Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 311–324, 2009

DESIGN OF A 1 × 20 SERIES FEED NETWORK WITH

COMPOSITE RIGHT/LEFT-HANDED TRANSMISSION
LINE

Y. Li, Q. Zhu, Y. Yan, and S. Xu

Department of EEIS
University of Science and Technology of China
Hefei 230027, China

B. Zhou
Shanghai Spaceflight Electronic Technology Institute
Shanghai 201109, China

Abstract—Based on composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmis-

sion line (TL), a novel series feed network for microstrip arrays is pro-
posed and its theoretical analysis and experimental results are pre-
sented. In the present structure, power dividers and open-ended stubs
are employed to even the amplitude distributions among different out-
put ports, while CRLH TLs and short meandering lines are used to
compensate the phase delay caused by the different lengths of right-
handed (RH) TLs. Finally, an X-band series feed network is designed
and fabricated as an example. The simulated and measured results
indicate that the present design can achieve even amplitude and phase
distributions among different output ports in the range of 8.8–9.6 GHz.
And it has other advantages such as a compact size of 350 mm ×50 mm
and good return loss which is higher than 22 dB in the operation fre-
quency.

1. INTRODUCTION

Feed network for microwave applications is a major design concern in

terms of complexity and size [1]. Existing design methods that have
been employed to feed microstrip arrays can be categorized into parallel
and series feeds [2]. In parallel cases, equal excitations can be achieved
Corresponding author: Q. Zhu (zhuqi@ustc.edu.cn).
312 Li et al.

at the expense of compactness; while series feed configurations suffer

from narrow bandwidth and inherent phase difference caused by the
differences in lengths of feed lines [3]. Often, traditional meandering
lines structure or cross feed structure [4] are introduced to compensate
the phase differences in series feed network. Unfortunately, extensive
use of meandering lines leads to high insertion loss and large size,
which restrains wide applications of the meandering lines. After
Prof. T. Itoh’s introduction of composite right/left-handed (CRLH)
transmission line (TL), it has been found that CRLH TLs are different
from traditional right-handed (RH) TL in many ways [5–7]. For
example, CRLH TLs’ phase velocities in RH and left-handed (LH)
regions are reversed [8–10], while their ω-β slopes are often smaller
than RH TL [11]. Consequently, employing CRLH TLs in feed network
of arrays can reduce the phase differences among the outputs, which
are introduced by RH TLs with different lengths. There is an example
of applying existing CRLH TLs in the design of series feed network
employing the infinite wave length property [1]. However, the structure
suffers from narrow bandwidth as well as high insertion loss.
In this paper, a novel “Crisscross” CRLH TL unit is designed
first, which can provide larger series capacitance and improve its
transmission characteristics and consequently reduce its insertion loss.
Then a novel series feed network is presented based on the “Crisscross”
CRLH TL. In the network power dividers and open-ended stubs are
employed to even the amplitude distributions, while CRLH TLs are
used to compensate the phase delay caused by the different lengths of
traditional RH TLs between the output ports and input port. Besides,
short meandering lines are introduced as phase fine tuning. Finally,
a 1 × 20 series feed network working in X-band has been designed
and fabricated as an example. The measured results show that the
present series feed network can realize even amplitude and phase
distributions in the range of 8.8–9.6 GHz. Compared with traditional
20-port parallel feed configuration, the present design reduces 50% in
dimensions. Meanwhile, the relative bandwidth of the present design
is 8.6% which is superior to the existing CRLH TLs series feed network
based on infinite wave length property [1].

2. THEORY

The topological configuration of presented series feed network is shown

in Fig. 1. In the structure, to ensure even amplitude distributions
among N output ports, N-1 traditional 3-port power dividers [12] are
used. Fig. 1 also shows the position and the power dividing ratio
of each 3-port power divider. All power dividers are connected by a
Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 2009 313

Output 1 Output 2 Output N-1 Output N

Branch line
CRLH TL CRLH TL CRLH TL CRLH TL

...... Input
1:1 1:N-2 1:N-1
power divider power divider Power divider
50Ω main microstrip line

Figure 1. The topological configuration of the present series feed

network.

main microstrip line with characteristic impedance of 50 Ω. Meanwhile,

CRLH TLs are placed in the branch lines of power dividers to realize
even phase distributions among all output ports in the designed
frequency range.

