A novel concept of 1 x 16 power splitter based on a variable multicore photonic crystal fiber (PCF) structure is described. Numerical simulations showed how the optical signal can be split in a PCF structure having dimensions of 60 mu m x 60 mu m x 3.582 mm. The coupled mode analysis and beam propagation method (BPM) was used for analyzing the multicore PCF based 1 x 16 splitter. The input optical signal at a wavelength of 1.55 mu m inserted into the central core was divided into sixteen output cores, each with a 6.25% of the total power. The full width half maximum (FWHM) bandwidth found for each core was 100 nm. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.