Polarization-Agile SatCom Antennas with Beamforming Chips on a Hexagonal Grid

Two phased array antenna demonstrators, one receive module and one transmit module, have been realized and tested. The RX module covers the frequency band <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$17.7-20.2 \text{GHz}$</tex> and the TX module covers the frequency band <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$27.5-30 \text{GHz}$</tex>. Each module consists of 64 dual-linearly polarized antenna elements arranged on a hexagonal grid. Furthermore, each module is equipped with 16 beamforming chips for beam steering and polarization control. Both modules serve as scalable prototypes for stationary, nomadic, or mobile SatCom applications at K/Ka-band.