)
The characteristic impedance ZD and electrical length BD of
variable capacitor appended transmission line may then be
calculated by solving (8)-(10). In sum, using (1)-(10), a
reconfigurable concurrent dual-band symmetrical Wilkinson
power divider can be theoretically designed for any two
distinct frequency bands. Skyworks' product SMV1232079LF is used as the tuning element in the proposed circuit.
Analysis of the proposed circuit assumes the two design
frequencies, Ji and 12, to be averages of their respective band
limits that should be covered. For the values ofJi, 12, Zo and Cv
as 2.44 GHz, 5.25 GHz, 50-0 and 1.05 pF, respectively, the

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

435

values of ZA, ZB, ZD and !lO(fI) is found to be 45.72-Q, 109.36Q, 43.58-Q and 85.18, respectively, using above equations.
The corresponding obtained values of lower and upper band
tunable frequency range is (1.99-2.57 GHz) and (4.86-5.4
GI-Iz), respectively. For the same assumed design frequencies,
if Cv is taken as equal to 1.72 pF which is the geometric mean
of its allowable maximum and minimum limits, then, some of
the practically realizable sets of solutions of [ZD' eD(fl)], using
(8)-(10), are [37.46-Q, 79.5] and [46.96-Q, 247.33]. The
designer can choose any of these set of values keeping in mind
the ease of fabrication and compact size of the circuit.
Moreover, the designer can set the lower and upper band
tunability range by properly using above equations. Table 1
shows the simulated values of lower and upper band tunable
frequency range against the corresponding values of Cv, ZD
and eD(fI) in (8)-(10).
TABLE 1.
SIMULATED VALVES OF LOWER AND
UPPER BAND FREQUENCY TUNABILITY RANGE AGAINST THE
CORRESPONDING VALUES OF Cv, ZD AND ell(n) FORJi 2.44-GHZ

Cv
(pF)

ZD
(0)

OD(O)
(Degree)

2.67
1.72
1.51
1.35
1.22
1.05
0.94
0. 86
0.72

32.5017
37.4564
39.0406
40.4303
416992
43.5821
44.9552
46.0379
48.1091

74.9408
79.4996
80.9444
82.2197
83.3975
85.1845
86.5320
87.6316
89.8649

III.

AND Ji

5.25-GHZ

Lower band
frequency
Tunability range
(GHz)
2. 12-2. 95
2.14-2.76
2.10-2.71
2.06 -2. 67
2.03 -2. 63
1.99-2.57
1.95 -2.53
1.93 -2.50
1. 81-2.52

Upper band
frequency
Tunability range
(GHz)
4.55 -5. 34
5.03 -5. 58
4.99-5.53
4.95 -5. 49
4.92 -5. 46
4. 86-5. 40
4.82-5. 36
4.78-5.32
4.29-4. 97

SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT RESULTS

The proposed reconfigurable concurrent dual-band

Wilkinson power divider is fabricated in microstrip technology
using a substrate with dielectric constant E= 3.2, thickness F
1.524 mm and loss tangent tanS = 0.0025. A single varactor
(SMVI232-079LF) from Skyworks' corporation is used as the
tuning element in the proposed circuit. The device is realized to
work at WLAN bands (2.45/5.25 GHz). Figure 3 shows the
fabricated prototype of the proposed circuit.

-- Vb_sim ;;; 4V

Vb_me9!l = 4V
Vb_slm=6V
Vb_mea. = 6V
Vb_'lm= 6V
- Vb_mea. = 8V
Vb_'lm= IOV

Ftequenev (GHz)
4

Fig.

4.

Measured and simulated values of ports isolation for

various varactor bias (Vb) voltages

For biasing the tuning element, a bias-tee network is

implemented using a DC feed choke and 100-nF DC blocking
capacitor. The overall size of the fabricated prototype is 5cm X
4.5cm, thereby achieving good compactness. Figs. 4-7 show
the measured and simulated responses of proposed device.
Measured value of Total tunability bandwidth for the lower
and upper band is 385 and 735 MHz, respectively, for varactor
voltages of 0-15 V. The lower and upper band tunable
frequency range is (2.1025-2.4875) and (4.8325-5.5675) GHz,
respectively, for corresponding varactor bias voltages of 0-15
V. The measured value of isolation between two output ports
for the proposed reconfigurable Wilkinson divider is better
than -20 and -30 dB at the center frequency of lower and upper
band, respectively.
The maximum variation in phase
difference between output ports is 0.6 and 1.5 across the
lower and upper band, respectively. The measurement analysis
shows that the proposed Compact. Reconfigurable, Concurrent
dual-band, Symmetrical Wilkinson divider using a single
Varactor as the tuning element can be used as a subsystem for
the better detection of vital signs in a noninvasive RF vital sign
detection system as proposed in [1].
6.0 -r-...,-----,

5
5.
C>
is.o
'g

.,.

