An active, ultra‐wideband dual‐polarized tightly coupled dipole subarray for satellite communication. Issue 11 (1st August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Haotian; Chen, Yikai; Wang, Tianyu; Yang, Shiwen
• Is Part Of: International journal of RF and microwave computer-aided engineering. Volume 31:Issue 11(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-08-01
• Subjects: antenna arrays -- antenna array mutual coupling -- power combiners; Microwave devices -- Computer-aided design -- Periodicals; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; 621.3813
• DOI: 10.1002/mmce.22849
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1096-4290

Abstract

Abstract: How to integrate the tightly coupled dipole array (TCDA) with tile‐based power combination network (PCN) has never been discussed in literatures. However, it is a critical issue should be resolved for TCDA's compact design. This article investigates a crucial front‐end component—8 × 8 dual‐polarized tightly coupled dipole subarray (TCDSA)—for ultra‐wideband satellite communication (SATCOM). A tile‐based network architecture is proposed to realize a low‐volume active PCN for the TCDSA. Then, a vertical interconnection module is proposed to totally eliminate coaxial cables between antenna elements and the PCN. A prototype of the TCDSA is developed. The PCN is elaborately integrated with the antenna elements in a compact space within a total thickness of 2.0 cm. The overall height of the prototype is 206.6 mm (2.07 λ H ), where λ H is the wavelength at the high‐end operating frequency. The fabricated dual‐polarized prototype demonstrates a decade bandwidth of 0.3–3.0 GHz with low cross‐polarization levels (<−30.0 dB). Because of the compact structure and excellent performance, the developed TCDSA will find applications in future receiving systems for SATCOM.