Patch-excited cup elements for satellite-based mobile communication antennas

摘要

Antennas for mobile communication satellites have been studied for 25 years at Saab Ericsson Space. The first multibeam antenna array consisted of 18 circularly polarised Short Backfire radiators in a triangular lattice giving 19 beams covering the earth. A complete demonstration model including the IF beamforming network, amplifiers and filters was manufactured and tested. The Short Backfire elements have a size of 2.2 wavelengths. Several smaller element types have also been developed, mainly in microstrip technology. They include self-diplexing elements and wide-band double-patch elements. The rf performance of the latter was improved by adding a cup to the microstrip radiator. This is what we call a patch-excited cup.