A Hybrid-Integrated <i>K</i>-/<i>Ka</i>-Band Phased Array Module With Dual-Polarized Shared Aperture
Kevin Erkelenz, Noah Sielck, Alexander Koelpin, Arne F. Jacob
Abstract
In this work, a passive dual-polarized shared antenna aperture and active beamformer front-ends are integrated into a phased array module. The system operates in the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -/ <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Ka$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -band and is intended for satellite communications. It consists of a hybrid assembly of aluminum waveguide components and printed circuit boards that are electrically connected by anisotropic conductive adhesive, containing a heterodyne transceiver with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -band interfaces. For proof of concept, a demonstrator with 64 transmit (Tx) and 32 receive (Rx) elements is fabricated and characterized. It provides full-duplex Tx/Rx operation with bandwidths of 1 GHz centered around 29.5 (Tx) and 19.5 GHz (Rx), beam scanning over wide angular ranges up to 60 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> in both <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$H$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -planes, an equivalent isotropic radiated power of up to 20.4 dBW at 1-dB power compression and an Rx gain to noise temperature ratio of up to <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-$</tex-math> </inline-formula> 10.2 dB/K at room temperature. The measured performances are comparable to those of phased array systems with separate apertures and thus validate the integration approach.