Satellite Antenna

Satellite Antenna Systems

Satellite antennas can provide communication paths with other
satellites as well as earth stations. It can be shown that the average
coverage area (Acov) of a satellite (see Figure 7.10) is given by

Figure 7.10. Satellite coverage area.

(7.35)
Acov≅ Pt Aes C/N −1BHzTeLi,
where Pt is the satellite transmitting power, B (Hz) is the bandwidth
in Hz, (C/N) is the carrier-to-noise power ratio, Aes is the earth
station antenna effective area, Te is the system temperature,
and Li includes all losses.
Notice that increasing the coverage area requires a reduction in
bandwidth, which is not always desirable. If we reduce the coverage
area (e.g., using a multibeam antenna), we can increase bandwidth,
which is very desirable.
A typical satellite communication antenna consists of three main
elements: antenna structure, feed system, and beam-forming
network. The antenna structure can be an array, a lens antenna, or
a reflector antenna. The feed system is strategically located near a
focal point for maximum direction of energy. The beam-forming
network distributes the energy to the proper output port and
contains power dividers and switches.
In a communication system using TDMA, high scanning rates need
to be achieved in order to provide enough generated beams. To
accomplish this electronically, control switching must be used. A
fixed beam can be a pencil beam or a shaped beam. Shaped
beams are used to improve antenna gain over a specified area to
reduce interference outside the intended coverage area. The
purpose is to obtain beams that are shaped for maximum antenna
gain with minimum side lobes.
The three basic antennas, as previously stated, are the phased
array, the lens, and the reflector. Table 7.1 shows the advantages
and disadvantages of such antennas in satellite communications.
We will concentrate in this section on reflector antennas, which are
the most widely used in satellite communications because of their
simplicity and low cost. We first, however, briefly introduce the
phase array and lens antennas.
Table 7.1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Three Basic Satellite Antennas

Antenna Advantages of Disadvantages of

Type Antenna Antenna
Phase Distribution Complex
array power Heavy
amplification at Higher beam-
the elementary forming losses
radiation levels
Increased
reliability
No aperture
blockage
Lens No feed blockage Heavy in low-
Better scanning frequency
performance applications
Aperture mismatch
Reflector Simple Offset to avoid
Lightweight feed blockage
Design maturity
Poor scanning
performance
7.4.1 PHASE ARRAY ANTENNAS
Several antenna elements radiate in phase coherence. Among the
elements we can find are horns, dipoles, helices, and spiral
antennas. Phase arrays can be used for cases such as a fixed
beam, either single or multiplexed; electronically steerable scanning
beams; or a feed array of a lens or reflector antenna system. The
number of elements is inversely proportional to the size of the
elements. Element size should be kept less than a wavelength,
requiring a large size of radiating elements. The arrangement of
elements can be a square grid, rectangular grid, triangular grid, or
even random arrangement. The element types determine the array
gain that we can achieve. Possible candidates are the waveguide,
ridge waveguide, helix, and slot array.
7.4.2 THE LENS ANTENNA
The lens and reflector are used as collimating elements in a high-
gain antenna system. The lens antenna requires two surfaces to
collimate the beam. The surfaces in general have the single form of
a plane, spheroid or parabolic. The most widely used lenses in
spacecraft applications are waveguide, TEM, and dielectric. A
waveguide lens is limited to narrow frequency band operation. A
TEM lens is heavier, but has wider bandwidth, and the dielectric
lens is the heaviest. The dimensions of the lens are described in
terms of the diameter and the ratio of focal length over diameter.
The diameter of the lens is determined by the gain and beamwidth
requirements; the longer the focal length, the better the scan
performance. The surfaces of conventional lenses are planar,
spherical, or paraboloidal. A shaped surface is widely used to
obtain the better performance that, with a conventional lens design,
would be difficult to obtain.
7.4.3 THE REFLECTOR ANTENNA
The reflector antenna is the most popular in spacecraft antenna
systems because of its structural simplicity and light weight. It is
also a matured design. The main disadvantage is that the reflector
needs to be offset to avoid blockage of the feed point. This offset
eliminates the rotational symmetry of the optical aperture, and the
scan range is limited to a few bandwidths. A reflector antenna can
be made of several reflectors, whose surface can be parabolic,
hyperbolic, ellipsoid, or spheroid. The most popular reflector
antenna is the parabolic.
The general geometry of the parabolic receptor is shown in Figure
7.11 a. For an offset-fed parabolic reflector, the offset axis is in the
direction of θo, where θu and θL are the angles subtended at the local
point by the upper and lower edges of the reflector:

Figure 7.11a. General geometry of a parabolic reflector.

