Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band
This paper reports on the design and experimental validation of a fully-metallic double-ridged waveguide 10 × 10 Rotman lens additively manufactured as a single part. The wide band operation of this quasi-optical beamformer enables us to cover the uplink and downlink frequencies allocated to satelli...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/14/6573 |
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| author | Nelson J. G. Fonseca Sophie-Abigaël Gomanne José Rico-Fernández Petar Jankovic Jaione Galdeano Giovanni Toso Piero Angeletti Manuel Arrebola Oscar Quevedo-Teruel |
| author_facet | Nelson J. G. Fonseca Sophie-Abigaël Gomanne José Rico-Fernández Petar Jankovic Jaione Galdeano Giovanni Toso Piero Angeletti Manuel Arrebola Oscar Quevedo-Teruel |
| author_sort | Nelson J. G. Fonseca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper reports on the design and experimental validation of a fully-metallic double-ridged waveguide 10 × 10 Rotman lens additively manufactured as a single part. The wide band operation of this quasi-optical beamformer enables us to cover the uplink and downlink frequencies allocated to satellite communications in the K/K<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">a</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>-band, from 17.3 GHz to 30 GHz. The feeding port design was adjusted to enable vertical printing, thus minimizing the use of supporting structures. A prototype was manufactured and tested. The reported results indicate losses in the range of 0.5 dB in the lower-frequency band and 0.8 dB in the upper-frequency band, including the waveguide transitions added for test purposes. The measured reflection and coupling coefficients remain below −11.5 dB over the operating band. The standard deviation of the residual phase error across the array ports is below <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>5</mn><mo>°</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> in simulation and below <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>10</mn><mo>°</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> in measurements. Array factors synthesized using the scattering parameters confirm the good stability of the beamforming functionality over the wide frequency band analyzed. This monolithic design is a promising step toward more integrated antenna systems, such as a compact dual-stack configuration for planar array design. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:39:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0180caa56fc14376aa92c42c9d3f6226 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:39:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-0180caa56fc14376aa92c42c9d3f62262023-11-18T21:19:36ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-07-012314657310.3390/s23146573Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-BandNelson J. G. Fonseca0Sophie-Abigaël Gomanne1José Rico-Fernández2Petar Jankovic3Jaione Galdeano4Giovanni Toso5Piero Angeletti6Manuel Arrebola7Oscar Quevedo-Teruel8European Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsEuropean Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsTheNextPangea SL, 33418 Asturias, SpainEuropean Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsEuropean Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsEuropean Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsEuropean Space Agency, 2200AG Noordwijk, The NetherlandsDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, SpainSchool of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, SwedenThis paper reports on the design and experimental validation of a fully-metallic double-ridged waveguide 10 × 10 Rotman lens additively manufactured as a single part. The wide band operation of this quasi-optical beamformer enables us to cover the uplink and downlink frequencies allocated to satellite communications in the K/K<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">a</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>-band, from 17.3 GHz to 30 GHz. The feeding port design was adjusted to enable vertical printing, thus minimizing the use of supporting structures. A prototype was manufactured and tested. The reported results indicate losses in the range of 0.5 dB in the lower-frequency band and 0.8 dB in the upper-frequency band, including the waveguide transitions added for test purposes. The measured reflection and coupling coefficients remain below −11.5 dB over the operating band. The standard deviation of the residual phase error across the array ports is below <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>5</mn><mo>°</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> in simulation and below <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>10</mn><mo>°</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> in measurements. Array factors synthesized using the scattering parameters confirm the good stability of the beamforming functionality over the wide frequency band analyzed. This monolithic design is a promising step toward more integrated antenna systems, such as a compact dual-stack configuration for planar array design.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/14/6573fully-metallic antennaRotman lensmultiple beam antennasatellite communicationadditive manufacturing |
| spellingShingle | Nelson J. G. Fonseca Sophie-Abigaël Gomanne José Rico-Fernández Petar Jankovic Jaione Galdeano Giovanni Toso Piero Angeletti Manuel Arrebola Oscar Quevedo-Teruel Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band Sensors fully-metallic antenna Rotman lens multiple beam antenna satellite communication additive manufacturing |
| title | Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band |
| title_full | Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band |
| title_fullStr | Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band |
| title_short | Fully-Metallic Additively Manufactured Monolithic Double-Ridged Waveguide Rotman Lens in the K/K<sub>a</sub>-Band |
| title_sort | fully metallic additively manufactured monolithic double ridged waveguide rotman lens in the k k sub a sub band |
| topic | fully-metallic antenna Rotman lens multiple beam antenna satellite communication additive manufacturing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/14/6573 |
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