2.1. Design of the “Crisscross” CRLH TL Unit

CRLH TLs are typical periodic structures with each unit consisting of
LH series capacitor CL , LH shunt inductor LL , RH series inductor LR
and RH shunt capacitor CR . According to [13], the central frequency
of the passband of the CRLH TL unit is
1
ω0 = √
4
(1)
LR CR LL CL
In former CRLH TL unit [8, 14, 15], CL is realized by series
interdigital capacitor. Unfortunately, the increasing of series capacitor
CL is always accompanied by increasing CR , which depresses the
central frequency of the passband of the CRLH unit in terms of (1). To
ensure the former CRLH TL unit working at high frequency, CL and
CR have to be small, which leads to weaker coupling and consequently
higher loss. To maintain CRLH unit working at higher frequency with
lower loss, the “Crisscross” CRLH TL unit shown in Fig. 2 is developed
here. By using folded microstrip lines instead of simple interdigital line,
the “Crisscross” CRLH TL unit can provide larger coupling region
and series capacitor CL than former ones, which guarantees stronger
coupling and consequently lower loss while the shunt CR remains small.
Therefore, the “Crisscross” CRLH TL unit is superior to former ones
in the design of lower loss passive microwave component at higher
frequency. Meanwhile, the gap between folded microstrip lines in the
“Crisscross” CRLH TL unit can be more than 0.2 mm, which makes it
easy to fabricate by means of film technology.
314 Li et al.

Folded
microstrip line

. Via to the ground

Figure 2. Top-view of the present CRLH TL unit.

The equivalent circuit of the present “Crisscross” CRLH TL unit

is shown in Fig. 3. In the structure, the folded lines provide series
CS as well as parasite series inductance LS while the microstrip lines
with via to the ground at both sides provide shunt inductance Lp and
the parasite shunt capacitor CP . Further, it should be noted that the
long folded microstrip lines also provide a shunt inductance L0 and a
shunt capacitance Cg to the ground [16]. Since there is no virtual via
to the ground, the shunt inductor is coupled to the ground through
another shunt capacitance C0 , therefore a series LC tank is formed in
the center of the CRLH TL equivalent circuit model.

Ls Cs Cs Ls

L0
Lp Cp Cg Cp Lp
C0

Figure 3. The equivalent circuit of the present CRLH TL unit.

To demonstrate the CRLH characteristics of the present

“Crisscross” CRLH TL unit, the parameters in Fig. 3 are calculated
by means of the method described in [17]. Firstly, the [Y] matrix
of the equivalent circuit in Fig. 3 can be expressed in the form of
the parameters. Secondly, the admittance matrix [Y] is computed
numerically by full-wave FEM simulation. Combining both results, the
LC parameters in Fig. 3 can be evaluated. The extracted parameters
are C0 = 0.03 pF, Cp = 0.92 pF, Cs = 0.25 pF, Cg = 0.54 pF,
L0 = 6.29 nH, Lp = 0.21 nH and Ls = 1.13 nH. The comparison
in Fig. 4 indicates the magnitude and phase of the S-Parameters
Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 2009 315

S-Parameters (dB)
0 180

-10 90

ϕ S21(deg)
-20 0

-30 -90

-40 -180
6 9 12 6 9 12
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

(a) Magnitude (b) Phase

Figure 4. S-Parameters between circuit modeling and EM simulation.

calculated by the circuit modeling and by full-wave FEM simulation

are in good agreement.
The [ABCD] matrix for a TL with a length of d can be expressed
as (2), where γ and Y0 are the propagation constant and characteristic
admittance of the TL [12], respectively. It is deduced from (2) that γ
can be calculated by (3).
   