(7.36)θ0=12θu+θL.
The focal surface is the plane which is perpendicular to the offset
axis.
The basic polarization generated by the feed point is that of a
circularly polarized beam. When such is the case, no cross-
polarization will appear in the radiated electric field from the
reflector. Reflector antennas are not good for continuous beam
scanning, as beam degradation does occur. Degradations include
beam-shape distortion, gain, loss, beamwidth, and higher side
lobes.
The size of a reflector depends on the gain and beamwidth
requirement and whether we have a single-beam or multibeam
system (larger reflector required). The most popular type of reflector
is the single offset parabolic reflector as shown in Figure 7.11a. A
spherical reflector, however, is free of coma and astigmatism. A
design somewhere in between is probably most desirable. The
reflector surface can either be solid for circularly polarized waves or
gridded for linearly polarized waves. Because of the very limited
scan performance of single-reflector antennas, a dual-reflector
antenna has one more degree of freedom and is capable of
reducing spherical phase aberration for better scan performance.
The most popular dual-reflector antennas are the Cassegrain and
Gregorian antennas.
Probably one of the most important parameters in a reflector
antenna is the ratio of the focal length to antenna aperture size (f/d),
where the main aperture of the largest circular reflector is derived.
The larger the f/d ratio, the better the performance for using a
scanning beam. However, this implies a larger antenna system,
which may not be cost effective. Approximation formulas have been
used [7] for designing an offset parabolic reflector with a circular
feed-array configuration. For a given side lobe (SL) level of a single-
pattern, half-power beamwidth 2θo, maximum scan angle θ3 with
allowable GL dB scan loss, spacing d between adjacent elements,
and offset distance h, we can determine the aperture taper and
efficiency reflector diameter, focal length, beam deviation factor,
and element number. The formulas are given in Figures 7.11a–
c and Table 7.2, where
Figure 7.11b. Universal curves for designing an offset-fed parabolic reflector
antenna. (a) Relation between Δ and reflector performance parameters when feed
element is of type A. (b) Relation between Δ and reflector performance parameters
when feed element is of type E. (c) Aperture efficiency versus edge taper when feed
element is of type B.
Figure 7.11c. Universal chart of parabola.
Table 7.2. Approximate Design Formulas for an Offset Parabolic Reflector

DesignParame Type Type

ters Formulas A(Feed) B(Feed)
Aperture taper ∑n=03anSLn10 a  =
0 a  = − 8.87
0

(Δ) − 26.55 a  = 9.32

1

a  = 35.17
1 a  = − 3.0
2

a  =
2 a  = 0.32
3

− 15.59
a  = 2.37
3

Aperture ∑n=03βnΔn×100% β  = 1
0 Numerical
efficiency (η) β  =
1 curves
− 0.026
β  = 0.039
2

β  =
3

− 0.263
Reflector 1πsinθ1∑n=03γnΔn γ  = 1.609
0 γ  = 1.61
0

diameter (D /λ)1 γ  = 0.245

1 γ  = 0.57
1

γ  =
2 γ  = − 1.43
2

− 0.259 γ  = 1.47
3

γ  = 0.396
3

Focal length πsinθ3/sinθ1D190Ccos−11 C=1−e−0.12D1/Δ

(F) −GL/5
Beam τ1−0.72e−3.2F/τD1 τ=cosθ0+cosθ−θL1+cos
deviation θ0−θL
factor tanθ0=hF1−14h1F2−1
tanθ0=h−1F1−14h1F2−
1
Number of Nearest integer of (θ /2θ )
3 2

