Ka band active array antenna for mobile satellite communications
This paper describes a modular active antenna for satellite communications in the K/Ka band. The application is thought for mobile satellite communications and internet links, mainly for commercial airplanes. The impossibility to build full active antennas, including amplifiers in all the elements, leads to a modular semi active antenna. Here the module is a small subarray with complete phase control in the elements. The phase control is made with ad hoc phase shifters giving the minimum losses. Only two bit control has been selected to perform phase shifters associated to a circular polarization radiating element. The feeding network has been selected to minimise the losses and the gap waveguide has been designed to perform the network. The radiating element is a circular double patch fed into two points to obtain circular polarization. The entire prototype has been designed in LTCC substrate to minimise the losses and stabilise the structure.
2016 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation (ISAP)