Work

Scan Limitations of Open-Ended Ridged Waveguide Phased Array Antennas for Satellite Communication

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Open-ended ridged waveguide phased array antennas (PAAs) are promising candidates for future low Earth orbit satellite communications. This paper analyzes the scan limitations regarding the active reflection coefficient (ARC) and the axial ratio (AR) of circular and hexagonal waveguide elements with three and six ridges for Ka-band satellite downlink applications. For the hexagonal waveguide element with six ridges, it is shown that the degradation of the ARC and the AR at high scan angles and frequencies can be related to the onset of higher Floquet modes, resulting in single-mode scan blindness associated with one of the two orthogonal fundamental modes of the waveguide that generate the circular polarization. Reducing the element periodicity to delay the onset of higher-order Floquet modes overcomes the single-mode scan blindness and meets the Ka-band satellite downlink AR requirements.

Source: European Conference on Antennas and Propagation

DOI: 10.23919/eucap63536.2025.10999821

Authors: Sören Harms, Jean-Philippe Fraysse, Stefania Monni, Alessandro Garufo, Ulf Johannsen

Institutions: Thales Alenia Space (France), Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Eindhoven University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Antenna Design and Analysis

Subfield: Aerospace Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission

Award: G5900174084