A 256-Element Ku-Band Polarization Agile SATCOM Transmit Phased Array with Wide-Scan Angles, Low Cross Polarization, Deep Nulls, and 36.5-Dbw EIRP Per Polarization

This article presents an ultralow-profile and lightweight Ku-band transmit phased array with 256 dual-polarized antenna elements for SATCOM on-the-move (SOTM) terminals. The antennas are placed in a square grid with $\lambda $ /2 spacing at 14 GHz. At normal incidence, the phased array results in a measured effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 64.5 and 66.5 dBm at $P_{\mathrm {1~dB}}$ and $P_{\mathrm {sat}}$ , respectively, per polarization. The measured patterns, in $E$ - and $H$ -planes, show almost ideal patterns with a wide scanning range of ±60°, a 3-dB instantaneous bandwidth of 13.0–14.6 GHz, and a cross-polarization isolation of 27 dB up to ±45° and 23 dB at ±60° scan angles. In the circular polarization mode, the measured axial ratio (AR) is <1.1 dB at 14–14.5 GHz. The phased array is also capable of synthesizing deep nulls (−30 to −40 dB) over a wide range of angles, thereby reducing unintended radiation to geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites. Transmit noise analysis is presented and shows that the array signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is dominated by the block upconverter (BUC) and not by the beamformers. An error vector magnitude (EVM) of 2.8%–3.5% was achieved over a wide scan range for QPSK, 8-PSK, and 16-PSK waveforms with 100-MHz bandwidth. The array near-ideal performance, compact size, low profile with 3.5-mm thickness, and ultralightweight of 212 g make it ideal for affordable Ku-band SATCOM terminals.