A B cosh(γd) sinh(γd)/Y0
= (2)
C D Y0 sinh(γd) cosh(γd)

1 √
γ = α + jβ = cosh−1 AD (3)
d
Here
 
1 2
A = D = − ωCp − 2ωLs −
ωLp ωCs
 2  
1 1
+ ωLs − 1 − ωCg +1
ωCs ωL0 − ωC
 
0

1 1
+ ωLs − 1 − ωCg (4)
ωCs ωL0 − ωC0

Figure 5(a) shows the predicted diagram of the attenuation

constant α and phase constant β of the present CRLH unit constant α
is positive around 9.8 GHz and another around 11.8 GHz. The constant
α around 9.8 GHz is so small that the CRLH TL is almost balanced.
The higher stop band around 11.8 GHz is caused by the series LC tank.
316 Li et al.

αd
βd

αd/βd(rad) −ϕ S21 (degree)

(a) Prediction (b) Simulation

Figure 5. The transmission characteristics of the CRLH TL unit.

Fig. 5(b) is the results of full-wave FEM simulation. It can be seen

that the gap between the LH and RH range is not obvious. Taking
account of the approximation in parameter extraction and precision of
full-wave FEM simulation, the two results are in agreement. Also, in
the operation frequency range of 8.8–9.6 GHz, the CRLH TLs present
LH effects of small ω-β slope which is useful in the design of the feed
network. At 11.8 GHz, the phase delay changes approximately 180◦
due to the resonance of the LC series tank.

2.2. Realization of Even Amplitude Distributions

Figure 6 shows the details of the realization of 3-port power dividers
with different power dividing ratios. Assuming V1 , V2 and Zin1 ,
Zin2 are the voltages and input impedances of the output1 and
output2, respectively. The following equations should be satisfied to
achieve a required power dividing ratio of 1:N . In order to transfer
electromagnetic power efficiently, the output impedances Z1out of port1
has been set to be 50 Ω. One quarter-wave transformers [12] have been
introduced to carry out the impedance transformation from 50 Ω to
Zin1 . For example, to realize 1:2 power dividing, the characteristic
impedance of the λ/4 transformer is 70.7 Ω.

V12 /Zin1 1 

= , Zin2 = 50 Ω 

V22 /Zin2 N √
⇒ Z01 = 50 × N Ω (5)
V 1 = V2 

 

Z01 = Zin1 × Z1out , Z1out = 50 Ω

It can be found Fig. 1, the closer the 3-port power divider to

Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 2009 317

Impedance transformer
Output1 Z01

branch line
Z in1 V1
Zin2
Output2 Input
V2 50 Ω line

Figure 6. Details of a 3-port power divider, with Pin1 : Pin2 = 1 : N .

the input port of the feed network, the larger power dividing ratio is
needed. Generally, a 3-port divider with larger power dividing ratio
needs a branch line with higher characteristic impedance. If only
the quarter-wave transformers have been used to realize impedance
matching, the branch line will be too thin to fabricate. For example,
when dividing ratio N = 8, the width of the quarter-wave transformer
is about 0.1 mm and it is too narrow to be manufactured by thin
films technology. Combination of a quarter-wave transformer and an
exponential transformer [12] can tackle the difficulty. Fig. 7(a) is the
schematic of 3-port power dividers realized only by a quarter-wave
transformer for N ≤ 7, Fig. 7(b) is the schematic by combination of a
quarter-wave transformer and an exponential transformer for N > 7.

Port 2 Port2
50Ω line
50Ω line exponential
transformer
branch line

λ /4 transformer
branch line

λ /4 transformer
open-ended
open-ended
stub
stub
Port3 Port 1 Port 3 Port 1
50Ω main line 50Ω main line

<7
(a) N- (b) N > 7

Figure 7. Top-view of the 3-port power dividers.

