Ku-Band Dual Linear-Polarized 1-D Beam Steering Antenna Using Parabolic-Cylindrical Reflector Fed by a Phased Array Antenna

Abstract

We propose a 1D beam steering high gain hybrid reflector-phased array antenna system for enhanced data rate wireless communication at Ku-band (12-14 GHz). The proposed hybrid antenna system consists of a D = 50 cm offset parabolic-cylindrical reflector with f /D = 0.4 fed by an 8 × 4 dual linearpolarized stacked patch phased array antenna placed along the focal line of the reflector. The paraboliccylindrical reflector has the property of a wide-angle beam steering along the cylindrical axis as compared to a conventional parabolic reflector. A complete implementation of the dual linear-polarized phased array antenna with the silicon RFIC chipset based beamforming network and integrated with aluminum offset parabolic-cylindrical reflector is reported. Cavity model and physical optics approximations are used to analyze the radiation characteristics of the phased array and the induced currents on the paraboliccylindrical reflector surface, respectively. Furthermore, the multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM) is used along with the method of moments (MoM) in TICRA GRASP for a comprehensive analysis of the proposed hybrid reflector system. The peak directivity of the reflector pattern is around 27 dBi for both the X-polarization and Y-polarization, and a beam scanning of ±30 • is achieved along the cylindrical axis of the reflector for 3 dB reduction in the gain. The analytical and computed results of the proposed hybrid reflector-phased array antenna system are experimentally verified.

Beam Steering Performance of an X-Band Offset Parabolic Cylindrical Reflector Fed by Triple-Mode Horn Integrated With Risley Prism and Phase Correcting Dielectric Lens

“…The beam steering mechanism employing the TM-CW horn integrated with the Risley prism and parabolic PCDL is used to illuminate the OPC reflector with 𝑓/𝐷 = 1.4. The main The OPC reflectors reported in [24] offer directivity enhancement due to the parabolic profile along one axis and wide-beam scanning features due to the cylindrical profile along another axis. It is worth noting that the defocused doubly curved parabolic reflector reported in [31] provides some limited steering of ±7° along both the orthogonal axes with severe scan losses (~ 10 dB).…”

“…Similarly, the axial rotation-based mechanical steering reported by authors in their previous works in [21]- [23] also requires large and bulky dielectric wedges to achieve the high directivity (> 25 dBi) required for troposcatter application. Thus, an efficient alternate lightweight and simple solution requires a hybrid approach where high directivity is achieved using a parabolic reflector, and the steering mechanism is integrated into the feed [24] [25]. Such a hybrid reflector-feed arrangement obviates the need for bulky dielectric wedges as the high directivity is provided by the reflector while the axially rotating parts are still small and lightweight.…”

“…The proposed reflector-feed arrangement with Risley prism-based mechanical steering is robust and easier to implement. Additionally, when compared to its phased array counterpart in [24] consumes less DC power consumption.…”

Investigations of Heat Sink Property of a Novel Dual Linear Polarized Low Cross-Polarization X-Band Phased Array Antenna Employing Silicon RFICs-Based Beamforming Network

“…The coauthors (Sharma and Chieh) of this paper have earlier published phased arrays using similar RFICs [3]- [5] at Ku-and Ka-bands using Anokiwave RFICs and have successfully shown beam steering performance. In [5], an 8 × 4 dual linear polarized stacked patch phased array antenna used a RFIC per radiating element and employed as a feed source for a reflector antenna.…”

“…The coauthors (Sharma and Chieh) of this paper have earlier published phased arrays using similar RFICs [3]- [5] at Ku-and Ka-bands using Anokiwave RFICs and have successfully shown beam steering performance. In [5], an 8 × 4 dual linear polarized stacked patch phased array antenna used a RFIC per radiating element and employed as a feed source for a reflector antenna. The temperature measured on the antenna aperture side of the patch array using the infrared (IR) camera is 58.4 • C. The measured peak power consumption of this antenna was 6.3W (3.5A, 1.8V).…”