Space-Fed Local Oscillator for Spaceborne Phased Arrays.

摘要

Deployable, spaceborne phase-array antennas require lightweight structures that are nonrigid and deform dynamically in orbit. These array deformations are described by a time- and amplitude-weighted sum of characteristic mechanical modes of the array structure. These mechanical deformations degrade the array's radiation performance by reducing the gain, increasing the sidelobes, and generating pointing errors. The effects of these mechanical deformations can be partially compensated for by a space-fed local oscillator. This space-fed local oscillator uses a radiator on the back of the array to transmit the local oscillator signal to pickup elements connected to the array elements. This technique also potentially lowers the array's weight, eases its mechanical deployment, and reduces the complexity of its design. Keywords: Antenna tolerance theory, Satellite antennas. (kr)