Square DRA feed for parabolic reflector antenna for satellite communication application

Abstract

A square dielectric resonator antenna (SDRA) offering high polarization purity as a feed for parabolic reflector antenna is presented in this paper. Three sequences of holes are strategically integrated into the SDRA to enhance the polarization purity of the desired mode by suppressing the cross-polarization (X-pol) generating higher order mode. A detailed study on the performance of the parabolic reflector antenna with the proposed SDRA feed is also performed. The composite structure provides low X-pol levels of −33 dB at the half-power beamwidth (HPBW) points and −35 dB at the 1 dB co-polarization region in the H-plane. The composite structure radiates in the broadside direction with a high gain of 26 dBi and radiation efficiency of 95%. The proposed SDRA is designed to operate at 3 GHz of the S-band. A prototype of the proposed design is fabricated and experimentally verified. A measured X-pol isolation of 39 dB at ±15% of HPBW (European Telecommunication Standards Institute [ETSI] standard for satellite communication) and 50 dB at boresight is obtained in the H-plane. The small size, light weight, stable radiation performance and high polarization purity offered by the proposed SDRA make it a suitable candidate for satellite communication application.