A 512-Element Polarization-Switchable Ka-Band Transmit Phased Array for SATCOM Application

In this paper, the design of a Ka-band 512-element transmit switchable circularly polarized planar phased array is presented. To meet with the low cost and low profile characteristics, the stacked patch antenna array printed on the printed circuit board (PCB) with CMOS beamformer chips mounted on the bottom is applied. The stacked patch antenna by coupling feed is utilized to enlarge the operating frequency band. And the antenna is arranged as a 32×16 rectangular grid. There are 128 beamformer chips, a power combiner network, one beam control and power supply unit. The proposed array system is fabricated using a 20-layer PCB board with 3.17 mm thickness, and the measured directivity is larger than 28 dB within the scanning angle.