Besides, open-ended stub and 50 Ω main line are employed to

achieve low VSWR of port1 and port3. As long as the VSWRs of
all the power dividers are lower than 1.2, those 3-port power dividers
can be cascaded by means of 50 Ω main line directly [18].
318 Li et al.

2.3. Realization of Even Phase Distributions

The relationship between the variation of the phase delay ∆ϕ, the
variation of the phase constant ∆β and the fixed length of the
transmission line L in a certain frequency range can be expressed
as [19].
∆ϕ = ∆β × L (6)
It can be found from (3) that, to obtain the same variation of
∆ϕ, smaller length L means larger ∆β. Smaller ω-β slope of CRLH
TL means larger ∆β and consequently larger ∆ϕ with the changing
of frequency. By employing CRLH TL with smaller ω-β slope, feed
networks of array with smaller size can be realized. Detailed analysis
in [17] reveals that the phase constants of pure RH TL and CRLH TL
can be expressed as
  1
βPRH = ω LR1 CR1 , βCRLH = ω LR2 CR2 − √ (7)
ω LL CL
Here, LR1 and CR1 are equivalent series inductor and shunt
capacitor of a typical RH TL unit with a certain characteristics
impedance (typically 50 Ω), respectively. LR2 , CR2 , CL , and LL are
equivalent series inductor, shunt capacitor, series capacitor and shunt
inductor of a typical CRLH TL unit with the same characteristic
impedance, respectively. Furthermore, we have
dβPRH  dβCRLH  1
= LR1 CR1 , = LR2 CR2 + 2 √ (8)
dω dω ω LL CL
Generally, the practical area of a typical CRLH TL unit is larger
than that of RH TL, making LR2 and CR2 larger than LR1 and
CR1 , respectively. Therefore, dβPRH /dω < dβCRLH /dω, which reveals
the potential of the application of CRLH TLs. Fig. 8 shows the
comparisons of the numerical results of phase delays between the
proposed CRLH TL and traditional RH TL. Fig. 8(a), (b) and (c) are
the schematics of the present CRLH TL unit, traditional microstrip
line and traditional meandering lines, respectively. Fig. 8(d) reveals
that the phase difference of the CRLH TL is about 60◦ in the range of
8.8 GHz–9.6 GHz, whereas the traditional RH TL with the same length
is only 7◦ . Meanwhile, to realize the same phase slope, the size of the
meandering lines structure is at least 12 mm × 7.8 mm and much larger
than that of CRLH TL. Therefore, the present crisscross CRLH TL is
superior to meandering line to be applied in feed network to even the
phase delay between all the output ports in a certain frequency range.
Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 2009 319

4.7 mm
L1 L2

4.7mm

6.0 mm

0.78mm
L3

WS
(a) (b)
Frequency(GHz)
proposed CRLH TL unit
RH TL (d)
12.8mm meandering line structure
90
60
Phase(deg)

30
7.8mm

0
-30
-60

8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6

(c) (d)

Figure 8. Comparison of phase delays of the three structures. (a)

Top-view of the present CRLH TL unit, L1 = 0.9 mm, L2 = 1.5 mm,
L3 = 1 mm, WS = 0.4 mm, the width of the folded lines 0.2 mm, the
central spacing 0.33 mm, all the other spacings 0.2 mm; (b) Top-view
of the traditional RH TL; (c) Meandering line structure; (d) Phase
delay.

To realize the even phase distributions in a feed network within

a frequency range, the phases at all output ports as well as their
slopes should be the same. In the present design shown in Fig. 9,
the port2 is taken as the reference, which is simply constructed of a
traditional microstrip line. All the other output ports’ phases should
equal to that of port2 through the frequency range. The output phase
differences between ports near the reference port2 and port2 are not so
large, thus traditional right-handed meandering lines have been used
to compensate the phase differences directly. Meanwhile, the output
phase differences between ports far away from the reference port2 and
port2 are so large, direct compensation by means of RH TL will lead
to the large size and high insertion loss. Therefore CRLH TL with
larger ∆β is used to remain small L. In addition, short meandering
lines are employed to modify the initial phases of all the output ports
and to compensate small phase delays.
320 Li et al.

