Journal of Xidian University

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Design of a satellite communication phased array antenna in the S-band

GUO Chao1;ZHAO Chunliu2;YAN Zehong1;ZHANG Tianling1   

  1. (1. Science and Technology on Antennas and Microwave Lab., Xidian Univ., Xi'an 710071, China;
    2. Military Industry Project Evaluation Center of COSTIND, Beijing 100000, China)
  • Received:2017-06-06 Online:2018-06-20 Published:2018-07-18

Abstract:

The phased array antenna for satellite communication has a smaller beam-scanning angel and a lower gain at the low elevation angel at present. A circularly polarized (CP) antenna element with a wide beam-width in the S-band is proposed. To enhance the realized gain at a low elevation angel, this element is adopted with the dual-layer micro-strip structure and loads a circular metal cavity. Based on the element, a phased array antenna composed of 24 antenna units is designed, which has a water-drop form to reduce wind resistance. The simulated results show that over the transmitting and the receiving frequency band, the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of this element is less than 1.3, that the axial ratio (AR) is less than 3dB, and that 3dB beam-width of the element is about 120° in the array; the realized gain of the array is declined about 4dB when the scanning angle is approaching 65°. Later, the measured results of the manufactured array antenna present a good consistency with the simulated results. It possesses a wide scanning angle and a high realized gain at low elevation angel, which satisfies the design requirement.

Key words: satellite communication, phased array, beam scanning, circularly polarized, water-drop form