Karl R. Vaden

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Computer Aided Design of Ka-Band

Waveguide Power Combining Architectures

for Interplanetary Spacecraft

NASA/TM—2006-214108

February 2006
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Karl R. Vaden

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Computer Aided Design of Ka-Band

Waveguide Power Combining Architectures

for Interplanetary Spacecraft

NASA/TM—2006-214108

February 2006

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Glenn Research Center
Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Rainee N. Simons, NASA Glenn Research Center, for his help and assistance towards

the aforementioned work.

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Available electronically at http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov
NASA/TM—2006-214108 1

Computer Aided Design of Ka-Band Waveguide Power Combining 

Architectures for Interplanetary Spacecraft 

Karl R. Vaden 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Glenn Research Center 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135 

Abstract 

Communication systems for future NASA interplanetary spacecraft require transmitter power ranging 

from several hundred watts to kilowatts. Several hybrid junctions are considered as elements within a 

corporate combining architecture for high power Ka-band space traveling-wave tube amplifiers 

(TWTAs). This report presents the simulated transmission characteristics of several hybrid junctions 

designed for a low loss, high power waveguide based power combiner. 

Introduction 

Future deep space missions for NASA’s “Vision for Space Exploration” demand communication 

systems with larger bandwidths, higher bit-rates, lower bit-error-rates, and the capability to use complex 

digital modulation schemes. One method to improve the current state-of-the-art is to increase the total 

power available in the spacecraft, thereby allowing the use of techniques typically disregarded because of 

high power consumption. Nuclear fission, a key component of NASA’s Prometheus Program (ref. 1), can 

provide unprecedented power capabilities. Therefore, this paper focuses upon RF transmission systems 

currently capable of producing kilowatts of output power at Ka-band frequencies. 

One approach to designing a kilowatt space transmitter is to combine the output of multiple power 

amplifiers. Power combining is a well-known technique, especially for solid-state devices. While 

successful for lower power levels, at Ka-band frequencies, combining state-of-the-art solid-state devices 

has not yielded output power above hundreds of watts. In contrast, a single space TWTA, such as the 

TWT developed by Boeing for a NASA GRC contract, can deliver over 180 W at Ka-band frequencies 

with a power added efficiency of 59 percent (ref. 2). Therefore, combining the power output from 

multiple TWTAs is a logical means to transmit kilowatts in a harsh space environment. Two methods of 

power combining were considered for meeting the stated goals: waveguide architectures and spatial 

combining architectures (ref. 3). We chose waveguide power combining architectures for their 

commercial availability and ease in manufacturing. In case of amplifier failure, waveguide switches can 

be easily included to switch in redundant amplifiers. Furthermore, because of their lower attenuation at 

Ka-band frequencies, waveguide structures are ideally suited for antenna beam-forming networks (ref. 4) 

In this paper, we present the simulated transmission characteristics of various waveguide hybrid 

junctions, which are the fundamental elements of the corporate (or binary tree) power combining system 

being considered. Three-dimensional waveguide structures for antennas and beam forming networks have 

been analyzed using field theoretical techniques such as, mode matching (ref. 5) and method of moments 

(ref. 6). In our work, we use the commercially available CST Microwave Studio (CST of America, Inc., 

Wellesley, MA) (ref. 7) that uses the finite integration technique. 

High Power Hybrid Junctions 

A hybrid junction can be simply defined as a four port, reciprocal network with the following 

characteristics: power incident at one port is equally divided between two conjugate ports while 

delivering no power to the remaining port; power incident on two appropriate ports will form a vector 

sum at one port while forming a vector difference at the remaining port. Given these characteristics, as 

shown in figure 1, hybrid junctions are an excellent choice as the key elements for a power combiner. 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 2

Waveguide hybrid junctions are commercially available; however, many vendors do not test for a 

power handling capability greater than a few watts, much less kilowatts (ref. 8). In addition, the tuning 

elements that are typically used for impedance matching (needed for maximum power transfer and power 

balance) are not well suited for the high powers being considered. In this power range, small structures 

like cones, rods and stubs can concentrate electric fields, possibly leading to RF breakdown. For these 

reasons, the following hybrid junctions and variants, with matching elements more suited for high 

powers, were chosen for analysis. 

Magic Tee—(Cross-Polarized Rectangular Waveguide Hybrid Junction) 

The Magic Tee, shown in figure 2, is constructed by connecting two waveguides, one as a series 

connection (port 4, E-arm) and one as a shunt connection (port 1, H-arm), to the center of a collinear 

waveguide. Power simultaneously injected into the series and shunt arms will form a vector sum at one 

collinear port and a vector difference and the other collinear port. 

