Top 5 Flat Panel Antenna Myths

by Ralph Brooker

I’m looking forward to joining the panel for next week’s GVF Webinar on
Transformational Antennas! An enormous amount of investment in LEO
constellations presumes the availability of low-cost, electronically-steered
antennas, but it is important to be realistic about what they can and can’t
do. To set the stage, here are my Top Five Myths:

1. They are optional.  Nope - we need them! If we don’t have low-cost

electronically-steered antennas, LEO communications constellations just
won’t succeed.

2. Flat panel antennas will make parabolic antennas obsolete. Highly

unlikely! If a parabolic antenna suits the application (fixed terminal on a GEO
satellite), it will always have better performance and lower cost than a flat
panel antenna. Why? For a given size, small parabolic antennas are
extraordinarily cheap, and they have close to theoretically-perfect
performance. If you rarely need to repoint the antenna, the cost of 10-20
minutes of extra installation time for manual pointing is much less than the
higher cost to make an electronically-steerable antenna. For LEO service,
though, the beam must follow the satellite and switch quickly to the next one, so
electronic steering is very important.

3. Flat panel antennas are smaller because new technology is more

efficient. False. Flat panel and parabolic antennas are just two cases of
aperture antennas. In all aperture antennas, the gain, beamwidth, and
sidelobes are determined by the size and area facing the satellite, the
illumination function, and feeder losses. Parabolic antennas are close to
theoretical optimum for losses and illumination (taper). Array antennas often
have significant feeder losses, which reduce transmit gain and receive G/T.
Plus if they are pointed more than 10-30 degrees from their zenith, gains
quickly degrade. Therefore, flat-panel antennas generally have lower
efficiency, so for the same performance, must be larger, not smaller.

4. Flat panel antennas give horizon-horizon coverage with no moving

parts.  To close the link budget and prevent interference, the antenna must
present a minimum width and height projected along the direction of the
satellite. As a flat antenna’s beam is steered electronically away from its
zenith (i.e. the “scan angle”) the effective area towards the satellite is
reduced. For example, at 45 degrees signals reduce by 50% (-3 dB), and
beyond that, performance degrades rapidly. That’s why many LEO
constellations are planned to have huge numbers of satellites - that way there
are always one or two close to the zenith, no matter where you are, so the
antenna does not have to scan very far.

5. Flat panel antennas can prevent adjacent-satellite interference by

controlling sidelobes. Sorry, the laws of physics say no. For any small
aperture antenna (under 1.5m at Ku-band) the main beam is wide enough to
interfere with satellites 2-5 degrees away. The width of the main beam is
determined solely by the cross section of the antenna across the beam
direction, and the illumination function (taper). You can’t narrow the main
beam width by tweaking the array’s illumination function. (You can, however,
affect farther-out sidelobes and nulls, which may be beneficial in other ways.)
And reducing interference by spectrum spreading requires significantly more
satellite bandwidth.  Ideally, LEO constellations are planned and coordinated
with each other so that satellites on the same frequency and pol never come too
close to each other. This can, in theory, allow "undersized" user terminals to
coexist with each other and GEO satellites too.