Port2~Port21 (output )

Port1 ( input)
(a) Layout

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
2 3

(b) Photograph

Figure 9. Layout and photograph of the 1 × 20 series feed network.

3. DESIGN EXAMPLE

To verify the present approach, a 1 × 20 series feed network has been

designed and fabricated, which can realize even amplitude and phase
distributions in the range of 8.8–9.6 GHz. Rogers/Duroid 5880 with
0.254 mm thickness and εr = 2.2 has been chosen as the substrate.
Fig. 9(a) and Fig. 9(b) are the layout and the photograph of the series
feed network, respectively. The dimensions of the series feed network
are 350 mm × 50 mm. Compared with the conventional parallel feed
network, the present structure reduces 50% in area. The distance
between neighboring output ports is 16 mm which corresponds to
64% of the guide wavelength at the central frequency 9.2 GHz. SMA
connectors are soldered to the input and output ports. The series feed

-22
Simulated
-24 Measured

-26
S11(dB)

-28
-30
-32
8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6
Frequency(GHz)

Figure 10. S11 of the series feed network.

Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 89, 2009 321

network is fed at the input port.

4. RESULTS

Figure 10 shows the simulated and measured S11 of the series feed
network. Fig. 11(a) and (b) reveal that the ripples of the simulated

S2,1-S21,1 200
-1 0
150
100
Amplitude(dB)

-1 5

Phase(deg)
50
-2 0
0
-2 5 -50
-100
-3 0 S11
-150
-3 5 -200
8. 8 9.0 9 .2 9. 4 9.6 8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6
F requ enc y(G Hz) Frequency(GHz)
(a) (b)
-12 -12

-14 -14
Amplitude(dB)
Amplitude(dB)

-16 S2,1 -16 S7,1

S3,1 S8,1
S4,1 S9,1
-18 -18
S5,1 S10,1
S6,1 S11,1
-20 -20
8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6 8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6
Frequency(GHz) Frequency(GHz)

(c)
150 150
100 100
50 50
Phase(deg)

Phase(deg)

0 0
S7,1
S2,1
-50 S3,1
-50 S8,1
S9,1
S4,1 S10,1
-100 S5,1 -100
S11,1
S6,1
-150 -150
8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6 8.8 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6
Frequency(GHz) Frequency(GHz)
(d)

Figure 11. Simulated and measured results of the series feed

network. (a) Simulated amplitude distributions; (b) Simulated phase
distributions; (c) Measured amplitude distributions; (d) Measured
phase distributions.
322 Li et al.

amplitude and phase distributions among all 20 output ports are less
than 2 dB and 10◦ , respectively. The measured performances are
shown in Fig. 11(c) and (d). Because of the symmetry, only the
performances of output ports2–11 are plotted for simplicity. The errors
in fabrication, especially in the fabrication of the CRLH TL unit, are
considered to be the cause of the discrepancy of the measured and
simulated results. Moreover, the precision of the metallized holes might
be a main cause of the ripple.

5. CONCLUSION

A novel series feed network based on CRLH TLs is proposed and

fabricated. Even amplitude can be achieved using cascaded 3-port
power dividers which are composed of λ/4 transformers, exponential
transformers and open-ended stubs. Meanwhile, adjusted CRLH TLs
and meandering lines are introduced to compensate the phase delay
caused by the different lengths of traditional RH TLs, and consequently
even phase distributions among all output ports are obtained. A
1 × 20 series feed network working in 8.8–9.6 GHz has been designed
and fabricated as an example. Numerical and measured results reveal
that such a network with CRLH TLs is feasible for feeding a linear
array with a small size. Also the series feed network possesses other
advantages such as low cost, easy fabrication and so on.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China

(No. 60371010, No. 63531020).

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