Folded E-Plane Magic Tee 

The folded E-Plane Magic Tee, a variation of the Magic Tee, was developed for microwave 

applications where a higher power carrying capacity was required (ref. 9). This variation of the Magic Tee 

is created by “folding” the opposing symmetrical arms (port 2 and port 3 in figure 2) so that they are 

parallel to the E-arm. The heights of the “folded” arms are reduced in half. Figure 3 shows two types of 

folded E-Plane Magic Tees. The structure in figure 3(a) will be referred to as the “Split Collinear” Magic 

Tee. The structure in figure 3(b) will be referred to as the “Common Wall” Magic Tee. 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 3

Hybrid Ring 

The Hybrid Ring is a planar hybrid junction constructed from a waveguide ring and four appropriately 

placed series or shunt waveguide connections. Six types of hybrid rings are shown in figure 4(a). The wellknown “Rat Race,” shown in figure 4(b), is one of several hybrid rings described by Tyrrell (ref. 10). 

Computer Aided Design and Modeling 

There are many advanced commercial electro-magnetic simulation software packages available. Our 

choice of software was CST’s Microwave Studio, a general-purpose electromagnetic simulator based on 

the Finite Integration Technique (ref. 11). This numerical technique is applicable to various 

electromagnetic problems, ranging from static field calculations to high frequency applications in time or 

frequency domain. (ref. 12) 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 4

We chose CST’s Microwave Studio for several reasons including, a user-friendly interface; state-ofthe-art meshing techniques, including the ability to simulate curved surfaces within a single mesh cell; the 

ability to run on Windows OS (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington); the ability to use multiple 

CPUs; the inclusion of transient, eigenstate and frequency domain solvers; automation; optimization 

modules, and the ability to create one’s own code with Visual Basic (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, 

WA). 

CST’s Microwave Studio performed a time-domain analysis that included the frequency range of 31.8 

to 32.3 GHz. The analyses include calculations of S-parameters, Voltage Standing Wave Ratios, and plots 

of the electric field intensity and power flow. The desired goals, at a center frequency of 32.05 GHz, for 

each device were as follows: –3 dB insertion loss, a minimum of –15 dB reflection loss, and a minimum 

of –40 dB of isolation loss. All hybrid junctions were perfectly conducting, lossless circuits designed for 

standard WR-28 waveguides. Optimization routines refined the dimensions and locations of structures 

used for impedance matching. 

Magic Tee 

Magic Tees can be easily matched through the use of inductive or capacitive apertures (windows) at 

the appropriate location. For the high powers being considered, inductive irises are not the best choice for 

matching structures because they concentrate the electric fields thereby increasing the risk of high voltage 

breakdown. We have included the design of a traditional Magic Tee that is matched with inductive 

windows as a baseline for comparison with all the following alternative designs. For this case, shown in 

figure 2(a), the Magic Tee was matched with inductive irises in the H-arm (port 1) and E-arm (port 4). 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 5

We also modeled another design, shown in figure 2(b), where the traditional post structure was 

transformed into a rounded fin that extended to the back wall of the H-arm (ref. 13). A low Q inductive 

window in the H-arm and a small ridge in the E-arm provided additional tuning. 

Folded E-Plane Magic Tee 

Khan (ref. 9) showed that the design of a well-matched Magic Tee depended solely upon maintaining 

symmetry while simultaneously eliminating H-arm and E-arm reflections. Khan also showed that due to 

the symmetry of the device, one can show that a thin magnetic “wall” in the symmetry plane does not 

affect the field incident from the H-arm, but does affect the E-arm. In the same manner, a thin electrical 

“wall” in the symmetry plane does not affect field incident from the E-arm but does affect the H-arm. 

Therefore, the cross-polarized H-arm can be matched by extending the wall between the arms of ports 2 

and 3 along the symmetry line and into the interior junction and the H-arm. Figure 5 shows the matching 

of the H-arm by extending the wall between the “folded” arms. 

Hybrid Ring 

The Rat Race (a hybrid ring with four series waveguide connections) was matched with inductive 

windows and small ridges located in the input and output ports. Microwave Studio® does not allow 

waveguide ports that are not orthogonal to the coordinate system; therefore, it was necessary to extend 

any ports that did not end on an orthogonal plane with E-plane bends. 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 6

Simulated Results 

Table 1 shows a comparison of the transmission characteristics for all of the hybrid junctions that 

were investigated. Excluding the Magic Tee that was matched with a cone-fin structure, all discussed 

hybrid junctions and the structures needed for impedance matching are relatively easy to fabricate. 