4.5

u.. 4.0

3.5

3.0
2.5

Fig.

436

3.

Fabricated prototype of the proposed reconfigurable dual

band Wilkinson divider

20 J 4

Fig.

-1
5.

1 2 3 4 5

10

11 12 13 14 15

Applied Varactor Bias (V)

Measured value of tunable frequencies for various varactor

bias yoltages

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

o ----------------------
iii
:E- -5
'u -10
:e
'
oJ'
c:
'"

-.-

noninvasive RF vital sign detection system is described for

C.-slm : 1.05 pF
c"...meas 1.05 pF

simultaneous tuning of both frequency bands. Reconfigurable

multi-band

- Cv--sim

C.-slm

C....meas
.
- C"..slm

-15
'"

Clt-slm

-- C"...meas

compact

0,81 pF

size and less cost of the

enhancing

0,76 pF

Frequency jGHz)

further

design

of

proposed
the

device.

circuit,

For

synthesis

proposed circuit by controlling its responses through varactor

simulated results are mainly due to the fabrication process and
due to the assumption that the varactor diode's capacitance

Simulated and measured return loss for various varactor

( Cv)

for a reverse bias voltage (Vb) is constant across all

frequency bands.
REFERENCES

2
.4

Cy-sim

Cy-meas

-6

Cv-Sim

8
10

Cv-meas

Cv-slm

Cv-meas

",'
'"
0 -12
..I
c:
,9 -14
1:
..
'"
.E -16

Cv-sim

Cv-meas

- Cv-sim
-

-- Cv-meas

18

1.05 pF

[I]

1.05 pF

"Concurrent Multi-Band

0.94 pF
=

Delhi, India, 14-16 December, 2013,

0.94 pF

[2]

0.81 pF

tutorial",

0.76 pF

[3]

Y.

Wu ,

"Highly integrated and

front ends for reconfigurable multiband transceivers: A

IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I: Reg. Papers,

Y.

pp.2038 -2050 20II.

coupled-line

0.72 pF
=

RF

H. Darabi , A. Mirzaei and M. Mikhemar

tunable

0.76 pF
=

System for Search and Rescue of Human

Life during Natural Calamities", In: Proceedings of !MARC-2013, New

0.81 pF
=

RF

Brijesh Iyer, Amarjit Kumar, Nagendra P Pathak, Debashis Ghosh,

Liu and

Q.

dual-band

Xue

vol. 58,

no. 9,

"An analytical approach for a novel

Wilkinson

power

divider",

IEEE

Trans.

Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 59, no, 2, pp,286 -294 2011,

0.72 pF

[4]

D, Draskovic and D. Budimir,"Varactor tuned dual-band Wilkinson

power

divider,"

2009

IEEE

Antennas

and

Propagation

Society

International Symposium, pp. 1-4, June 2009.

-20
2,0

Fig. 7,

utility

voltages. The small discrepancies between the measured and

capacitances

;[

at

better detection of human vital signs can be achieved using this

0,72 pF

performance

equations are provided. Measurement analysis shows that

0,72 pF
=

optimum

tunability of both frequency bands is introduced using a single

-.- C...m = 0.76 pF

provides

varactor diode as the tuning element, thereby, resulting in

0,81 pF
=

component

desired frequencies and are robust to fabrication glitches. The

0.94 pF

C...meas : 0,94 pF

o
u
c:
o

iii
:E-

CONCLUSION

modified dual-band Wilkinson divider as a subsystem in a

'!

Fig. 6.

IV.

The design theory and construction of a reconfigurable

2,5

30

Frequency jGHz)

3,5

4,0

45

5,0

5,5

Simulated and measured insertion loss for various varactor

capacitances

[5]

Vivek Sharma, Nagendra Prasad Pathak,"Adaptable concurrent dual

band symmetrical stubbed T-junction power splitter," 2013 National
conference on Communications, pp. 1-5, February 2013

[6]

K.-K. Cheng, and F.-L. Wong, "A New Wilkinson Power Divider
Design for Dual Band Application," IEEE Microwave and Wireless
Compo Lett, vol. 17, pp.664-666, September 2007.

-- Vb_sim= 0 V
-- Vb_sim ;:: 2 V
Vb_sim;:: 4 V
-- Vb_sim;:: 5 V
-- Vb_sim = 6 V
-Vb_sim=BV
--Vb_sim;:: 10V
--Vb sim=1SV

Frequency (GHz)

Fig. 8.

Simulated phase difference for various bias voltages

2014

International Conference on Signal Propagation and Computer Technology (ICSPCT)

437