A Hybrid-Integrated K-/$Ka$-Band Phased Array Module With Dual-Polarized Shared Aperture

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 <tex-math notation="LaTeX">K</tex-math> -/ <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Ka$</tex-math> -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 <tex-math notation="LaTeX">L</tex-math> -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 <tex-math notation="LaTeX">∘</tex-math> in both <tex-math notation="LaTeX">H</tex-math> -and <tex-math notation="LaTeX">E</tex-math> -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 <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-$</tex-math> 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.