The term "Tapper" in the field of radio frequency refers to a "signal power divider", also known as a signal splitter, or Tapper power divider. It is an inductive radio frequency device used to extract a small portion of power from the main transmission line without causing significant power loss.
The Tapper power divider is somewhat similar to the directional coupler, but the Tapper power divider is usually a three-port device and it relies on capacitive coupling rather than direct coupling. It has various additional split port configurations. Multi-port Tapper power dividers can be equal-split dividers or other types of dividers that match the actual application environment. Similar to the directional coupler, to ensure normal operation, the split ports are usually set to have the same impedance as the main transmission line, and they must be correctly terminated.
The Tapper power divider may sometimes be confused with the power divider/combiner. However, since the Tapper power divider does not have the isolation function at the return port and has limited coupling capability at the splitting port, it cannot be used for power distribution or combination. Usually, the power divider is used to evenly distribute power among multiple ports, with a high degree of isolation between each port.
Due to the advantages of Tappers power divider, such as low cost, providing wideband performance, high power handling capacity and ease of selection, it is widely used in DAS applications. Moreover, Tappers power divider can also be used in wireless infrastructure for base stations, 4G LTE, AWS, PCS, PMR, UMTS, TETRA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc. Since Tappers power divider is an passive device, it can be encapsulated in a sturdy and durable housing, thus meeting IP67 and military standards, and can be used in harsh outdoor environmental conditions.
The directional coupler structure applied to high-bandwidth and high-performance applications is more complex and more expensive. Compared with such directional couplers, Tappers power dividers usually have a wider bandwidth and higher performance. Since Tappers power dividers adopt a capacitive coupling method, they are essentially a bidirectional device without directionality. Although Tappers power dividers cannot achieve a practical echo path isolation, their excellent input/output voltage standing wave ratio performance ensures that the voltage standing wave ratio at the coupling ports using Tappers power dividers is much lower than that when using directional couplers.
Generally speaking, the loss of the Tappers power divider is slightly greater than that of the directional coupler. Depending on the differences in the electronic devices connected to the coupling ports of the Tappers power divider, the maximum output power of the coupling port must be taken into consideration to prevent damage to sensitive electronic devices. To prevent the distortion that is often encountered in RF interconnection devices, some Tappers power dividers used in wireless and electrical applications have special low PIM designs.
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