feed elements
(N)
0<Δ<0.851≤GL≤5f/d<1.5θ0=30∘.
θ3 can be approximated by tan θ3 with good accuracy.
In the table;
a=tan‐
1D/4FD/4Fc=lengthofcorrelationintervalλ=wavelengthD=antennadia
meterθ=patternangleδ¯2=phaseerrorvariancez=surfacetoleranceFo
rr=focallength.
Often we can get reflector surface errors due to distortions in a
reflector surface. Two sources of distortions are random surface
errors produced in the manufacturing process, and deterministic
surface errors due to thermal distortions of reflector surface.
Tolerance theory [8] shows that the effect of random surface
distortions results in a reduction of peak gain and increase in side-
lobe levels. The perturbed radiation field due to the random surface
distortion is given by
(7.37) Ps=2πc/λ2δ¯2e−πc/λsinθ2,
where
δ¯2=4πa2Δz/λ2a=tan−1d/4fd/4f.
7.4.4 FEED SYSTEMS
The design of the feed array differs significantly between
scannings-beam and fixed-beam antennas. In a scanning-beam
antenna system, design requirements are gain, gain ripple, side
lobe, and cross-polarization levels. The gain and side-lobe levels
are controlled by the optics in the feed illumination taper. To
improve gain we can use a larger feed element, but this can result
in a wider feed separation, lowering the crossover point of the two
adjacent scanning beams and further increasing the chances of
gain ripple. To maintain high gain and reduce ripple, an overlapping
cluster feed is used in which a single beam is generated by several
feed elements. Continuous scanning is the other approach used to
maintain high gain with the help of phase shifters and power
dividers controlling the beam position.
7.4.4.1 Beam-Forming Networks
Beam-forming networks are n-to-m port networks with the objective
of interconnecting the n input ports to the individual m ports with
required amplitude and phases. Beam-forming networks can be
divided into scanned and fixed beam-forming networks. Scanned
beam-forming networks use either variable phase shifters or
interconnecting switches to select a beam. Other methods include
variable amplitude networks, scanning with both variable amplitude
and phase networks. An example of a nonoverlapping switch beam-
forming network is shown in Figure 7.12.

Figure 7.12. Nonoverlapping switch beam network.

A more complex switch matrix which allows choosing one out
of n available beams formed by an array is shown in Figure 7.13.

Figure 7.13. Switch matrix for beam-forming network.

A fixed beam-forming network is one in which a fixed beam is
formed by feeding one or more feed elements. The number of feed
elements depends on the shape of the beam, gain, and/or side-lobe
levels. Constrained beam-forming networks use transmission lines
to transfer energy from input ports to output ports. Unconstrained
beam-forming networks use free space as a transmission medium.
Beam-forming networks have the advantage of accurate control
of amplitude and phase. The advantage of an unconstrained beam-
forming network is that the size is at least half that of the overall
antenna system.
7.4.4.2 Multibeam Antenna System
The multibeam antenna system is the most widely used in satellites.
It is made up of focusing optics illuminated by an array of feed
elements. Each of the feed elements in the system is responsible
for illuminating a single optical aperture and generates a resultant
beam. Any shaped beam can be obtained from a series of
component beams using the principle of superposition. An example
of a multibeam system is shown in Figure 7.14. The advantages of
such a system are generation of a multibeam pattern from a single
optical aperture, pattern shaping and pattern weighting for the
radiation pattern, and steeper pattern roll-off resulting in a higher
spatial isolation within the communications subsystem.

Figure 7.14. Multibeam beam-forming network system.

Several possible optical configurations for a multibeam antenna
system are shown in Figure 7.15.
Figure 7.15. Some configurations of a multibeam antenna system.
The power gain of a multibeam antenna system from using feed
elements, each producing a field Ei(r, θ, ϕ), is given by
(7.38)P2θϕ=4πR2∑i=1nViEirθϕ2377∑Vi2,
where Vi are the optical coefficients to the feed elements. The
terms Ei(r, θ, ϕ) generated by a feed element can be obtained from
the induced current present in the driving elements.
Finally, Figure 7.16 shows a design procedure for the design of a
reflector antenna.