| CPC H01P 1/047 (2013.01) [H01P 1/127 (2013.01); H01P 5/19 (2013.01)] | 26 Claims |

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1. A multi-tap transmission line comprising:
a first end and at least one second end;
the transmission line having a corresponding characteristic impedance value (Zc);
the first end with a corresponding first end impedance, the first end impedance being same as the characteristic impedance;
the at least one second end with a corresponding at least one second end impedance, the corresponding at least one second end impedance being same as the characteristic impedance;
at least two tap circuits connected to the transmission line, wherein each tap circuit comprises a tap port, and wherein each tap port has a corresponding tap impedance value (Zo),
wherein the characteristic impedance value Zc is lower than each tap impedance value Zo, and
wherein, each tap circuit comprises:
a first resistive element corresponding to a first port of the tap circuit, and having a corresponding first resistance value;
a second resistive element corresponding to a second port of the tap circuit, and having a second resistance value;
the first and the second resistive values being substantially equal to a series resistance value (Rs),
a corresponding tap device connected to the corresponding tap port;
a tap resistive element corresponding to the tap port, the tap resistive element having a tap resistance value (Rt),
wherein the first resistance element, the second resistive element and the tap resistive element are connected at a connection point in a T-configuration, and
wherein the characteristic impedance value (Zc) minimizes a worst-case insertion loss (TTLN) between a first tap circuit and a last tap circuit of the at least two tap circuits, the worst-case insertion loss being determined based on a longitudinal insertion loss (LIL) and a transverse insertion loss (TIL) according to:
![]() wherein LIL is a longitudinal insertion loss value determined according to:
![]() wherein Zo(j) is a tap impedance value of a tap port j, j is a range of values indicative of tap index ranging from 2 to (N−1), N representing a total number of tap ports;
wherein TIL is a transverse insertion loss value determined according to:
![]() wherein Zo(j) is a tap impedance value of a tap port j, and j is 1 or N.
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