A low-cost modular transmit front-end with analog beamforming capability

In this paper, we present a radio frequency (RF) transmitter front-end that can be used in analog beamforming applications. The proposed system is modular and can be employed at different frequencies whereby C-band operation is shown. Using low-cost components and substrates, this design makes analog beamforming affordable also for commercial applications with unit costs below 130 € and expected overall gain of 11.1 dB. We demonstrate the system performance in terms of S-parameter measurements with frequency translation to 7.0 GHz. Reproducibility of the achieved results is shown by analyzing multiple front-end prototypes. The beamforming capability is verified by antenna pattern measurements with an eight-element array.