TABLE 1.—COMPARISON OF THE SIMULATED TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF 

THE DIFFERENT HYBRID JUNCTIONS CONSTRUCTED FROM WR-28 WAVEGUIDE 

WITH A FREQUENCY RANGE FROM 31.8 TO 32.3 GHz 

Hybrid junction Insertion loss Reflection loss Isolation 

|S21| dB |S24| dB |S11| dB |S44| dB |S41| dB 

Magic Tee 

(inductive windows) 

–3.04 –3.04 –24.17 –14.48 –76.4 

Magic Tee 

(cone-fin) 

–3.156 3.426 –15.44 –9.823 –136.3 

Folded E-Plane Tee 

(common wall) 

–3.203 –3.124 –13.72 –15.9 –151.4 

Folded E-Plane Tee 

(split collinear arms) 

–3.068 –3.073 –14.84 –19.17 –140.6 

Rat Race –3.569 –3.467 –10.2 –10.42 –27.38 

While the Rat Race has a narrower bandwidth than Magic Tees (ref. 10), its planar geometry allows 

for more convenient system architectures than cross-polarized hybrid junctions like the Magic Tee. 

The Folded E-Plane Magic Tees appear to be the most promising of all devices that were investigated. 

The simulated characteristics of this device as a function of frequency are presented in figure 6. These 

devices show the desired transmission characteristics and are easily tuned. The exceptional isolation is 

inherent to the cross-polarized design (ref. 10). Compared to the Common Wall Tee, the larger surface 

area of the Split Collinear Tee provides better heat dissipation. 
NASA/TM—2006-214108 7

Conclusions 

A number of Ka-band hybrid junctions have been designed using modern microwave simulation 

tools. Each device was matched using elements that are more appropriate for powers ranging from 

hundreds of watts to kilowatts. The simulations show that hybrid junctions have the desired insertion loss, 

good port matches with low reflection loss, and excellent isolation. Hence, the hybrid junctions can be 

successfully adapted for use in high power combiners for deep space communications. In addition, this 

preliminary study concludes that folded E-plane hybrid junctions are robust, easy fabricated and relatively 

inexpensive devices that are well suited for this application. 

References 

1. http://prometheus.jpl.nasa.gov 

2. N.R. Robbins et al., “High Power, High Efficiency 32 GHz Space Traveling-wave Tube,” Fifth IEEE 

Inter. Vacuum Electronics Conf., Monterey, CA, pp. 261–262, April 27–29, 2004. 

3. K. Chang and C. Sun, “Millimeter-wave Power-Combiner Techniques,” IEEE Trans. Microwave 

Theory Techniques, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 91–107, February 1983. 

4. R.J. Acosta et al., “Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS): Four Year System 

Performance,” IEEE Jour. Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 193–203, 

February 1999. 

5. F. Alessandri et al., “Computer Aided Design of Beam Forming Networks for Modern Satellite 

Antennas,” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techniques, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1117–1127, June 1992. 

6. F. Arndt et al., “Fast CAD and Optimization of Waveguide Components and Aperture Antennas by 

Hybrid MM/FE/MoM/FD Methods—State-of-the-art and Recent Advances,” IEEE Trans. Microwave 

Theory Techniques, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 292–305, January 2004. 

7. CST Microwave Studio v5.11, CST of America, Inc., Wellesley, MA. 

8. Personal Communications with various microwave vendors. 

9. W.K. Kahn, “E-Plane Forked Hybrid-T Junction,” IRE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 

vol. MTT–3, pp. 52–58, December 1955. 

10. W.A. Tyrrell, “Hybrid circuits for microwaves” Proc. IRE, vol. 35, pp. 1294–1306, November, 1947. 

11. T. Weiland, “A Discretization method for the Solution of Maxwell’s Equations for six-component 

fields,” Electronics and Communication, (AEÜ), vol. 31, pp. 166–120, 1977. 

12. CST Microwave Studio 5 Advanced Topics Users Manual. 

13. P.A. Loth, “Recent Advances in Waveguide Hybrid Junctions,” IRE Trans. on Microwave Theory 

and Techniques, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 268–271, Oct. 1956. 
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Computer Aided Design of Ka-Band Waveguide Power Combining Architectures

for Interplanetary Spacecraft

Karl R. Vaden

Power combining; Numerical simulations; Waveguide hybrid junctions

Unclassified -Unlimited

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Responsible person, Karl R. Vaden, organization code RCE, 216–433–8131.

Communication systems for future NASA interplanetary spacecraft require transmitter power ranging from several

hundred watts to kilowatts. Several hybrid junctions are considered as elements within a corporate combining

architecture for high power Ka-band space traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs). This report presents the

simulated transmission characteristics of several hybrid junctions designed for a low loss, high power waveguide

based power combiner.