A new and flexible design method for Symmetric Quadrature Hybrid Couplers using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel MCMC-based analytical method for designing larger, more efficient symmetric quadrature hybrid couplers with significantly improved bandwidth performance, surpassing traditional limitations.

Contribution

The authors develop a flexible MCMC-driven design pipeline that enables the creation of larger-section couplers with enhanced bandwidth, overcoming previous computational constraints.

Findings

Achieved fractional bandwidth of 1.0 for a 9-section coupler

Demonstrated improved performance over traditional designs

Validated robustness through statistical analysis and convergence tests

Abstract

Quadrature Hybrid Couplers (QHDC) are critical components in RF, mm-wave, and sub-mm wave astronomical instrumentation, where wideband performance with minimal passband ripple is essential. Traditional designs have been limited to 5-sections at most due to computational limitations. In this work, we introduce a new analytical technique to design couplers with larger sections and improved performance. We do this by employing a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based solver. By defining a likelihood function based on S-parameter equations and incorporating physical priors, we derive optimized impedance values that enhance bandwidth beyond what is reported in the literature. Our flexible pipeline allows efficient tuning of the coupler design. The results demonstrate fractional bandwidths that reach 1.0 for a 9-section coupler, substantially outperforming previous designs. Statistical analysis and convergence tests confirm the robustness of our approach.